10 ms·
If you're going overseas, learn a little bit of the local language. 1. Hello 2. Goodbye 3. Please 4. Thank you 5. Me 6. You 7. Him/her 8. This
by geowwy 7y ago
If you're going overseas, learn a little bit of the local language.
1. Hello
2. Goodbye
3. Please
4. Thank you
5. Me
6. You
7. Him/her
8. This
9. That
10. Here
11. There
12. Do you have this?
13. Where is this?
14. How much money is that?
15. Where is the toilet?
16. Digits (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9)
You'll be surprised how much of the language you pick up naturally just by memorising some basic words and using them.
- nxpnsv 7y agoThis really is good advice. I’ve found a little goes a long way in improving your experience.
- lisper 7y agoI always try to learn how to say, "I'm sorry, I don't speak X" in language X. When I was in Japan I got an unbelievable amount of leverage out of being able to say, "Sumi masen, Nihon-go hanasei masen" which, of course, means "I don't speak Japanese" in Japanese. The local's faces would light up and often they would respond in Japanese despite the fact that I had just told them that I don't speak Japanese.
- Kaiyou 7y agoReminds me of the old joke.. A: I'm sorry, I don't speak English. B: But you just spoke English, how is that? A: I'd answer this, but like I said, I do not speak English.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y agoBrian Griffin : Hola! Um... me, me llamo es Brian. Ahh, uh, um... Let's see, uh, nosotros queremos ir con ustedes. Migrant Worker : Hey, that was pretty good, except when you said, "Me llamo es Brian," you don't need the "es", just "me llamo Brian". Brian Griffin : Oh! So you speak English! Migrant Worker : No, just that first sentence and this one explaining it. Brian Griffin : You... you're kidding, right? Migrant Worker : Que?
- kqr 7y agoSimilarly, Excusez-moi; parlez-vous Anglais? is how you get a French person to speak English.
- lisper 7y agoJe ne parle pas Francais. :-(
- bigwavedave 7y agoThat's why the parent told you how to ask in french if a person speaks English ;).
- eps 7y agoThe full handshake sequence is usually longer that this. They will first reply with "Non", often coupled with a wounded look. Then you have to start speaking in a very broken French, ideally with a monstrous accent (though this comes naturally). And only then they will suddenly re-discover their long forgotten English skills, which will turn out to be quite decent.
- switch007 7y agoI agree. The French are clever (and very nice people). They know you’ve just learnt that one phrase in order to unlock their English: you have to work a bit harder. They want to see a bit of pain first.
- mikorym 7y agoFrench mathematics is famous for being written as prose and by extension for being much more instructive than an English equivalent (provided that said mathematics was discovered by a French person).
- hardlianotion 7y agoHow does that explain Bourbaki?
- mbar84 7y agoHaha, I wonder if they assumed you were doing something that's very Japanese, namely having much more humility about your skill level than is actually justified. So they just assumed you're perfectly fluent but you were being very Japanese about it.
- Grue3 7y agoFYI, "hanaseimasen" is not a correct negative of "hanasu", it should be "hanashimasen". Also an easy way to say you don't understand anything is "wakaranai".
- greggman2 7y agothey weren't wrong. hanasemasen = can't speak hanashimasen = don't speak It's arguably more proper to say "nihongo ga hanasemasen" (I can't speak Japanese) than "nihongo wo hanashimasen" (I don't speak Japanese). The first is a statement of my personal abilities. The second could easily be a statement of my attitude. "nihongo ga hanasemasu kedo nihongo o hanshimasen" (I can speak Japanese but I don't speak Japanese) For whatever reason I've never heard wakaremasen (can't understand) but only don't understand (wakarimasen).
- mattchamb 7y agoI read it as something like はなせいません which doesn't match 話せません or 話しません
- levythe 7y agoWakaremasen would imply that you are incapable of or forbidden from ever understanding. It would be very strange. I've honestly never heard anyone use ga before hanaseru. It's always been wo that I've heard.
- jrockway 7y agoI have asked my Japanese friends about this and they are usually convinced after discussion that "ga" is the correct particle to use here. But "wo" sounds fine. I think it is very much like "was/were" in English. "If I was to give you a cookie..." / "If I were to give you a cookie..." "were" is "correct" (as though there is such a thing in English), I think, but "was" sounds fine. "Was" looks pretty abrasive in writing but say it out loud and you'll notice that you hear it a lot.
- Grue3 7y agoWell, the original wording was "hanasei masen" and I assumed the OP wouldn't know about the potential form at their current level. Potential form when talking about knowing the language doesn't sound right to me, but I can find example sentences using both potential and normal form. In natural language I think normal form would be used. Potential form of "wakaru" is "wakareru" which happens to be a verb with a completely different meaning "to diverge/separate/divide", so I don't think anyone uses it and it makes little sense anyway.
- markussss 7y agoI had a year of French at school, and my teacher kept saying all year that no matter how much or little we learn from his classes and exercises, as long as we are able to say "I don't speak language X, do you speak language Y?", everything would be so much easier when dealing with strangers in foreign countries. It also helps a lot to add a "please" and "thank you". This piece of advice helped a lot in both Germany, Ukraine, and Russia.
- jobigoud 7y agoIt doesn't always work though… I just had an issue with a Spanish airline (of all things I would assume all their employees would have to speak some English), where the session expired, the online payment went through but the ticket reservation didn't. I called the number and asked if Se habla Inglès o Francès? and no, I had to use my broken Spanish to sort it out. The lady was very helpful though.
- jansan 7y agoIn Japan I was at a German language insitute and asked the Japanese guy at the reception if he spoke German. His reply was "Leider nicht"/"Unfortunately not", which I thought was a fantastic reply for this kind of question. Very simple, yet much more sophisticated than a simple "Nein"/"No".
- alexis_fr 7y agoPlease don’t learn “I don’t speak X”, this is useless and it kills the interaction. Instead, learn a movie quote. This will get people to joke with you and will start off a discussion, “Where did you learn that” and all. — “Pas de palais ? Pas de palais” - see here for example: https://youtu.be/ghiMU3seRVM https://youtu.be/ghiMU3seRVM - “Je m’appelle Juste Leblanc” — or even asking for a local celebrity is more fun.
- lisper 7y agoI think this is a terrible idea. For starters, I can tell you from firsthand experience that saying "I don't speak X" does not "kill the interaction." It is invariably taken as ironically humorous, and a sincere effort to fit into the local culture. I've never had anything but a positive response to it, and I have traveled extensively throughout the world. Furthermore, putting myself in the listener's shoes, if a foreigner walked up to me and recited a random movie quote in broken English I would be utterly nonplussed. I mean, think about it: a random stranger walks up to you and the first words out of their mouth are, "No palace, no palace." I can't imagine any reaction other than: WTF?
- jrockway 7y agoI think people have varying opinions on this. Many of us don't really want to launch people into a phony conversation -- you convince the other person that you understand the language, then they talk for a while, and then they realize that you didn't understand anything they just said. Now your newfound friend thinks you like wasting their time. This happens all the time in other contexts. "Have you seen movie X?" "mm yeah" "what did you think about the part where <20 minutes of explanation>" "oh you know I didn't actually see the movie I just didn't want to say no". The reason people do this is because they hate saying no, and 50% of the time having seen the movie / heard the song / know the celebrity / is not actually relevant to the anecdote. But when it is, you sure look like an idiot.
- acjacobson 7y agoI find also 'Excuse me / Pardon me' is extremely useful in the local language.
- geowwy 7y agoAgreed! Forgot that one
- victorvation 7y agoExcellent list! I'd also recommend adding "What is this?" to the list, and for extra credit, do some research on the vernacular / polite way to address strangers in public ("Excuse me" also works for this in a pinch, although not in all cultures!).
- jeltz 7y agoHere in Sweden most people are comfortable speaking English so if you address them politely in English they will probably be more comfortable and less caught off guard than if they have to decipher phrases in broken Swedish, no matter how well meaning. Still probably a good idea to learn some words so you can read signs.
- Broken_Hippo 7y agoNorway is much the same. Not only that, but even if you do manage to be understood in Norwegian, you might find that you don't understand the local dialect at all.
- pgt 7y agoThe most valuable question to know in every language is, "How do you say <English word> in <your language>, please?" For example, in Xhosa you ask,"Uthini ngesiXhosa 'to run', nceda?" => The answer is "baleka." :)
- ehnto 7y agoI was just in Japan, and really felt my lack of basic language. I picked it up quicker than I expected, but without having someone who knew both English and Japanese it was hard to know if I was getting it right. By the end of the trip I had a few interactions in Japanese and it felt great, I really wish I had learned before going over to get the most out of the knowledge. A few items to learn I would add to your list: * Sorry, I do not understand * May I (take a picture/sit here/...)? * That was delicious (or simply the word for delicious) * I only understand {my language} The reason I mention the last one over simply "I do not understand" is it makes it clear that not only do you not understand, you probably won't understand if they try again. It also lets them know a language you would understand so they can get out a translating app. It was easy enough to translate from English to Japanese up front, but nearly impossible to hear the Japanese, write it out, and translate it to English. So you'll need the native speaker to translate in that direction.
- jobigoud 7y ago> 8. This 9. That Now I wonder if there are some languages that don't differentiate between these two.