In the famous book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie states that “the sweetest and most important sound in any language” is a person’s own name. While that might be true, I’d venture to state that the most important sound is ‘hello’ in the person’s own language.
Without ‘hello’ you don’t have a chance to get to the other words. As anyone who travels and has learned how to say ‘hello’ in different languages knows, nothing can make a person brighten and open up as much as the effort to speak at least ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ in the local language. It shows that we’re trying, that we care, and that we are conscientious travelers.
That’s why we put together a list to help you learn how to say ‘hello’ in 100 of the world’s most spoken languages:
| 1. | Mandarin | nǐ hǎo | China, Taiwan, Singapore |
| 2. | Spanish | hola | Hispanic America, Spain, United States, Equatorial Guinea, Western Sahara, Pacific islands |
| 3. | English | hello | Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, South Africa, Singapore, Philippines |
| 4. | Hindi | namaste | India, Fiji, Nepal |
| 5. | Arabic | marhabaan | North Africa, Western Asia (Middle East), East Africa |
| 6. | Portuguese | olá, oi, alô | Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste |
| 7. | Bengali | hyālō | Bangladesh, West Bengal (India), Tripura (India), Assam (India) |
| 8. | Russian | privet | Russia, former Republics of the Soviet Union, Mongolia |
| 9. | Japanese | kon’nichiwa | Japan |
| 10. | Punjabi | sata srī akāla | Punjab region (India, Pakistan) |
| 11. | German | hallo, guten tag | Austria, Belgium (Eupen-Malmedy), Germany, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, South Tirol (in Italy) |
| 12. | Javanese | nggoleki | Java (Indonesia) |
| 13. | Wu (Shanghainese) | nóng hō | Zhejiang, Shanghai, southern Jiangsu (eastern China) |
| 14. | Malay (Indonesian) | selamat siang | Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore |
| 15. | Korean | annyeong haseyo | North Korea, South Korea |
| 16. | Telegu | halō, vandanalu | Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry (India) |
| 17. | Vietnamese | xin chào | Vietnam |
| 18. | French | bonjour | Belgium (Wallonia, Brussels), Canada (particularly Quebec, New Brunswick and Eastern parts of Ontario), France, Switzerland, Francophone Africa, French Caribbean, French Polynesia, various islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. |
| 19. | Marathi | hĕlō, namaskār | Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat (India) |
| 20. | Tamil | vaṇakkam | Tamil Nadu, Karnataka (India), Puducherry (India), Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius |
| 21. | Urdu | assalam u alaikum | India, Pakistan |
| 22. | Persian (Farsi) | salām | Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan |
| 23. | Turkish | merhaba | Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria |
| 24. | Cantonese | nǐ hǎo | Guangdong (Canton), southern Guangxi (southern China), Hong Kong, Macau |
| 25. | Italy | ciao | Italy, Switzerland, San Marino |
| 26. | Thai | sà-wàt-dii | Thailand |
| 27. | Gujarati | namaste | India, Bangladesh, Fiji |
| 28. | Basque | kaixo | Northern Spain |
| 29. | Minnan | lı́ hó | Fujian, eastern part of Guandong (southeastern China), Hainan (southern China), Taiwan, Malaysia |
| 30. | Polish | cześć’ | Poland, USA, Germany, United Kingdom, Belarus, western Ukraine, Lithuania, Czechia |
| 31. | Pashto | salam | Afghanistan, Pakistan |
| 32. | Kannada | namaskāra | Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra (India) |
| 33. | Malayalam | halēā | Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mahé (India) |
| 34. | Sundanese | sampurasun | Java (Indonesia) |
| 35. | Chamorro | hafa adai | Austronesian language spoken mainly on the island of Guam, and also in the Mariana Islands |
| 36. | Hausa | sannu | Nigeria |
| 37. | Burmese | min-ga-la-ba | Myanmar |
| 38. | Oriya | namaskar | Odisha (India) |
| 39. | Armenian | barev | Armenia, Georgia, and Russia |
| 40. | Ukranian | dobryj den | Ukraine |
| 41. | Bhojpuri | prannam | Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (India), Bara, Parsa (Nepal) |
| 42. | Tagalog | kamusta | Thailand |
| 43. | Yoruba | e nle o | Nigeria, Benin and Togo |
| 44. | Maithili | prannam | Bihar, Jharkhand (India), eastern Tarai (Nepal) |
| 45. | Sindhi | assalam o alaikum | Sindh (Pakistan and neighboring areas in India) |
| 46. | Swahili | habari | Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda |
| 47. | Uzbek | salom | Uzbekistan |
| 48. | Amharic | selam | Ethiopia |
| 49. | Fula | mihofnima | West and Central Africa, from Senegal to Sudan |
| 50. | Igbo | kedu | Nigeria |
| 51. | Oromo | akkam | Ethiopia and Kenya |
| 52. | Romanian | bună | Romania, Moldova |
| 53. | Azerbaijani | salam | Azerbaijan and Northern Iran |
| 54. | Manipuri/Meitei | khurumjari | North East India, Bangladesh, Myanmar |
| 55. | Awadi | vanakkam | Uttar Pradesh (India) |
| 56. | Cebuano | kumusta | Central and Southern Philippines |
| 57. | Dutch | hallo | Belgium (Flanders, Brussels), Netherlands and Suriname |
| 58. | Kurdish | slaw | “Kurdistan”, northern Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria |
| 59. | Serbo-Croatian | zdravo | Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro |
| 60. | Malagasy | salama | Madagascar |
| 61. | Nepali | namaste | Nepal and neighbouring areas, Sikkim (India) |
| 62. | Saraiki | tudha kaya haal hai saine? (literally, “How are you?”) | Sindh (Pakistan) |
| 63. | Santali | henda ho | India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan |
| 64. | Khmer | choum reap sor | Cambodia |
| 65. | Sinhalese | ayubowan | Sri Lanka |
| 66. | Bambara | i ni ce | Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ghana |
| 67. | Assamese | namaskhar | Assam (India) |
| 68. | Madurese | selamat + pagi/siang/sore/malam (for “good morning/day/afternoon/evening”) | Madura and Java (Indonesia) |
| 69. | Somali | salaam alaykum | Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, and Yemen |
| 70. | Magahi | pernaam (for older person)/subh pyaar (for younger person) | Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal (India) |
| 71. | Dogri | ke aal aee | Jammu and Kashmir (India) |
| 72. | Marwari | khammaghani | Rajasthan (India) and Gujarat/Haryana (Pakistan) |
| 73. | Hungarian | szia | Hungary and areas in neighbouring countries |
| 74. | Chewa | moni | Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe |
| 75. | Greek | yasou | Greece, Cyprus, Albania |
| 76. | Akan/Twi | wo ho te sεn? (literally, “How are you?” | Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire |
| 77. | Khasi | kumno | Meghalaya and Assam states in India, Northeast Bangladesh by the Khasi people |
| 78. | Kazakh | sälem | Kazakhstan |
| 79. | Tswana | dumela rra (when addressing men)/dumela mama (when addressing women) | Botswana and Zimbabwe |
| 80. | Hebrew | shalom | Israel |
| 81. | Zulu | sawubona | South Africa, Lesotho |
| 82. | Czech | ahoj | Czech Republic |
| 83. | Kinyarwanda | muraho | Rwanda |
| 84. | Konkani | deu boro dis dium | Goa (India) |
| 85. | Sylheti | bhala ni? (literally, “How are you?”) | Northern Bangladesh and neighbouring parts of India |
| 86. | Haitian Creole | bonjou (before noon)/bonswa (after noon) | Haiti |
| 87. | Afrikaans | goeie + dag/môre/middag/naand (means, “good day/mornign/afternoon/evening) | South Africa, Namibia |
| 88. | Min Dong | nü hou | Fujian (Southeastern China) |
| 89. | Ilokano | naimbag nga aldaw (literally, “good day”) | Northern Luzon in the Philippines |
| 90. | Quechua | allianchu | Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and northern Argentina |
| 91. | Kirundi | bite | Burundi and Uganda |
| 92. | Swedish | hej | Sweden and Finland |
| 93. | Hmong | nyob zoo | Laos and neighboring areas |
| 94. | Shona | mhoro | Zimbabwe |
| 95. | Hiligaynon | hello | Western Visayas in the Philippines |
| 96. | Uyghur | yaxshimusiz | Xinjiang (Western China) |
| 97. | Balochi | chone tao? (literally, “How are you?”) | Balochistan Region including Pakistan (Balochistan), Iran (Sistan and Baluchestan), and southern Afghanistan (Nimruz, Helmand, and Kandahar) |
| 98. | Belarusian | dobry dzień | Belarus |
| 99. | Mossi | ne y windiga | Burkina Faso |
| 100. | Xhosa | mholweni | South Africa, Zimbabwe |
Regardless of where you’re traveling to, knowing at least hello can open so many doors. Hopefully this list got you closer to learning some new languages today.
Dayna Brockbank says
This is so important and also really fun to do! My husband and I always try to learn “hello” and “thank you” and it usually gets a smile! I think it shows respect for the country as well as teaching yourself as a traveler that you shouldn’t just expect the locals to speak English! Thank you for putting this together, I have to review some of the ones I’ve forgotten! (:
Rima says
Wow, all this time I thought namaste meant blessings or peace. So this hello is more like an aloha in depth and spirit unlike in English where it is simply a greeting. Do hellos in the other languages also convey a cultural ideal or philosophy?
Kristin says
I tend to laugh in yoga classes when they close with Namaste because I understand it as ‘hello’ like it’s used in Nepal. It’s even the name of a cell service provider there! I believe that words do tie into cultural identity. The word for ‘hello’ in Mandarin is ‘ni hao’, which is a question – how are you? That’s how you greet people. I like that.
Kailey says
The middle eastern greetings tend to mean along the lines of “peace”. assalam u alaikum is peace be upon you and is typically a greeting used by Muslims, including in Arabic.
PRO says
For Cantonese, the pronunciation guide is incorrect.
Nei Ho or Lei Ho is the correct one with the former being more accurate but the latter more prevalent.
Jeevni says
Great Research!!! I enjoyed it lot, it’s actually a fun activity. I would like to have more such blogs from you.