No matter where you live or your native tongue, we all have to ask where the toilet is sometimes. Sure, lots of people know English, but sometimes it just doesn't help. In honor of World Toilet Day this year, we thought we'd help you learn some new ways to ask where the toilet is in different languages.
We asked our friends to tell us how to ask the essential question in their different tongues. We also Google a few unique languages to make sure there was some decent indigenous representation included.
We will do our best to share how to pronounce these different languages with you, but it can be tricky! Let us know if you want us to tweak or add something we may have missed.
Americas
Navajo "Háadish yah anída'aldah góne'?" *Use this if you end up in the US's Southwest area and close to Native reservations. The mark at the end shows a glottal stop.
Europe
Albanian "Ku eshtë tualeti?" (koo esh-ta twa-let-y)
Dutch "Waar is de toilet?" (var is dee twa-let)
Finnish "Mistä löydän vessan?" (mee-sta low-y-den vess-an)
French "Où sont les toilettes?" (oo sont lay twa-let)
German "Wo ist die Toilette?" (voe est dee twa-let-te)
Greek "Που είναι η τουαλέτα;" (pou eh-nai y twa-let-ta)
Hungarian "Hol van a WC?" (hol van a vee-tsee)
Irish "Cá bhfuil an leithreas?" (caw will on leh-ris)
Italian "Dov’e’ la toilette?" (dove'eh la twa-let)
Polish "Gdzie jest toaleta?" (g-dj-ey est twa-let-ta)
Rusyn "Де є захӱд?" (De je zach-ood) *Nope, not Russian. Use this is you're in Ukraine, Slovakia, Serbia, Poland, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, or the Czech Republic.
Spanish "¿Dónde está el baño?" (don-day es-ta el ban-y-oh)
Swedish "Var är toaletten?" (var erh twa-let-tan)
Africa
Amharic "ሽንት ቤት የት ነው?" (shin-it-ee beet-ee yit-ee new-ee) *Use this if you're in Ethiopia.
Kinyarwanda "Umusarani urihe?" (oo-moo-sah-rah-nee oor-ee-hey) *Use this if you're in Rwanda.
Kiswahili "Naomba choo?" (nowm-ba choe) *Use this if you're in Kenya or Tanzania.
Luganda "Kabuyonjo?" (kah-boo-yo-n-jo) *Use this if you're in Uganda.
Twi - Agyananbea no wɔ he? (ag-yan-an-bey-ah no wah hey) *Use this if you're in Ghana.
Asia
Central
Arabic "أين دورة المياة ؟" (ah-yee-na ah-hah-mahm) *Use this if you're in the Middle East.
Farsi "دستشویی کجا هست؟" (aeh-mon bed-eh sy-oo-ee) *Use this if you're in Iran or Tajikistan.
Hebrew "איפה השירותים?" (ei-fo ha-sher-oo-tim) *Use this if you're in Israel.
Turkish - "Tuvalet nerede?" (too-vah-let nehr-ee-deh)
Eastern
**Hand gesture** Fun fact - in some of South Asia (namely India), if you hold your pinky up to people, it means the toilet. It's sometimes a bit crude, so we recommend waiting to use it when you're with people with whom you're comfortable.
Bahasa "Toiletnya dimana ya?" ("toi-let-nee-ya di-ma-na ya") *Use this if you're in Indonesia.
Bengali (NOT Hindi) "পায়খানাটা কোথায়?" (pa-ya-kha-na ta koh-tie-ya) *Use this if you're in Bangladesh and India.
Japanese "トイレはどこですか?" (toy-ray wa do-ko-day-su ka)
Khmer "តើបង្គន់នៅឯណា?" (ta bahng-kon no'aey-nae) *Use this if you're in Cambodia.
Mandarin Chinese "请问厕所在哪里?" (Qǐng-wèn cè-su-ǒ zài nǎ-lǐ)
Nepali "शौचालय कँहा छ?" (so-cha-lay kam-ha choa)
Thai - "ห้องน้ำอยู่ที่ไหน?" (hoong-nahm yoo tee nai)
Urdu - "Toilet kidhar hai?" (toy-let kid-har hi) *Use this if you're in Pakistan.
Vietnamese "Nhà vệ sinh ở đâu?" (nee-ya vey sing oh dow)
Oceana
Australian "Where’s ya dunny, mate?" *We just thought this was fun.
Samoan "O fea le faletaele?" *Use this if you're in Samoa.
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