Try "Saint-Tropez", "Positano", "truffle" or "Cyprus".
Home›History and Culture›Languages of the Mediterranean
Hello, thank you, please and good evening, from Lisbon to Istanbul and Marrakech: a short guide to the languages of the sea.
Languages
Around the Mediterranean you will hear Romance languages in the west, Slavic languages on the Adriatic, Albanian and Greek in the Ionian, Turkish, Hebrew and Arabic in the east and south, and Amazigh in the mountains of North Africa. English is spoken in every fine hotel, but a few words in the local language are always appreciated.
Here, for each language, are four polite phrases. For greetings, dress and tipping, see our guide to customs and etiquette.
A few polite words
Portugal.
Spain and Gibraltar; Catalan is also spoken in Catalonia and the Balearics.
France and Monaco, and widely in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
Italy, and in Monaco alongside French.
Malta, with English; a Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet.
Slovenia.
Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro; closely related.
Albania.
Greece and Cyprus.
Türkiye, and in Cyprus.
Israel, where Arabic is also widely spoken.
Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon and Syria, each with its own spoken dialect.
Morocco and Algeria, where it is an official language.
The Mediterranean Season Letter
Four letters a year, one for each season: the Mediterranean from spring to autumn, and Beyond the Mediterranean, into the Alps, in winter. The one best hotel to book, and the events worth crossing a sea for.
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