How to Say Hello in Different Languages
March 9, 2009 | In: Education, General, Self Improvement
Say Hello In Different Languages
If people around the world have the same personality, culture and language, what a boring place this world would be. But thanks to our cultural differences, life is more exciting and enriching. Come to think of it, despite the so-called language barrier, the fact that people speak different languages makes learning more challenging both to the young and old folks.
Chinese is the most widely spoken language worldwide with more than 1.14 billion speakers in total. English is the first language in 83 countries and the spoken language in some 105 countries. It is also the most common second language used for purposes of international communication.
Spanish ranks third with 21 countries using it as an official language although a total of 44 countries are speaking Spanish as well. Other languages with the most number of people using them are Arabic, Bengali, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, German, Korean and French.
It’s a great feeling to be able to learn a few words of greetings from languages other than the ones we use every day. So let’s learn how to say hello in different languages.
- Spanish – Hola is pronounced as ola with a silent “h”
- French – Bonjour pronounced bon-ju without the “r”
- Italian – Ciao
- German – Hallo
- Chinese – Ni hao
- Japanese – Konnichi wa
- Hebrew – Shalom which is also the same as peace and goodbye
- Czech – Dobry rano
- Arabic – Marhabah
- Portuguese – Hola the same as Spanish
- Hindi – Namaste
- Irish – Dia Duit
- Dutch – Goedendag
- Vietnamese – Chao
- Korean – Ahn nyeong ha se yo
- Filipino – Kamusta which can also mean how are you?
- Croatian – Bok
- Greek – Geia sou
- Norwegian – Hallo
- Lithuanian – Labas
- Russian – Privet
- Swedish – Hej
- Latin — Salve
Take note, that in order to be able to speak another language well, one has to listen
carefully to how they are pronounced. Some words may look easy to read but in reality, they’re pronounced differently. Do a little research then so that the next time you say hello in a different language, you will be well understood and get a positive reply.
Another important thing to remember when learning a greeting in a new language is to learn the action of the body or hand that comes with the greeting. For instance, the Chinese and Japanese have the habit of bowing at least half of the body when saying hello or how are you. The Americans usually smile while other English speakers may wave their hands as well.
One last thing, when you say hello in whatever language, make sure that you do it in a friendly manner.
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