How to impress many, increase iq and meet and speak to more people?

Do you want to impress many, increase your iq or speak to more people?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, I believe learning another language or a word in a couple can help you. When you start a conversation the first word you would say is hello (to an unfamiliar person) or hi (to someone familiar). So the word for hello or hi or 'how are you?' would be good word to know in another language. 

Key:

(r) = rolled r

(rh) = guttural r

˜ = nasal sound

How to say hello in common languages:

#1 Mandarin Chinese: 你好 (ni2 hao3) (pronounced 'knee' with a high rising tone and 'how' with a high falling then rising tone) 

#2 Spanish: Hola (pronounced o-la)
#3 English: (I hope you would know that already)

#4 Hindi: Namaste (pronounced na-mahs-tay) or Namaskar (pronounced na-mahs-ka(r) )

#5 Arabic: مرحبا (pronounced ma(rh)-ha-ba) or السلام عليكم (pronounced al-sa-laahm a-lay-koom) meaning 'peace be with you' or 'peace upon you'

#6 Bengali: Nomaashkaar (pronounced no-maahsh-shkaah(r) (Hindu) or Asalaam Alaykum (Muslim) 

#7 Portuguese: Olá (European) or Oi (Brazilian)

#8 Russian: привет (pronounced p(r)ee-vet) or Здравствуйте (pronounced zd(r)ahv-stvoo-ee-teh)

#9 Japanese: こんにちは (kon'nichiwa) (pronounced kon-nee-chee-wa)

German: Hallo
Vietnamese: Xin Cháo (pronounced shin chow or sin chow depending on the dialect) 

French: Bonjour (pronounced bãn-zho(rh) )

Korean: 안녕하세요 (pronounced ahn-nyeong-ha-se-yo 
or ahn-yông-ha-se-yo)

Cantonese: 你好 (pronounced lei with a high rising tone and hou with a high rising tone or nei with a high rising tone and hou with a high rising tone)

Turkish: Merhaba (pronounced ma(r)haba

Italian: Ciao (pronounced chow)

Polish: cześć (pronounced cheshch) 

Indonesian: Selamat (pronounced se-lah-maht):  Pagi (pronounced pah-ghee) (in the morning), Siang (pronounced see-ung) (in the early afternoon), Sore (pronounced so-(r)ay) (in the late afternoon) or Malam (pronounced mah-lahm) (at night) or Halo

Thai: สวัสดี (pronounced sa-wa-dee)

Tagalog: Kamusta (pronounced ka-moos-tah) or Halo

Romanian: Bună Ziua (pronounced boo-nuh zee-wah)

Dutch: Hallo

Khmer: Sok subai tei? (how are you?) (pronounced sock soo-bye tay)

Greek: γειά σου (pronounced geia sou)

Catalan: Hola (pronounced like Spanish)

Czech: Ahoj (pronounced a-hoy)

Swedish: Hallå (pronounced ha-looh)

Hebrew: שלום (pronounced shah-lom)

Finnish: Hei (pronounced hay)

Afrikaans: Hallo

Norwegian: Hallo

... and one more -

Esperanto: Saluton (pronounced sah-loo-ton)

Pop quiz:

1. What is significant about the first nine languages on the list? 

2. Why is Dutch before Norwegian and Vietnamese before Italian?

Please write your answers in the comment section below. Answers revealed next post.

How to be more creative

I've noticed some people are amazed at things like artwork, writing and music that others create but they don't know that they can be just as creative as they are. Using these tips you can be more creative. 

#1. Sleep. Studies have shown that REM sleep cycles can boost our creativity levels. Recording your dreams can give you inspiration. ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ were based on dreams the authors had.

#2 Exercise. Exercise can also promote creative thinking and gives you a brain power boost for a few hours. Before writing a essay go have a jog, skate, play a sport etc.

#3 Daydream. It may seem like a waste of time but it is an essential part of coming up with new ideas.  Wonder around and question things in your mind, like a child. E.g. “Why is a shadow longer, the further away light source?” etc. Try to do this a couple of times a day..

#4 Learn something that you have no idea about. This will help you think in new ways. Learn about different types of medication or animal behaviour or marine life or a foreign language like Indonesian and French or even one that doesn’t use the Latin alphabet like Korean or Japanese if you want something a little more challenging. This can also be an interesting conversation topic.

#5 Put yourself in a nerve-wrecking situation. Frustration can actually promote enervating thinking. Go to a ‘swim with the sharks’ program at an aquarium, go on the ferris wheel, go abseiling. 

#6 Write. Write down your thoughts and opinions throughout the day. This will help you think of the right words when you're having trouble writing an assignment, letter, email etc.