When traveling to a given country, I tend to learn the 10 basic words in the language they speak over there. It’s a matter of respect to know at least the very basics and it helps you a lot in getting around.
The 10 basic words are:
- Hello
- Goodbye
- Thank you
- You’re welcome
- How are you?
- OK
- Yes
- No
- Sorry
- Please
You can survive with these. Trust me.
I created a public spreadsheet with translations for these words for each country.
Note that Spanish in Spain is not the same as Spanish in Colombia, for example. There can be minor but important differences.
I’m crowdsourcing the translations, so if you want to help me and others filling the spreadsheet that would be great. Just add (or edit if necessary) the translations for your country. To keep it simple, try to use the most common word and only one translation, no variations.
I insert completed translations that are confirmed by a native into this table. Hope it’s helpful!