Two weeks ago on Facebook I asked our fellow thankful facebookers whether they tried to learn saying "thank you" in the language of the country of their destination when they traveled internationally, and was delighted to be reminded that "hello" and "thank you" were the most important.
Personally, I must admit that even though I try, I don't always use my "thankful" language knowledge... It's mostly because I want to sound flawless when I pronunce the word, and when it just doesn't come out perfectly I get shy about actually saying it to locals. I'm thinking now, it's either I should stop wanting to sound like a native and just go for it or start putting in even more effort. Anyways, the reason I had an idea to ask the question was because I had a trip coming up, and now that I'm back from gorgeous Prague, I can thank you in Czech - děkuji!
What's your story with thanking in other languages? And how many ways can YOU say "thank you"?
i think that it doesn't matter how you sound!
ReplyDeleteif you are trying to say thank you at a foreign language it is enough for itself...
it's the gesture that matters!
i agree with jeune, it doesn't matter how it sounds, it doesn't need to be perfect, just understood :) in portuguese we say "obrigada", girls say obrigada, boys say obrigado (weid, now that i think of it, it there any other language where you have two versions?),
ReplyDelete:) so far i've used gracias, grazie (last november in Italy), merci on my postcard swaps with an internet friend andddd the universal thank you :)
..so true Julia , every time we going away we learning those magical words hello and thank you , especially I like that people hearing those words really appreciate that and you always have a big smiles in front of you , it's a nice feeling when people who don't talk your language can say those beautiful words :) and it doesn't matter how perfect it's just the fact , I think it's about the respect as well ..I know hello and thanks in a few languages but I have a funny story to tell as well - when my bf first came to Latvia he saw rubbish bins with the writting -PALDIES and after he said to me I know one word in Latvian - rubbish !!! on the rubbish bins was writting PALDIES (THANK YOU ) but he thought it means Rubbish :)))
ReplyDeleteAnd the best part? Locals are always delighted if you learn to say 'please' and 'thank you' in their language. It means you care enough to take the time to do that
ReplyDeletehaha, you should always try to say it!!! Being thankful is a wonderful thing and people always love hearing it, so I doubt anyone would bark at you for not having the perfect accent as you attempt to show gratitude!! :) I typically say "Danke" (German) in my usual life, I say it more than "Thank You", I just like it better!
ReplyDeleteThank you, salamat, tosha, xie xie, arigato, merci, gracias! :-) In my experience, the locals appreciate the effort. At least I think they do. I sound really dumb most of the time though. :-P
ReplyDeleteMe too! Haha. More often than not I mispronounce it. But yes, I believe the locals appreciate it when you say thank you in the language/dialect. I know I do when I hear a foreigner say "salamat" :)
ReplyDeleteMuchas gracias, querida!
ReplyDeletexoxox,
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So cool, being able to say Thank you in different languages is definitely a good thing, especially your country of origin! I can say thank you in korean, spanish, french, and mandarin ;)
ReplyDeleteI think it's one of the first (aside from 'hello') phrases we try to learn when traveling to another country. In the Philippines, thank you = Salamat. Just in case you get to visit one of these days ;)
ReplyDeleteVisit me at Definitely, Maybe
Happy Hearts Day to you my friend! I saw your latest entry (greeting everyone a Happy Valentines) but I can't seem to find a link to the comments section on that post. So Im posting here instead. Enjoy the day! :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, Maybe