Useful foreign phrases |
Numbers |
Colours |
Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
Useful foreign phrases |
Numbers |
Colours |
Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
How to welcome people in a variety of different languages.
Cick on any of the words that are links to hear them spoken. If you can provide recordings of other languages, corrections or additional translations, please contact me.
Key to abbreviations: sg = singular (said to one person), pl = plural (said to more than one person), inf = informal, frm = formal, m = male (said by males), f = female (said by females), >m = said to males, >f said to females.
| Language | Welcome |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Welkom |
| Albanian | Mirë se vjen |
| Alsatian | Wellkumma / Willkumme |
| Amharic | in kwahn deh-na meh tah (m) in kwahn deh-na meh tash (f) |
| Arabic (Egyptian) |
(ahlan wa sahlan) أهلاً و سهلاً |
| Arabic (Lebanese) |
Ahla w sahla |
| Arabic (Modern Standard) |
(ahlan wa sahlan) أهلاً و سهلاً |
| Aragonese | Bienveniu / Bienvenius |
| Armenian (Eastern) |
Բարի գալուստ! (Bari galu'st) |
| Armenian (Western) |
Բարի՜ եկաք: (Pari yegak) |
| Aromanian | Ghini vinit! (plural) Ghini vinishi! (singular) |
| Asturian | Bienveníu / Bienvenida |
| Azeri | Xoş gəlmişsiniz! |
| Basque | Ongi etorri |
| Batak | Menjuah-juah! Horas! |
| Belarusian | Вiтаем (Bitaem - We greet you) Прывiтанне (Pryvitańne - Greetings) |
| Bengali | স্বাগতম (shagotom) |
| Bhojpuri | स्वागत बा (swagat ba) |
| Bosnian | Dobrodošli |
| Breton | Degemer mat |
| Bulgarian | Добре дошъл (Dobre došãl) >1m Добре дошла (dobre došla) >1f Добре дошли (Dobre došli) >pl Добре заварил (Dobre zavaril) ><1m Добре заварила (Dobre zavarila) ><1f Добре заварили (Dobre zavarili) >< pl Добре дошло (dobre došlo) |
| Catalan | Benvingut (>m), Benvinguda (>f), Benvinguts (pl), Benvingudes (pl/f) |
| Cebuano | Maayong pag-abot |
| Chamorro | Bien binidu / Buen binidu |
| Chechen | марша вагIийла хьо (m) марша йагIийла хьо (f) марша дагIийла шу (pl) |
| Cherokee | ᎤᎵᎮᎵᏍᏗ (Ulihelisdi) |
| Chinese (Cantonese) |
歡迎 (fùnyìhng) |
| Chinese (Hakka) |
歡迎 (fon2 ngiang2) |
| Chinese (Mandarin) |
歡迎光臨 [欢迎光临] (huānyíng guānglín) |
| Chinese (Shanghainese) |
欢迎 (hueugnin) |
| Chinese (Taiwanese) |
歡迎光臨 (hoan-gêng kong-lîm) |
| Cornish | Dynnargh dhis |
| Corsican | Benvinuta |
| Croatian | Dobrodošli |
| Czech | Vítáme tĕ (sg/inf) Vítáme vás (pl/frm) |
| Danish | Velkommen |
| Dutch | Welkom |
| Efik | A me di o |
| Esperanto | Bonvenon |
| Estonian | Tere tulemast |
| Ewe | Woezor |
| Faroese | Vælkomin |
| Finnish | Tervetuloa |
| French | Bienvenue |
| Frisian (North) | Wäljkiimen |
| Friulian | Agradît / Benvignût |
| Galician | Benvido / Benvida |
| German | Willkommen |
| Georgian | კეთილი იყოს თქვენი /
შენი მობრძანება (kethili iqos tk'veni / sheni mobrdzaneba) |
| Greek (Modern) | Καλώς Ορίσατε (Kalós orísate) - frm Καλώς Όρισες (Kalós órises) - inf Καλώς Ήλθατε (kalós ílthate) - frm Καλώς Ήλθες (kalós ílthes) - inf Καλώς Ήρθατε (kalós írthate) - frm Καλώς Ήρθες (kalós írthes) - inf |
| Greenlandic | Tikilluarit / Tikilluaritsi |
| Guarani | Eguahé porá |
| Gujarati | પધારો (padhāro) |
| Haitian Creole | Byen venu / V byenvini / N bèlantre |
| Hausa | Sannu da zuwa |
| Hawaiian | Aloha |
| Hebrew | (baruch haba)
ברוך הבא pl - (bruchim ha-baim) ברוכים הבאים |
| Hindi | स्वागत (svāgat) सवागत हैं (svāgat haiṅ) |
| Hungarian | Üdvözlet |
| Icelandic | Velkomin (>m) Velkominn (>f) |
| Igbo | nno̱ |
| Indonesian | Selamat datang |
| Iñupiaq | Qaimarutin |
| Inuktitut | ᑐᙵᓱ (Tunngahugit/Tunngasugit) |
| Irish (Gaelic) | Fáilte,
Tá fáilte romhat (sg) / romhaibh (pl) Fáilte romhat isteach! (Welcome in!) Cead míle fáilte (hundred thousand welcomes) |
| Italian | Benvenuto (sg-m)
Benvenuti (pl-m) Benvenuta (sg-f) Benvenute (pl-f) |
| Japanese | ようこそ (yōkoso) |
| Javanese | Sugeng rawuh |
| Jèrriais | Séyiz les beinv'nu(e)(s)! |
| Kannada | ಸುಸ್ವಾಗತ (susvāgata) |
| Kazakh | Қош келдіңіз! (Qoş, keldiñiz!) |
| Khmer | សូមស្វាគមន៍ (sohm swaakohm) |
| Kinyarwanda | Murakaza neza |
| Korean | 환영합니다 (hwangyong-hamnida) |
| Lakota Sioux | Taŋyáŋ yahí (sg) Taŋyáŋ yahípi (pl) |
| Lao | ຍິນດີຕ້ອນຮັບ (nyín dee) |
| Latin | Salve |
| Latvian | Laipni lūdzam |
| Limburgish | Wilkóm |
| Lithuanian | Sveiki atvykę |
| Lojban | coi ro do |
| Luxembourgish | Wëllkomm |
| Macedonian | Добредојде
(Dobredojde) - inf Добредојдовте (Dobredoydovte) - frm |
| Malay | Selamat datang |
| Malayalam | സ്വാഗതം (swagatam) |
| Maltese | Merħba |
| Manx (Gaelic) | Failt, Failt royd |
| Māori | Haere mai / Nau mai |
| Marathi | स्वागत आहे (svāgat āhe) |
| Mi'kmaq | Weltasualuleg |
| Mongolian | Тавтай морилогтун (tavtai morilogtun) |
| Nepali | स्वागतम् (swagatam) |
| Norwegian | Velkommen |
| Occitan | Benvengut! Benvenguda! Planvengut! Planvenguda! |
| Oriya | Swaagata |
| Papiamento | Bon bini |
| Pashto | (pakheyr) پخير |
| Persian (Farsi) | (khosh amadid) خوش آمدید |
| Polish | Witam Cię (Sg>Sg)
Witamy Cię (Pl>Sg) Witam Was (Sg>Pl) Witamy Was (Pl>Pl) Witam (Sg>Any) Witamy (Pl>Any) Witaj (Any>Sg) Witajcie (Any>Pl) |
| Portuguese | Bem-vindo (>m) Bem-vinda (>f), Bem-vindos (pl) |
| Punjabi | ਜੀ ਆਇਆ ਨੂੰ। / جی آیاں نُوں (jī āiā nū̃) |
| Quechua | Haykuykuy! (Come in!) |
| Romanian | Bun venit / Bine ai venit |
| Romansh | Bainvegni |
| Russian | Добро пожаловать! (Dobro požalovat'!) |
| Samoan | Afio mai / Susu mai / Maliu mai |
| Sardinian (Logudorese) |
Ennidos |
| Scots | Walcome / Welcum |
| Scottish Gaelic | Fàilte / Ceud mìle fàilte |
| Serbian | Добродошли (Dobrodošli!) |
| Sesotho | Kena ka kgotso! (sg) Kenang ka kgotso! (pl) |
| Shona | Mauya |
| Sicilian | Binvinutu |
| Sinhala | සාදරයෙන් පිලිගන්නවා (sadarayen piligannawa) |
| Slovak | Vitaj (sg/inf) Vitajte (pl/frm) |
| Slovenian | Dobrodošli |
| Somali | Soo dhowow |
| Spanish | Bienvenido (sg) Bienvenidos (pl) |
| Swahili | Karibu |
| Swedish | Välkommen (sg) Välkomna (pl) |
| Swiss German | Wilkomme |
| Tagalog | Maligayang pagdating / Mabuhay |
| Tahitian | Maeva / Mānava |
| Tamil | வாங்க (vaangha) |
| Tatar | Räxim itegez |
| Telugu | సుస్వాగతం (susvāgatam) |
| Tetum | Ksolok Bodik Mai / Bemvindu |
| Thai | ยินดีต้อนรับ (yin dee dtôn ráp) |
| Tibetan | ཕེབས་པར་དགའ་བསུ་ཞུ། |
| Tigrinya | መርሓባ (merhaba) እንቋዕ ብደሐን መጻእካ (ənqwaˋ bdeHen meSaəka) m እንቋዕ ብደሐን መጻእኪ (ənqwaˋ bdeHen meSaəki) f lit, "wonderful that you have arrived safely" እንቋዕ ብድሐን ጸናሕካ (ənqwaˋ bdeHen SenaHka) m እንቋዕ ብድሐን ጸናሕኪ (ənqwaˋ bdeHen SenaHki) f lit: "wonderful that you have stayed well" - response to above |
| Tok Pisin | Welkam |
| Tongan | Talitali fiefia |
| Tswana | O amogetswe (sg) Le amogetswe (pl) |
| Ukrainian | Ласкаво просимо (Laskavo proschmo) Вітаємо (Bitajemo) |
| Urdu | (khush āmdīd) خوش آمديد |
| Uzbek | Xush kelibsiz |
| Venetian | Benvignùo Benvegnù / Benvegnesto (sg-m) Benvegnùa / Benvegnesta (sg-f) Benvegnùi / Benvegnesti (pl-m) Benvegnùe / Benvegneste (pl-f) |
| Vietnamese | Hoan nghênh / Được tiếp đãi ân cần |
| Volapük | Vekömö |
| Võro | Tere tulõmast |
| Walloon | Benvnuwe |
| Welsh | Croeso / Croeso cynnes iawn |
| Wolof | Merhbe |
| Xhosa | Siya namkela nonke |
| Yiddish | sg (Borekh-Habo)
ברוך־הבא pl (Brukhim-Haboim) ברוכים־הבאים |
| Yorùbá | Ẹ ku abọ |
| Yucatec Maya | Kíimak 'oolal |
| Zulu | Ngiyakwemukela (sg) Ngiyanemukela (pl) |
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, please
contact me. If you can provide audio recordings
of any of these phrases, please send them to
Welcome | Hello | Good morning | Good afternoon | Good evening | Good night | How are you? | Long time no see | Please | Thank you | Excuse me | Sorry | Goodbye | Bon voyage | Pleased to meet you | What's your name? | Where are you from? | I (don't) understand | Please say that again | Please speak more slowly | Please write it down | Do you speak English? | Do you speak ...? | Speak to me in ... | How do you say ... in ...? | I don't know | Go away! | Leave me alone! | Help! Fire! Stop! | Call the police! | Merry Christmas and Happy New Year | Happy Easter | Happy Birthday | Good luck | Cheers! | Bon appetit | Would you like to dance? | How much is this? | Have a nice day | Where's the toilet? | Get well soon | I love you | I miss you | My hovercraft is full of eels | One language is never enough