If there’s an act that will earn you a friend no matter where in the world you happen to be, it’s buying someone a cold brew. But what if you were air-dropped into the Andes and don’t speak Spanish? Hiked into Kazakhstan and don’t know a lick of Russian (much less Kazakh)? Surfaced in Sweden but don’t want to sound like the Muppet chef? The folks at the Esperanto League for North America have put together a handy list, along with a phonetic pronunciation guide. Just bookmark this page before you head out on your travels, and you’ll have pals around the globe in no time. [Update: Added Arabic, thanks to Jill at Jet Wine Bar.]
Afrikaans – 'n Bier, asseblief (A beer ah-suh-bleef)
Arabic – Wahad bira, min fadlak (wa'-hod bee'-ra min fod'-lik)
Basque – Garagardo bat, mesedez (Gara-gardo bat mese-des)
Breton – Ur banne bier am bo, mar plij (Oor bah-ne beer am boh mar pleezh)
Catalan – Una cervesa, si us plau (Oona servayzeh see oos plow)
Chinese – 请给我一杯啤酒 (Ching gay woh ee bay pee joh)
Croatian – Jedno pivo, molim (Yed-no pee-vo, mo-lim)
Czech / Slovak – Pivo, prosím (Pee-vo, pro-seem)
Danish – Jeg vil gerne have en øl (Yay vil geh-neh heh en url)
Dutch – Een bier, alsjeblieft (Un beer, ahls-yer-bleeft)
English – One beer, please (Wun beer, pleez)
Esperanto – Unu bieron, mi petas (Oo-noo bee-airon, mee peh-tahs)
Estonian – Üks õlu, palun (Ooks ur-loo, pah-lun)
Finnish – Olut mulle, kiitos (O-loot moolek kee-tos)
French – Une bière, s'il vous plaît (Oon bee-air, seel voo pleh)
German – Ein Bier, bitte (Ine beer, bitt-uh)
Hungarian – Egy pohár sört kérek (Edj pohar shurt kayrek)
Icelandic – Einn bjór, takk (Ay-dn byohr tahk)
Irish – Beoir amháin, le do thoil (Byohr awoyn, lyeh doh hull)
Italian – Una birra, per favore (Oo-na beer-ra, pair fa-vo-re)
Japanese – ビ一ルを一本下さい (Bee-ru ip-pon ku-da-sai)
Korean – 맥주 한잔 주세요 (Mayk-joo hahn-jahn joo-se-yoh)
Latin – Cervisiam, sodes (Ker-wi-see-am, soh-dehs)
Latvian – Vienu alu, lū-dzu (Vyeh-noo ah-loo, loo dzoo)
Lithuanian – Prašau viena alaus (Pra-shau vie-na al-lows)
Maltese – Wiehed birra, jekk jghogbok (Wee-het bir-ra yek yoh-dzbok)
Norwegian – En øl, takk (Ehn url tahk)
Occitan – Una cervesa, se vos plai (Oo-no serbeh-zo se bus ply)
Polish – Jedno piwo, proszę (Yed-no peevo proshe)
Portuguese – Uma cerveja, por favor (Oo-ma ser-vay-ja, poor fa-vohr)
Romanian – O bere, vă rog (Oh beh-reh ver rohg)
Romansch Ladina – Üna biera, per plaschair (Oo-nuh bee-air-uh per plah-chair)
Russian – Пиво, пожалуйста (Ahd-na pee-vah pah-zha-loosta)
Sardinian – Una birra, po piaghere (Oo-na beer-ra po pia-gehre)
Scots Gaelic – Leann, mas e do thoil e (Lyawn mahs eh doh hawl eh)
Slovene – Eno pivo, prosim (Eno pee-vo pro-seem)
Spanish – Una cerveza, por favor (Oo-na ser-veh-sa, por fa-vor)
Strine – Foster's, mate (Faw-stuhz, mayt)
Swedish – En öl, tack (Ehn irl, tahk)
Twi – Mame beer baako, mi pawokyew (Mah-me bee-ye bah-ko mee pow-che-oo)
Turkish – Bir bira, lütfen (Beer beer-ah luht-fen)
Welsh – Cwrw os gwelwch in dda (Koo-roh ohs gwel-ookh-un-thah)
Yiddish – אב׳ר, ז״ט אזו׳ כוט (A beer, zeit a-zoy goot)
Fluent in a language we're missing? Let us know in the comments.
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