English	Italian	German	French
Hello.	Buongiorno. bwahn-jure'-no	Guten Tag. goot'-en tahk	Bonjour. bohn'-jure
Goodbye.	Arriverderci. ah-ree-vair-dair'-chee	Auf Wiedersehen. aouf' vfee-dehr-zehn	Au revoir. oh ray-voir'
How are you?	Come sta? co'-may stah	Wie geht's? vfee gate'-ts	Comment allez-vous? coh'-mohn tally'-vooh
Please.	Per favore. pair' fah-voh'-ray	Bitte. beeh'-tuh	S'il vous plait. see'-hl vooh play
Thank you.	Grazie. grawts'-zeeayh	Danke. dahn'-kuh	Merci. mair-cee'
You're welcome.	Prego. pray'-go	Bitte. beeh'-tuh	De rien. day ree'-en
Nice weather today.	Che bella giornata. kay bell'-ah jour-nah'-ta	Was für ein herrlicher Tag. vass fewer aiyn hair'-leesh-eyr tahk	Quelle belle journée. kell bell jure-nay'
How much.	Quanto. qwan'-toh	Wieviel. vfee-feel'	Combien. comb'-beeyen
How many.	Quanti. qwan'-teeh	Wieviele. vee-feel'-eh	Combien. comb'-beeyen
Waiter ...	Cameriere ... kah-mey-ee-ay'-ray	Herr Ober ... hair oh'-bear	Garçon ... gahr-sohn'
We are two.	Siamo due. see-ah'-mo doo'-eh	Wir sind zwei. veer sindt tzvhy	Nous sommes deux. noo sohmh dooh
The check, please.	Il conto, per favore. eel kon'-toh pair fa-voh'-ray	Zahlen, bitte. tsahl'-en beeh'-tuh	L'addition, s'il vous plait. la-deess'-yon see'hl vooh play
Where is ...	Dov'è ... dough-vay'	Wo ist ... voh eest	Où est ... ooh eh(t)
Where are the toilets?	Dove sono i gabinetti? dough'-vay sono ee gab-eeh-net'-tee	Wo sind die toiletten, bitte? voh sindt dee toy-let'-ten, beeh'-tuh	Où sont les toilettes? ooh sohn lay twah-lett'-ah
Could you speak more slowly?	Può parlare più lentamente, per favore? pwo par-lah'-ray pew lehn-tah-mehn'-tay, pair fa-voh'-ray	Könnten Sie bitte langsamer sprechen? kurn'-ten zee beeh'-tuh lahng'-zammerr shpreh'-khern	Pouriez-vous parler plus lentement? por-'yay-vooh pahr'-lay plew lanh-ter-mahn'
Excuse me. Do you speak English?	Mi scusi. Parla inglese? mee skooz'-ee. par'-lah een-glay'-zee	Vehrzeihung. Sprechen Sie Englisch? fehr-tsigh'-ung. shpreh'-khern zee aingleesh	Excusez-moi. Parlez-vous anglais? aix-kewz'-ay mwah. pahr'-lay voo zawn-glay'

The first half dozen are simple, but powerful. They're enough to let folks know you care about being a thoughtful visitor.

The remaining phrases will help you going about your daily 'business' as a tourist. To be sure, they're not always absolutely needed. Certainly in a restaurant you can get a waiter's attention by taking off your shoe and banging it on the table. Use of these phrases, though, will probably mark you as a more sophisticated traveler.

As you work at developing a small but useful vocabulary of European language(s) there are a couple of general, useful rules to remember:
The same letters represent quite different sounds between European languages and American English.
European languages as a rule, properly spoken, give voice to every letter in the word, expecially vowels ... quite unlike American English. (French does drop final letters, usually, along with other occasional abberant behavior.)

re these enough to get by? Actually, yes.  ...   Should you? No.

First, there are a raft of easily-learned issues with pronunciation, custom, idiom and usage. If you learn at least a few of them you'll be even more appreciated. It's just far beyond the scope of this website to expect us to cover these issues. You can gain insight on these for less than $10 with one of the phrase books, and the book's a lot easier to carry around than your computer.

Second, there are a host of situations in which you'll find yourself, every day, where you'll really want to be able to use a few words of 'foreign' (to you) language instead of stuttering and stammering. Spring for the phrase book(s)! and you'll be able to reach in your pocket and pull out the right two words. By the way, we think electronic translators are worthless. Expensive, and you'll be two paragraphs behind the conversation by the time you get the first word keyed in ... whether you spell it right or wrong.

Once you get much beyond these phrases you'll find one that belongs in the 'survival' category ... "could you speak more slowly?". Many Europeans will welcome a chance to practice their English with you, sometimes making it hard for you to practice your Italian.

Others, though, hearing you speak even a few words of local language decently, may respond to your question in rapid-fire Italian (or German or French.) Once you get good enough to stimulate such a response, which really isn't hard, be sure you've learned how to ask for a slower delivery.

or more of our thoughts on the role of a bit of foreign language on your trip to Europe and some tips on grasping a grammar grip, see our "Language 101" article.

e think learning language on the Internet is near impossible, but the following websites may have some interest for you until you get your phrasebook and dictionary:
Fodor's Living Language - French, German, Italian, Spanish - A fairly extended collection of phrases, phonetic pronounciation, and sound files to hear the phrases spoken aloud.
Useful Expressions (Italian)
Web Course Italian Language
German
The German Language Page
German for Travelers (2)
French Phrase Finder
French Lesson Sources

Our apologies to those fluent in these languages for our feeble attempts at teaching language and pronounciation, and equally to those with skill in representing phonetics.