Many of travel to different parts of the world or we come across people who speak a language other than our own. You don’t have to be able to speak a language fluently to show courtesy to someone you have just met. Knowing a few important phrases from the language is typically sufficient. One of the most important phrases to learn is ‘hello’. Here are 7 ways to say hello in different languages.
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Spanish
Spanish is one of the most common languages in the world. It is spoken by over a fifth of the world’s population. So, when you are learning ways to say hello in different languages, Spanish should be one of the first languages to consider. In Spanish, you say ‘hola’ when you want to say ‘hello’. The ‘h’ is silent and the word is pronounced o-la.
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Chinese
It is also important to learn how to say hello in Chinese. However, in this case, you need to know whether the person you are speaking to speaks Mandarin or Cantonese. In Mandarin, you say hello by saying ‘ni hao’, pronounced nee-haw. In Cantonese, you would say ‘nei ho’ or ‘lei ho’, pronounced ‘ne ho’ or ‘lay ho’.
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Hindustani (Indian)
Many of us also have dealings with Indians and so when you are learning ways to say hello in different languages, you should also learn to say it in Hindustani or Indian. People from different regions say ‘hello’ in different ways in India, but the most common way to say it is ‘namaste’, pronounced na-mus-thei.
The word namaste is imbued with respect and is often accompanied by a slight bow and hands pressed together, palms touching with fingers pointing upwards, in front of the chest. This gesture is known as the Anjali Mudra, which is deeply rooted in Indian culture and signifies both a greeting and a sign of reverence. While namaste is universally understood across the Indian subcontinent, you might also hear namaskar or regional variations like vanakkam in Tamil, namaskaram in Telugu, or nomoskar in Bengali. Embrace the diversity of this vibrant country by learning a few of these local greetings.
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Islamic Greeting
The most formal of all Islamic greetings is ‘Assalamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakato’ which means ‘May peace and mercy and the blessings of God be upon you’. This may be shortened to ‘Assalamu Alaykum’. The correct response to this greeting is ‘Wa Alaykum Assalam’, which means ‘And peace be upon you also’. In the most informal setting, the Islamic greeting is further shortened to just ‘Salaam’ which can be responded to in the same way.
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Hebrew
In the Hebrew language, the way to say hello is very similar to the shortest Islamic greeting, although the pronunciation is different. In Hebrew, you would say ‘Shalom’. You would also say ‘Shalom’ to say goodbye. It means ‘Peace’.
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Happiness depends upon ourselves.
Japanese
The Japanese have many different ways to greet each other and say ‘hello’. The best terminology to use is to say ‘Ohayou Gozaimasu’, pronounced ‘o-ha-yo go-zai-mass. On the telephone, you would say ‘Moshi Moshi’, pronounced ‘moh-shee moh-shee’.
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Russian
Russian has both formal and informal ways of saying hello. In a formal setting, you would say zdravstvuyte, pronounced ZDRA-stvooy-tyeh. In an informal setting, you would say ‘pree-vyet’.
It is not difficult to learn 7 ways to say hello in different languages. However, you also need to know the custom that accompanies it. In the western world, we usually shake hands. But in other parts of the world, people join their hands, or bow or even applaud.
Top image source: shanghai-stories.net
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