How to Ask “Would You Like to Dance” in 50 Different Languages

06/26/08  Print This Post Print This Post    2 Comments   Popular   Written by Amber Hartman
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Feature photo by skino. Photo above by rtarga

Dancing is elemental, and a sure way to reach across barriers of culture and language. Impress the muchachas in South America or the Greek goddesses in Santorini by asking them to dance in their native language.

Here are 50 different languages to get you going.

Language Phrase Phonetic Pronunciation
Afrikaans Sal jy met my dans, assblief? Sal yee met my dans asse-bleef
Albanian A doni të vallzoni? Ah don-ee the val-zonee
Arabic Haiya narcos? Hi-ya nar-cos
Armenian Guh bares eendzee hed? Guh bar-es e-end-zee hed
Bosnian Hoces li plesati? Ho-chesh lee pleh-sat-tee
Bulgarian Iskate lid a tancuvame? Is-ka-ta lee da tan-sov-may
Catalan Vols ballar amb mi? Volls ball-ar amb me
Chamorro Malagu hao bumaila yan guahu? Mala-goo how bum-all-e-ah yan gow-who
Chinese (Mandarian) Ni Xiango taio wu ma? Nee shee-ahng tee woo mah
Croatian Bi li htio plesati sa mnom Bee lee ha-tee-o pleh-sat-tee saw mnom
Czech Smím prosit? Smeem pro-say
Danish Vil du danse med mig? Vil do dan-say med mig
Dutch Wil je met me dansen? Will ye met mai dan-sen
Estonian Kas te soovite tantside? Kas tee sue-vite tant-side
Filipino Halika sayaw tayo? Ha-lee-ka say-awe tay-o
Finnish Haluaisitko tanssia kanssani? Hal-ua- tans-sia kan-sanee
French Voulez vous danser? Voo-lay voo dan-sah
Georgian Ginda vicekvot? Gin-da vi-cek-vot
German Möchtest du mit mir tanzen? Moch-test do mitt mir tan-zen
Greek Thélis na horépsis mazí mou? Thee-lis naw horep-shay ma-zay moo
Hebrew Ha’im tirtsi lircod iti? Ha-eem teart-see lear-cod it-ee
Hindi Aap naachna chahenge? Ap naw-ch-na cha-hen-ge
Hebrew ihun uteh nihaiu stihein ana i-un uttuh ni-haiu sti-hin ana
Hungarian Szeretnél táncolni velem Szer-ret-neal taan-col-nee vel-em
Icelandic Viltu dansa við mig? Vil-tu dan-saw vee-o mig
Indonesian Bersediakah Anda berdansa dengan saya? Ber-sed-ia-kah an-da ber-dan-sa den-gen say-ah
Irish (Gaelic) An bhfuil tú damhsa liom? Ahn buf-ool to daam-sa lee-om
Italian Voule ballare? Vou-lay ball-are-ee
Japanese Odorimasho? Oh-doh-ree-mah-show
Latvian Vai jūs vēlaties dejot? Vy joos vel-laaties de-jot
Lithuanian Ar pašoksi su manini? Are paas-oaks-ee sue man-een-nee
Luxembourgish Wëlls de mat mir danzen? Vells day maat mir dan-zen
Macedonian Bi sakala li da tantsuvash so mene? Be sak-a-la lee da tants-su-vaash so mena
Malay Mahukah saudari menari dengan saya? Mah-hu-ka sue-dari men-ari den-gen saya
Norwegian Skal vi danse? Skaal vee dan-say
Polish Czy moge z pania zatańczyć? Tsch mo-gau zee paan-yah za-tan-tsch
Portuguese Você quer dançar? Vo-see key-er dan-sar
Romanian Vrai să dansezi? Vrye suh dan-sez-e
Russian Hochesh tantcivat? Ho-che-sh ta-nt-ce-vaht
Scots Woods ye loch tae jink wi’ me? Woods ya lock tay jink we me
Serbian Mogu li imati ovu igru? Moo-goo lee im-ati oo-vu ig-ru
Slovak Smiem prosiť? Smeem pro-say
Slovenian Bi radi plesali z mano? Be rad-ee pleh-sal-ee z maan-o
Spanish Quieres bailar? Key-er-es by-lar
Swahili Tcheze ngoma? Tche-zee no-ma
Swedish Vill du dansa med mig? Vill du dan-sa med mig
Thai Yàhk dtên rum mái? Yahk dten rum my
Turkish Benimle dans eder misiniz? Ben-em-lee dans ed-er miss-in-ez
Ukrainian Chočeš zi mnoiu potantsjuvaty? Cho-says zee men po-tants-ju-vat-ee
Uzbek Men bilan raqsga tushmaysizmi? Men bil-ahn racks-ga tush-my-siz-me
Yiddish Volstu gevolt tantsn mit mir? Vols-tu ga-volt tant-sen mitt mir
Zulu Uthanda ukudansa nami? U-than-dah u-ku-dan-sa na-me

Photo by zone41

The next time you land on foreign soil, mingle with the locals and learn some new moves.


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About the Author

Amber Hartman

An aspiring writer and globe trotter, Amber Hartman spends most of her days dreaming of distant lands and weaving tales. Culturally curious, her travel philosophy is simple, when in Rome.....

2 Comments... join the discussion!

  • Nomadic Matt replied on June 27, 2008

    great list!! queires bailar? :)

    (Report comment)

    ↵ Reply
  • Anita replied on January 5, 2010

    Your website brought a smile to my face, having just spent three days in Sweden at an international dance event.

    A better way of asking to dance in Irish would be ‘Ar mhaith leat damhsa?’
    (Air wah lath dow sah?)

    Anita :)

    (Report comment)

    ↵ Reply

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