Thinking about a short trip across the pond? You may want to spend a little time beforehand learning some of the basic words and phrases that are commonly used, and to become more cultured. Even though the vast majority of Europeans actually speak English as a second language, there will of course be certain areas you visit that may not know any. Don’t improvise or end up in a game of charades, learn! It’s relatively easy. Here are just a handful of some basic and extremely useful phrases (with pronunciations).
Basic French
1– Un (oon) 2– Deux (durh) 3 – Trios (twah) 4 – Quatre (katr) 5 – Cinq (sank)
Hello/Good morning – Bonjour (bon-shore) Hello/Good evening – Bonsoir (bon-swah)
Yes/No – Oui/Non (wee/nong) Please – S’il vous plaît (see voo play)
Thank you – Merci (mer-cee) Goodbye – Au Revoir (or rev-wah)
Excuse me – Excusez-moi (eh-scoo-zeh mwah) Sorry – Désolé (day-zo-lay)
Do you speak English? – Est-ce que vous parlez anglais? (essker voo pahrlay ahng-glay)
My French is not very good – Mon français n’est pas très bon (mon frarn-say ney pah tray bon)
Basic Spanish
1 – Unos (oo-noh) 2 – Dos (dohs) 3 – Tres (tress) 4 – Cuatro (kwah-troh) 5 – Cinco (sinko)
Good morning – ¡Buenos días! (bweh-noss dee-ahs) Hi/Bye – ¡Hola!/¡Chao! (oh-lah/chow)
Yes/No – Sí/No (see/noh) Please – Por favor (por fah-vore)
Thank you – Gracias (grah-see-ahs) Goodbye – Adiós (ah-dee-oss)
What/pardon me – ¿Cómo? (koh-moh) Sorry – Siento (see-ehn-toh)
Do you speak English? – ¿Hablas inglés? (ah-blahs en-gless)
My Spanish is not very good – Mi español no es muy bueno (me es-pan-yol no es moo-ee bwen-oh)
Basic Polish
1 – Jeden (yeh-den) 2 – Dwa (der-vah) 3 – Trzy (sherh) 4 – Cztery (shter-erh) 5 – Pięć (peench)
Hi/Hello – Czesc (che-sht) Excuse me/Sorry – przepraszam (shah-prah-shum)
Yes/No – Tak/Nie (tahk/nee-ah) Please – Proszę (prosh-aow)
Thank you – dziękuję (djin-koo-yon) Goodbye – Pożegnanie (pro-sha-gah-nahn-yer)
Nice to meet you – miło cię poznać (mee-loh chon pos-natch)
Do you speak English? – Czy mówisz po angielsku? (chey mer-vish poh ahn-gerh-skoo)
My Polish is not very good – mój polski nie jest bardzo dobra (moi pol-ski nee est bard-zoh doh-brah)
Basic German
1 – Eins (ai-ns) 2 – Zwei (svai) 3 – Drei (dry) 4 – Vier (veer) 5 – Fünf (foonf)
Hello – Hallo/Guten Tag (hah-low/goo-tan targ) Goodbye – Auf Wiedersehen (oof wi-der-zehn)
Please – Bitte (bih-tuh) Thank you – Danke (dan-kerh)
Yes/No – Ja/Nein (yah/nine) Excuse me/Sorry – Entschuldigen Sie (ehn-shwhy-dien zee)
Pleased to meet you – freuen uns auf Sie (frown oon off see)
Do you speak English? – Sprechen Sie Englisch? (sprec-ehn zee english)
My German is not very good – Mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut (mine doi-itch ist nikt zeh goot)
Basic Italian
1 – Uno (oo-noh) 2 – Due (doo-eh) 3 – Tre (treh) 4 – Quattro (qwah-troh) 5 – Cinque (sink-weh)
Hello – Ciao (see-owh) Goodbye – Addio (ah-dee-oh)
Please – Per favore (per fah-vor-eh) Thank you – Grazie (graht-see-ah)
Yes/No – Sì/No (see/noh) Excuse me – Mi scusi (mee scoo-zee)
Pleased to meet you – Piacere di conoscerti (pee-eh-cher-eh dee con-oh-cher-tee)
Do you speak English? – Parli inglese? (par-lee in-gler-seh)
My Italian is not very good – Il mio italiano non è molto buono (eel mee-no ital-ee-ah-noe non eh molto bwoh-noh)
Why Are These Languages Useful In Particular?
These languages are very useful when in and around Europe. Because Europe is all very well connected, quite a few of its countries speak more than the one language. For example, in Switzerland they speak French in the West, German in the North and Italian in the South. There is a definite increase in Polish residents and visitors within in the UK so learning their key words and phrases can be very helpful. It is not a necessity to learn a new language before you go off on your annual voyage, however it can be very beneficial, and you just might like it. If all else fails, and you have access to the internet, then you can always go on Google Translate for help on how to word and pronounce certain terms, or you get buy a few beginners guides either on the high street or online.
Resource: http://www.little-linguist.co.uk/
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