Language barrier? Try google's translation tool. It's free!

I might be the last person on the planet to know about this, but in case YOU are that person, I'll share.

If you're like me, you are a native English speaker. You might know a few phrases in French or Spanish, and a ton of curse words. That's the whole contents of your language toolkit, right? Google's got you covered.

Using google's language tool, I've been able to send messages in Italian and Portugese. Last month, I even sent neomail in German. (Yes, I'm a lame grown-up who plays Neopets)

To try it, just go to http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en and type in your text, select the language you want it translated into, and push the button. Did they write back in their language? Plug it into the box and reverse the translation.

Not all of the translations are exact, but close, and good enough for basic conversations. Your better educated friends will at least know that you are trying to communicate. It must be nice for our foreign friends to receive messages from us in their own language once in a while.