Fairly handy book to have but to be honest, if you speak English, then finding people who speak English or using good old international sign language and pointing at things will get you by just as well if not better if you're only going to be in these countries for a short time. Longer trips, and I think a separate phrasebook for each country would be more practical. A major problem when using it is also that the writing is so small, so that when pointing at the script (as I found it really difficult to get the pronunciation right), many locals found it difficult to read. It was nice to have it though, made me feel a bit safer and better prepared! Annoying was that some basic words were missed out the relevant sections, like "rice" - it would have been so useful to have the word for rice!! The more basic restaurants didn't have the variety of dishes listed in the book, so just being able to ask for "rice and veggies" or "rice and meat". ( )