Have you ever stopped to think about how many people are saying“Hello”to each other today, and in how many different languages?注1If you want to say“Hello”to everyone on the planet, you would have to learn at least 2,796 languages and greet at least 6,500,000,000 people.注2Here are some of the ways of saying“Hello”around the world. Hola in Spanish, Ciao in Italian, Nihao in Chinese or Bonjour/Salut in French, and many more!

注1 Have you ever stopped to think about how many people are saying“Hello”to each other today, and in how many different languages？你是否曾留心考虑过，今天一天大约有多少人用多少种不同的语言互道“你好”?　stop to do sth．意为“停下来去做某事”，例如，He stopped to have a rest．他停下来去休息。stop doing sth．意为“停下正在做的事”，例如，He stopped working．他停止了工作。

注2If you want to say“Hello”to everyone on the planet, you would have to learn at least 2,796 languages and greet at least 6,500,000,000 people．如果你想对这个星球上的每个人都道声“你好”的话，你就得学至少2796种语言，问候至少6.5亿人。　此句中主句用的是虚拟语气。

We know that the usual way to greet each other is a simple handshake or wave in the US and Canada. However, other gestures such as various forms of bowing, embraces, etc., are used in other parts of the world.

Here is a small list of languages chosen to show how to say“Hello/Good morning”in different languages.注3Look up the language in which you would like to learn to say“Hello/Good morning”in that language. Pronounce the suggested wording to practice it.

注3 Here is a small list of languages chosen to show how to say“Hello/Good morning”in different languages．这里仅选几种语言以展示不同的语言是如何说“你好/早上好”的。　此句中的chosen是过去分词，用作定语，修饰languages。

● Arabic—pronounced sabahou el kheir, meaning“Good morning.”

● Australian—G'day (mostly informal but including strangers pronounced gu-day,“G'day mate”).

● Chinese—In both Cantonese andMandarin, it is written as 你好．Cantonese is Nei ho or Lei ho (pronounced ne ho or lay ho) and Mandarin is Nǐ hǎo (pronounced nee how) (Remember thetones). In Mandarin, you can also say 早上好(Zǎo shàng hǎo) for“Good morning.”

● Danish—Hej (informal; pronounced hey), God dag (formal), God aften (evening; formal), Hejsa (very informal).

● English—Hello (formal), Hi (informal), Hey (informal).

● French—Salut (informal; silent“t”), Bonjour (formal, for daytime use), Bonsoir (Good evening), Bonne nuit (Good night).

● German—Hallo (informal), Guten Tag (formal), Tag (very informal).

● Italian—Ciao (pronounced chow, informal, also means“Goodbye”).

● Japanese—おはよう ございます (pronounced o-ha-yo go-zaimass, meaning“Good morning”).

● Korean—Ahn nyeong ha se yo (formal, pronounced on-nyoungha-say-yo).

● Portuguese—Oi, boas, olá or al (informal).

● Russian—Privet! (informal, pronounced pree-vyet), Zdravstvuyte (formal, pronounced zdra-stvooy-tyeh).

● Vietnamese—Xin chào (pronounced sin djow).