Stock phrases and keywords in foreign languages
If travelling to a country where the locals speak a language other than English, I always try and learn a few stock phrases and keywords (such as ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘do you speak English?’, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’). I also find the phrase ‘I am looking for’ (‘je cherche’ in French for example) very useful – it doubles for ‘I would like’, ‘where is?’, ‘can I have?’ etc.
Where is the toilet in French, Italian, Spanish and more
However, when you really need to go, there is one other phrases that becomes absolutely vital: “Where is the toilet?” Here are a few translations in major languages… Where a non-Latin script is used, I’ve given the rough pronunciation.
French: Où sont les toilettes?
Italian: Dov'è il bagno?
Spanish: Dónde están los aseos?
German: Wo ist die Toilette?
Russian: Gde tualet
Portuguese: Onde são as casas de banho?
Arabic: Ain al-?ammaam?
Japanese: Toire wa doko desu ka
Mandarin Chinese: Cèsuo zài nali?
Dutch: Waar is het toilet?