LANGUAGES

 

Many immigrants who arrived in Texas and other parts of the United States did not speak English fluently.  They came with the language from their homeland.  Sometimes it took several generations before English became the primary language for a family.  There are still people today who speak another language at home and in their community.  Here are some basic words in 6 different languages found in Texas and other areas of the United States.  Click on the word to hear the correct pronunciation.

 

	Greek	French	German	Norwegian	Czech	Italian
Yes:	Nai'	Oui	Ja	Ja	Ano	Sì
No:	O'hi	Non	Nien	Nei	Ne	No
Hello:	gia'sou	Bonjour	Guten Tag	Hallo	Dobrý den, Ahoj	Salve, Ciao
Good bye:	andi'o sas	Au revior, Adieu	Auf Wiedersehen	Ha det	Na shledanou	Arrivederci, Ciao
Thank you:	Efharisto'	Merci	Danke	Tusen takk	De^kuji vám	Grazie
Nice to meet you:	He'ro poli'	Enchanté (de faire votre connaissance).	Sehr erfreut. Freut mich (,Sie kennen zu lernen.)	Hyggelig å treffe deg.	Te^s^í me^.	Felice di conoscerla. Felice di conoscerti. Piacere.

                 

Note: In Czech if a letter is followed by a ^ the letter in Czech would be spelled with a ^ upside down on top.

 

Try our language quiz to see how much you have learned.

 

The audio files were used with permission from: Foreign Languages for Travelers

 

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