They say that learning a foreign language is one of the best things you can do to expand your horizons. After all, learning to speak a language other than your native tongue does a lot to open your mind – not only to a new way of expressing yourself verbally, but also opening up to a new culture and a different way of thinking. There is, however, the fact that for some people, picking up a new language is not an easy task. It does require some time, effort, and even money.
If you feel that way, why not go an alternative route? Since you probably spend a considerable amount of your time on the Internet, how about you learn how to laugh online in other languages instead? It may be quite far from actually speaking foreign languages, but hey, it’s the thought that counts? (Maybe not, but what the heck!)
Laughter is the best medicine, so they say, so I guess being able to laugh in another language will give you an edge health-wise. In case you need a good dose of laughter, here’s the perfect cheat sheet, thanks to The Atlantic Wire.
Japanese: www
This is hard to explain, but it definitely does not have anything to do with “www” as in “World Wide Web”. Instead, it’s attributed to the Japanese Kanji character for laugh, which is uttered as “warai”. You get it? If you want to use this, know that you can go up to as many “ws” as you want, depending on how hard you’re laughing.
Korean: kkkkk or kekekekeke
The origin: keu keu keu, which is Korean for hahaha. Easy enough to remember, yes?
French: hahaha, héhéhé, hihihi, hohoho; also MDR
I like MDR best, for some reason. It’s short for “mort de rire”, or “dying of laughter” in English. It’s a classier way of saying LMAO, don’t you think?
Spanish: jajaja
You’ve probably seen this a lot, and the explanation is that in Spanish, “j” sounds like the English “h”.
Greek: xaxaxa
Brazilian Portuguese: huehuehue, rsrsrsrs
Danish: ha ha, hi hi, hæ hæ, ho ho, ti hi
Russian: haha ????, hihi ????, hèhè ????
Lots of laughter to you on this Friday!
Image via Tumblr