Difference between revisions of "Hitchhiking phrasebook"

Revision as of 13:53, 19 May 2006

When hitchhiking it is good to know at least a few phrases of the language of the place where you are, or of your potential drivers. See Tips for hitchhiking for more about hitchhiking in general, and Wikitravel:List of phrasebooks for more extensive vocabularies. Here are seven key phrases which will come in handy:

1. Hello!
2. Are you possibly driving to ...?
3. Can I ride with you?
4. Can you drop me off at a motorway service area?
5. Can I get out right here?
6. Thanks for the ride!
7. East, West, North, South

Western Europe

German

1. Guten Tag!
2. Fahren Sie vielleicht Richtung ... ?
3. Könnte ich vielleicht bei Ihnen mitfahren?
4. Können sie mich an der nächsten Tankstelle rauslassen?
5. Kann ich direkt hier raus?
6. Vielen Dank fuer die Fahrt!
7. Ost, West, Nord, Süd

French

1. Bonjour
2. Est-ce que vous allez vers ...?
3. Est-ce que je pourrais venir avec vous?
4. Est-ce que vous pouvez me laisser à une station-service?
5. Est-ce je peux sortir juste ici?
6. Merci beaucoup!
7. Est, Ouest, Nord, Sud

Dutch

1. Hallo
2. Rijdt u misschien in de richting van ... ?
3. Mag ik misschien met u meerijden?
4. Kunt u me bij het volgende tankstation afzetten?
5. Kan ik er hier uit?
6. Bedankt voor de lift!
7. Oost, West, Noord, Zuid

Northern Europe

Don't bother to try asking in Danish, Swedish, Norwegian or Finnish. Almost all local people speak English, and will be confused when you try to speak their language - and if you do speak it at a reasonable level, you won't need this phrasebook.

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. A lot of young people understand at least a bit of English (of course more in the (big) cities than in the countryside). German could also be very useful (it is (was?) very used for the commercial exchanges).

Russian

Polish

1. Dzień dobry!
2. Czy jedzie pan/pani do...
3. Mogę się zabrać?
4. Może mnie pan/pani wyrzucić koło stacji benzynowej?
5. Mogę tutaj wysiąść?
6. Dzięki za podwiezienie!
7. Wschód, zachód, północ, południe

Czech

1. Dobry den,
2. Jedete do ...?
3. Super, a můžu se svészt s váma?
4. Díky

Slovak

Hungarian

South-Eastern Europe

Slovenian

Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian

(Croatian)

1. Zdravo! (or Bok!)
2. Vozite li mozhda prema ...?
3. Mogu li se povesti s vama?
4. Mozhete li me ostaviti na odmaralishtu?
5. Mogu li ovdje izachi?
6. Hvala na vozhnji!
7. Istok, Zapad, Sjever, Jug

Bulgarian

Romanian

Albanian

Greek

Turkish

Southern Europe/South America

Spanish (Castilian)

1. Hola
2. ¿Quizá está usted viajando a ...?
3. ¿Me permite viajar con usted?
4. ¿Me puede dejar en un área de servícios en el autopista?
5. Quiero salir aquí, por favor.
6. ¡Gracias por llevarme!
7. Este, oeste, norte, sur.

Catalán

Portuguese

1. Olá
2. Por acaso você está indo para ...?
3. Pode me dar uma carona?
4. Você pode me deixar em uma estação de serviços?
5. Posso descer aqui?
6. Obrigado pela carona!
7. Leste, Oeste, Norte, Sul

Italian

1. Ciao/Buongiorno
2. Per caso stai/sta andando a...?
3. Posso viaggiare con te/lei?
4. Puoi/Può lasciarmi in un'area di servizio?
5. Posso scendere qui?
6. Grazie per il passaggio!
7. Est, Ovest, Nord, Sud

Africa

Arabic

Bambara

Peul

Swahili

Afrikaans

Asia

Japanese

Some knowledge of basic Japanese is near-essential to Hitchhiking in Japan.

Chinese (Mandarin)

Hindi/Urdu

Farsi

Thai

Vietnamese

Korean

Hebrew

While driving with young people, using English is more advisable and understood widely. Russian is widely spoken as well. On main inter-city roads there are special stops for hitchhikers, designed for soldiers to hitchhike easily (until the government forbade soldiers from hitchhiking, for safety reasons); use them if possible.

1. Shalom
2. Ata Nosea Be-mikreh Le...?
3. Efshar Linsoa itha/itah (m/f)?
4. Ata yachol le-horid oti betahanat ha-delek hakrova?
5. Efshar La-redet kan, be-vakasha?
6. Toda al Ha-tremp!
7. Mizrah, Maarav, Tzafon, Darom