What is a good way to try and communicate with someone of another language when neither one of you understand the language of the other?

writing symbols like heiroglyphics.

handsignals?

Well if they are in front of you, then hand signals. However, if they are in front of you and you have a pencil and paper, then pictures,drawings,gestures. Also, if you have a pocket translator, that always helps :)

take your digital dictionary. Sit down, and use only key words accompanied by gestures. It works! Do not forget to smile all the time…:-)

if you cant translate either one of the languages, it could be difficlt, especially with gestures or hand signals as they can mean different things in differnt countries.

I once knew a deaf girl who talked a language I didn’t understand. We used tons of paper and a million pencils, but we got to be very good friends after a while :)

That’s cool

When I was busking (playing guitar in the streets for cash) in Vienna in 1973, a Yugoslavian gypsy girl who was working there was drawn by my delta blues. We started hanging out together, though we shared no common language. We both spoke a bit of tourish German (“Where’s the bathroom? How much does this cost?”), and she spoke a few words of rock’n’roll English (“I love you baby!”). Hand gestures worked fine for a few days. Then I got frustrated when I couldn’t explain something to her, and I asked her (by gesturing) to teach me Serbo-Croatian (now considered two separate languages, for political reasons), which she did, as well as we were able. But most of the time throughout our few months together we spoke to each other in the language of love. {;^D

Liliana Lukovic from Vrsac, Serbia, where are you??

oops, that should be *tourist, lol