It does help to learn a little of of the local language when visiting a foreign country.   One does not have to be fluent, just a few words in their language gets a bit of respect, a better table at a restaurant, a better price, or at least a smile.

But where to learn?  

Short story..... Use Pimsleur.

Long story.....read on.

I made a big effort to learn Italian 6-7 years ago.  I tried every learning method available,  You name it, I spent money on it, I have three feet of bookshelf dedicated to the books, dictionaries, CD's that I have collected.  

In that time I visited Italy 6 times,   I was getting pretty good at the language, , so much that I scored a job teaching Italian at High School. (Four expert native speakers before me had quit. (Better to be a guide on the side than a sage on the stage.))

All well and good, but slowly it dawned on me that textbook Italian does not count for much in Italy when parlaying with the locals..

I found that the only Italian that I had, and was of use, I had learned from Pimsleur.  It's something to do with the rote learning method that they use, it seems to lock in snappy responses rather than to indulge oneself in conjucating irregular verbs to give the gramattically correct reply.

Be that as it may, I'm moving on..   I'm learning Indonesian now.

I'm using Pimsleur, in tandem with another very good method.

 I find next morning while in the shower when I rehearse my Indonesian, all the words and phrases that I learned from Pimsleaur are remembered, and all others are forgot.

http://www.pimsleur.com/List-of-Languages#modal_signup_window

 It's worth a shot.

BTW... This remind you of anything?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qo9R5kDZWY

Phil.