The other day I met a fan of Omniglot from Spain who told me how much she loves Omniglot, especially the phrases section because it helps her make friends all round the world. It was wonderful and encouraging to hear this.
Some other nice things people have said about Omniglot.
The phrases section actually started with phrases like “My hovercraft is full of eels“, and other ‘useful’ phrases like:
– Sot oc’h gant ar binîoù? – Are you fond of bagpipes? [Breton]
– Ha’aheo no paha ‘oe i kena papale kupalaka, pehea la – You must be very proud of your large hat [Hawaiian]
– Îmi poţi împrumuta puţin spatula ta? – Can I borrow your spatula? [Romanian]
The kinds of phrases that you use every day, of course 🙂
Then I thought it might be a good idea to add some somewhat less ‘useful’ phrases like Hello, How are you? and Where are you from? – the kinds of things you might just use now and then.
I often use the phrases pages for opening and closing greetings when writing emails and other messages, and for sending birthday and Christmas greetings. Also, whenever I meet people who speak a language I don’t know, I’ll try to learn at least a few phrases in that language, which is a great way to start conversations.
For example, there’s a Bulgarian lass who works at the hotel I stayed in Douglas in the Isle of Man a few weeks ago. The first time I stayed there two years ago I discovered that she was from Bulgaria, so this time I went back armed with a few Bulgarian phrases, much to her surprise. I think she expected me to continue in Bulgarian after I’d said hello (Здравей [Zdravej]), but I had to explain that my knowledge of Bulgarian is limited.
Do you use the phrases in this way, or in other interesting ways?
