Pardon my Klingon

I'm afraid, my Klingon doesn't go beyond 'qapla'. I may try to learn more on Duolingo once I have a high enough level of language I'm currently learning for everyday life and work: Dutch. Working internationally, but mostly in Europe, you need to have some survival phrases in most languages. The one I know in the languages of all countries I've visited is coffee with milk. Another phrase you are supposed to learn once you spend your first evening at a bar somewhere is Cheers. But in general, I have a pretty good knowledge of menu vocabulary in a number of languages. While you work, most people will understand English as the common language, but once you go out to have dinner, you have to be prepared especially in Eastern and Southern Europe. While many people think learning some basic phrases like Good morning or Thank you will impress your hosts, I agree with those who think it is not always worth, especially not squeezing 1-2 badly pronounced words in a public presentation.

Speaking lanugages of very different linguistic and historical origin, Hungarian, English, German, Russian and a bit of Dutch, I can say it gets interesting the moment you become interested not only in how you say things, but also why you say them like that. In many contexts you get to know certain special phrases that are very deeply rooted in local culture, thus you also learn about the cultual context. This goes beyond verbal language, there are often local non-verbal language rules that help you learn about context, culture and history more. Take, for example, the famous fact that Bulgarians shake their heads when agreeing rather than nodding. 

You learn more about the new culture when you don't or don't only follow a textbook or language learning programme. It is really interesting to see what the locals think absolutely necessary knowledge. Very often, if you speak English, you can navigate OK without very basic language, but you need to know some special phrases. In Dutch, one of the first phrases I was taught by a colleague is gedogen. Everybody knows that weed is freely available in the Netherlands. But it is not the case. It is a criminal offence to sell or process weed, but it is an issue that is gedoogt, it is totally accepted that you don't follow such a crazy regulation and you will also not be fined or jailed for it. See, you are already learning about Dutch culture.