Blog

Learn Spanish, and greet your guests with the warmth and personal touch they expect With 470 million native speakers (560 million total speakers), Spanish ranks as the World's No. 2 language as far as the number of individuals who speak it as their first language. Imagine the number of hotel guests you will be able welcome with just just a few words of this beautiful language. The great news is...

Learn Hospitality Italian and welcome your Italian guest in 'la bella lingua' Courtesy is a quality that is very much appreciated in Italy, so ensure your conduct towards your Italian hotel guests is always polished. Punctuality is not a priority for Italians. Be patient and be prepared for some delay when you welcome or expect guests. In particular, do not take a small delay as a sign of lack ...

Learn Hospitality German, and say 'hallo' to your German hotel guests With a good knowledge of other countries and a keen interest in different cultures, Germans travel more than any other European and two out of three Germans plan vacations abroad, spending more than $85 billion per year. “Professionalität” (Professionalism) is very important to the German Hotel Guest. Punctuality, eff...

Learn Hospitality French, and avoid any 'faux pas' with your French speaking guests. As a foreigner’s first gateway to the local culture, if you work in a hotel, then you are truly an ambassador of your hotel's brand and customer service. Make sure you know how to greet your French hotel guests without making any dreaded 'faux pas' (false step in French)! The nation that created “haute c...

Learn English, the language of: Queen Elizabeth II, Shakespeare, Dickens, Jane Austin and J.K.Rowling, Adele, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift. From writers to pop stars, from actors to scientists, English is the language of music, the Internet, aviation, science, tourism and diplomacy. Although it’s the fourth most spoken language (just behind Mandarin, Hindi and Spanish), English is the language...

Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is a language rich in culture and history, crafted from the mountains, lochs and majestic landscapes of the Highlands and Western Isles. It existed long before English, and is experiencing a real revival as part of the preservation of the Scottish heritage. Dating back centuries, Gaelic is the founding language of Scotland, the principle language of the medieval King...

Romanian is the only Romance language in the Eastern Block, spoken by around 24 million people mostly in Romania and Moldova. It has its roots in Latin, and in fact, the name Romania, and its derivatives, come from the Latin word ‘Romanus’ (citizen of Rome), a legacy of the Roman Empire who took control of ancient Dacia (today Romania) in 106 A.D. So where does Walachia, ruled by the inf...

Latvian is like a box of chocolates, layered with different flavors as a result of being part of Germany and then Russia, with a tribal past at its center. As a famous ancient trading point, Latvia has a rich cultural history full of folklore and folk songs, with over 30,000 different recorded melodies passed on. Did you know? Latvia’s 500k coast used to be an ancient hot spot for amber. I...

Lithuanian is considered as one of the oldest Indo-European languages, the great-granddad of the family! Although one of its closest relatives is Latvian, it also has strong family ties with ancient Sanskrit, and paternal influence from the Nordic and Germanic cultures. A truly multi-cultural family member! Although only just over 40,500 square miles (65,000 square kilometers) in size, Lithuani...

Luxembourgish is the national language of Luxembourg, whereas the languages of administration and official documents are German and French. This means that Luxembourgers are truly trilingual, which is pretty cool for people living in a triangle-shaped country! Just in case you were wondering, its three neighbors are Belgium, France, and Germany. So it's not surprising that Luxembourgish has a l...