BootsnAll Travel Community

if and when you begin learning a new language, what is the first word you try to learn?

my first three are:
hello
thanks
love.

i figure nothing else is terribly important.
i guess hospital should be ranked.
oh well.

I like novelty words -- I can always pick up 'hello' and 'thanks,' but more important to me are words such as:

gangrene
midget
tapeworm

You'll really have an ice breaker on your hands if you start out with some of these words. At least, that has been my experience.

From now on the first phrase I will learn in any language will be "where can I see midget wrasslin?"

Thanks Jules!

back to the topic...i think "Where is the...?" and a few choice nouns (bathroom, restuarant, shop, hostel) should be the first

"Kampai" was the first Japanese word I learned. Mighty useful too

"Hello"/"How are you"/"I'm fine" are traditionally the first words I pick up, closely followed by "Thank you". It may be boring, but they are great ice-breakers if the locals don't expect you to speak any of the language at all. Sadly, that's usually all I end up learning...

A recent thread with the top ten to fifteen basic phrases in a few languages: Basic Phrases

"Hello" is usually the first one. From there, I'll try the numbers 1-10, as well as:

Yes
No
I
You
Please
Thank you
Goodbye
I don't understand

I guess 'hello' and 'thankyou' are the first words I try and remember.

Having said that I spent a week in Finland and the only vocabulary my finnish friends managed to teach me was 'perekele' and 'vittu'.

I like to be able to say "I am not a fish" and can do so in a number of languages.

quote:

Originally posted by Haci Richard:
I like to be able to say "I am not a fish" and can do so in a number of languages.

Examples, please.

How about: I can drink like a fish.
That could be useful and/or get you in trouble.

quote:

Originally posted by AmazingJulesVerne:

quote:

Originally posted by Haci Richard:
I like to be able to say "I am not a fish" and can do so in a number of languages.

Examples, please.

Turkish: Balik degilim.
Japanese: Watashi wa sakana ja nai.
French: Je ne suis pas un poisson.
Arabic: Ana maa samak.
Dutch: Ik ben geen vis.
German: Ich bin nicht ein Fisch.

If anyone can add to the list, I'd appreciate it.

Spanish: Yo no soy un pescado.

Maybe I should try that instead of "hello" in Central America and see what happens.

Of course "Hello" and "Thank you" are big ones...

Because I have blatter problems I try to learn " I need to go to the bathroom please"

Because I love to shop I try to learn " How much?" and It's too expensive"

And to discourage touts and harrassing salesmen I try to learn " No thank you I don't need it".

The only time I really couldn't learn anything but "Hello" and "Thank you" was in China. For some reason, I just couldn't handle Mandarin...

And Haci Richard,
in French it's "Je ne suis pas un poisson.
Not d'un poisson.
Just so you know the next time you need to use it...

"I need a spoon please"

quote:

Originally posted by travelclown:
And Haci Richard,
in French it's "Je ne suis pas un poisson.
Not d'un poisson.
Just so you know the next time you need to use it...

Thanks -- My French has always sucked. It seemed to work in Tunis, but just got blank stares in Paris.

[QUOTEIt seemed to work in Tunis, but just got blank stares in Paris.
] [/QUOTE]

Well my friend, I'm a francophone from Canada and even I got blank stares in Paris!!!
It's my first language and some of them wanted to serve me in English for God's sake!!!
But hey, they're weird about their French in Paris...
I think a lot of them don't want to make the effort to understand you if you have a different accent.
But the rest of France is fine though... Outside of Paris I'm sure the French would be more then happy to talk to you

"I am a fish"

Hungarian:

hal vagyok

I start out with:

Greetings and goodbyes (hello, goodbye, my name is, nice to meet you, where are you from?)
Thanks/please/yes/no/excuse me
How do I get to...?/left/right/straight
Numbers 1-10 (or 1-100 if I have time!)
How much is...?
Bus/train/plane/airport/station/hostel/toilet

Edit: Haha, looks like I'd already posted here and forgotten. I guess my list has undergone some changes, though.