Say "I Don't Speak This Language"

While traveling, we often encounter language barriers. Usually, the need to explain that we do not understand or speak the local language to a non-English speaker can be messy. Keeping in mind that how to say "I don't speak the local language" can easily come in handy. Here is a list of words to start you off on that round-the-world journey.

Steps

  1. Write these down (or print them out), pop them in your travel bag and rehearse when you get to the relevant country:
  2. (Note: If there is a language that is not added, click the edit button to add.)
    • Afrikaans: Ek praat nie Afrikaans nie
    • Albanian: Nuk ë flas shqipën OR Unë nuk flas shqip (the "ë" is silent in Kosovo and northern Albania at the end of a word, and pronounced like "uh" everywhere else, both linguistically and geographically; "q" is pronounced "ch", and everything else is pronounced as it is in English)
    • Arabic: Ana laa atakallam al arabiyah. أنا لا أتكلم العربية
    • Aramaic: Ono lo ko mitshlono (f) / mitshulno (m) Suryoyo Oromoyo
    • Armenian: Yes chem khosum Hayeren (I don't speak Armenian)
    • Azerbaijani: Mən Azərbaycanca danışa bilmərəm. [Min Azirbayjanja danisha bilmirim] (I can't/don't speak Azerbaijani.)
    • Bengali: Aami Bangla boltey pari naa. ( আমি বাংলা বলতে পারি না )
    • Bislama: Mi no harem save Bislama
    • Bosnian: Ne govorim bosanski.
    • Bulgarian: Ne govorya na bulgarski [ne go`vorja na `bul,garski]
    • Catalan: No parlo català
    • Croatian: Ne govorim Hrvatski
    • Czech: Nemluvím česky
    • Chaldean: Lek mehhken Soureth
    • Chinese (Cantonese): Ngo (a throaty sound) mm sik gong gwong dong wa (我唔識講廣東話)
    • Chinese (Mandarin): Wo bu hui shuo zhongwen (我不講中文, Wo bu jiang zhongwen)
    • Creole (Jamaican): Mi coze pas kreol
    • Creole (Haitian): Mwen pa pale Kreyòl
    • Croatian: "Ne pričam hrvatski" or "Ne znam hrvatski"
    • Danish: Jeg taler ikke dansk
    • Dutch/Flemish: Ik spreek geen Nederlands
    • Dzongkha (Bhutan) : Nga(somewhat like ngo in cantonese) dzongkha mi shey (Pronounced : Nga-- Zong-kha -- me -- shay)
    • Egyptian, Ancient: "Na djedya kemet aramsya" OR "Na djedya aramna kemetyu" OR "Na djedya aram ni kemet"
    • English: I do not/ don't speak English
    • Esperanto: Mi ne parolas Esperanton.
    • Estonian: Ma ei räägi eesti keelt.
    • Farsi: Man Farsi Harf nemi-zanam-(من فارسی حرف نميزنم)
    • Filipino (Tagalog Dialect): Hindi ako nakakapagsalita ng Tagalog. (ng is pronounced as nang, everything else sounds as it's spelled)
    • Finnish: En puhu suomea
    • French: Je ne parle pas français (juh nuh pahr'l pah frohn-say)
    • Gaelic (Irish): Níl aon gaeilge agam (neel aeyn gay'l-gah ag-um)
    • Gaelic (Scottish): Chan eil gàidhlig agam
    • German: Ich spreche kein Deutsch or Ich kann kein Deutsch sprechen ( "eu" is pronounced "oi" ; "ei" is pronounced "ai" )
    • Greek: den milao elinika (δεν μιλαω ελληνικα)
    • Gujarati: Hoo Gujarati Nuthee Bolto (if you are a boy) or Hoo Gujarati nathee bolti (if you are a girl)or hume Gujaratii nathee bolta (if you are a group of 2 or more people)
    • Hebrew: Ani lo medaber ivrit (male), Ani lo medaberet ivrit (for female) (אני לא מדבר/מדברת עברית)
    • Hindi: Mein hindi nahee bolta (if you are a boy) or Mein hindi nahee bolti (if you are a girl)or Ham hindi nahee boltay (if you are a group of 2 or more people) - Gender Neutral - Mujhe Hindi nahi aati hai.
    • Hungarian: Nem beszélek magyarul
    • Indonesian: Saya tidak bicara bahasa indonesia
    • Ilocano: Haan ko ammo agsao ti Ilocano
    • Icelandic: Ég tala ekki Íslensku. (yeh talakeh eeslenshkoo)
    • Italian: Non parlo italiano
    • Japanese: Watashi wa nihongo ga hanasemasen (私は日本語が話せません) (Wah-tah-shee wah nee-hohn-goh ga hah-nah-see-mah-sehn)
    • Javanese: Aku ora iso boso jowo
    • Kannada: Nanage kannada mathadakke baralla (pronounced ba-ra-lla)
    • Kazakh: men qazaqsha soyley almaymen. (I don't speak Kazakh).
    • Konkani: Makka konkani kalna
    • Korean: Juh han-gook mal mot hae yo
    • Krio:- Ah no sabi dis language- (pronounced- ah-noh sah-bee diss lang-uw-aje)
    • Kurdish: Mn Kurdi nazanem
    • Kyrgyz: kyrgyzche suyloyalbaymen. (I don't speak Kyrgyz).
    • Krio: Ah no sabi dis language (pronounced sah-bee)
    • Latvian: Es nerunaju Latviski (S ne-ru-na-you Lat-vis-ki) - The S at the beginning is pronounced as the E and S of ESTIMATE. And it's not Lat-whiski, it's Lat-viski - no h, no w, a strong V
    • Lithuanian: Aš nekalbu lietuviškai (pronounced ash neckalbu lietuvishkai)
    • Malay: Saya tidak boleh cakap bahasa Melayu (pronounced "Sah-yah Tee-duck Bo-Leh Cha-cup Baha-Sah Muh-Luh-Yoo" which means I cannot speak Malay).
    • Marathi: I don't speak marathi - "Mee marathi bolat nahi"
    • Malayalam: I don't speak malayalam - "Nyan Malayalam samsarikkilla"
    • Maori: I don't speak Te Reo Maori - "Kaore au i te korero i Te Reo Maori
    • Mongolian: I don't speak Mongolian. "Би монголоор ярьж чадахгүй" "Bi Mongoloor yarij chadakhgui"
    • Nepali: Malai nepali bolna aundaina OR Ma nepali boldina OR Ma nepali bolna sakdina
    • Norwegian: Jeg snakker ikke norsk
    • Nunatsiavummiutut (Labrador Inuit): Inuttut paasinngilara
    • Ojibwe (southwest): Gawiin indojibwemosiin
    • Patwari: mein patwaari nahin boldi (girl) Mein Patwaari nahin bolda (boy)
    • Papiamento: Ami no ta papia e idioma aki (pronounced: Ah-mee no tah pah-pee-yah eh ee-dee-o-mah ah-kee)
    • Polish: Nie mówię po polsku (Nee-eh move-yeah po pol-scoo)
    • Portuguese: Eu não falo português (eh-Oh NAH-oh FAH-lo porr-TUH-gays)
    • Punjabi: Main punjabi nahii boldaa (if you are a boy) orMain punjabi nahhi boldii (if you are a girl)
    • Romanian: Nu vorbesc româna. (Nuh vohr-besc rho-muh-na)
    • Russian: Ya ne govoryu po ruski (Я не говорю по-русски)
    • Russian: Ya ne vladeyu ruskim (Я не владею русским - it means I don't speak Russian fluently).
    • Sepedi: ke maswabi, nna bala English fela (formal sorry I only speak English. English may be replaced by your own language)
    • Setswana: Ga ke itse go bua Setswana
    • Serbian: Ne govorim srpski (I don't speak Serbian)
    • Sinhalese: Mama me bhaashaawa katha karanne nea
    • Slovak: Nehovorím po slovensky
    • Slovene: Ne govorim slovensko
    • Spanish: No hablo español (Pronounce: no AH-blo es-pahn-YOLE)
    • Swahili: Si ongee Kiswahili.
    • Swedish: Jag talar inte svenska
    • Tagalog: Hindi ako marunong mag-Tagalog(I don't know how to speak Tagalog.)
    • Tamil: Yenaku Tamil Pessa Theriyathu
    • Telugu: Nenu Telugu Maatladalenu (Maat-la-da-lenu)(I cannot speak Telugu) or Nenu Telugu Maatladanu (Maat-la-da-nu)(I do not speak Telugu)
    • Thai: Pom my poot pasa Thai Krap (Masc.). Chan my poot pasa Thai Ka (Fem.)you can also say "poot pasa thai mai dai ka (Female), poot pasa thai mai dai krap (Male)" - these are more common
    • Turkish: Türkçe konuşamıyorum/ Türkçe bilmiyorum.
    • Ukrainian: Vybachte, ya ne govoryu ukrayinskoyu
    • Urdu: مینے اردو نہں بلتہ/بلتیMein urdu nahin bolta/bolti. (Bolta is for male, bolti for female.) Pronunciation: meh urdu nahee bolta/bolti.
    • Uighur: مەن ئۇيغۇچە سۆزلىيەلمەيمەن [man ooy-roor-cha soz-li-yal-may-man] (I don't speak Uyghur).
    • Uzbek: men uzbekchada gaplasha olmaiman. (I don't speak Uzbek).
    • Vietnamese: Toi khong noi tieng Viet (Tôi không nói tiếng Việt)
    • Welsh: Dydw i ddim yn siarad Cymraeg

Tips

  • Learn another language, so that way you don't have to do this again.
  • Some of the statements can be more accurately said with feeling, especially the Tag-alog one.
  • It is advisable to practice the line in front of some native speaker before trying it out in public.
  • Apart from expressing you don't speak the local language, try proposing other languages you might have in common such as English, French or Spanish, this can ease communication in a lot of cases.

Warnings

  • Don't try experimenting with the languages! You may end up with something completely different. For example, if you change the Marathi translation (Mee marathi bolath nahi) to "Mee marathi bolath", it means that you speak Marathi (although the grammar is totally wrong).
  • Be careful with pronunciation! For example, in Welsh, "dd" is pronounced like "th" in "these." If you were to pronounce "i ddim" wrong, the Welsh speaker could interpret that as you saying you don't want to go to their house in Welsh, which doesn't make any sense and would probably confuse them more!

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Sources and Citations

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