ESSENTIAL LINGO
to help you through awkward situations!
S P A N I S H
Spanish-speaking countries are among the most popular destinations in the world for tourists. In fact, in 2015 Spain was the third most visited country in the world, while Mexico also made it into the top 10.
Do you speak English? - habla usted Inglés?
If the answer is yes, then disregard the rest! ... just kidding ;)
Hey - Hola
Bye - Chao
Goodbye - Adios
Good morning - Buenos días
Good afternoon/evening - Buenas tardes
Good night - Buenas noches
Please - Por favor
Thank you - Gracias
You're welcome - De nada
Cheers - aclamaciones
I T A L I A N
Italian is one of the five main romance languages - along with Spanish, French, Portugese and Romanian. It's not hard to believe because the words pizza, pasta and gelato make my heart melt. I found that Italian is one of the easier languages to learn but it's very hard to master. Nonetheless, I feel as though the Italians do appreciate it when us English dominant speakers attempt a few hellos or pleases and thankyous in their mother tongue (even if it does make them giggle).
Do you speak English? - Lei parla inglese?
Hello - Ciao
Bye - Addio
Good morning - Buongiorno
Good afternoon/evening - Buon pomeriggio
Good night - Buona notte
Please - Per favore
Thank you - Grazie
You're welcome - Prego
Cheers - Saluti
F R E N C H
French is the official language in France and it is also the second major language in Europe. Today, French is the second most studied language after English and spoken by more than 300 million people around the world as first or second language. Fun fact, the word “salut” means both “hello” and “goodbye” so it's not just their croissants that are twisted!
Do you speak English? - Parlez vous anglais?
Hello - Bonjour (also good morning!)
Hi - Salut
Bye bye - Salut
Bye - Au revoir
Good afternoon - Bonne après-midi
Good evening - Bonsoir
Good night - Bonne nuit
Excuse me - Excusez-moi (if the 'moi' bit doesn't make you think of Kath & Kim then my Australianism is lost!)
Please - S'il vous plaît
Thank you - Merci
You're welcome - De rien
Cheers - A votre santé
B O S N I A N
Holy heck
Have you ever tried to talk with a mouth full of grapes?
& no matter how hard you try or how much concentration you invest into saying something, you can't quite get your mouth around the words? Well that's how i'd describe attempting to speak Bosnian. It's incredibly hard and it sounds nothing like it looks (most of the time). I found some useful sayings and cheat ways to sound semi-normal when pronouncing them!
Do you speak English? - Govorite li engleski? (goh-voh-ree-teh lee ehn-glehs-kee)
Hello - Zdravo (zdrah-voh)
Good morning - Dobro jutro (doh-broh you-troh)
Good afternoon - Dobar dan (doh-bahr dahn)
Good night - Laku noć (Lah-ku noch)
Yes - Da (dah)
No - Ne (neh)
Excuse me (or sorry) - Izvinite (eez-vee-nee-the)
Please - Molim (moh-leem)
Thank you - Hvala (hvah-lah)
You're welcome - Nema na čemu (neh-mah na cheh-moo) ... that's ridiculous!
I need a doctor - Treba mi doktor (treh-bah mee dohk-tohr) ... just a wildcard that I thought could come in handy maybe one day!
E S T O N I A N
The official language of Estonia is Estonian, a Uralic language which is related to Finnish. It is unrelated to the bordering Russian and Latvian languages, both of which are Indo-European (more specifically East Slavic and Baltic, respectively). Fun fact: you can catch a ferry from Tallin in the morning and be in Finland in time for lunch (still blows my mind that you can cross borders and seas to be in a different country in a few hours ... and sometimes, in a few minutes!)
Do you speak English? - Kas sa räägid inglise keelt?
I don't speak any Estonian - Ma ei raagi eesti keelt
Hello - Tere
Bye - Nagemist (informal)
Goodbye - Head aega (formal)
Good afternoon - Tere päevast
Good evening - Tere õhtust
Good night - Head ööd
Yes - Ja
N- Ei
Maybe - Voib olla
Ok - Ok (an easy one!)
Excuse me - Vabandage mind
Please - Palun
Thank you - Aitäh
You're welcome - Sa oled teretulnud
Cheers - Terviseks (not an exact translation... it's the Estonian equivalent of cheers and it would be in relation to cheering for good health).