A greeting is a starting point. It is a way to initiate a conversation, to acknowledge a friend, or to meet someone new. It is also often one of the first things people want to learn when they begin learning a foreign language.  This website is likewise a starting point intended to initiate conversations, acknowledge the linguistic diversity of the world, introduce people to new languages they may not have encountered before, and promote further language learning.

At this site you can learn how to say greetings (equivalent to "hello", "how are you?", "welcome", "good morning", and other forms of greeting) in thousands of different languages and dialects. This is the updated version of the website found at http://users.elite.net/runner/jennifers, which I am no longer updating.  The purpose of this list is to promote intercultural communication and understanding, and to increase awareness of the linguistic diversity around the world.  My goal is to include every language, so that people will be able to stay at least a few words to anyone they meet, anywhere in the world.  Some of the translations on this site come from resources not available online, or resources not available in English; therefore, an additional purpose of this site is to make those translations available online to an English-speaking audience.

Ethnologue, 24th Edition lists 7,139 languages spoken in the world. Approximately 48% percent of these languages are included on this website as of December 2022 (3,450 languages).  Please use the links at the top to find languages that begin with each letter of the alphabet, or use the search icon at the top of any page (or click here) to search for a language name, country name, or greeting.

If you have any corrections or additions to this site, or for information about use of the materials found on this site, please contact me using the email address at the bottom of the page.