Beautiful: adj. 1. Having qualities that delight the senses, especially the sense of sight. 2. Excellent, wonderful. 3. The one word I’ve decided to master in the language of every country I visit, because hey, everything is beautiful to me. 
One of my favorite takeaways from the National Geographic Travel Photography conference I attended a few months ago came from San Francisco-based photographer Catherine Karnow. Wherever she went, she learned the word 'beautiful'. According to Catherine, if you’re armed with a smile, a camera and the word 'beautiful' (as in beautiful photo), you’re going to go places.
So this week I’ve been learning the words 'beautiful' and 'smile' in multiple languages. Funny how just even saying the word smile can put one on your face…try it out for yourself!
- Icelandic: beautiful: fallegur (feminine); falleg (male); smile: brosa
- French: beautiful: beau, beautiful photo: belle photol smile: sourire
- German: beautiful: shoner, shones foto; smile: lacheln
- Portuguese: beautiful: beutif, bela foto; smile: sorrir
- Danish: beautiful: smuk, smukt foto; smile: smil
- Spanish: beautiful: bello, hermosa foto; smile: sonreir
- Hungarian: beautiful: szep, szep foto; smile: mosoly
- Japanese: beautiful: utsukusho; smile: egao
- Dutch: beautiful: mooi, mooie foto; smile: glimlachen
- Romanian: beautiful: frumoasa, frumoasa fotografie; smile: un zimbet
- Swahilil: beautiful: nzuri, nzuri picha; smile: tabasama
- Vietnamese: beautiful: dep anh, smile: mim cuoi
- Malay: beautiful: cantik, foto cantik; smile: tersenyum
- Hindi: beautiful: sundara, sundara tasvira; smile: muskana
Hopefully armed with my Nikon, smile and the word 'beautiful', I'll be able to capture qualities that delight the senses....
What other essential words would you learn?