It has often been said that Americans should make more of an effort to learn some Spanish if they are going to a place where it is the official language, such as Mazatlán. This is a noble and lofty idea but, like the Gershwin song says, it ain´t necessarily so. Most of the time, it´s probably best to just let the desk clerk, waiter or immigration official practice his English on you rather than vice versa. Unless you spent your junior year as a foreign exchange student in Barcelona, chances are that his English is a lot better than your Spanish. You wouldn´t want to hurt a tour guide´s feelings by responding to his proud “And how are zhoo today, my friend?” with a drawled “Mucho bueno, gracias.” To remind you just how foolish it sounds when people get over their heads in a foreign language, check out the greatest movie of all time (that´s Casablanca for you youngsters) and observe the nice European couple showing off how well they can tell time in English. “What watch?” “Ten watch.” “Such much?” Bogie just smiles and says they´ll do great in America. Of course, if you spent long hours studying handy Spanish phrases and listening to accent training tapes, I guess wild horses couldn´t stop you