Comments on: Useful Nepali phrases to know before you visit Nepal

By: Marissa_s_g

Marissa_s_g — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 07:56:00 +0000

thanks for the help!

By: ashma shrestha

ashma shrestha — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:45:00 +0000

dude if you are gonna try to teach people somewhat nepali then at least get the meanings completely right!

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:38:53 +0000

Thank you very much im volunteering in nepal for 5 months in september and i found this incredibly informative.

Metta

By: Vivek Ghimire

Vivek Ghimire — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 15:09:07 +0000

I am a native Nepali and I want to clarity that no information written above by Sarah is wrong. Some of them may not be 100% correct, but people won’t take it otherwise, that will work completely fine. And only few have minor mistakes. Others are completely okay.

It’s the mentality of Nepali people, it will be very offensive not to add food as soon as the plate is empty, and if you are full, you will have to say ‘bhayo’ [bha-yo] or ‘pugyo’ [pug-yo] and possibly, try to cover the plate with your left palm from above for a second or two.

People in Nepal started studying in English medium just a decade ago or so, so mostly children (16 – 25 years) may be able to understand foreign English accents, but make sure that you speak slowly and clearly, whoever you talk to.

I would like to add one more phrase to this post. Like Sarah said, you shouldn’t say ‘Namaste’ when you meet the person a second time the same day, a better phrase to greet him/her would be ‘Ke Chha’ [Kay-cha] {Meaning: How are you?} This phrase is highly used and very useful in Nepal.

One more suggestion for foreign travellers/tourists, you may be used to different type of food in your hometown, but prepare to have rice as long as you stay in Nepal, coz they have rice (In Nepali: bhat) and pulse (In Nepali: Dal) with curry.

I respect the efforts of Sarah, thanks a lot to you for this post. If you have any questions about Nepali language or anything related to Nepal, please contact me on my email address: vghimire03@gmail.com I will be very happy to help you. Thanks for the post.

By: Austin Yoder

Austin Yoder — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 23:57:45 +0000

Haha… sounds similar to how things work in India. I found that if you don’t hold your hand over your plate, it doesn’t matter how many times you tell people you’re full – they will just keep heaping food on your plate anyway. If holding your hand over your plate doesn’t work, try bending your whole torso over the plate to block the incoming food with a little more bulk.

Awesome tips.

By: TAWOCHE 2K10 dispatches #1

TAWOCHE 2K10 dispatches #1 — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:06:40 +0000

[...] NETWORK CONNECTION Head over to Matador Trips to experience Nepal’s Annapurna Sanctuary Trek without leaving the comfort of your home. Trips also has the lowdown on other amazing treks in Nepal but before you head into the thin air, learn a few useful Nepali phrases [...]

By: Sarah Vazquez

Sarah Vazquez — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:27:39 +0000

Hi, thanks for reading!

I’m gald you enjoyed the post. I apologize for any inaccuracies, I wish I had more time to learn the subtleties of the language! Please offer any feedback you wish to share.

~~~Sarah~~~

By: nepali

nepali — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:00:23 +0000

hello… nice post. i’m from nepal, not sure how i landed here.

i see your post is well intentioned and you are right about these phrases being useful…. but a lot of them are wrong! who taught you nepali… you should check with them…. or perhaps someone put something funny in your chiya when you wrote this…. ?

By: Keshuvko

Keshuvko — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:18:13 +0000

Sarah,
this can help people form a mental image of Nepali. Hats off to your effort. And, I agree it’s really difficult to find a good Nepali teacher in Kathmandu.
You know onething, if a foreigner speaks Nepali — even if s/he speaks a few words — it’s fun talking to them.

By: Sarah Vazquez

Sarah Vazquez — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:36:47 +0000

It can be difficult to find a Nepali teacher when in Kathmandu even though there are signs advertised everywhere (quality is something to investigate). Please let me know (email through Matador) if you’d like the name and contact information of the woman who taught me and my fellow travelers. Perhaps she can direct your in the proper direction.