About This Quiz
How many languages did you study in school? Think you are a linguistic genius? Take this quiz to find out exactly how much you know about world languages.
Even if you claim only one language as your "mother tongue," you are likely to also understand at least a little bit of some other languages. You may have studied a foreign language in school, learned some phrases in another language while traveling, or just decided to better your own personal knowledge of the world around you by broadening your language horizons. Whatever your exposure, learning another language makes you a smarter and more well-rounded individual.
In case you didn't know, Chinese is the language spoken by the majority of individuals in the world. In fact, as many as 1.2 billion people speak some version of Chinese, with Mandarin being the most spoken with roughly one billion speakers. If you speak English as your primary tongue, you may be surprised to learn that just over 350 million people speak English as their native language - Spanish and Chinese have more speakers. Even more surprising, more people throughout the world speak English as a second language than speak English as a first language. Surprised?
Take this quiz to find out how much you know about world languages.
Bonjour is French for hello. We wanted to start you off easy.
Es tut mir leid is German for "I am sorry." You may also say Entschuldigung for "excuse me."
Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi is Mandarin Chinese for What is your name? This is the informal version. For the formal version, you would say Nǐ guìxìng.
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Comment allez-vous is French for "how are you." If you're in an informal situation, just say Ça va?
Vuole ripetere, per favore is Italian for "repeat that, please." If you're not up to snuff on your Italian, this phrase might come in handy.
Ich bin is German for "i am ..." This multipurpose phrase will serve you well in many situations.
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Quanto costa is Italian for "How much does it cost." This is the singular. For the plural, say Quanto costano.
Shì is Mandarin Chinese for "yes," ... kind of. There actually is no word for "yes" in Chinese, so Shì technically means "it is."
Nein is German for "no." Ja is German for "yes."
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Xièxie is Mandarin Chinese for "thanks." This is a must-know word in any language.
Salve is Latin for "hello." It is also Italian for "hello."
Je voudrais un croissant is French for "I would like a croissant." This would be a handy phrase to know ... assuming you like croissants.
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¿Cómo se llama usted? is Spanish for "what is your name?"
Wie geht es dir is German for, "How are you?"
Bien is Spanish for "great" or "good." You can also use this same word for the French.
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Répétez, s'il vous plaît is French for, "Repeat that, please." The phrase, "s'il vous plaît" translates to "if you please."
Langsamer, bitte is German for "slowly, please." A foreign language can be hard to understand, so you might have to ask a native speaker to slow it down.
Je suis désolé, je ne comprends pas is French for, "I'm sorry, I don't understand." Say this to a male. If you're talking to a female, say, "Je suis désolée, je ne comprends pas."
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Où est is French for "where is ..." Pair this with a noun like library, school or restaurant.
Auf Wiedersehen is the formal German for "goodbye." Informally, you would say Tschüss.
Ich besorge das Bier is German for "I'll get the beer." Hey, when in Germany ...
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De nada is Spanish for "You're welcome." Literally translated, it means, "It's nothing."
Ni Shuo Le Shen Me is Mandarin Chinese for, "What did you say?" In Japanese, you would say Nan to ii mashita ka?
Ich liebe dich is German for "I love you." In Spanish, you would say "Te amo."
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Wo Bu Tai Haw is Mandarin Chinese for "I am not good." Say Wo Hen Haw for "I am good."
Kanpai is Japanese for "cheers." This literally means "dry glass."
¿De dónde es usted? is Spanish for, "Where are you from?" Informally, you would say ¿De dónde eres?
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Ciao is Italian for "hello" and "goodbye." Salve also means "hello."
Do svidanija is Russian for "goodbye." You could also say "poka."
Buenas tardes is Spanish for "good afternoon." Say buenos días for "good morning."
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Itte irasshai is Japanese for, "Have a nice trip." Literally translated, this phrase means "go and come back."
Quanto tempo is Italian for "long time no see." Unless you're in Italy often, you probably won't need this phrase.
¡Buena suerte! is Spanish for "good luck." Say ¡Salud! for "cheers."
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Spasibo is Russian for "thank you." Formally, you would say blagodarju vas.