Tourists who travel to faraway places will often attempt to learn a few useful phrases in the language of the land where they are going. They will practice typical traveler's lingo like "My name is Sarah. What's your name?" or "I am from St. Louis in the United States" or "Waiter, would you please bring our check?" or "Excuse me. I'm lost ... can you show me the way to the Hotel Pierre?" or "Thank you very much."

One of the real tests of knowing another language, however, is cursing. If we don't know what not to say, if we don't know the profanities and insults of another culture, we can easily embarrass ourselves. Being able to order in a restaurant or to rattle off a few pleasantries is, of course, helpful, but really getting inside a language and culture means being aware of the off-co…