30 B4 30 Day 6: Learn to Say Thank You in 30 Languages

Good manners were instilled in me early in life with my mom asking, "Whatdya say?" after I received an ice cream cone from Mister Softee or when the big kid from next door went to get the ball that I accidentally tossed across the street. After a few years, it stuck and now I shout, "YOU'RE WELCOME!" to people I knowingly hold the door open for at the mall who neglect to say thank you. I just feel that there is no excuse to not say thank you or you're welcome or even please, well unless you have a mouthful of food and the waiter comes by to ask how the food is. Then, it may take a minute...but you should still say it.

In addition, I have always thought there should be something else to say after someone says, "you're welcome," because sometimes saying, "thank you," is just not enough to convey how thankful you really are. So, for my 6th item on my 30 B4 30 list, I chose to Learn to Say Thank You in 30 Languages because sometimes "thank you" is the most important thing you can say in any language.

Now, some of the words were easier to learn, like asante (Swahili) which was said in The Lion King and arigato (Japanese) which was sung in "Mr. Roboto" by Styx. Also, I already knew the big 4: gracias (Spanish), merci (French), grazie (Italian) and danke (German), which every person should know regardless of what subject they chose to study in high school. Then there is the one I have used before: mahalo (Hawaiian), and the one I have heard before: mesi (Haitian Creole). But, after I got through these eight, the rest were slightly difficult to learn and even more difficult to remember, and I have been repeating them over and over. See for yourself:

1. ARABIC = shukran, shoe-krahn
2. BENGALI = dhanyabaad
3. CHINESE, Cantonese = do jeh, daw-dyeh
4. CHINESE, Mandarin = xiè xie, syeh-syeh
5. CROATIAN, SERBIAN, SLOVENIAN = hvala
6. CZECH = děkuji, deh-ku-yih
7. DUTCH = dank u wel / dank je wel
8. FINNISH = kiitos, kee-toas
9. GREEK = ευχαριστώ, ef-har-rih-stowe
10. HEBREW = toda, toh-dah
11. HINDI = sukria, shoo-kree-a
12. INDONESIAN = terima kasih, t'ree-ma kas-seh
13. KOREAN = kamsah hamnida, kahm-sah ham-nee-da
14. LATIN = gratias ago (from 1 person), gratias agimus (from more than 1 person)
15. LATVIAN = paldies
16. NORWEGIAN, SWEDISH, ICELANDIC, DANISH = tahk
17. PERSIAN = motashakkeram
18. POLISH = dziękuję, dsyen-koo-yeh
19. PORTUGUESE = obrigada (female speaking), oh-bree-gah-dah
20. RUSSIAN = спасибо, spah-see-boh
21. TAHITIAN = mauruuru
22. TURKISH = tesekkur ederim, teh-sheh-kur eh-deh-rim

Not as easy as it seems, is it? At least there were pronunciation hints included with some of them. I would be completely lost if that wasn't the case. For instance, try to read the Greek term without the pronunciation assistance. That's what I thought...

So far, I can remember several of the words listed but I fully intend to learn all 30 and keep them in my mental Rolodex for future use.

And, I would like to say a special thank you to Louise DiCarlo who suggested I add this item to my list. She can pick whichever thank you she wants from the list to accept my appreciation. Personally, I would choose mahalo because it is my personal favorite. Hawaii is an amazing place and the only location of the 30 that I have been to. Wow, apparently, I need to travel more and practice what I have just learned.

Oh, and thank you for reading about today's activity!