Say Hello to the Planet!

When you volunteer abroad, it is very important to get acquainted with the language of your destination country. Knowing the local language will help you build long-lasting connections with the community and get a better understanding of the local culture. Probably the first word you come across when learning a new language is the word “Hello”.  In this post, you will learn how to greet the local people in every country where United Planet sends volunteers. Are you ready to start the language journey?

Let’s go! We will begin our journey with Spanish, as it is the most popular language among the United Planet countries and has the second highest number of native speakers in the world. Hello in Spanish will be “¡Hola!” Now you can greet people in nine United Planet countries: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, and Spain! That was easy! Next, we will get acquainted with another Romance language – Portuguese. “Hello” in Portuguese sounds like “Olá”. Now you know what to say when you meet people in Brazil and Mozambique.

Now let’s move North…  to Iceland! “Hello” in Icelandic will be “Halló!” You have probably noticed that it sounds really similar to English. And it is not a coincidence! The reason is that English and Icelandic belong to the Germanic branch of languages along with several other languages such as German, Danish, and Swedish. Hello in German will be “Hallo!”, in Danish “Hej!”,  and in Swedish “Hallå!”. By the way, Finnish is not a Germanic language but “Hello” in it sounds like “Hei”, which is very similar to Danish. If you already know English, it will be easy for you to learn any other Germanic language because all of them share a lot of vocabulary and grammar.

Also, English is the official language of many of the United Planet destinations: United Kingdom, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, the Philippines, Nigeria, New Zealand, Kenya, India, and Ghana. Do you still want to surprise the locals by greeting them in their native language? You have a chance! Many countries have another official language along with English. For example, in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, the second official language is Swahili. “Hello!” in Swahili will be “Habari!”. In the Philippines you can greet the locals with the Filipino “Kamusta!”; in India you can use the Hindi “Hello!” that sounds like “Namaste!”.

Another interesting multilingual state is Switzerland where there are four official languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh. The good news is that you already know how to say “Hello” in German; and Romansh is not widely spoken any more. In Italian “Hello” will be “Ciao!” and in French – “Bonjour!” Also, French is the official language of Togo and several other African countries.

Romanian is very similar to French as it also belongs to the Romance branch of languages along with Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. “Hello” in Romanian will be “Salut!” The last European country on our list is Russia. “Hello” in Russian is a long word, which sounds like “Zdrastvooytyeh!” Looks scary? Afraid be not! Just take a deep breath! Now try to pronounce it by syllables emphasizing the first one: “ZDRA-stvooy-tyeh!” You are doing great! Ready for the last part of our journey?

We will end our travel with the Asian languages. Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken language not just in Asia but around the globe. It is spoken in two United Planet destinations: China and Taiwan, where you can greet the locals with “Ni hao!” The people in China’s neighboring country of Nepal speak Nepali and say “Namaskar!” or “Namaste!” when they see each other. The formal greeting in Korean is “Ahnnyeong ha se yo!” You might notice that Koreans like many other Asian people will bow slightly as a sign of respect when they greet you. Try to do the same in return. Same holds for the Vietnamese culture.  When in Vietnam, slightly bow your head and say “Xinchào”. Beware, that this greeting is rarely used alone and is usually followed by other words depending on the age, gender, and familiarity with the other person. The last but not the least – Indonesia! Here people speak Indonesian. They say that it is one of the world’s easiest languages to learn. Let’s try the first word: “Hello” in Indonesian will be as simple as “Halo!”

We hope that you enjoyed our language journey! Good luck as you travel the world and remember to grow your vocabulary!