In 18 months of traveling to over 40 countries, there were a few things we did every place we went. One of those was learning to say “thank you” in the local language. In this post, we’re going to cover how to say “thank you” in the languages around the World Showcase at Epcot.
If you haven’t traveled much internationally, you might be surprised how many people around the world have conversational English skills. Most places with international tourism have some English, simply because English is often the go-to language when two people who speak two other languages come together.
But we always thought it polite to learn a few local phrases, and the most important one was “thank you.”
Somewhat ironically, despite our extensive travels, neither of us has been to all eleven countries that inspired Epcot’s World Showcase pavilions. I’ve never been to Mexico, Emily has never been to Canada, but we’ve been to the other ten together (with visits to all the Disney parks around the world along the way).
For each country in Epcot, we’ll embed a video (from YouTube, not of us) showing the pronunciation, too. Throughout, I’ll give the Latinized spelling of the foreign “thank you” (for example “arigatou” instead of “ありがとう”).
Keep in mind, I’m not a native speaker of any of these languages other than English, and I’m not a linguist. So my pronunciation “tips” are gleaned from a few weeks in countries speaking the languages and from listening to YouTube videos of them over and over. Finally, I’m Midwestern, so when talking about “English speakers” I’m really usually referring to Midwestern American English speakers (sorry).
Note — Cast Member Languages
Cast Members typically wear name tags that include the languages they speak underneath their names. So where we mention that multiple languages are spoken in a country, you might pay special attention to the language indicated under the name tag.
Canada
The official languages of Canada are French and English. This post is written (and titled) in English, so we’ll spare you the description and video and just say that in English, “thank you” is “thank you.”
In French, the most common way to say “thank you” is “merci.” It sounds a bit like “M-AIR-see,” but be careful not to linger on that “r” too long.
United Kingdom
The official language of the United Kingdom is English. This post is written (and titled) in English, so we’ll spare you the description and video and just say that in English, “thank you” is “thank you.”
France
The official language of France is French. In French, the most common way to say “thank you” is “merci.” It sounds a bit like “M-AIR-see,” but be careful not to linger on that “r” too long. (Video below is the same one from Canada, above.)
Morocco
The official languages of Morocco are Arabic and Berber (“Standard Moroccan Berber”). Arabic is by far the most popular language, with French actually being more widely spoken than Berber. In Epcot, it’s most common to see Cast Members in Morocco who speak Arabic.
We covered French above. In Arabic, thank you is “shookran” or “shokran.” The “r” is tapped (like a rolled “r”, but not fully rolled), and the second syllable is more like “ron” or “run,” not the English “ran.” I’ve heard “show-kron” and “shoe-kron.” Mostly it sounds in between those, with “shoe-kron” being a little more common.
There is a wide variety of Berber languages and ways to say thank you. I was taught (by a Berber individual) to say “tanmmirt,” as given here. As I said, in Epcot, you’ll probably go with Arabic (I’ll keep my eyes open for a name tag that says the individual speaks a Berber language, though).
Japan
Japan has no official language, but over 99% of the population speaks Japanese as their first language. The full form of “thank you” in Japanese is “Arigatou gozaimasu,” but this is commonly shortened to “Arigatou.”
“Arigatou” is very challenging to pronounce correctly for native English speakers, and so my description is also going to be lacking a bit (and compensating for my own, Midwestern dialect). The standard, go-to of “ah-ree-GAH-toe” is an okay starting point, but you should listen to a few videos on YouTube to get it right. Here are some tips…
First, the “r” is tapped, so it starts almost like “ah-dee” or “ah-dhee.” Second, it’s a quick word. This should help you avoid starting with a slow, untapped, Midwestern “are.”
Another tip I’ve heard is that the second syllable, “ree” (or “dhee”) is emphasized, not “GAH,” which is the most common way English speakers approach it. So, altogether, it becomes “ah-dhEE-gah-toe.”
The American Adventure
The United States has no official language. English (“thank you”) is the most widely spoken language, with 239 million speakers. There are also 41 million Spanish speakers. We discuss “thank you” in Spanish—“gracias”—more when we cover the Mexico pavilion below.
Italy
The official language of Italy is Italian. The most common way to say “thank you” in Italian is “grazie.” “Grazie” sounds like “grah-tsee-eh.” The “r” sound is a trill (commonly called a “rolled r”).
Many non-Italian speakers drop the last syllable, leaving “grah-tsee.” This is incorrect, and I’ve been told that the cause of this is English speakers not having an ear for the last syllable when they hear Italians say it. A trained ear, though, can tell the difference.
Germany
The official language of Germany is German. The most common way to say “thank you” in German is “danke” or “danke schön.”
“Danke” sounds like “DON-keh,” “Schön” is a little tougher. Lots of non-Germany speakers go with something like “shone.” But it’s maybe closer to “shern.” If you can’t get it to sound right, just stick with “danke.”
China
The languages of China—a country of around 1.5 billion people—are complex (the be clear, I’m not short-changing the linguistic complexities of the other countries on this list). The short version, though, is that roughly 71% of the population speaks Modern Standard Mandarin, which is also the official language of China.
In Modern Standard Mandarin, “thank you” is “xie xie.” This is one of the hardest pronunciations to get right here, and I’m 100% sure I get it right 0% of the time. The vulgar attempt would be “shia shia” (shee-uh, rhymes with Chia), but the “x” sound is softer and more refined than the hard “SH.” That’s about the best I can offer, so here’s the video:
Additionally, Cantonese is spoken by 68 million people across the Canton region of China, Hong Kong, and Macau. The video below shows the two ways to say thank you in Cantonese.
Norway
The official language of Norway is Norwegian. The most common way to say “thank you” in Norwegian is “takk.” For the most part, it rhymes with “clock” (or “tick tock”), but it tends to be a little sharper and quicker and with a light “h” sound at the end.
Mexico
Mexico has no official language, but Spanish is the most widely spoken language. The most common way to say “thank you” in Spanish is “gracias.” The typical pronunciation is “GRAH-see-ahss” with the first “r” tapped (I thought it was a full roll/trill, but wiktionary says it’s a tap).