Information on how to say general greetings and phrases in 21 different languages is now available on our website.
This new resource includes spoken greetings such as ‘hello’, ‘how are you?’ and ‘thank you’. It also includes time-specific greetings like ‘good morning’ and ‘good night’ and some key cultural phrases, such as ‘Asalaamu alaikum: Peace be upon you’ in Arabic.
Find greetings and phrases in different languages.
This new feature on our website includes recordings of each greeting, the translation in the script of the language, a transliteration in English (if applicable), and phonetic pronunciation.
The selected languages were based largely on 2018 Census data. More greetings and languages may be added in time.
This project was developed to encourage people to learn the greetings of New Zealand’s ethnic communities. We hope this resource will be used by public agencies, businesses, educators and the general public as a way of supporting inclusivity.
This resource expands on previous work we have done as part of our intercultural capability and language programme. This includes our Translation guidance: Unlocking language barriers and our Introduction to intercultural capability e-learning modules.
We hope to hear more of these greetings and phrases being used throughout New Zealand.