It was on Siargao Island, the Philippines, when I got a flat tire while traveling by myself. It was a rural area without anyone around, and the driver dropped me off with a promise to return. I had no real option other than to wait on the side of the road, hoping it would work out. Within a few minutes a local family offered me a chair and started hanging out with me.
“Thank you… I mean, Salamat!”
Their eyes brightened up and they seemed pleased that I was able to say “thank you” in their local language.
A little gesture goes a long way, especially when you are on foreign land. I always make it a point to learn how to say “hello” and “thank you” in the local language, and that has helped me make friends with locals, blend into their culture and open up to wonderful adventures I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Maybe a weird flex but it’s also super cool to be able to say a phrase in multiple languages! Ready to learn? Here’s how you can say “thank you” in 100 of the world’s most spoken languages:
| 1. | Mandarin | xièxie | China, Taiwan, Singapore |
| 2. | Spanish | gracias | Hispanic America, Spain, United States, Equatorial Guinea, Western Sahara, Pacific islands |
| 3. | English | thank you | Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, South Africa, Singapore, Philippines |
| 4. | Hindi | dhanyavaad | India, Fiji, Nepal |
| 5. | Arabic | shukran | North Africa, Western Asia (Middle East), East Africa |
| 6. | Portuguese | obrigada | Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste |
| 7. | Bengali | dhanyabaad | Bangladesh, West Bengal (India), Tripura (India), Assam (India) |
| 8. | Russian | spasibo | Russia, former Republics of the Soviet Union, Mongolia |
| 9. | Japanese | arigatō | Japan |
| 10. | Punjabi | meharbani | Punjab region (India, Pakistan) |
| 11. | German | danke | Austria, Belgium (Eupen-Malmedy), Germany, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, South Tyrol (in Italy) |
| 12. | Javanese | matur nuwun | Java (Indonesia) |
| 13. | Wu (Shanghainese) | xia xia nòng | Zhejiang, Shanghai, southern Jiangsu (eastern China) |
| 14. | Malay (Indonesian) | terima kasih | Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore |
| 15. | Korean | gamsahamnida | North Korea, South Korea |
| 16. | Telegu | dhanyavadalu | Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry (India) |
| 17. | Vietnamese | cảm ơn | Vietnam |
| 18. | French | merci | 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 | dhanyawad | Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat (India) |
| 20. | Tamil | nandri | Tamil Nadu, Karnataka (India), Puducherry (India), Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius |
| 21. | Urdu | shukriya | India, Pakistan |
| 22. | Persian (Farsi) | merci | Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan |
| 23. | Turkish | teşekkürler | Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria |
| 24. | Cantonese | dòjeh | Guangdong (Canton), southern Guangxi (southern China), Hong Kong, Macau |
| 25. | Italian | grazie | Italy, Switzerland, San Marino |
| 26. | Thai | khàawp-khun | Thailand |
| 27. | Gujarati | ābhāra | India, Bangladesh, Fiji |
| 28. | Basque | eskerrik asko | Northern Spain |
| 29. | Minnan | kám-siā | Fujian, eastern part of Guandong (southeastern China), Hainan (southern China), Taiwan, Malaysia |
| 30. | Polish | dziękuję | Poland, USA, Germany, United Kingdom, Belarus, western Ukraine, Lithuania, Czechia |
| 31. | Pashto | manana | Afghanistan, Pakistan |
| 32. | Kannada | dhanyavada | Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra (India) |
| 33. | Malayalam | nandi | Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mahé (India) |
| 34. | Sundanese | hatur nuhun | Java (Indonesia) |
| 35. | Chamorro | si yu’us ma’åse’ | Austronesian language spoken mainly on the island of Guam, and also in the Mariana Islands |
| 36. | Hausa | na gode | Nigeria |
| 37. | Burmese | cè-zù tin-ba-deh | Myanmar |
| 38. | Oriya | dhanyabaad | Odisha (India) |
| 39. | Armenian | shnorhakalut’yun | Armenia, Georgia, and Russia |
| 40. | Ukranian | diakuju | Ukraine |
| 41. | Bhojpuri | dhanvaad | Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (India), Bara, Parsa (Nepal) |
| 42. | Tagalog | salamat | Manila and Northern Philippines |
| 43. | Yoruba | e se (for an older person)/o se (for same age or younger) | Nigeria, Benin and Togo |
| 44. | Maithili | dhanyabad | Bihar, Jharkhand (India), eastern Tarai (Nepal) |
| 45. | Sindhi | merharbani | Sindh (Pakistan and neighboring areas in India) |
| 46. | Swahili | asante | Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda |
| 47. | Uzbek | rahmat | Uzbekistan |
| 48. | Amharic | amesegnalaw | Ethiopia |
| 49. | Fula | jaaraama | West and Central Africa, from Senegal to Sudan |
| 50. | Igbo | daalụ | Nigeria |
| 51. | Oromo | galatoomi | Ethiopia and Kenya |
| 52. | Romanian | mulţumesc | Romania, Moldova |
| 53. | Azerbaijani | çox sağ olun | Azerbaijan and Northern Iran |
| 54. | Manipuri/Meitei | thaagatchari | North East India, Bangladesh, Myanmar |
| 55. | Cebuano | salamat | Central and Southern Philippines |
| 56. | Dutch | bedankt | Belgium (Flanders, Brussels), Netherlands and Suriname |
| 57. | Kurdish | sipas dikim | “Kurdistan”, northern Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria |
| 58. | Serbo-Croatian | hvala | Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro |
| 59. | Malagasy | misaotra | Madagascar |
| 60. | Nepali | dhanyabad | Nepal and neighbouring areas, Sikkim (India) |
| 61. | Saraiki | shukriya | Sindh (Pakistan) |
| 62. | Santali | adi johar | India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan |
| 63. | Khmer | arkun | Cambodia |
| 64. | Sinhalese | stutiyi | Sri Lanka |
| 65. | Bambara | a ni kié | Mali Mande language with about 3 million speakers in Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ghana |
| 66. | Assamese | dhanyabad | Assam (India) |
| 67. | Madurese | matur nuwun | Madura and Java (Indonesia) |
| 68. | Somali | mahadsanid | Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, and Yemen |
| 69. | Magahi | dhanyavaad | Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal (India) |
| 70. | Dogri | dhanwaad | Jammu and Kashmir (India) |
| 71. | Marwari | dhanyawadh | Rajasthan (India) and Gujarat/Haryana (Pakistan) |
| 72. | Hungarian | köszönöm | Hungary and areas in neighbouring countries |
| 73. | Chewa | zikomo | Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe |
| 74. | Greek | efcharistó | Greece, Cyprus, Albania |
| 75. | Akan/Twi | meda wo ase | Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire |
| 76. | Khasi | khublei | Meghalaya and Assam states in India, Northeast
Bangladesh by the Khasi people |
| 77. | Kazakh | rahmet | Kazakhstan |
| 78. | Tswana | ke a leboga | Botswana and Zimbabwe |
| 79. | Hebrew | todá | Israel |
| 80. | Zulu | ngiyabonga | South Africa, Lesotho |
| 81. | Czech | děkuju | Czech Republic |
| 82. | Kinyarwanda | murakoze | Rwanda |
| 83. | Konkani | deu borem korum | Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra (India) |
| 84. | Sylheti | dhonobad | Northern Bangladesh and neighboring parts of India |
| 85. | Haitian Creole | mèsi | Haiti |
| 86. | Afrikaans | dankie | South Africa, Namibia |
| 87. | Min Dong | kan sia | Fujian (Southeastern China) |
| 88. | Ilokano | agyamannak | Northern Luzon in the Philippines |
| 89. | Quechua | sulpayki | Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and northern Argentina |
| 90. | Kirundi | urakoze | Burundi and Uganda |
| 91. | Swedish | tack | Sweden and Finland |
| 92. | Hmong | ua tsaug | Laos and neighbouring areas |
| 93. | Shona | waita | Zimbabwe |
| 94. | Hiligaynon | salamat | Western Visayas in the Philippines |
| 95. | Uyghur | rahmat | Xinjiang (Western China) |
| 96. | Balochi | minnat vaaran’ | Balochistan Region including Pakistan (Balochistan), Iran (Sistan and Baluchestan), and southern Afghanistan (Nimruz, Helmand, and Kandahar) |
| 97. | Belarusian | dziakuj | Belarus |
| 98. | Mossi | y barka | Burkina Faso |
| 99. | Xhosa | enkosi | South Africa, Zimbabwe |
| 100. | Bulgarian | blagodaria | Bulgaria, Ukraine, Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Greece, and Romania |
Within an hour, the driver did come back on Siargao, but I’d hardly noticed since I was having such a nice little roadside hangout with the local family. It all started with “thank you.”
Has saying “thank you” in the local language been the ending of a beautiful travel story, or has it led you to a surprise adventure? Let me know in the comments!
U. Adhikari says
If you are planning a trip to India…So I would like to tell you that it’s OK to say “Hi”. Your smile would be enough for Indians.
And if you are really planning a trip to India then please don’t forget to explore Darjeeling.
Kristin says
🙂
Nat says
Matur nuwun from Indonesia ???
Anonymous says
Mongolia – Bayarlalaa – Баярлалаа.
We don’t speak russian. We speak mongolian
Jordan says
I see at no. 91) Sweden and Finland – tack. Is tack for Finland informal or slang perhaps? The word in Finnish for thank you is kiitos.
Kristin says
Thank you!
Noman says
Greetings of the day!
Attention please!!!
This is Noman.
Dear post “producer/to that person Who shared the post”, i would like to inform you that there are some ( no. 07) mistake on in this article. For example: in Bangladesh people say: “Dhonnobad (ধন্যবাদ.)” (in English: Thanks You.) To express gratitude to someone…
So, i hope you’ll replace it with correct word (“Dhonnobad or ধন্যবাদ.)” as soon as you can.
Thanks you so much for taking time out of your busy day to write such a great article, Move on ahead dear.
social media: @Sisir42
Kristin says
Thanks for letting me know!