Of service in Surrey

SIR – Ann Tillard (Letters, August 9) laments the demise of phrase books.

In 1946, my father, a displaced Polish soldier, was issued with an English phrase book to help him to fit in with the Surrey locals. There were several pages devoted to “In the Pub”, including the Polish for “my mouth’s like the bottom of a parrot’s cage”. Tessa Kulik

London N10

SIR – Before visiting Malawi in the Nineties, I purchased a Chichewa phrase book.

Among the many entries with an old colonial flavour was: “I have been shot! Take me to the bearers!” Derek Cheeseman

Broadstone, Dorset