The Four Essential Travel Phrases

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The Four Essential Travel Phrases

in 635 languages + 309 dialects + 125 conlangs!

alphabetical index

search for a language, dialect, or country
(including entries not listed in the indexes)

regional index

jump to a language at random

writing system index

Latest Travel Phrase Additions...

New	09/2024:	Nepal Bhasa / Newar
New	08/2024:	Marathi using Modi script & Maranao using Arabic script
New	02/2023:	Surigaonon

What is this site?

Many years ago, I (Mimi) started traveling extensively overseas while working for a consulting company.
While on these assignments, some of my colleagues and I decided that there were certain phrases we felt every traveler should know and in as many languages as possible, because you just never know.
I told my friend David about our simplified phrase book, and he was so taken with the idea that he created the phrases you see here in this web site.
David did extensive research on fonts, writing styles & systems, and other esoterica related to languages and linguistics, and presented me with a bound booklet on my birthday in 1995.

David has continued to update his original document, making corrections, and adding languages whenever possible.
As a tribute to all his hard work, I decided that the booklet should become a series of web pages, so that all sorts of people besides me could appreciate all the time and effort he put into this project.
I thought that by making a web site out of it, we could get many more suggestions and corrections, and get more languages represented.

What are the phrases?

The phrases we thought every traveler should know are:

1) Where is my room?
2) Where is the beach?
3) Where is the bar?
4) Don't touch me there!

The last phrase is obviously of the utmost importance, particularly if you've already had answers to the first three.

Wish list

Any language or dialect additions are welcome, but here are the ones that merit special mention:

Ao Naga, Chinese (Huizhou, Jinyu, Min Bei, Min Zhong, Pu-Xian, Xiang), Dehong Dai/Tai Le, Demotic Egyptian, Garo, Ho/Lanka Kol/Bihar Ho, Kashmiri, Kayah Li, Lisu, Mon, Nisi/Nissi, Northeastern Dian Hmong, Tai Dam, and Tai Lu/Lü.

Also, cuneiform for the Akkadian translations and traditional scripts for the Balinese translations.

Suggestions and Corrections

Please send additions or corrections to David McCreedy:

Please, no biting criticism, unless it's funny.

"Thank You" to Our Contributors

We've created a list of some of the people and organizations that have contributed to The Four Essential Travel Phrases over the years.

As you'll see from our contributors list, David has no problem asking total strangers for the oddest things.
I'm sure it seemed bizarre to the people who have contributed over time, and this list is our small way of saying "Thanks".

Some on the list did the actual translations while others helped by providing corrections or passing requests to translators.
Without their help this site wouldn't exist.

Links to Other Language Related Sites

Foreign Languages for Travelers
Jennifer's Language Page, several words and phrases in hundreds of languages, with links to other "phrase collections"
The numbers 1-10 in over 5,000 languages
Wikipedia's index of writing systems.
Omniglot's guide to writing systems.

Copyright

[translation index, grouped by writing system]