Eastern Europe phrasebook
This Eastern Europe phrasebook for hitchhikers is a work in progress.
Contents
Eastern Europe
Russian is probably the most important language to learn. Many older people speak or at least understand Russian, especially when their mother tongue is a Slavic language. The second most important language is probably Polish, since it is widely understood in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania and Ukraine.
Russian
Polish
Czech
Czech is an incredibly difficult language to learn, but learn these few phrases and you will get around the country a lot more easily, especially outside cities.
Even names of towns can be pronounced incorrectly very easily. Consider the name of the town Olomouc, which is pronounced ollo-moats.
I don't speak Czech - Nemluvím Český [naym-loo-veem ches-kee]
Do you speak English? - Mluvíte Anglicky? [mloo-vee-teh an-glits-kee]
Hello (formal) – Dobrý den [dob-ree den]
Hello (informal) – Ahoj! [a-hoy]
Help! – Pomoc! [poh-moats]
I understand - Rozumím [roz-oo-meem]
I don’t understand – Nerozumím [nay-roz-oo-meem]
It’s also worth remembering that in Czech the emphasis is nearly always on the first syllable of a word, and hardly ever on its second or third syllable.
Numbers
one - jeden / jedna / jedno
two - dva / dvě
three - tři
four - čtyři
five - pět
six - šest
seven - sedm - pronounced "sedum"
eight - osm - pronounced "osum"
nine - devět
ten - deset
eleven - jedenáct
twelve - dvanáct
thirteen - třináct
fourteen - čtrnáct
fifteen - patnáct
sixteen - šestnáct
seventeen - sedmnáct - pronounced "sedumnáct"
eighteen - osmnáct - pronounced "osumnáct"
nineteen - devatenáct
twenty - dvacet
twenty one - dvacet jedna
twenty two - dvacet dva
twenty three - dvacet tři
thirty - třicet
forty - čtyřicet
fifty - padesát
sixty - šedesát
seventy - sedmdesát - pronounced "sedumdesát"
eighty - osmdesát - pronounced "osumdesát"
ninety - devadesát
one hundred - sto
two hundred - dvě stě
three hundred - tři sta
four hundred - čtyři sta
five hundred - pět set
Slovak
Hungarian
Vocabulary
- Hitchhiking - stoppolás, stop [shtopolash, shtop]
- High-way - autópálya [autopaya]
- Petrol station - benzinkút [benzeenkut]
- Ring road - körgyűrű [koerdyuru]
- Map - térkép
- Bus stop - buszmegálló [bus-megh-allo]
Greetings
- Hello - hello, szia [seeya]
- Good day - jó napot [yo napot]
- Good morning - jó reggelt [yo reghelt]
- Good evening - jó estét [yo eshtet]
- Goodbye - viszlát [whislat]
- Bye - viszlát, hello
- Thank you - köszönöm [koesoenoem]
- Thanks - köszi [koesi]
Directions
- From - -ból, -ből [at the end of a word, like Londonból.]
- Towards - felé [eg. Budapest felé]
- Through - keresztül -on, -en, ön [eg. keresztül Pécsen, keresztül Győrön] or át -on, -en, -ön [eg. át Budapesten]
- (To the) left - bal(ra) [bal(ra)]
- (To the) right - jobb(ra) [yobb(ra)]
- Straignt on - egyenesen (edyeneshen)
- Where are you going to? - Merre mész? [Merre mes?]
- I'm travelling to ... - ... felé megyek. [... fele medyek]
- Please, stop here - Állj meg itt, légyszi
- A bit further - Kicsit előrébb [kitcheet eloerebb]
Slovenian
Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian
Bulgarian
Romanian
Romanian is one of the few non-Slavic East-European languages. It is related with French, Italian, Spanish etc. Speakers of one of these languages will find it easier to pronounce and understand Romanian.
Albanian
Greek
Turkish
Turkish is a bit hard in grammar and pronounciation but if you know some tips it's very easy.
Ş:sh Ç:ch
Merhaba - Hello(formal)
Selam - Hello(informal)
Afedersiniz - Excuse me
Evet - Yes Hayır - No Biraz - A little bit
Teşekkürler - Thanks Tamam - Okay
İngilizce konuşabilir misiniz? - Can you speak English?
Anlamıyorum - I don't understand
Bilmiyorum - I don't know
.........'a gidiyorum - I'm going to ........
Bu harika - That's great Çok iyi - Very good
Sorun yok - No problem Çok kötü - Very bad
Benim ismim ....,sizin isminiz ne? - My name is ....,what's your name?
.... yaşındayım - I'm ... years old
Nerelisiniz? - Where are you from?
........'dan geliyorum - I'm coming from .....
Bekarım - I'm single Evliyim - I'm married
Erkek(M)/kız(F) arkadaşım var - I have a boyfriend/girlfriend
Bana dokunma! - Don't touch me! İmdat! - Help!
Lütfen bana yardım edin! - Help me please!
Dur - Stop! İstemiyorum - I don't want
İnmek istiyorum - I want to get off
Burada inebilir miyim? - Can i drop off here?
Günaydın - Good morning İyi günler - Have a good day
İyi akşamlar - Good evening İyi geceler - Good night
Hoşçakal - Good bye Görüşürüz - See you
Water - Su Beer - Bira Wine - Şarap
Meyve suyu - Fruit juice
Ekmek - Bread Yemek - Meal
Açım / susadım / üşüdüm - I'm hungry / thirsty / cold
....... nerede? / Where is ......?
Uzak mı? - Is it far? Yakın mı? - Is it close?
Doğu - East West - Batı Kuzey - North Güney - South
Uyumak için bir yer arıyorum - I'm looking for a place to sleep
Ucuz - Cheap Pahalı - Expensive
Nasıl? - How? Why? - Neden? Who? - Kim?
Saat kaç? - What time is it?
Kaç para? - How much does it cost?
Numbers in Turkish
1-bir 2-iki 3-üç 4-dört 5-beş 6-altı 7-yedi 8-sekiz 9-dokuz 10-on