When travelling through European countries, I know how national of different peoples thank if tourist say at least some words in their languages (hello, how do you do, bye...), and it is not so difficult to learn, even in very strange languages. <BR>Could people from different nations say how they say these phrases?

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Hello, <BR>I think, John meant that he would like to have a translation of the most used phrases in different languages. <BR>If that`s it I`ll start with German: <BR>Hello=Hallo, but if you say Hello it`s ok as well. <BR>To be more polite you should say "Guten Tag" all day long, "Guten Morgen" in the morning and "Guten Abend" in the evening. When you leave to go to bed you`ll say "Gute Nacht" which is good night. <BR>How do you do=Wie geht es Dir/Ihnen? You`ll use "Dir" if you know the person well or if it`s a kid or you`re among younger people. <BR>Bye= Auf Wiedersehen or Tschuess <BR> <BR>If you want to know anything special, just ask. <BR> <BR>Regards <BR> <BR>Miriam <BR>

In lower Germany (Bavaria) they say Gruss Got instead of Guten Tag. <BR>In Spain Beunos Dieas in the Morning, <BR>Beunes Tardes afternoons and Beunes Noches in the evening. <BR>

In Belgium (Dutch speaking part): <BR>hello = "hallo" <BR>"goeiedag" whole day long ; "goede morgen" in the morning ; "goede avond" in the evening ; "goede nacht" when going to sleep. <BR>How do you do = "hoe maakt u het?" <BR>Bye = "tot ziens" <BR>Thank you = "dank u" or "dank u wel" <BR>Thank you very much = "hartelijk dank". <BR> <BR>In Belgium (French speaking part): <BR>hello = "salut" <BR>"bonjour" whole day long and in the morning ; "bon soir" in the evening ; "bonne nuit" when going to sleep. <BR>How do you do: "comment allez-vous" <BR>Bye: "au revoir" <BR>Thank you: "merci" <BR>Thank you very much: "merci bien" or "merci beaucoup". <BR> <BR>

In the Basque Country: <BR>hello: hola (as in Spanish), kaixo <BR>good morning: egunon <BR>eguerdion means good midday <BR>arrastion (in the West), arratsaldeon (rest of the country): good afternoon <BR>gabon: good night <BR>how do you do?: zer moduz? <BR>thank you: eskerrik asko (pronounced eskerri-kasko, with strong 'r' like in Spanish), esker mila <BR>bye: agur, adio, aio <BR>see you later: gero arte

John, <BR>this Fodor's website has a language section which can teach you a few phrases if your computer has sound. <BR>Check it out.