One of the funny but nonsensical threads in American Fuji is about a character whose knowledge of English is limited to lines from Beatles songs. He manages to use them to communicate, especially if his interlocutors catch on to the code. One conversation starts out,
"Yesterday," Eguchi began, "all my troubles seemed so far away."
"Yesterday came suddenly," Alex chimed in.
These fragments are brief, probably because it wouldn't actually work. But it's an interesting thought experiment: if I studied up on my Vinicius and Caetano, how far would it take me in Portuguese?