Hello · Thank you · Cheers

Three phrases.
Three smiles.

The local words for hello, thank you and cheers, wherever you land. No fear of getting it wrong.

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Travellers greeting locals at a Greek café, a Japanese hotel, a Thai food stall and an Irish pub
Where it started

A simpler way to communicate

I had tried all the language apps, and found I was quietly getting nowhere. I had no time to commit to regular learning. I mixed up words and pronunciations, and I worried I would say something wrong.

When I travel, the expectation is that we will speak English and get an English response. Very few people attempt to say anything in another language.

So I started a habit. Wherever I travel, I learn three phrases in the local language: hello, thank you and cheers. If I do not know them, I ask a local host to teach me.

When I say them, there is an immediate, subtle change in the other person. Sometimes a double take. Sometimes a touch on the arm. Nearly always, a warm smile.

A night in a Turkish hotel
Merhabamer-ha-BAhello
Teşekkürteh-shek-KOORthank you
Şerefesheh-reh-FEHcheers

The first time I said thank you in Turkish, the waiter asked if I was Turkish. When I said no, he put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a warm squeeze.

"Cheers, guv."

Later, the bar lady handed me my drinks with an English "cheers". I replied in Turkish. She stopped in her tracks, did a double take and smiled back warmly.

Why only three

The smile is a universal language

Three is the number people can carry. These three phrases cover the moments that matter most on any trip.

Hello

Arriving

Walking into a shop, restaurant, café or hotel. It shows respect before anything is asked for.

Thank you

Being helped

Being served or shown the way. It turns a transaction into a human exchange.

Cheers

Celebrating

Sharing a drink or a meal. It invites you into a local ritual.

Add a fourth and fifth word, and people start mixing them up at the very moment they need them. Three phrases said well beat ten said badly. The goal is not to learn a language. The goal is to make someone smile.

How it works

Open it, say it, smile

Pick where you are

Choose your destination and the three phrases appear, ready to use.

See how to say it

Every word has a simple pronunciation guide underneath, with the stressed syllable marked.

Hear it first

Tap any phrase to hear it before you try it yourself.

The right words for the place

Barcelona gets Catalan, Bilbao gets Basque and Kerala gets Malayalam. A country is not always one language.

One local tip

Such as how to clink glasses in Croatia, or how to greet someone in Thailand.

Private and simple

No account, no adverts and no subscription. Nothing about where you go is collected.

A traveller at a rural bus stop smiling at a local walking a bicycle
Works offline

Ready before you land

Every phrase is stored on your phone, so it works with no signal at the airport, on a ferry or in the hills.

21 destinations

Where will you say hello?

Tap a destination to open its three phrases.

A note from Tom

I have always learned three words when I travel: hello, thank you and cheers. I cannot say much more, and the people I meet know it. They smile anyway, because I tried.

In Turkey, a single thank you earned me a hand on the shoulder and a "Cheers, guv" from a hotel waiter. In France, a single Santé son-TAY got my round of drinks on the house. In Bali, Om Swastiastu om swah-stee-AHS-too got me the best view in the restaurant. Every one of them got me a genuine smile.

For years I kept those words as screenshots, buried among my holiday photos. Three Smiles is the app I wanted instead. I hope it gets you a few smiles too.

Tom

Try Three Smiles

This is an early version. I would love to know what you think, which destinations you want next and whether the phrases worked for you.

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