10 Essential Words to Connect with Locals While Traveling Abroad

Hey there, hill travelers. Mark here with Walters World. And one of the questions we get from people is Mark, how do you meet so many locals on your travels? Well, I want to tell you folks, there's 10 words you need to know anywhere you go in the world that will guarantee that the locals will love you. And I don't start with thank you. I don't start with please or yes or no. I start with good day. If you're going to France and you go into a store, you say bonjour. If you're going to be in, you know, Austria and you're going in, you say when you walk into a store or restaurant, that initial greeting, that good day, you want to know that because it shows respect to the people in the

country you're going to, the shopkeepers in the restaurant, and they're like, "Hey, we know that person doesn't speak our language, but they tried." And it gives a fantastic first impression. So, always know good day in whatever language of the country you're going to go to. Then next up, of course, to continue on our politeness. You want to know thank you because thank you can work for yes, it can work for please. It can work for nice to see you. I mean people understand that if you know thank you, you know the meis, you know the donashuns, the obriados, these kind of things, it can really help. So make sure you know thank you. And the thing is I will tell you the

more obscure the language is the country you're going to the more they appreciate it. Like I lived in Lithuania and just saying achu, which is thank you in Lithuanian, they're like, "You said achu. Have a free beer." Like no joke. I would get free drinks just because I said thank you in Lithuanian, right? And so that opens people up like, "Oh, you took the time to learn another word. A thank you." And again, you're engraving yourself with the locals. Now, two more words I want you to know, and this is not like it's not going to make a difference like they're going to love you or hate you for it, but it's very helpful. Yes and no. Oh, you know, in Italy it's, you know, or in Spain or wherever, you know, the yes or no, it

can make things easier. Know see no, you know, ka in, you know, in Finland, you know, those things make a difference because then you can like if someone's like offer you something, you say no and they know you mean no. Okay, that can be helpful cuz remember the head nods in different places can mean different things. But knowing the word for yes or no, that's when you should really know. Now, to continue on with our politeness, I do have please. And I do put please after thank you cuz thank you works for so much. But knowing that please just adds that little spice word in there to make it like oh they tried to learn even

more of it. So that civu play in French that bita in German these things just makes yourself look a little bit nicer a little bit more sophisticated and friendly right and that's going to make a difference. Now, another word I think you need to know because it's going to help you is where like where is like u in French or in Spanish or vo in German because you don't necessarily need to know the name of the place but if you can say where is you know and you're like uh beer you know you whatever you can make it up but that where is easy because then they can show you on the map you show a map say vote is beer and they can show you on there that's a nice way it also the where is gets people

to talk to you Oh, where are you going to? Why do you want to go there? They might bust out in your language, which is kind of funny because you don't have to understand directions. You don't have to be fluent. But where is will help you a lot. All right. Now, another thing I think is really important in the basic things. It's going to help you, but also the locals. It's always no toilet. Toilet is for your help, but also for theirs. Cuz if you're trying to explain something, you're like, do I really want to act? Like, it's one thing to act out like, oh, I want a cow, you know, moo or I want chicken to eat. But how do I act out going poop?

Yeah, that's kind of weird. So, it's good to just know that word cuz that's avoid some awkward situations. All right. And then I've got my advanced words. These are things that will really get people to smile and appreciate you. One is know the name of the country or city you're in that language. You don't say Paris, you say Perry. You don't say Lithuania, you say Leotua. And they're like, "OH, YOU know it's Leotva." Like people get super excited by that. And again, the smaller the town, the smaller the country, the more they appreciate that, you know, that difference. That is one like my knowing it was Leatuva and having a t-shirt said Leatuva on it. I think I broke a liver from all the free alcohol. I got

Lithuania from the locals just being so happy that I knew that. Now, another one, the do you speak English alvang, you know, do you speak English? That's one that's a little more helpful because they're going to know you don't speak their language because you're asking for another language. So, that's one thing you can know. But also, I think it's a good idea to know the word cheers because that's one thing. If you're eating at a restaurant and the food looks good, you're like looking at your neighbor's food, giving like a thumbs up and stuff, and you give them a cheers, you know, a chin or a sal or, you know, whatever the cheers is. That's one of those things like nice and you might

be able to cheers with them on the next drink when they get it for you. And then there's the phrase that I always recommend people knowing and it really works in countries where people love their language like France and that is the excuse me or pardon me whichever you prefer. Excuse me. I'm sorry I'm an idiot. I don't speak French. Can you help me? So again, pardon me. I'm stupid. I don't speak your language. Could you help me please? You know, these little things, these little things make a difference because I've said that so many times and people just their frowns turn upside down. They just get so happy like, "Oh, you silly tourist." And they just go and they'll go into English or

other things or they'll work with me. And that's the thing is just learning a few words anywhere you go really changes your perspective, but also local's perspective on you. So, make sure you know these words wherever you're going to go. If you're going to China, if you're going to Hungary, if you're going anywhere around, these things will make a difference. All right, so what are the words that you always feel you should know when you travel? Let us know in the comments below to help other travelers. And I'll say thank you, see you using it right now for you watching. And thank you to our members on YouTube, our patrons on Patreon who help make honest travel videos like this possible. You

all rock. If you want other TRAVEL VIDEOS, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE. We put out quite a few every week. Bye from here in London.