The Language of I Love You
13 Feb 2017
Valentine’s Day is here again and it got us thinking about how other countries celebrate the feast of Saint Valentine.
Did you know, for example, that in Denmark, men give women a gaekkebrev, or literally a “joking letter”, which is a comedic rhyme written on delicately cut paper and, like our Valentine’s cards, is designed to be signed anonymously. If a woman guesses the sender of her letter, she wins an Easter Egg as a prize!
How about the Philippines, where the trend for mass weddings has led to hundreds of couples gathering in public areas on Valentine’s Day to get married or even renew their vows with a large group?
South African women literally “wear their hearts on their sleeves” on February 14th, as tradition dictates they should pin the names of their love to their sleeves.
The Finnish and Estonians don’t bother with the soppy stuff- the two countries tend more to celebrate “Friends Day”, with the exchange of gifts and cards.
With this in mind, how about learning a phrase or two to say “I love you” in a just a few of the many languages we can offer here at Intonation?
Chinese: 我 爱 你 (wǒ ài nǐ)
Czech: Miluji Ťe
Dutch: Ik hou van jou
French: Je t’aime
German: Ich liebe Dich
Italian: Ti amo
Japanese: 愛してる(a i shi te ru)
Portuguese: Amo-te
Russian: я люблю тебя (ya lyublyu tebya)
Slovak: Milujem Ťa
Spanish: Te amo
Swedish: Jag älskar dig
Welsh: Rwy’n dy garu di