Key Travel Phrases in 10 Different Languages

It may sound a bit silly, but I always thought that 6 basic phrases you need to learn are “I’m lost,” “I’m hungry,” “I’m thirsty,” “Can you help me,” “I don’t speak your language” and “Do you speak English?” I would also like to include greetings and some other helpful phrases in this list. Here are these phrases in 10 different languages.

1. French

• I am hungry – Je suis affamé
• I am thirsty – J’ai soif
• I am lost – Je suis perdu
• Can you help me? – Pouvez-vous m’aider?
• I don’t speak French – Je ne parle français pas
• Do you speak English? – Parlez – vous anglais?

• Hello – Salut
• Good morning – Bonjour
• Good afternoon – Bonjour
• Good evening – Bonsoir
• Good night – Bonne nuit

• Where is the bus station/hotel/town center/beach? – Où est la station de bus/l’hôtel/ le centre-ville/ la plage
• I would like to have breakfast/lunch/dinner. What would you recommend?  – Je veux le petit déjeuner/ le déjeuner/ à dîner. Que recommandez-vous?
• I would like some coffee/tea/juice/water/beer/wine please – Je veux du café/thé/jus/ de l’eau/ de la bière/ du vin s’il vous plaît.
• Where should I go out? – Où dois-je aller?

2. German

• I am hungry – Ich bin hungrig
• I am thirsty – Ich habe durst
• I am lost – Ich bin verloren
• Can you help me? – Können Sie mir helfen?
• I don’t speak German – Ich spreche kein Deutsch
• Do you speak English? – Sprechen Sie Englisch?

• Hello – Hallo
• Good morning – Guten morgen
• Good afternoon – Guten tag
• Good evening – Guten abend
• Good night – Gute nacht

• Where is the bus station/hotel/town center/beach? – Wo ist die bushaltestelle/das Hotel/das zentrum/der strand?
• I would like to have breakfast/lunch/dinner. What would you recommend?  – Ich möchte frühstücken/ zu mittag essen/ zum Abendessen. Was empfehlen sie?
• I would like some coffee/tea/juice/water/beer/wine please – Ich will kaffee/ tee/ saft/ wasser/ bier/ wein bitte
• Where should I go out? – Wo sollte ich gehen?

3. Spanish

• I am hungry – Tengo hambre
• I am thirsty – Tengo sed
• I am lost – Estoy perdido
• Can you help me? – Me puedes ayudar?
• I don’t speak Spanish – Yo no hablo español
• Do you speak English? – Hablas Inglés?

• Hello – Hola
• Good morning – Buenos días
• Good afternoon – Buenas tardes
• Good evening – Buenas noches
• Good night – Buenas noches

• Where is the bus station/hotel/town center/beach? – Dónde está la estación de autobuses/ el hotel/ el centro de la ciudad/la playa?
• I would like to have breakfast/lunch/dinner. What would you recommend?  – Me gustaría tomar el desayuno/almuerzo/cena. Qué recomienda usted?
• I would like some coffee/tea/juice/water/beer/wine please – Me gustaría un poco de café / té / zumo / agua / cerveza /vino por favor.
• Where should I go out? – Dónde debo ir?

4. Italian

• I am hungry – Ho fame
• I am thirsty – Ho sete
• I am lost – Mi sono perduto
• Can you help me? – Mi potete aiutare
• I don’t speak Italian – Non parlo italiano
• Do you speak English? – Lei parla inglese?

• Hello – Ciao
• Good morning – Buongiorno
• Good afternoon – Buon pomeriggio
• Good evening – Buonasera
• Good night – Buonanotte

• Where is the bus station/hotel/town center/beach? – Dove si trova la stazione degli autobus/ l’hotel/ il centro della città/ la spiaggia?
• I would like to have breakfast/lunch/dinner. What would you recommend?  – Vorrei fare colazione / pranzo / cena. Che cosa mi consiglia?
• I would like some coffee/tea/juice/water/beer/wine please – Vorrei un caffè / tè / succo / acqua / birra / vino per favore.
• Where should I go out? – Dove devo andare?

5. Portuguese

• I am hungry – Eu estou com fome
• I am thirsty – Estou com sede
• I am lost – Eu estou perdido
• Can you help me? – Você pode me ajudar
• I don’t speak Portuguese – Eu não falo português
• Do you speak English? – Você fala Inglês

• Hello – Oi
• Good morning – Bom dia
• Good afternoon – Boa tarde
• Good evening – Boa noite
• Good night – Boa noite

• Where is the bus station/hotel/town center/beach? – Onde está a estação de ônibus/o hotel/ o centro da cidade/a praia?
• I would like to have breakfast/lunch/dinner. What would you recommend?  – Eu gostaria de tomar café da manhã / almoço / jantar. O que você recomenda?
• I would like some coffee/tea/juice/water/beer/wine please – Eu gostaria de algum café / chá, suco / água / cerveja /vinho por favor.
• Where should I go out? – Onde eu devo ir para fora?

6. Greek

• I am hungry – Eímai peinasménos
• I am thirsty – Eímai dipsasménos
• I am lost – Chánomai
• Can you help me? – Boreís na me voithíseis?
• I don’t speak Greek – Den miloún elliniká
• Do you speak English? – Miláte angliká?

• Hello – Geia
• Good morning – Kaliméra
• Good afternoon – Kaliméra
• Good evening – Kalispéra
• Good night – Kalinýchta

• Where is the bus station/hotel/town center/beach? – Poú eínai i stási tou leoforeíou/ to xenodocheío/ to kéntro tis pólis/ i paralía?
• I would like to have breakfast/lunch/dinner. What would you recommend?  – Tha íthela na apoláfsete to proinó / gévma / deípno. Ti mou proteínete?
• I would like some coffee/tea/juice/water/beer/wine please – Tha íthela kápoia kafé / tsái / chymó / neró / býra / krasí parakaló.
• Where should I go out? – Poú prépei na páo éxo?

7. Dutch

• I am hungry – Ik heb honger
• I am thirsty – Ik heb dorst
• I am lost – Ik ben verloren
• Can you help me? – Kun je me helpen
• I don’t speak Dutch – Ik spreek geen Nederlands
• Do you speak English? – Spreekt u Engels

• Hello – Hallo
• Good morning – Goedemorgen
• Good afternoon – Goedemiddag
• Good evening – Goedenavond
• Good night – Goedenacht

• Where is the bus station/hotel/town center/beach? – Waar is het busstation/hotel/ centrum van de stad/strand?
• I would like to have breakfast/lunch/dinner. What would you recommend?  – Ik wil graag ontbijt / lunch / diner. Wat raden jullie aan?
• I would like some coffee/tea/juice/water/beer/wine please – Ik zou graag een kopje koffie / thee / sap / water / bier / wijn alstublieft.
• Where should I go out? – Waar moet ik naar buiten?

8. Filipino

• I am hungry – Ako gutom
• I am thirsty – Ako ay nauuhaw
• I am lost – Aking ako ay nawala
• Can you help me? – Puwede ninyo akong tulungan
• I don’t speak Filipino – Hindi ako nagsasalita ng iyong wika
• Do you speak English? – Nagsasalita ba kayo ng Ingles

• Hello – Hoy
• Good morning – Magandang umaga
• Good afternoon – Magandang hapon
• Good evening – Magandang gabi
• Good night – Magandang gabi

• Where is the bus station/hotel/town center/beach? – Saan ang istasyon ng bus/ otel/ sentro ng bayan/ tabing-dagat?
• I would like to have breakfast/lunch/dinner. What would you recommend?  – Gusto kong magkaroon ng almusal / tanghalian / hapunan. Anong marerekomenda ninyo?
• I would like some coffee/tea/juice/water/beer/wine please – Gusto ko ng ilang kape / tsaa / jkatas / tubig / serbesa / alak nga.
• Where should I go out? – Saan dapat ako magpunta?

9. Chinese

• I am hungry – Wǒ èle
• I am thirsty – Wǒ kě
• I am lost – Wǒ mílùle
• Can you help me? – Nǐ néng bāng wǒ ma?
• I don’t speak Chinese – Wǒ bù huì shuō zhōngwén
• Do you speak English? – Nǐ huì jiǎng yīngyǔ ma?

• Hello – Nǐ hǎo
• Good morning – Zǎo ān
• Good afternoon – Xiàwǔ hǎo
• Good evening – Wǎnshàng hǎo
• Good night – Wǎn’ān

• Where is the bus station/hotel/town center/beach? – Jiùshì gōngjiāo chēzhàn/jiǔdiàn/zhèn zhōngxīn/hǎitān zài nǎlǐ?
• I would like to have breakfast/lunch/dinner. What would you recommend?  – Wǒ xiǎng yǒu zǎocān/wǔcān/wǎncān. Nǐ yǒu shé me jiànyì ma?
• I would like some coffee/tea/juice/water/beer/wine please – Wǒ xiǎng qǐng yīxiē kāfēi/chá/guǒzhī/shuǐ/píjiǔ/pútáojiǔ
• Where should I go out? – Wǒ yīnggāi qù nǎlǐle?

10. Thai

• I am hungry – Phm hiw
• I am thirsty – C̄hạn krah̄āy n̂ả
• I am lost – C̄hạn h̄āy pị
• Can you help me? – Khuṇ s̄āmārt̄h ch̀wy c̄hạn?
• I don’t speak Thai – C̄hạn mị̀ dị̂ phūd p̣hās̄ʹā thịy
• Do you speak English? – Khuṇ phūd p̣hās̄ʹā xạngkvs̄ʹ?

• Hello – S̄wạs̄dī
• Good morning – Dī txn chêā
• Good afternoon – S̄wạs̄dī
• Good evening – S̄wạs̄dī
• Good night – Rātrī s̄wạs̄di̒

• Where is the bus station/hotel/town center/beach? – Thī̀ sthānī khnsng/ rongræm/ cıklāng meụ̄xng/ chāyh̄ād khụ̄x xarị?
• I would like to have breakfast/lunch/dinner. What would you recommend?  – C̄hạn t̂xngkār thī̀ ca mī xāh̄ār chêā/ klāngwạn/ yĕn. S̄ìng thī̀ khuṇ xyāk ca næanả?
• I would like some coffee/tea/juice/water/beer/wine please – C̄hạn t̂xngkār bāng kāfæ/ chā n̂ả p̄hl mị̂ /n̂ả/beīyr̒/win/ kruṇā
• Where should I go out? – C̄hạn khwr xxk pị?

Can you pronounce it in all 10 languages? I definitely encourage you to try – at least you’ll have some fun.