In a community centre in London I saw this handy list of the word welcome in several languages. I also photographed something similar on huge boards at the entrance to the World Travel Market at Excel exhibition centre in East London.
The word welcome is similar in several European languages.
English - welcome
I put those most similar to English in groups
I know the German from the welcome song in the film Cabaret
German - Willkommen
Dutch - welkom - (the simplest)
Danish - velkommen - similar to Danish but longer like the German but with a v
The Germans write the W but say v. (I remember the German pronunciation of w as a v from the kosher or kosher style food in Finchley restaurants which served worscht and eggs - salami and eggs, written on the menu as starting with a w but pronounced with a v 'Ver - sh - t.'
French
bienvenue - split into two words you can see très bien, very good, venue, or place, or to come venir
Shorten bien and you get the more common ben, used in English words beneficent or full of goodwill and bounty, beneficial, bringing good,
The Italian, Spanish and Portuguese all sound similar, which makes them easy to remember but also easy to confuse.
Italian
ben venuti
(My memory aid or mnemonic is, it is the duty of an Italian to say benvenuti. The letter I is the initial of Italian, appears twice in the word Italian, and ends the Italian word for welcome - ben venuti.
Spanish
bienvenidos - the Spanish word starts like the French, which is their neighbour on the border to the north, then rhymes with dos (two) and amigos (friends)
Portuguese
bemvindo - the Portuguese like the letter m. Bem instead of ben. I remember than Portuguese is More difficult because it has the letter M. It is also West of Spain. Turn the letter W upside down and you get M. But both the first and second syllables are shorter than the Spanish, and the word is narrower and the country is narrower than neighbour Spain. The vowels in the Portuguese follow the vowel sequence (a)EIO(u).
Hebrew (modern)
Shalom - peace -
It is two syllables, a word which is very well known because in addition to welcome it is both hello and goodbye in Hebrew.
Also it is part of the word Jeru-salem city of peace. You might also have heard it used in the chorus song Shalom Aleichem (peace be with you) e-vay nu shalom aleichem (we bring you peace, popular song) - I think it's in Fiddler on the Roof, and or Exodus.
In addition it is easy to recognize and remember because it is similar to the
Arabic (modern) and Aramaic (ancient and modern)
Salaam aleikum, peace be with you in Arabic. Both languages coming from the Aramaic, the joint or root language. Aramaic is still spoken and/or understood in a few places, in Northern Israel and by nomadic Beduins. For historians and language buffs and those who are keen on religions and culture , excitingly Aramaic was the common language at the time of Jesus. You also get Aramaic in some names. Compare the words for son, both the Hebrew and Aramaic being used in ancient scripts, Medieval times and today, such as Benjamin, Ben Hur (in the film), Ben Gurion, and Bar Kochba.
Malay
Selamat Datang - related to the Arabic salaam, the same consonants, Malaysia being a Muslim country, it has a sprinkling of Arabic words and phrases.
Welsh
I then went looking for the pronunciation of the Welsh word for welcome, Croeso. It sounds to me like c r o y - so.
(I have instead spaces to stop changes made by auto correct which ignores my efforts to click on the cross which should men this suggested change is not acceptable.)
At first I clicked on the play sound image and an image opened but nothing happened. It opens a window and you have to click again on the second play sound image within the new window. Why did I not spot this immediately? Because it is the opposite of Wikipedia where you click on the image beside the word and it immediately makes the sound.
For a really handy list of common phrases in Welsh, check here:
http://www.heart-of-wales.co.uk/welsh.htm#
Google gives me a translation of the Russian for welcome
What about Japanese? The Japanese are developing an ap for that.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-36976211?post_id=10155595000985597_10157243217530597#_=_
I have many more posts on Wales and the Welsh language, and learning other languages including Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian, Hebrew and Greek, Duolingo, typing foreign languages and keyboards in other languages. I teach English, English grammar and pronunciation and conversation, and foreign languages, and memory workshops.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
The word welcome is similar in several European languages.
English - welcome
I put those most similar to English in groups
I know the German from the welcome song in the film Cabaret
German - Willkommen
Dutch - welkom - (the simplest)
Danish - velkommen - similar to Danish but longer like the German but with a v
The Germans write the W but say v. (I remember the German pronunciation of w as a v from the kosher or kosher style food in Finchley restaurants which served worscht and eggs - salami and eggs, written on the menu as starting with a w but pronounced with a v 'Ver - sh - t.'
French
bienvenue - split into two words you can see très bien, very good, venue, or place, or to come venir
Shorten bien and you get the more common ben, used in English words beneficent or full of goodwill and bounty, beneficial, bringing good,
The Italian, Spanish and Portuguese all sound similar, which makes them easy to remember but also easy to confuse.
Italian
ben venuti
(My memory aid or mnemonic is, it is the duty of an Italian to say benvenuti. The letter I is the initial of Italian, appears twice in the word Italian, and ends the Italian word for welcome - ben venuti.
Spanish
bienvenidos - the Spanish word starts like the French, which is their neighbour on the border to the north, then rhymes with dos (two) and amigos (friends)
Portuguese
bemvindo - the Portuguese like the letter m. Bem instead of ben. I remember than Portuguese is More difficult because it has the letter M. It is also West of Spain. Turn the letter W upside down and you get M. But both the first and second syllables are shorter than the Spanish, and the word is narrower and the country is narrower than neighbour Spain. The vowels in the Portuguese follow the vowel sequence (a)EIO(u).
Hebrew (modern)
Shalom - peace -
It is two syllables, a word which is very well known because in addition to welcome it is both hello and goodbye in Hebrew.
Also it is part of the word Jeru-salem city of peace. You might also have heard it used in the chorus song Shalom Aleichem (peace be with you) e-vay nu shalom aleichem (we bring you peace, popular song) - I think it's in Fiddler on the Roof, and or Exodus.
In addition it is easy to recognize and remember because it is similar to the
Arabic (modern) and Aramaic (ancient and modern)
Salaam aleikum, peace be with you in Arabic. Both languages coming from the Aramaic, the joint or root language. Aramaic is still spoken and/or understood in a few places, in Northern Israel and by nomadic Beduins. For historians and language buffs and those who are keen on religions and culture , excitingly Aramaic was the common language at the time of Jesus. You also get Aramaic in some names. Compare the words for son, both the Hebrew and Aramaic being used in ancient scripts, Medieval times and today, such as Benjamin, Ben Hur (in the film), Ben Gurion, and Bar Kochba.
Malay
Selamat Datang - related to the Arabic salaam, the same consonants, Malaysia being a Muslim country, it has a sprinkling of Arabic words and phrases.
Welsh
I then went looking for the pronunciation of the Welsh word for welcome, Croeso. It sounds to me like c r o y - so.
(I have instead spaces to stop changes made by auto correct which ignores my efforts to click on the cross which should men this suggested change is not acceptable.)
At first I clicked on the play sound image and an image opened but nothing happened. It opens a window and you have to click again on the second play sound image within the new window. Why did I not spot this immediately? Because it is the opposite of Wikipedia where you click on the image beside the word and it immediately makes the sound.
For a really handy list of common phrases in Welsh, check here:
http://www.heart-of-wales.co.uk/welsh.htm#
Google gives me a translation of the Russian for welcome
Добро пожаловат
Dobro pozhalovat
What about Japanese? The Japanese are developing an ap for that.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-36976211?post_id=10155595000985597_10157243217530597#_=_
I have many more posts on Wales and the Welsh language, and learning other languages including Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian, Hebrew and Greek, Duolingo, typing foreign languages and keyboards in other languages. I teach English, English grammar and pronunciation and conversation, and foreign languages, and memory workshops.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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