Learn to Say “Hello” in 10 Languages
Start with one greeting, repeat it until your mouth stops treating the sounds as strangers, then add nine more. Ten versions of hello fit on a small card but open ten different first moments: a smile at a market, a welcome for a new colleague or the first sign that you made an effort before asking somebody else to use English. A greeting is rarely a direct word-for-word swap. Languages may change it for formality, time of day, the listener's age or whether you are speaking face to face or on the phone. Pronunciation matters more than decorative spelling, and learning who would actually use each phrase prevents a memorised list from sounding unnatural. Pick languages connected to people you are likely to meet. Learn each greeting from a native or highly proficient speaker, record yourself, then practise recognising the reply as well as delivering the opening. Keep the list small enough to retain and revisit it after a week. Add this to your list and make ten greetings sound like welcomes rather than a party trick.