Learning the lingo

A few months ago, I read an article about a French writer who wrote an entire novel without using any verbs. At first I thought it was just a gimmick, but as I'm studying French now, I've concluded that he's onto something: You don't need verbs.

Because the look of confusion is universal, you can pair this look with any number of nouns, and thereby ask a question. For example, instead of asking, "Do you know if this train goes to the airport?" you can point to a train and ask, "Airport?" Or the other night, when the waiter forgot to bring me my beer, instead of asking, "Will you please bring me the beer that I ordered earlier?" I just said, "Beer?"

This is great. I've downloaded a flashcard program for my computer, and I'm loading it up with nothing but nouns. Of course, this is just survival French, so I won't be able to use it for, say, business or diplomacy. (Well, maybe: Point to an empty warehouse and ask, "Weapons of mass destruction?" Good luck following the answer, though, in any language.)

What a great start!