| Foreign tongues don't always come easy and 10 reasons to try skiing this season |
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(Travel + Leisure) -- It's back-to-school time at the Lindberg household, as a new semester of Vietnamese lessons begins this week. Once again I'll climb the stairs to my tutor's Chinatown walk-up, dog-eared vocab book in hand. Once again I'll return to my well-worn boulder and confounding hill, to resume my lifelong, Sisyphean attempt to learn a foreign language.Professor Lap is an affable septuagenarian from Vinh Long province, possessed of periwinkle hair and infinite patience. Over the 22 months that I've studied Vietnamese with him, he has never lost his temper, no matter how relentlessly I butcher his mother tongue. His stoicism is a lesson in itself.After retiring from a career in engineering, Lap took up teaching Vietnamese out of his apartment. Alas, it seems no amount of engineering could transform me into a capable Vietnamese speaker. My vocabulary still ranks below that of a toddler, my pronunciation no better than a newborn's. [Read the full article] (Travel + Leisure) -- By now, there should be enough cheat sheets, calculators and apps out there to finally put an end to questions about tipping. Why is it, then, that even seasoned globetrotters, Travel + Leisure editors among them, still fret over it?Tipping is meant to be a pleasurable gesture, one that marks exceptional service, creating a bond between a guest and a hotel staffer or tour guide. However, as service becomes increasingly personalized -- airport greeter; bathroom attendant; private chef -- the potential pitfalls begin to add up.Add to this a host of cultural considerations, and the standard rules no longer apply. (Should you offer dollars with a handshake -- or tucked into a thank-you note? Is local currency better than a few crisp greenbacks?) To help you on your next trip, T+L asked some of the most seasoned hoteliers and tour operators around the globe to weigh in. Read on for their expert advice. [Read the full article] Editor's note: Brett Snyder is the founder of air travel assistance site Cranky Concierge, and he writes the consumer air travel blog The Cranky Flier.(CNN) -- It's the end of 2011, so you know what that means. It's time for everyone to come out of the woodwork with their predictions for 2012.The one thing everyone wants to know is whether fares will keep going up. We've seen plenty of increases in 2011, but will that continue? That really depends on two things: passenger demand and fuel prices.Despite a still-shaky economy, demand for flights has been quite strong, and that has enabled airlines to keep raising fares. If demand continues to strengthen, then you can bet we'll see more increases in the new year. If it starts to drop off, then fares will likely start to fall, or at the very least, stay the same.The one thing that can get in the way of that plan is high fuel prices. If prices spike higher, then airlines will be forced to raise fares regardless of demand. [Read the full article] 
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