Words that are the same in every language: we checked 22

Almost none. We compared all 2,208 words in our course across 22 languages, and only one, pizza, is recognisably the same in every one of them. Taco is the same in 21, and yoga, cricket and kiwi in 20. Just 72 words (3.3%) are shared by 15 or more of the 22 languages.

• 1 word recognisably the same in all 22 languages
• 72 words shared by 15 or more (3.3%)
• 370 words no two languages share at all
• 417 Dutch words an English speaker can already recognise

The 22 languages are the ones Flashcardly teaches: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Serbian, Russian, Greek, Hungarian, Turkish, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese. The 2,208 words are our full beginner-to-intermediate course, from “apple” and “sun” to “saxophone” and “turbulence”. How we measured it is further down.

The words that are the same in the most languages

1. 

   pizza

   22 of 22 languages

   • Hear English: en pizza
   • Hear German: de Pizza
   • Hear Spanish: es pizza
   • Hear French: fr pizza
   • Hear Italian: it pizza
   • Hear Portuguese: pt pizza
   • Hear Dutch: nl pizza
   • Hear Swedish: sv pizza
   • Hear Polish: pl pizza
   • Hear Czech: cs pizza
   • Hear Romanian: ro pizza
   • Hear Russian: ru пицца pitstsa
   • Hear Greek: el πίτσα pitsa
   • Hear Hungarian: hu pizza
   • Hear Serbian: sr pica
   • Hear Turkish: tr pizza
   • Hear Chinese: zh 比萨 bǐsà
   • Hear Japanese: ja ピザ piza
   • Hear Korean: ko 피자 pija
   • Hear Vietnamese: vi pizza
   • Hear Arabic: ar بِيتْزَا bītzā
   • Hear Hebrew: he פיצה pitza
2. 

   taco

   21 of 22 languages

   • Hear English: en taco
   • Hear German: de Taco
   • Hear Spanish: es taco
   • Hear French: fr taco
   • Hear Italian: it taco
   • Hear Portuguese: pt taco
   • Hear Dutch: nl taco
   • Hear Swedish: sv taco
   • Hear Polish: pl tako
   • Hear Czech: cs taco
   • Hear Romanian: ro taco
   • Hear Russian: ru тако tako
   • Hear Greek: el τάκο tako
   • Hear Hungarian: hu taco
   • Hear Serbian: sr tako
   • Hear Turkish: tr tako
   • Hear Chinese: zh 塔可 tǎkě
   • Hear Japanese (a different word): ja タコス takosu
   • Hear Korean: ko 타코 tako
   • Hear Vietnamese: vi taco
   • Hear Arabic: ar تَاكُو tākū
   • Hear Hebrew: he טאקו tako
3. 

   yoga

   20 of 22 languages

   • Hear English: en yoga
   • Hear German: de Yoga
   • Hear Spanish: es yoga
   • Hear French: fr yoga
   • Hear Italian: it yoga
   • Hear Portuguese: pt ioga
   • Hear Dutch: nl yoga
   • Hear Swedish: sv yoga
   • Hear Polish: pl joga
   • Hear Czech: cs jóga
   • Hear Romanian: ro yoga
   • Hear Russian: ru йога yoga
   • Hear Greek: el γιόγκα yoga
   • Hear Hungarian: hu jóga
   • Hear Serbian: sr joga
   • Hear Turkish: tr yoga
   • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 瑜伽 yújiā
   • Hear Japanese: ja ヨガ yoga
   • Hear Korean: ko 요가 yoga
   • Hear Vietnamese: vi yoga
   • Hear Arabic (a different word): ar اليُوغَا al-yūghā
   • Hear Hebrew: he יוגה yoga
4. 

   cricket

   20 of 22 languages

   • Hear English: en cricket
   • Hear German: de Cricket
   • Hear Spanish: es críquet
   • Hear French: fr cricket
   • Hear Italian: it cricket
   • Hear Portuguese: pt críquete
   • Hear Dutch: nl cricket
   • Hear Swedish: sv cricket
   • Hear Polish: pl krykiet
   • Hear Czech: cs kriket
   • Hear Romanian: ro crichet
   • Hear Russian: ru крикет kriket
   • Hear Greek: el κρίκετ kríket
   • Hear Hungarian: hu krikett
   • Hear Serbian: sr kriket
   • Hear Turkish: tr kriket
   • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 板球 bǎnqiú
   • Hear Japanese: ja クリケット kuriketto
   • Hear Korean: ko 크리켓 keuriket
   • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi bóng gậy
   • Hear Arabic: ar كريكت krīkīt
   • Hear Hebrew: he קריקט kriket
5. 

   kiwi

   20 of 22 languages

   • Hear English: en kiwi
   • Hear German: de Kiwi
   • Hear Spanish: es kiwi
   • Hear French: fr kiwi
   • Hear Italian: it kiwi
   • Hear Portuguese: pt quiui
   • Hear Dutch: nl kiwi
   • Hear Swedish: sv kiwi
   • Hear Polish: pl kiwi
   • Hear Czech: cs kiwi
   • Hear Romanian: ro kiwi
   • Hear Russian: ru киви kivi
   • Hear Greek (a different word): el ακτινίδιο aktinidio
   • Hear Hungarian: hu kivi
   • Hear Serbian: sr kivi
   • Hear Turkish: tr kivi
   • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 奇异果 qíyìguǒ
   • Hear Japanese: ja キウイ kiui
   • Hear Korean: ko 키위 kiwi
   • Hear Vietnamese: vi kiwi
   • Hear Arabic: ar كِيوِي kīwī
   • Hear Hebrew: he קיווי kivi
6. 

   mango

   19 of 22 languages

   • Hear English: en mango
   • Hear German: de Mango
   • Hear Spanish: es mango
   • Hear French (a different word): fr mangue
   • Hear Italian: it mango
   • Hear Portuguese: pt manga
   • Hear Dutch: nl mango
   • Hear Swedish: sv mango
   • Hear Polish: pl mango
   • Hear Czech: cs mango
   • Hear Romanian: ro mango
   • Hear Russian: ru манго mango
   • Hear Greek: el μάνγκο mango
   • Hear Hungarian: hu mangó
   • Hear Serbian: sr mango
   • Hear Turkish: tr mango
   • Hear Chinese: zh 芒果 mángguǒ
   • Hear Japanese: ja マンゴー mangō
   • Hear Korean: ko 망고 manggo
   • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi xoài
   • Hear Arabic (a different word): ar مَانْجُو mānjū
   • Hear Hebrew: he מנגו mango

Show 18 more words

7. 

   internet

   19 of 22 languages

   • Hear English: en internet
   • Hear German: de Internet
   • Hear Spanish: es internet
   • Hear French: fr internet
   • Hear Italian: it internet
   • Hear Portuguese: pt internet
   • Hear Dutch: nl internet
   • Hear Swedish: sv internet
   • Hear Polish: pl internet
   • Hear Czech: cs internet
   • Hear Romanian: ro internet
   • Hear Russian: ru интернет internet
   • Hear Greek (a different word): el διαδίκτυο diadiktyo
   • Hear Hungarian: hu internet
   • Hear Serbian: sr internet
   • Hear Turkish: tr internet
   • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 网络 wǎngluò
   • Hear Japanese (a different word): ja インターネット intānetto
   • Hear Korean: ko 인터넷 inteonet
   • Hear Vietnamese: vi internet
   • Hear Arabic: ar إِنْتِرْنِت intirnit
   • Hear Hebrew: he אינטרנט internet
8. 

   dominoes

   19 of 22 languages

   • Hear English: en dominoes
   • Hear German (a different word): de Dominosteine
   • Hear Spanish: es dominó
   • Hear French: fr dominos
   • Hear Italian: it domino
   • Hear Portuguese: pt dominó
   • Hear Dutch: nl domino
   • Hear Swedish: sv domino
   • Hear Polish: pl domino
   • Hear Czech: cs domino
   • Hear Romanian: ro domino
   • Hear Russian: ru домино domino
   • Hear Greek: el ντόμινο domino
   • Hear Hungarian: hu dominó
   • Hear Serbian: sr domine
   • Hear Turkish: tr domino
   • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 多米诺骨牌 duōmǐnuògǔpái
   • Hear Japanese: ja ドミノ domino
   • Hear Korean: ko 도미노 domino
   • Hear Vietnamese: vi cờ domino
   • Hear Arabic (a different word): ar دُومِينُو dūmīnū
   • Hear Hebrew: he דומינו domino
9. 

   kilo

   19 of 22 languages

   • Hear English: en kilo
   • Hear German: de Kilo
   • Hear Spanish: es kilo
   • Hear French: fr kilo
   • Hear Italian: it chilo
   • Hear Portuguese: pt quilo
   • Hear Dutch: nl kilo
   • Hear Swedish: sv kilo
   • Hear Polish: pl kilo
   • Hear Czech: cs kilo
   • Hear Romanian (a different word): ro kilogram
   • Hear Russian (a different word): ru килограмм kilogramm
   • Hear Greek: el κιλό kilo
   • Hear Hungarian: hu kilo
   • Hear Serbian: sr kilo
   • Hear Turkish: tr kilo
   • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 公斤 gōngjīn
   • Hear Japanese: ja キロ kiro
   • Hear Korean: ko 킬로 killo
   • Hear Vietnamese: vi ki-lô
   • Hear Arabic: ar كِيلُو kīlū
   • Hear Hebrew: he קילו kilo
10. 

    saxophone

    19 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en saxophone
    • Hear German: de Saxophon
    • Hear Spanish: es saxofón
    • Hear French: fr saxophone
    • Hear Italian: it sassofono
    • Hear Portuguese: pt saxofone
    • Hear Dutch: nl saxofoon
    • Hear Swedish: sv saxofon
    • Hear Polish: pl saksofon
    • Hear Czech: cs saxofon
    • Hear Romanian: ro saxofon
    • Hear Russian: ru саксофон saksofon
    • Hear Greek: el σαξόφωνο saxofono
    • Hear Hungarian: hu szaxofon
    • Hear Serbian: sr saksofon
    • Hear Turkish: tr saksafon
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 萨克斯 sàkèsī
    • Hear Japanese (a different word): ja サックス sakkusu
    • Hear Korean: ko 색소폰 saeksopon
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi kèn saxophone
    • Hear Arabic: ar سَاكْسُوفُون saksufun
    • Hear Hebrew: he סקסופון saksofon
11. 

    tennis

    19 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en tennis
    • Hear German: de Tennis
    • Hear Spanish: es tenis
    • Hear French: fr tennis
    • Hear Italian: it tennis
    • Hear Portuguese: pt tênis
    • Hear Dutch: nl tennis
    • Hear Swedish: sv tennis
    • Hear Polish: pl tenis
    • Hear Czech: cs tenis
    • Hear Romanian: ro tenis
    • Hear Russian: ru теннис tennis
    • Hear Greek: el τένις tenis
    • Hear Hungarian: hu tenisz
    • Hear Serbian: sr tenis
    • Hear Turkish: tr tenis
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 网球 wǎngqiú
    • Hear Japanese: ja テニス tenisu
    • Hear Korean: ko 테니스 teniseu
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi quần vợt
    • Hear Arabic (a different word): ar كُرَةُ المِضْرَب kurat al-miḍrab
    • Hear Hebrew: he טניס tenis
12. 

    taxi

    18 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en taxi
    • Hear German: de Taxi
    • Hear Spanish: es taxi
    • Hear French: fr taxi
    • Hear Italian: it taxi
    • Hear Portuguese: pt táxi
    • Hear Dutch: nl taxi
    • Hear Swedish: sv taxi
    • Hear Polish (a different word): pl taksówka
    • Hear Czech: cs taxi
    • Hear Romanian: ro taxi
    • Hear Russian: ru такси taksi
    • Hear Greek: el ταξί taxi
    • Hear Hungarian: hu taxi
    • Hear Serbian: sr taksi
    • Hear Turkish: tr taksi
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 出租车 chūzūchē
    • Hear Japanese (a different word): ja タクシー takushī
    • Hear Korean: ko 택시 taeksi
    • Hear Vietnamese: vi taxi
    • Hear Arabic: ar تَاكْسِي tāksī
    • Hear Hebrew (a different word): he מונית monit
13. 

    radio

    18 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en radio
    • Hear German: de Radio
    • Hear Spanish: es radio
    • Hear French: fr radio
    • Hear Italian: it radio
    • Hear Portuguese: pt rádio
    • Hear Dutch: nl radio
    • Hear Swedish: sv radio
    • Hear Polish: pl radio
    • Hear Czech: cs rádio
    • Hear Romanian: ro radio
    • Hear Russian: ru радио radio
    • Hear Greek (a different word): el ραδιόφωνο radiofono
    • Hear Hungarian: hu rádió
    • Hear Serbian: sr radio
    • Hear Turkish: tr radyo
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 收音机 shōuyīnjī
    • Hear Japanese: ja ラジオ rajio
    • Hear Korean: ko 라디오 radio
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi đài phát thanh
    • Hear Arabic (a different word): ar مِذْيَاع midhyāʿ
    • Hear Hebrew: he רדיו radio
14. 

    golf

    18 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en golf
    • Hear German: de Golf
    • Hear Spanish: es golf
    • Hear French: fr golf
    • Hear Italian: it golf
    • Hear Portuguese: pt golfe
    • Hear Dutch: nl golf
    • Hear Swedish: sv golf
    • Hear Polish: pl golf
    • Hear Czech: cs golf
    • Hear Romanian: ro golf
    • Hear Russian: ru гольф golf
    • Hear Greek: el γκολφ golf
    • Hear Hungarian: hu golf
    • Hear Serbian: sr golf
    • Hear Turkish: tr golf
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 高尔夫 gāo'ěrfū
    • Hear Japanese (a different word): ja ゴルフ gorufu
    • Hear Korean (a different word): ko 골프 golpeu
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi gôn
    • Hear Arabic: ar جُولف golf
    • Hear Hebrew: he גולף golf
15. 

    gas

    18 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en gas
    • Hear German: de Gas
    • Hear Spanish: es gas
    • Hear French: fr gaz
    • Hear Italian: it gas
    • Hear Portuguese: pt gás
    • Hear Dutch: nl gas
    • Hear Swedish: sv gas
    • Hear Polish: pl gaz
    • Hear Czech (a different word): cs plyn
    • Hear Romanian: ro gaz
    • Hear Russian: ru газ gaz
    • Hear Greek: el γκάζι gazi
    • Hear Hungarian: hu gáz
    • Hear Serbian: sr gas
    • Hear Turkish: tr gaz
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 煤气 méiqì
    • Hear Japanese: ja ガス gasu
    • Hear Korean (a different word): ko 가스 gaseu
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi ga
    • Hear Arabic: ar غَاز ghāz
    • Hear Hebrew: he גז gaz
16. 

    microphone

    18 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en microphone
    • Hear German: de Mikrofon
    • Hear Spanish: es micrófono
    • Hear French: fr microphone
    • Hear Italian: it microfono
    • Hear Portuguese: pt microfone
    • Hear Dutch: nl microfoon
    • Hear Swedish: sv mikrofon
    • Hear Polish: pl mikrofon
    • Hear Czech: cs mikrofon
    • Hear Romanian: ro microfon
    • Hear Russian: ru микрофон mikrofon
    • Hear Greek: el μικρόφωνο mikrofono
    • Hear Hungarian: hu mikrofon
    • Hear Serbian: sr mikrofon
    • Hear Turkish: tr mikrofon
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 麦克风 màikèfēng
    • Hear Japanese (a different word): ja マイク maiku
    • Hear Korean (a different word): ko 마이크 maikeu
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi micrô
    • Hear Arabic: ar مِيكْرُوفُون mīkrūfūn
    • Hear Hebrew: he מיקרופון mikrofon
17. 

    broccoli

    18 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en broccoli
    • Hear German: de Brokkoli
    • Hear Spanish: es brócoli
    • Hear French: fr brocoli
    • Hear Italian: it broccolo
    • Hear Portuguese: pt brócolis
    • Hear Dutch: nl broccoli
    • Hear Swedish: sv broccoli
    • Hear Polish (a different word): pl brokuł
    • Hear Czech: cs brokolice
    • Hear Romanian: ro broccoli
    • Hear Russian: ru брокколи brokkoli
    • Hear Greek: el μπρόκολο brokolo
    • Hear Hungarian: hu brokkoli
    • Hear Serbian: sr brokoli
    • Hear Turkish: tr brokoli
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 西兰花 xīlánhuā
    • Hear Japanese: ja ブロッコリー burokkorii
    • Hear Korean: ko 브로콜리 beurokolli
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi súp lơ xanh
    • Hear Arabic (a different word): ar بُرُوكُلِي burūkulī
    • Hear Hebrew: he ברוקולי brokoli
18. 

    kayak

    18 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en kayak
    • Hear German: de Kajak
    • Hear Spanish: es kayak
    • Hear French: fr kayak
    • Hear Italian: it kayak
    • Hear Portuguese (a different word): pt caiaque
    • Hear Dutch: nl kajak
    • Hear Swedish: sv kajak
    • Hear Polish: pl kajak
    • Hear Czech: cs kajak
    • Hear Romanian: ro caiac
    • Hear Russian: ru каяк kayak
    • Hear Greek: el καγιάκ kayak
    • Hear Hungarian: hu kajak
    • Hear Serbian: sr kajak
    • Hear Turkish: tr kayak
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 皮划艇 píhuátǐng
    • Hear Japanese: ja カヤック kayakku
    • Hear Korean: ko 카약 kayak
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi thuyền kayak
    • Hear Arabic (a different word): ar قَارِبُ الكَايَاك qārib al-kāyāk
    • Hear Hebrew: he קיאק kayak
19. 

    fantasy

    18 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en fantasy
    • Hear German: de Fantasy
    • Hear Spanish: es fantasía
    • Hear French: fr fantasy
    • Hear Italian: it fantasy
    • Hear Portuguese: pt fantasia
    • Hear Dutch: nl fantasy
    • Hear Swedish: sv fantasy
    • Hear Polish: pl fantasy
    • Hear Czech: cs fantasy
    • Hear Romanian: ro fantezie
    • Hear Russian (a different word): ru фэнтези fentezi
    • Hear Greek: el φαντασία fantasía
    • Hear Hungarian: hu fantasy
    • Hear Serbian: sr fantastika
    • Hear Turkish: tr fantastik
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 奇幻 qíhuàn
    • Hear Japanese: ja ファンタジー fantajī
    • Hear Korean (a different word): ko 판타지 pantaji
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi giả tưởng
    • Hear Arabic: ar فانتازيا fantāziyā
    • Hear Hebrew: he פנטזיה fantazya
20. 

    sandals

    18 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en sandals
    • Hear German: de Sandalen
    • Hear Spanish: es sandalias
    • Hear French: fr sandales
    • Hear Italian: it sandalo
    • Hear Portuguese: pt sandálias
    • Hear Dutch: nl sandalen
    • Hear Swedish: sv sandaler
    • Hear Polish: pl sandały
    • Hear Czech: cs sandály
    • Hear Romanian: ro sandală
    • Hear Russian: ru сандалии sandalii
    • Hear Greek: el σανδάλια sandalia
    • Hear Hungarian: hu szandál
    • Hear Serbian: sr sandale
    • Hear Turkish: tr sandalet
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 凉鞋 liángxié
    • Hear Japanese (a different word): ja サンダル sandaru
    • Hear Korean (a different word): ko 샌들 saendeul
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi dép xăng đan
    • Hear Arabic: ar صَنْدَل ṣandal
    • Hear Hebrew: he סנדלים sandalim
21. 

    brunch

    18 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en brunch
    • Hear German: de Brunch
    • Hear Spanish: es brunch
    • Hear French: fr brunch
    • Hear Italian: it brunch
    • Hear Portuguese: pt brunch
    • Hear Dutch: nl brunch
    • Hear Swedish: sv brunch
    • Hear Polish: pl brunch
    • Hear Czech: cs brunch
    • Hear Romanian: ro brunch
    • Hear Russian: ru бранч branch
    • Hear Greek (a different word): el μπραντς brants
    • Hear Hungarian: hu brunch
    • Hear Serbian: sr branč
    • Hear Turkish: tr branç
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 早午餐 zǎowǔcān
    • Hear Japanese: ja ブランチ buranchi
    • Hear Korean (a different word): ko 브런치 beureonchi
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi bữa sáng muộn
    • Hear Arabic: ar بْرَانْش bransh
    • Hear Hebrew: he בראנץ' brunch
22. 

    rugby

    18 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en rugby
    • Hear German: de Rugby
    • Hear Spanish: es rugby
    • Hear French: fr rugby
    • Hear Italian: it rugby
    • Hear Portuguese: pt rúgbi
    • Hear Dutch: nl rugby
    • Hear Swedish: sv rugby
    • Hear Polish: pl rugby
    • Hear Czech: cs ragby
    • Hear Romanian: ro rugby
    • Hear Russian: ru регби regbi
    • Hear Greek: el ράγκμπι ragkbi
    • Hear Hungarian: hu rögbi
    • Hear Serbian: sr ragbi
    • Hear Turkish: tr ragbi
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 橄榄球 gǎnlǎnqiú
    • Hear Japanese: ja ラグビー ragubī
    • Hear Korean (a different word): ko 럭비 reokbi
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi bóng bầu dục
    • Hear Arabic (a different word): ar الرُّغْبِي ar-rugbi
    • Hear Hebrew: he רוגבי rugby
23. 

    mayonnaise

    18 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en mayonnaise
    • Hear German: de Mayonnaise
    • Hear Spanish: es mayonesa
    • Hear French: fr mayonnaise
    • Hear Italian: it maionese
    • Hear Portuguese: pt maionese
    • Hear Dutch: nl mayonaise
    • Hear Swedish (a different word): sv majonnäs
    • Hear Polish: pl majonez
    • Hear Czech: cs majonéza
    • Hear Romanian: ro maioneză
    • Hear Russian: ru майонез mayonez
    • Hear Greek: el μαγιονέζα mayioneza
    • Hear Hungarian: hu majonéz
    • Hear Serbian: sr majonez
    • Hear Turkish: tr mayonez
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 蛋黄酱 dànhuángjiàng
    • Hear Japanese: ja マヨネーズ mayonēzu
    • Hear Korean: ko 마요네즈 mayonejeu
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi sốt mayonnaise
    • Hear Arabic (a different word): ar مَايُونِيز māyūnīz
    • Hear Hebrew: he מיונז mayonez
24. 

    picnic

    18 of 22 languages

    • Hear English: en picnic
    • Hear German: de Picknick
    • Hear Spanish: es picnic
    • Hear French: fr pique-nique
    • Hear Italian: it picnic
    • Hear Portuguese: pt piquenique
    • Hear Dutch: nl picknick
    • Hear Swedish: sv picknick
    • Hear Polish: pl piknik
    • Hear Czech: cs piknik
    • Hear Romanian: ro picnic
    • Hear Russian: ru пикник piknik
    • Hear Greek: el πικνίκ piknik
    • Hear Hungarian: hu piknik
    • Hear Serbian: sr piknik
    • Hear Turkish: tr piknik
    • Hear Chinese (a different word): zh 野餐 yěcān
    • Hear Japanese: ja ピクニック pikunikku
    • Hear Korean (a different word): ko 소풍 sopung
    • Hear Vietnamese (a different word): vi dã ngoại
    • Hear Arabic (a different word): ar نُزْهَة nuzha
    • Hear Hebrew: he פיקניק piknik

Even pizza is not spelled the same everywhere: it is пицца in Russian, πίτσα in Greek, ピザ in Japanese, 피자 in Korean, 比萨 in Chinese, بيتزا in Arabic and פיצה in Hebrew. Written in Latin letters, all of them stay close to “pizza”. Chinese is the narrowest match: bǐsà differs from pizza only in its first sound, which is exactly one letter at our cut-off.

Look at what is on the list. Most of the top 24 are foods, sports and games, or modern inventions like the radio and the microphone. When something new spreads around the world, its name tends to travel with it. Older, everyday words mostly stay inside one language family: water is shared by just four languages (Polish, Czech, Russian and Serbian all say voda or вода), and 370 words in the course are not shared by any two of the 22 languages at all.

Which languages share the most words

Hover a square to see the pair.

1. Spanish · Portuguese 43.4%
2. Spanish · Italian 28.4%
3. German · Dutch 25.8%
4. Italian · Portuguese 25.1%
5. Polish · Czech 19.9%
6. Dutch · Swedish 19.8%
7. Czech · Serbian 19.5%
8. Italian · Romanian 19.2%
9. English · Dutch 18.9%
10. Polish · Russian 18.9%

Share of words under 1%1–2%2–5%5–10%10–15%15–25%25% or more

Show all 231 pairs as a table

Percentage of the 2,208 course words that are the same or nearly the same in both languages

Language	EN	DE	NL	SV	FR	ES	PT	IT	RO	PL	CS	SR	RU	EL	HU	TR	HE	AR	JA	KO	VI	ZH
English	–	15.3	18.9	17.5	16.5	12.1	11.0	12.4	14.5	8.4	7.9	8.6	9.0	4.8	6.4	7.7	5.6	1.2	3.6	2.6	0.9	0.1
German	15.3	–	25.8	18.6	10.2	7.7	7.2	9.0	9.7	8.2	8.5	9.6	8.1	3.8	7.2	5.9	4.9	1.5	1.9	1.5	0.9	0.3
Dutch	18.9	25.8	–	19.8	11.5	7.9	7.4	8.8	10.5	7.7	8.4	8.7	8.3	3.3	6.4	5.9	4.6	1.3	2.0	1.7	0.7	0.2
Swedish	17.5	18.6	19.8	–	10.8	9.0	8.8	10.1	11.7	9.0	8.1	9.8	8.9	3.5	6.9	6.5	5.2	1.4	1.9	1.9	0.9	0.3
French	16.5	10.2	11.5	10.8	–	16.9	14.7	17.0	17.7	7.6	6.8	7.6	7.5	5.1	5.5	7.3	4.3	1.1	1.8	1.4	0.9	0.2
Spanish	12.1	7.7	7.9	9.0	16.9	–	43.4	28.4	16.4	7.8	6.2	7.4	7.1	5.5	4.9	6.3	4.6	1.3	2.0	1.4	0.7	0.3
Portuguese	11.0	7.2	7.4	8.8	14.7	43.4	–	25.1	15.3	7.4	6.0	7.0	6.2	5.5	4.8	6.0	3.8	1.3	1.9	1.3	0.7	0.3
Italian	12.4	9.0	8.8	10.1	17.0	28.4	25.1	–	19.2	8.1	7.2	8.1	7.7	7.2	5.9	6.5	4.9	1.4	2.0	1.2	0.9	0.2
Romanian	14.5	9.7	10.5	11.7	17.7	16.4	15.3	19.2	–	11.3	9.1	11.3	10.5	6.6	7.2	9.4	5.0	1.8	1.9	1.2	0.9	0.3
Polish	8.4	8.2	7.7	9.0	7.6	7.8	7.4	8.1	11.3	–	19.9	16.6	18.9	4.3	6.7	6.1	4.3	1.3	1.4	0.9	0.8	0.2
Czech	7.9	8.5	8.4	8.1	6.8	6.2	6.0	7.2	9.1	19.9	–	19.5	17.2	3.5	7.5	5.3	4.3	1.1	1.2	1.0	0.9	0.1
Serbian	8.6	9.6	8.7	9.8	7.6	7.4	7.0	8.1	11.3	16.6	19.5	–	18.8	5.3	7.9	8.5	5.1	1.5	1.6	1.1	0.7	0.1
Russian	9.0	8.1	8.3	8.9	7.5	7.1	6.2	7.7	10.5	18.9	17.2	18.8	–	4.7	6.2	6.6	5.0	1.3	1.7	1.2	0.8	0.4
Greek	4.8	3.8	3.3	3.5	5.1	5.5	5.5	7.2	6.6	4.3	3.5	5.3	4.7	–	3.7	6.0	3.5	1.2	1.7	1.3	0.7	0.3
Hungarian	6.4	7.2	6.4	6.9	5.5	4.9	4.8	5.9	7.2	6.7	7.5	7.9	6.2	3.7	–	5.0	4.0	0.9	1.1	1.0	0.9	0.1
Turkish	7.7	5.9	5.9	6.5	7.3	6.3	6.0	6.5	9.4	6.1	5.3	8.5	6.6	6.0	5.0	–	4.6	3.9	1.8	1.4	1.1	0.1
Hebrew	5.6	4.9	4.6	5.2	4.3	4.6	3.8	4.9	5.0	4.3	4.3	5.1	5.0	3.5	4.0	4.6	–	3.7	1.8	1.3	0.8	0.3
Arabic	1.2	1.5	1.3	1.4	1.1	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.8	1.3	1.1	1.5	1.3	1.2	0.9	3.9	3.7	–	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.1
Japanese	3.6	1.9	2.0	1.9	1.8	2.0	1.9	2.0	1.9	1.4	1.2	1.6	1.7	1.7	1.1	1.8	1.8	0.4	–	4.2	0.3	0.5
Korean	2.6	1.5	1.7	1.9	1.4	1.4	1.3	1.2	1.2	0.9	1.0	1.1	1.2	1.3	1.0	1.4	1.3	0.4	4.2	–	0.5	0.9
Vietnamese	0.9	0.9	0.7	0.9	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.9	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.9	1.1	0.8	0.4	0.3	0.5	–	0.9
Chinese	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.4	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.5	0.9	0.9	–

Spanish and Portuguese are in a league of their own: 959 of the 2,208 words (43.4%) are the same or nearly the same, like señor and senhor or ahora and agora. The next closest pairs are Spanish and Italian (28.4%), German and Dutch (25.8%) and Italian and Portuguese (25.1%).

The family blocks show up clearly: the Romance languages share with each other, so do the Slavic ones (Polish and Czech 19.9%, Czech and Serbian 19.5%), and so do the Germanic ones. An average pair of languages shares 5.9% of the course.

A few pairs cross family lines. Turkish shares more words with Romanian (207) than with any other language. Both borrowed widely from French, and it shows: bej and bej (beige), pantolon and pantalon (trousers), kolye and colier (necklace). Arabic’s closest match is Turkish (87 words), which took many words from Arabic, such as merhaba (hello) and fil (elephant). Japanese and Korean share 93, many of them the same English loanwords written in each script: menu, sofa, guitar. Chinese is the most distinct language in the set: its closest partner, Korean, shares just 19 words, and with Arabic it shares 2.

How many words an English speaker already recognises

1. Dutch 417 (18.9%) persoon (person), vriend (friend), minuut (minute)
2. Swedish 387 (17.5%) minut (minute), komma (come), tre (three)
3. French 365 (16.5%) personne (person), décrire (describe), accepter (accept)
4. German 337 (15.3%) kommen (come), Monat (month), Polizei (police)
5. Romanian 320 (14.5%) persoană (person), minut (minute), trei (three)
6. Italian 275 (12.4%) persona (person), minuto (minute), tre (three)
7. Spanish 267 (12.1%) persona (person), minuto (minute), cero (zero)
8. Portuguese 243 (11%) minuto (minute), três (three), falso (false)
9. Russian 198 (9%) минута minuta (minute), плюс plyus (plus), апрель aprel' (April)
10. Serbian 190 (8.6%) minut (minute), vikend (weekend), doktor (doctor)
11. Polish 185 (8.4%) minuta (minute), milion (million), szpital (hospital)
12. Czech 175 (7.9%) minuta (minute), víkend (weekend), policie (police)
13. Turkish 170 (7.7%) polis (police), doktor (doctor), ambulans (ambulance)
14. Hungarian 142 (6.4%) baba (baby), plusz (plus), millió (million)
15. Hebrew 124 (5.6%) אמבולנס ambulans (ambulance), מיליון milyon (million), יולי yuli (July)
16. Greek 106 (4.8%) φαρμακείο farmakio (pharmacy), σούπερ μάρκετ souper market (supermarket), καφέ kafe (café)
17. Japanese 79 (3.6%) カフェ kafe (café), マットレス mattorēsu (mattress), デニム denimu (denim)
18. Korean 58 (2.6%) 카페 kape (café), 카펫 kapet (carpet), 쇼핑몰 syopingmol (shopping mall)
19. Arabic 26 (1.2%) مِلْيُون milyūn (million), أَبْرِيل Abrīl (April), بلاستيكيّ blāstīkī (plastic)
20. Vietnamese 21 (0.9%) cà phê (coffee), súp (soup), sa lát (salad)
21. Chinese 3 (0.1%) 比萨 bǐsà (pizza), 塔可 tǎkě (taco), 芒果 mángguǒ (mango)

If you speak English, Dutch gives you the biggest head start: 417 of the 2,208 words (18.9%) look almost the same as the English, like vriend (friend) and minuut (minute). Swedish (387) and French (365) come next. French ranks that high because English took so many words from it: describe and décrire, accept and accepter.

Japanese (79) and Korean (58) borrow many English words, but they get reshaped by each language’s sounds, so マットレス (mattoresu) still counts for “mattress” while many others drift past our cut-off. Chinese usually builds a new word from its own parts instead of borrowing the sound. Taxi is 出租车 (chūzūchē), roughly “rent-out car”, and tennis is 网球 (wǎngqiú), “net ball”. That leaves 3 matches: pizza, taco and mango.

These counts cover single words and short phrases alike. Of the 430 phrases in the course, such as “Nice to meet you”, almost none match, so if you only count single words the shares are a little higher (Dutch: 22.8% of 1,778).

Where English is the odd one out

Sometimes most of Europe agrees and English goes its own way. Pineapple is ananas in 15 of the 22 languages, including German, French, Polish and Turkish. Movie is film in 15, and billion is milliard or a close relative (Milliarde, miliardo, miljard) in 14.

False friends hiding in the list

The same letters can mean different things. Our script found 247 spellings that appear in two languages for two different words in the course. Many are near misses, like French horloge (clock) and Dutch horloge (watch). Some are real traps:

Serbian joins in, Chinese sits out

Take the 72 words that at least 15 languages share. Serbian has the shared form in all 72 of them, more than any other language, including English (69). Serbian spells words the way they sound, so a borrowed word like saksofon or kajak keeps a form every other language can read. Romanian (70), Italian and Swedish (69 each) follow. Chinese joins in 6 of the 72.

How we measured it

Every number here was computed from the Flashcardly course database on 26 September 2026 by one script, which you can check against the downloadable results.

1. The words. All 2,208 concepts in our 184 lessons, each with one translation per language chosen and reviewed for the course. That makes 510,048 language-pair comparisons.
2. Articles removed. “Der Apfel”, “la manzana” and “un măr” become Apfel, manzana and măr. We also drop English “to” and Romanian “a” in front of verbs.
3. One alphabet. Russian, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean and Chinese are compared through the romanization stored with every course word (pinyin for Chinese, Hepburn for Japanese, Revised Romanization for Korean). Serbian is taught in Latin script.
4. Normalised. Lowercase, accents and tone marks removed (é → e, ō → o, ǐ → i), spaces and punctuation dropped.
5. Spelling folded. Different alphabets spell the same sound differently, so a short fixed list of equivalences is applied to every language the same way: ph → f, th → t, c/k/q → k (c before e, i → s), w → v, y → i, x → ks, z/ts/tz → s, and doubled letters count once. This is what lets pizza, pitsa and piza line up.
6. Similarity. For each pair of translations of the same word, we compute how many letter edits turn one into the other (the Levenshtein distance) and divide by the longer length. A score of 0.75 or higher counts as “the same or nearly the same”: at most one letter different in a four-letter word, two in an eight-letter word. Only translations of the same concept are compared, so the folding cannot match two unrelated words.
7. “Same in N languages”. For each word, we try every language’s version as the centre, count how many languages fall within the threshold of it, and keep the largest group.

The cut-off is a choice, so here is how the main numbers move if you pick a different one:

What this can’t tell you

• It is our course, not the whole language. 2,208 words that beginners and intermediate learners need is a useful sample, but a different word list would give different numbers.
• One translation per word. Languages often have two words for a thing, and we only compare the one the course teaches. For taxi that is Hebrew מונית (monit), so Hebrew counts as a miss.
• Letters, not sounds. Romanization is a spelling system, and edit distance counts letters. Two words can sound alike and score low, or look alike and sound different.
• Similar is not the same as related. Most of the big matches are loanwords, but we make no claims about where any individual word came from. Some short matches will be coincidence.

Download the data

The full results as a CSV have one row per word (2,208 rows): the English word, its lesson, how many languages share it and which ones, and for each of the 22 languages the course word, the normalised Latin key we compared, and its similarity to the English word. Opens in any spreadsheet. You are welcome to use it; please link back to this page.