[MRM]

Add "mayo chien" (I have no money) and you'll be all set for the street vendors. Or you can always pretend to speak Spanish. They speak English and can work in Russian and some can handle German. But you usually draw a blank if you tell them that you are Espaniol and say "mayo Englais". I tried French, too, and that was working but I couldn't quite pull it off and ended up laughing half way through. The vendor refused to believe I couldn't speak English.

Oh, and just go down to the hotel front desk. If they can't set you up with a perfectly good translator in five minutes, at a reasonable price (negotiating expected) they are losing their touch.