Do You Know How to Say These Words Around the World?

The French word for hello is "bonjour," and it's so common it's understood everywhere around the world. The word "hello" is also recognized worldwide, but it's good practice to learn the language of whatever country you're in. Spanish is "hola." Italian is "ciao." And Japanese is "konichiwa."

In Thai, the number five is pronounced "ha," so three fives in a row equals "hahaha," which is the Thai equivalent of "lol." The lol acronym is commonly translated to "jajaja" in Spanish and "xaxaxa" in Greek.

"Arrivederci" joins "au revoir," "bon voyage" and "sayonara" as one of the coolest ways to say goodbye in the world. Technically, if you want to say goodbye in Italian, a simple "ciao" will suffice, which is also the word for "hello." "Arrivederci" means "til we meet again."

In New Zealand, Australia and the U.K., the word "entree" is used for a starter course that comes after an appetizer but before the main course. The word comes from 18th-century France, where it defined the opening act of an opera or ballet.

The Russian word for "friend" is "drug," which is pretty confusing. The Latvian word is "draugs," and the Estonian word is "sober." Spanish and Portuguese speakers are familiar with "amigos," and the Dutch word is simply "vriend."

The Indonesian word for "water" is "air." It is pronounced ay-yeer and is spelled using Indonesia letters. The word "water" commonly translates to a variant of "voda" or "agua" in many languages and is simply called "wasser" in German.

Knowing how to say please and thank you is essential when learning any language, and "por favor" works for "please" in Spanish, Galician, Portuguese and is "per favore" in Italian. Thank you in Spanish is "gracias" and "grazzi" in Italian.

The German word for mother is "mutter," and isn't pronounced much differently than in English. The word "ma" is understood to mean mother in almost every language. The U.K. and Australia commonly use "mum" instead of "mom."

Good morning is one of the most popular greetings around the world. The Spanish version is "buenos dias," the Italian version is "buongiorno," the German version is "guten morgen" and the Portuguese version is "bom dia."

Almost every language in the world uses a similar word for "coffee," making the word pretty universal. Indonesians say "kopi" and Filipinos say "kape." It's "koffie" in Afrikaans, "khave" in Turkish, and every European language uses a variant of "cafe" or "kava."

The word "ja" means yes in at least a dozen languages around the world. The Italian and Spanish word for yes is "si," and the French word is "oui," pronounced we. Russia, Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia all use the word "da."

Although the word "no" is understood everywhere in the world, it's only spelled "no" in a handful of languages. The Vietnamese word is "khong," the Swedish word is "nej." It is "nei" in Norwegian, and just to be confusing, "nie" in Polish.

Goodbye is the most universal farewell. The French say "au revoir," the Dutch say "vaarwel," the Spanish say "addios" and Italians say "addio," but if you're talking to an Italian person who you know, you can opt for the much cooler farewell of "arrivederci."

Hotel is one of the most universal words, as it is simply spelled "hotel" in dozens of languages. The Hungarian word is "szalloda," and the Maltese word is "lukanda." Depending on where you are, a hotel may be referred to as something else like a bed, a lodge or an inn.

Learning how to find the bathroom is one of the most important things to learn while traveling. Several languages use a variant of "bano" or "banyo," but bathrooms are labeled differently around the world. In some places, they're called "water closets" and in others, it's simply "toilet."

Pizza is an Italian word, and almost every language uses the word "pizza" to describe the cheesy, doughy, saucy confection that is loved around the world. The word stems from the Greek "pitta" and Latin "pinza."

Taxi is another word that is surprisingly universal, as almost every language uses a variant of "taxi," "taksi" or "tacsi" to describe the yellow cab that is known for flooding city streets. Uber is popular in America but isn't the premiere ride-sharing app in every country.

The word "sugar" stems from the 13th-century French word "sucre," and today that is still the French word for "sugar." The Albanian word is "sheqer," the Dutch word is "suiker" and the Icelandic word is "sykur."

The most important thing to learn before traveling to any country is what the local currency is and what the average prices of everyday goods cost. The average meal for two in Stockholm will run you about $75.

Beer is brewed all over the world and started with some guy in Mesopotamia messing around with barley and today generates about $300 billion in sales worldwide. The largest beer festival in the world is Oktoberfest in Munich, where beer is called "bier."

Bucharest is the capital of Romania, where the word "scuze" means sorry. The French word is "pardon," the Italian word is "scusa" and the Dutch word is simply "sorry." "Please," "thank you" and "sorry" are three of the first phrases every traveler needs to learn.

Poland, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia all use the word "brat" for brother. The Czech Republic uses the word "bratr." The Dutch, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish all use "bror" or "broer." Italy uses "fratello," Romania uses "frate" and France uses "frere."

The Portuguese word for beautiful is "bonita," and it's easy to mix up bonita, linda, bella, hermosa and guapa, as they all have similar meanings. The French word is "beau" or "belle," and the Italian word is "bellissimo."

The German word for "poison" is "gift," which is extremely confusing, but the Danish and Norwegian languages also use "gift" for "poison." The Korean word for "poison" is "dog," which is also confusing.

Most people around the world will understand the words "ma" and "pa" to mean mother and father, but each language still has its own words. Italian and Spanish speakers use "padre," the French use "pere" and Albanians say "baba."

Saying "nah" in Greece can easily be mistaken as "nai," which means yes. Most other languages use "yes," "si," "da" or "ja," but some languages are complete wildcards. The Vietnamese use "vang," the Hungarian use "igen" and the French say "oui."

This isn't an exact translation of the word into German, but almost every language uses a variant of "telephone" for the normal landline phone that is rapidly going out of style. Other languages use variants of "mobile" and "cellular" to refer to a cellphone.

The Japanese word for dress is "wanpisu," which stems from the English phrase "one-piece." It's a typical example of a word borrowed from one language and then slightly modified to fit the norms of another language.

The word "cheers" is used around the world as an exclamation of joy. It started as a shout of encouragement and support and quickly spread around the world. The French say "sante," the Finnish say "kippis" and Americans use it as a common email sign-off.

Arvo isn't an actual word but more of an abbreviation used in place of the word "afternoon." It's common in Australia, and someone is just as likely to wish you a good arvo as they are a good afternoon. A barbie is an Australian abbreviation for a barbecue.

This isn't a direct translation but is a common phrase in Scotland and Ireland, where the word "messages" is commonly substituted for the word "groceries." To "get the messages" means to "get the groceries." Legend has it the phrase originated from messenger boys who delivered groceries.

The Japanese word for octopus is "tako." If you want to order Mexican tacos in Japan, you'll have to say "takosu." Japan is a foodie haven, and Tokyo has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city, but tacos aren't exactly known as the country's specialty.

The Latin word for one is "unum." It's essential to learn how to count to 10 when visiting any country to prevent getting ripped off or spending more money or time than you're supposed to. The Italian and Spanish word is "uno," and France uses "un."

When you see something incredibly funny online, you might comment with "dead." In French, you can use the abbreviation "mdr," which means "mort de rire" and translates to "death by laughter." You can also play it safe and use "lol," which is pretty universal.

Never underestimate the power of saying "I don't know." Even if you don't know how to say "I don't know," a simple shoulder shrug is recognized almost everywhere in the world. The French term is "je ne sais pas," not to be confused with "je ne sais quoi," which means an indescribable quality and has no direct English translation.