“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” – Meister Eckhart
My favorite two words in the English may be “thank you.” That phrase is simple, powerful, and important. It’s not new, either, dating back to the 15th century. The shortened, informal version of “thanks” appeared in Shakespeare’s writings. 
“Thank you” is not the only way, however, to express gratitude and appreciation. With Thanksgiving around the corner, it’s the perfect time of year for kids to learn to say thank you in a variety of languages. But really, the more ways to express gratitude year-round, the better, right?
Ta – British (okay, fine, English, but really, if you’ve traveled to the UK, you know their lexicon varies from that found this side of the pond)
Dictionary.com says, “The perfect solution for the grateful but taciturn, ta is a British colloquialism ushered into the English lexicon by toddlers. British etymologist Ernest Weekley described it as the “natural infantile sound of gratitude.” This was a new one on me.
Domo arigato – Japanese 
If you want to say “thank you very much” in Japanese, here you go. And no, I cannot say it without hearing the song “Mr. Roboto” by Styx in my head. If your kids aren’t familiar with the tune from 1983, you can find the video here. I opted not to embed it so that it doesn’t get stuck in your head now, too. Small mercies, right? Speaking of mercy…
Mille fois merci – French
Did you know that “merci” is a cousin to the English word “mercy”? The French “merci” is commonly known, but take it a step further and say “milles fois merci,” which translates to “a thousand times thanks” and is close to the English phrase “thanks a million.”
Gracias – Spanish
I feel a bit sheepish that I studied Spanish for several years and never made the connection between gracias and grace, both of which stem from the Latin word “gratus,” which means pleasing.
Danke – German
Wayne Newton, Ferris Bueller, and I all love the song “Danke Schoen” but Dictionary.com explains, “In this expression, schoen means “beautifully,” but since we don’t use “beautifully” in the same way in English, the German expression is often translated as “thank you very much” or “thank you kindly.”
Mahalo – Hawaiian
It’s possible that your Lilo and Stitch fans are already familiar with this one, but it’s so pretty that it merits inclusion here. This Hawaiian word for “thank you” is sometimes expressed as mahalo nui loa, the Hawaiian equivalent of “thank you very much.”
Mille fois merci for reading, and to Dictionary.com for the good info and lovely images!
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