One thing that is important to me when traveling is being able to speak a few words in the local language. Even if it is just “hello”, “thank you”, or “do you speak English?” I think it is a sign of respect and goes a long way toward shared understanding.
While I wish my language repertoire was deeper, I only speak English, conversational German, and about 100 words of Spanish. I do know a few phrases, however, in about a dozen other widely-used languages.
Perhaps today you are traveling in a foreign land and want to wish someone a “Merry Christmas”. Here’s a cool video that teaches you how to say Merry Christmas in 26 languages:
If you are more a visual learner than an audio learner, here’s a website that has even more languages, all phonetically spelled out.
Christmas is fun .
Megi þið öll eiga afar gleðileg jól!
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and seasons greetings.