Learn conversational Spanish before going to South America.

My friends persuade me to learn conversational Spanish. They say it is easy and very useful. I know that because when I was in Spain and in South America not so many people spoke English. I found it hard to properly communicate with the locals, even though I had English-Spanish dictionary and was travelling to the big cities only. I like to travel independently, so it was a real challenge for me to discover South America knowing only a couple of Spanish words. I managed however, although I regretted not being able to talk with the locals. I learned my lesson and decided to learn basic Spanish before my next journey to South America.