5 Main Language made EASY for EURO-TRIP! (exclude English)

ok, let's be honest, it's absolutely possible to get around Europe fairly easily without speaking any language other that English. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to understand more language other than English. This can be difficult if you're visiting multiple countries, but learning at least a few words and phrases isn't just helpful, it's a good way to show your respect to your hosts, and this is definitely the easiest way to get new friends! You are guests in a foreign land and you should always remember that. People will warm up and be more helpful if you can demonstrate at least an effort to try to communicate. You'll also learn a lot more about the local culture that way too!

so let's get started!

Italiano!
Ooomaguccii, i have the Italian! Here in Italy, the word ALLORA! is famously used. It seems on my last trip, the most intriguing toss away word was this. It is little bit of a mysterious word that you will hear A LOT among Italians. ALLORA is a very useful word, can be use for many things and still not mean anything by it.

For example, Allora lasci! Let it be!

English (Inglese)	Italian (Italiano)	Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun
thank you	grazie	GRAT-tzee-yay
please	per favore	pair fa-VOHR-ray
yes	si	see
no	no	no
Do you speak English?	Parla Inglese?	PAR-la een-GLAY-zay
I don't understand	Non capisco	non ka-PEESK-koh
I'm sorry	Mi dispiace	mee dees-pee-YAT-chay
How much is it?	Quanto costa?	KWAN-toh COST-ah
That's too much	É troppo	ay TROH-po
Good day	Buon giorno	bwohn JOUR-noh
Good evening	Buona sera	BWOH-nah SAIR-rah
Good night	Buona notte	BWOH-nah NOTE-tay
Goodbye	Arrivederci	ah-ree-vah-DAIR-chee
Excuse me (to get attention)	Scusi	SKOO-zee
Excuse me (to get past someone)	Permesso	pair-MEH-so
Where is?	Dov'é	doh-VAY
...the bathroom	il bagno	eel BHAN-yoh
...train station	la ferroviaria	lah fair-o-vee-YAR-ree-yah
to the right	à destra	ah DEH-strah
to the left	à sinistra	ah see-NEEST-trah
straight ahead	avanti [or] diritto	ah-VAHN-tee [or] dee-REE-toh
information	informazione	in-for-ma-tzee-OH-nay

 

Bongourno! (good morning)  Learning a few words and common phrases will make a big difference in your experience. Trust me! JRather than launching immediately in English and assuming you will be understood, it's polite to ask, ''Parla I'nglese? (do you speak English?) 

French!

There's 65 million people speaks French worldwide. It's the official language in France, or one of the the official language of Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco, Madagascar, Tahiti, Senegal, and numerous other countries around the world. More than 220 million people speak French on all the five continents. It is second most widely learned language after English and 6th most widely spoken language in the world. So, lets learn a bit of French, shall we???

English	French	Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun
thank you	Merci beaucoup	Mare-see boo koo
Mr./ Mrs / Miss	Madame/Monsieur/Mademoiselle	mah-dahme/ muh-syuhr/ mah-dah-mwa-sell
Hello	Bonjour	Bonn-zhoor
Please	S’il vous plaît	Seal voo play
yes	Oui	Wee
no	Non	No
Do you speak English?	Parlez-vous anglais?	Par - lay vooz ah(n)-glay?
I don't understand	Je ne comprends pas	Zhuh nuh comp-rond pah
I speak (a little French)	Je parle (un peu de) français	Zhuh parl (uhn peh) frahn-say
Please speak slowly	Parlez lentement, s'il vous plait	Par-lay lawn-the-mont, seal voo play
Excuse me (to get attention or to past someone)	Excusez-moi Pardon	Ex-kyou-say mwa Par-dohn
Can you help me?	Pouvez-vous m'aider ?	Poo-vay voo meh-day?
I am looking for….. the bus/train/subway.	Je cherche…….. le bus/train/métro.	Zhuh shairsh . . .
Where is the nearest stop?	Où est l’arrêt le plus près?
Goodbye (until we see each other again)	Au revoir!	Ah reh-vwarh
Good bye (see you later, on the same day)	À tout à l'heure	Ah toot ah luhr
Good bye (forever/I’m never going to see you again)	Adieu	Ah-dyooh
Excuse me (to get attention)	Pardon	Par-dohn
Excuse me (to get past someone)	Excusez-moi S'il vous plaît
It’s great! ……good ….…bad …….terrible	C'est chouette! ….bon ………mal ……….terrible	Say shwet! Bohn Mahl Tare-eee-bleh
How much is it?	Combien?	Cohm-bee ehn
Where is the restroom?	Où sont les toilettes?	Oo soh(n) lay twa-let?
Would you take our/ my picture, please?	Est-ce que vous prendriez notre/ma photo, s'il vous plaît?	Esk-kuh voo pren-dray noh-tra/mah foh-toh, seal voo play?

I'm pretty sure, the ability to speak even a little French makes it so much enjoyable to visit Paris and all the regions of France, and offers insights into French culture, mentality and way of life. Don't worry, there's no loss of learning French because French also comes in handy when travelling to Africa, Switzerland, Canada, Monaco, the Seychelles and other places.

Germany; Deutschland (language : Deutsch)

You hear it all the time! Don't worry, everybody in Germany (+ Austria/Switzerland) speaks English. You'll get along just fine without any German. But if you're here at the Deutschland or the land that speaks Deutsch, your life will be much easier. First of all, not everyone in German Europe does speak English. And even if they did, to certain people, sometimes they feel how rude of anyone going there not to bother learning at least the basics of the language.

Tschakaaa!!! (COME ON! it's how they motivate each other)

English	Deutsch	Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun
yes / no	ja / nein	yah/nine
please/thanks	bitte/danke	bit-tuh/dahn-kuh
Thank you very much	Vielen dank!	fee-len dangk
You're welcome.	Bitte.	bit-tuh
You're welcome. (for a favor)	Gern geschehen.	ghern guh-shay-un
Excuse me!	Entschuldigen Sie!	ent-shool-de-gen zee
Where's the restroom/toilet?	Wo ist die Toilette?	vo ist dee toy-let-uh
left / right	links / rechts	linx/rechts
Man/Gent’s Room	Mann/Herren	man/hair-ren
Woman/Ladies Room	Frau/Damen	frau/dar-men
Hello! (informal)	Hallo!	hal-lo
Hello!/Good day!	Guten Tag!	goo-ten tahk
Good-bye!	Auf Wiedersehen!	owf vee-der-zane
Good morning!	Guten Morgen!	goo-ten morgen
Good night!	Gute Nacht!	goo-tuh nahdt
My name is...	Ich heisse...	ich hye-suh
I am...	Ich bin... (ich bin)	ich been
Do you speak English?	Sprechen sie Englisch?	spreck-hen zee englisch?
I understand  (do not)	Ich vestehe (das nicht)	ich fer-stay dass nicht
Do you have...?	Haben Sie...?	hah-ben zee
Where is….	Wo ist....?	voh ist....?
a room	ein Zimmer	eye-n tsim-air
a rental car	ein Mietwagen	eye-n meet-vahgen
a bank	eine Bank	eye-nuh bahnk
the police	die Polizei	dee po-lit-zye
the train station	der Bahnhof	dare bahn-hof
the restroom	Toilette/WC	toilet/way-see

Spanish!
In Malaysia, when i was little, i watched of a lot Latinos! I still remember ponteng sekolah agama just to watch Mexicanos; La Usurpadora, Maria Mercedes, Rosalinda, Mis Tres Hermanas, Ugly Betty, you name it all!

Spanish is one of the easiest foreign languages to learn. There's a lot of it's vocabulary is similar to English's and written Spanish is almost completely phonetic. Look at almost any Spanish word and you can tell how it is pronounced. Furthermore, Spanish is spoken by at least an estimated 350 million people worldwide and is currently the 4th most commonly spoken language worldwide! Geographically, a large number of countries have Spanish as it's dominant language. Spain, the United State, various parts of South America ;Venezuela, Argentina. Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia, Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and even in Philippines. So, knowing Spanish opens the door for you to communicate with 1/3 of a billion speakers worldwide!

ENGLISH	SPANISH	Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun
Yes	sí	see
No	no	noh
Please	por favor	pohr fah-bohr
Thank you	gracias	grah-see-ahs
You’re Welcome	de nada	day-nah-thah
No, thank you	no, gracias	noh, grah-see-ahs
"Excuse me." or "Pardon me."	discúlpeme	dees-cool-pay-may
Good morning	Buenos días	bweh-nohs dee-ahs
Good afternoon	Buenas tardes	bweh-nahs tahr-days
Good evening	Buenas noches	bweh-nahs noh-tchays
Good bye	Adiós	ah-dee-ohs
Hello/Hi	hola	oh-lah
See you later	hasta luego	ahs-tah lway-goh
What is your name?	Cómo se llama?	koh-moh say yah-mah
My name is…	mi nombre es ...	mee nohm-bray ays...
How are you?	Cómo estas?	koh-moh ays-tahs
Fine, thank you. Very good, thank you.	Bien, gracias Muy bien, gracias	bee-ayn grah-see-ahs mooee bee-ayn grah-see-ahs
Do you speak English?	Hablas inglés?	ah-bla een-glays
I don’t understand.	no entiendo.	noh ayn-teeayn-doh
Where is/are…?	Donde está/están…?	dohn-day ays-tah  / ays-tahn
When?	Cuando?: A cuál hora?	kwahn-doh  ah kwahl oh-rah
Who?	quién?	keeayn
Why?	por qué?	pohr kay
What?	qué?	kay
How long…? (time)	cuanto tiempo?	kwahn-toh teeaym-poh
How much does it cost?  or you can simply say:	cuánto cuesta? cuánto?	kwahn-toh kway-stah kwahn-toh
How far?	A qué distancia?	ah kay dees-tahn-seeah
Can you help me?	Puede ayudarme?	pway-day ah-yoo-dahr-may
What time is it	¿Qué hora es?	kay oh-rah ays
I (don’t) like it	(No) me gusta	(noh) may goos-tah
I don’t know	No sé	noh say.
I need	necesito	nay-say-see-toh
I’m hungry	Tengo hambre	tayn-goh ahm-bray

Russian!

errrrr, why Russian? what does it have to do with traveling in Europe? Well, Russian is the official language of Russia and various places over the continents. It is spoken by 270 million people in Europe and Asia, covering Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, parts of Georgia, Ukraine and since it is the lingua franca of the former USSR, this slavic language is widely used in parts of Soviet Union region, especially in eastern Europe. It might be hard to learn every language of each countries, so this is a good trick to survive while traveling in Eastern part of Europe. I have lived in Czech republic for 6 years so, but when i compare Czech language with Russian, there's a lot of similarities. I could also somehow use it in Poland, Croatia, Montenegro etc.

English	Russian	Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun
thank you	Спасибо	spaSIbo
You are welcome	Не за что	ne za chto
Hello! (Formal)	Здравствуйте!	ZDRAstvuyte
Enjoy (You’re welcome for food)	– На здоровье	na zdaROVye
Hello! (Formal)	Здравствуйте!	(ZDRAstvuyte)
Hello (Informal)	Привет!	priVET
Please	Пожалуйста	poZHAlusta
Yes	Да	da
No	Нет	nyet
Do you speak English?	Вы говорите по-Английски?	vi govoRIte po angLIYski?
I don't understand	Я не понимаю.	ya ne poniMAyu
I don’t speak Russian	Я не говорю по-Русски.	ya ne govorU po RUSski
Help me, please?	Помогите, пожалуйста.	pomoGIte poZHAlusta
Excuse me (to get attention or to past someone)	Прошу прощения	proSHU proSCHEniya
Help me, Please	Помогите, пожалуйста. (pomoGIte poZHAlusta)
Where is the…. the bus/train/subway.	Где ...? Автобус/ метро	(Gde...?) gde avTObus /meTRO?
Where is the nearest stop?
How are you?	Добрый вечер.	dObriy VEcher
I am fine, thank you.	Хорошо, спасибо	haraSHO, spaSIbo
What is your (Formal/informal) name?	Как вас/тебя зовут?	kak vas/teBYA zoVUT?
My name is…	Меня зовут	meNYA zoVUT
I am sorry	Извините	izviNIte
It’s nice to meet you	Приятно познакомиться.	priYATno poznaKOmitsa
Good morning	Доброе утро.	dObroye Utro
Good afternoon	Добрый день.	dObriy den’
Good evening	Добрый вечер.	dObriy VEcher
Good night	Доброй ночи.	DObroi NOchi
Where is the restroom?	Где туалет?	gde tuaLET?
Good bye	До свидания.	do sviDAniya

Here's some quick intro. The Slavic group of languages  is divided into West Slavic which includes Czech, Slovak, Polish, South Slavic covers Bulgarian, Croatian Macedonian, Serbian and Slovenian; and East Slavic which comprised of Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian. Russian became on of the language of world communication; a global language as in the 20th century. So, let's learn some Russian with it's Cycrillic alphabet!

So, There you go! 5 main language that is widely used in Europe. I hope this will be useful for your Euro-trip. The list is by no means complete, but it should give you a fair idea of really the most basic words and phrasess for savvy backpackers, hoping that this can make your travels so much easier and friendlier. A hearty smile and an effort to speak to someone in their own language without feeling foolish can make memories to cherish for a life time. Good luck peeps! Tschuß!!!