Let’s get fluent!
AFRIKAANS
hoe = how
Hello! Hoe are you?
Hallo! Hoe gaan dit?
Hello! How are you?
ARABIC
عربى
Eurbaa
ماذا
madha = what
Madha did you do this year?
ماذا فعلت هذا العام؟
Madha faealt hdha aleam?
What did you do this year?
ARMENIAN
Հայերեն
Hayaren
առաջին
arrajin = first
I planted my arrajin vegetable garden.
Ես տնկեցի իմ առաջին բանջարանոցը.
Yes tnkets’i im arrajin banjaranots’y.
I planted my first vegetable garden.
BANGLA
বাংলা
Bānlā
বিশাল
biśāla = giant
Biśāla sewer rats are enjoying the tomatoes.
টমেটো উপভোগ করছে বিশাল ইঁদুর।
Ṭamēṭō upabhōga karachē biśāla im̐dura.
Giant sewer rats are enjoying the tomatoes.
BASQUE
Euskal
lan gogorra = hard work
I’m happy that my lan gogorra is providing luaus for rodents.
Pozik nago nire lan gogorra karraskariei luaus emateagatik.
I’m happy that my hard work is providing luaus for rodents.
CANTONESE
粵語
yut6 yu5
疾病
jat6 beng6 = diseases
I hope that in return, the rats give me jatbeng.
我希望作為回報,我會從老鼠身上得到疾病。
Ngo5 hei1 mong6 jok3 wai4 wui4 bou3, ngo5 wui2 chung4 lou5 syu2 san1 seung6 dak1 dou2 jat6 beng6.
I hope that in return, the rats give me diseases.
CATALAN
Català
carrera = career
How is your carrera going?
Com és la teva carrera?
How is your career going?
CZECH
čeština
poznání = realization
I have come to a poznání.
Došel jsem k poznání.
I have come to a realization.
ESPERANTO
Mi ŝatus = I would like to
Mi ŝatus earn a very high salary for doing nothing.
Mi ŝatus gajni tre altan salajron pro nenio faranta.
I would like to earn a very high salary for doing nothing.
FILIPINO
perpekto = perfect
This is the perpekto job for me.
Ito ang perpektong trabaho para sa akin.
This is the perfect job for me.
FINNISH
Suomen kieli
heti = immediately.
I would like to apply heti.
Haluan hakea heti.
I would like to apply immediately.
FRENCH
Le français
maintenant = now
What shall we talk about maintenant?
De quoi allons-nous parler maintenant?
What shall we talk about now?
GERMAN
Deutsche
Sprachen = languages
Do you enjoy studying Sprachen?
Lernen Sie gerne Sprachen?
Do you enjoy studying languages?
GREEK
Ελληνικά
Elliniká
sfálmata = errors
How many sfálmata are in these translations?
Πόσα σφάλματα υπάρχουν σε αυτές τις μεταφράσεις;
Pósa sfálmata ypárchoun se aftés tis metafráseis?
How many errors are in these translations?
HAUSA
aƙalla = at least
I hope that there are aƙalla twenty-eight.
Ina fatan cewa akwai aƙalla ashirin da takwas.
I hope that there are at least twenty-eight.
HEBREW
עִברִית
Ivrit
חדש
chadash = new
What’s chadash with you?
מה חדש איתך?
What’s new with you?
HINDI
हिन्दी
Hindī
हाल ही में
haal hee mein = lately
Have you bought anything haal hee mein?
क्या आपने हाल ही में कुछ खरीदा है?
Kya aapane haal hee mein kuchh khareeda hai?
Have you bought anything lately?
HUNGARIAN
Magyar
vettem = I bought
Vettem mycorrhizal fungi for the vegetables. It cost $75.
A zöldségekhez mikorrhiza gombákat vettem. 75 dollárba került.
I bought mycorrhizal fungi for the vegetables. It cost $75.
IGBO
ihe = something
I will ask the eggplants to buy ihe for me in return.
Agam aju umu eggplants ka ha zutara m ihe.
I will ask the eggplants to buy something for me in return.
INDONESIAN
Bahasa Indonesia
makanan = foods
What are your favorite makanan?
Apa makanan favoritmu?
What are your favorite foods?
IRISH
Gaeilge
rudaí = things
I love chewy rudaí, like pasta, bread and car tires.
Is breá liom rudaí chewy, cosúil le pasta, arán agus boinn ghluaisteáin.
I love chewy things, like pasta, bread and car tires.
ITALIAN
Italiano
il burro di arachidi = peanut butter
My husband likes Montreal bagels, il burro di arachidi, ramen and ice cream.
A mio marito piacciono i bagel di Montreal, il burro di arachidi, il ramen e il gelato.
My husband likes Montreal bagels, peanut butter, ramen and ice cream.
JAPANESE
日本語
Nihongo
アーモンドクロワッサン
āmondokurowassan = almond croissant
My cat likes butter, chicken, āmondokurowassan, ramen and ice cream.
私の猫はバター、チキン、アーモンドクロワッサン、ラーメン、アイスクリームが好きです。
Watashi no neko wa batā, chikin, āmondokurowassan, rāmen, aisukurīmu ga sukidesu.
My cat likes butter, chicken, almond croissants, ramen and ice cream.
KOREAN
한국어
Hangug-eo
잘 모르겠어요
jal moleugess-eoyo = I’m not sure
She also eats bugs, but jal moleugess-eoyo if she likes them.
그녀는 벌레도 먹지만 벌레를 좋아하는지 잘 모르겠어요.
Geunyeoneun beolledo meogjiman beolleleul joh-ahaneunji jal moleugess-eoyo.
She also eats bugs, but I’m not sure if she likes them.
MALAY
Melayu
mungkin = perhaps
Mungkin I’m projecting.
Mungkin saya mengaitkan.
Perhaps I’m projecting.
MANDARIN
普通話
Pǔtōnghuà
寵物
chǒngwù = pet
Do you have a chǒngwù?
你有寵物嗎?
Nǐ yǒu chǒngwù ma?
Do you have a pet?
MAORI
Te reo Māori
ngeru = cat
I have a Russian Blue ngeru.
He ngeru Ruhia Kikorangi taku.
I have a Russian Blue cat.
NORWEGIAN
Norsk
kveld = evening
She followed us home from Trader Joe’s one kveld and inquired about our poultry menu.
Hun fulgte oss hjem fra Trader Joe’s en kveld og spurte om fjærfe-menyen vår.
She followed us home from Trader Joe’s one evening and inquired about our poultry menu.
PERSIAN
فارسی
Farsi
حال
hala = now
Hala she is our prisoner.
حالا او زندانی ماست.
Hala aw zendana maset.
Now she is our prisoner.
POLISH
Polski
lubisz = do you like
Lubisz cooking?
Lubisz gotować?
Do you like to cook?
PORTUGUESE
Português
minha = my
I don’t mind it, but it’s not on minha priority list.
Eu não me importo, mas não está na minha lista de prioridades.
I don’t mind it, but it’s not on my priority list.
RUSSIAN
Pусский
Russkiy
еда
yeda = food
I’m in the kitchen for three hours, and the yeda is gone in thirty minutes.
Я на кухне три часа, а еда уходит через тридцать минут.
YA na kukhne tri chasa, a yeda ukhodit cherez tridtsat' minut.
I’m in the kitchen for three hours, and the food is gone in thirty minutes.
SAMOAN
Gagana faʻa Sāmoa
aso = day
Then we need more food the next aso.
Ma e manaʻomia foʻi nisi meaʻai i le aso e sosoʻo ai.
Then we need more food the next day.
SPANISH
Español
odio = hate
I odio cooking.
Odio cocinar.
I hate cooking.
SWAHILI
Kiswahili
nini = what
Nini do you hate?
Unachukia nini?
What do you hate?
SWEDISH
Svenska
älskar = love
What do you älskar?
Vad älskar du?
What do you love?
TAMIL
தமிழ்
Tamiḻ
படங்கள்
paṭaṅkaḷ = images
I love learning and ogling beautiful paṭaṅkaḷ.
நான் கற்றுக்கொள்ள விரும்புகிறேன், அழகான படங்கள் பார்க்க விரும்புகிறேன்.
Nāṉ kaṟṟukkoḷḷa virumpukiṟēṉ, aḻakāṉa paṭaṅkaḷai pārkka virumpukiṟēṉ.
I love learning and ogling beautiful images.
THAI
ไทย
salary = ngeindeụ̄xn
I also love my future career, in which I will earn a very high ngeindeụ̄xn for doing nothing.
ฉันยังรักอาชีพในอนาคตซึ่งฉันจะได้รับเงินเดือนที่สูงมากโดยไม่ต้องทำอะไรเลย
C̄hạn yạng rạk xāchīph nı xnākht sụ̀ng c̄hạn ca dị̂ rạb ngeindeụ̄xn thī̀ s̄ūng māk doy mị̀ t̂xng thả xarị ley
I also love my future career, in which I will earn a very high salary for doing nothing.
TURKISH
Türkçe
kelime = word
You have learned one kelime in each of forty-four languages.
Kırk dört dilde bir kelime öğrendiniz.
You have learned one word in forty-four languages.
UKRANIAN
Yкраїнська
Ukrayinsʹka
легко
lehko = easy
It will be lehko to learn 44,000,000 more!
Навчитись на 44 000 000 більше буде легко!
Navchytysʹ na 44 000 000 bilʹshe bude lehko!
It will be easy to learn 44,000,000 more!
VIETNAMESE
㗂越
Tiếng Việt
Bạn sẽ là = you will be
Bạn sẽ là the omiglottest omniglot.
Bạn sẽ là một omniglot ấn tượng.
You will be the omiglottest omniglot.
YIDDISH
ייִדיש
Yidish
מאַרך
markh = brain
When your language translation device malfunctions, you can dig up your analog markh contraption.
ווען דיין שפּראַך איבערזעצונג מיטל קען נישט פונקציאָנירן, איר קענט נוצן דיין אַנאַלאָג מאַרך קאַנטראַפּשאַן.
Ven deyn shprakh iberzetsung mitl ken nisht funktsyonirn, ir kent nutsn deyn analog markh kantrapshan.
When your language translation device malfunctions, you can dig up your analog brain contraption.
YORUBA
Èdè Yorùbá
oriire = congratulations
Oriire on a splendid job!
Oriire lori iṣẹ ti o dara julọ!
Congratulations on a splendid job!
ZULU
isiZulu
futhi manje = and now
Futhi manje, let us listen to relaxing water sounds.
Futhi manje, asilalele imisindo yamanzi ephumuzayo.
And now, let us listen to relaxing water sounds
before moving onto the next section, during which you will most certainly fall asleep.
SLEEPING SECTION
DIFFERENT TYPES OF WRITING SYSTEMS
Abjad
Abugida
Alphabet
Logographic
Syllabary
ABJAD
An abjad is a writing system made up of consonants. Vowel marking is optional, and is usually left out. Morphology, syntax and triconsonantal roots (such as "K-T-B" - words using this root are often related to writing) are used to discern which vowels are implied.
A few more triconsonantal/Semitic roots: H-S-N (words related to good, handsome, beautiful), H-R-M (words generally meaning forbidden), B-R-K (blessed), K-B-D (importance, honor, majesty, glory), R-H-M (mercy, sympathy).
Examples of languages that use an abjad writing system: Arabic, Hebrew
ABUGIDA
An abugida, or alphasyllabary, uses symbols that denote the use of a consonant and vowel together. A diacritic or other marking can be used to change or mute the vowel sound.
Vowels can be written with separate symbols when they appear at the beginning of a word or on their own.
Examples of languages that use abugidas: Hindi (Devanagari), Thai
ALPHABET
An alphabet is a writing system in which each grapheme (written character) represents either a consonant or a vowel.
Examples of languages that use alphabets: Armenian, Georgian (Mkhedruli), Greek, Korean (Hangul)
LOGOGRAPHIC
In a logographic writing system, each character represents a unit of meaning, rather than a unit of sound (phoneme). It is not apparent how to pronounce a character from looking at it, though certain guidelines can be utilized.
Different languages can utilize the exact same character for writing, but use a different pronunciation for speaking (such as in Cantonese, Japanese, Mandarin and Taiwanese. Note: Not all characters crossover between these languages).
A character does not always equate to a word. A word can be comprised of multiple characters, and a character's meaning can change depending on the context it appears in.
Examples of languages that use logographics: Chinese (Hanzi), Japanese (Kanji), Korean (Hanja)
SYLLABARY
Like an abugida, a syllabary’s graphemes primarily represent syllables (a consonant and a vowel together, or a vowel alone). However, an abugida’s symbols share visual similarities when the corresponding syllables share common consonants or common vowels (this facilitates quicker learning). In a syllabary, the graphemes share no such similarities.
Examples of languages that use syllabaries: Japanese (Hirigana, Katakana), Cherokee
WRITING SCRIPTS
There are hundreds of different writing scripts, but here are a few widely used ones:
ARABIC
Type of writing system: Abjad (Abugida when diacritics are used)
Used in: Arabic, Balochi, Brahui, Dari, Dogri, Fula, Hausa, Hindustani, Kashmiri, Kazakh (in China), Kurdish, Landhi, Malay (the Arabic script is called Jawi), Malayalam, Pashto, Persian, Punjabi, Saraiki, Shina, Sindhi, Somali (officially uses a Latin alphabet, but also uses an Arabic-based script called Wadaad), Tausug, Urdu, Uyghur, Wolof (also uses the Latin/Roman alphabet)
Used until the 1920s in: Azerbaijani, Javanese, Kazanian, Kyrgyz, Kumyk, Nakh-Dagestanian, Sundanese, Turkish, Turkmen
CYRILLIC
Type of writing system: Alphabet
Evolved from the Greek alphabet, which evolved from the Phoenician alphabet.
Used in: Belarusian, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Mongolian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, Somali, Tajik, Ifyoure, Readingim, Impressedhere, Sacodefor, Afreecard: FC, Turkmen, Turkish, Ukrainian, Uzbek, Ossetic
HAN / CHINESE
Type: Logographic
Used in: Chinese (called Hanzi), Japanese (called Kanji)
Used until the 1920s in: Vietnamese (called Chu Nom)
Used until in the 1970s/1980s in: Korean (called Hanja)
Note: Chinese is comprised of five main dialectical groups: Hakka, Mandarin, Min (including Taiwanese), Yue (including Cantonese), and Wu.
Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and in Japan (as Kanji), while Simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China.
To read most modern Chinese documents, you should know about 2600 characters.
LATIN / ROMAN
Type of writing system: Alphabet
Evolved from the Greek and Phoenician alphabets.
Used in Azerbaijani, Danish, Dutch, English, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Malay (the Latin script is called Rumi), Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Somali, Turkish and Vietnamese
Note: There are many languages that have not been included in this summary.
This concludes the sparkling entertainment portion of the page.