
You can’t learn every language, but its good to make an attempt to learn a few basic words before your trip.
Most guidebooks have a few pages toward the back with commonly used phrases. You can also pick up a phrase book for the language used in the region. Fodor’s offers Audiobooks with the types of phrases travelers need to know.
For more immersion, Rosetta Stone gets great reviews.
For learning Spanish, you cannot beat the prices and quality of education found in Guatemala. After a week of half day private lessons at San Pedro Spanish School in San Pedro de Laguna on beautiful Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, I can finally understand what people are saying.