Do you want to wish your colleagues a great vacation in a language other than English?
Perhaps you work in a multilingual team and want to share your good wishes in your colleague’s native tongue — or in the language of the country they’ll be visiting.
Whatever your reasons, we’ve got you covered. In this guide, we show you how to say “Have a good vacation!” in 18 different languages, from Arabic to Danish to Italian to Turkish, and many more in between. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
- Arabic: تمتع بعطلة جيدة (tamatae bieutlat jayida)
- Chinese (simplified): 祝您假期愉快! (Zhù nǐ yǒu yīgè yúkuài de jiàqī)
- Danish: Hav en god ferie!
- Dutch: Fijne vakantie!
- Farsi: یک تعطیلات خوب داشته باشید (Yek ta’atilat-e khub dashte bashid)
- French: Bonnes vacances!
- German: Schöne Ferien!
- Greek: Καλές διακοπές! (kalés diakopés)
- Hebrew: שתהיה לך חופשה נעימה (Shetihiye lakh khofsha na’ima)
- Indonesian: Selamat berlibur!
- Italian: Buona vacanza!
- Norwegian: Ha en god ferie!
- Polish: Życzę udanych wakacji!
- Portuguese: Boas férias!
- Russian: Хорошего отдыха! (Khoroshego otdykha)
- Spanish: ¡Buenas vacaciones!
- Swedish: Ha en trevlig semester!
- Turkish: Harika tatiller geçirin!
- The Takeaway
Arabic: تمتع بعطلة جيدة (tamatae bieutlat jayida)
If you want to wish someone a good vacation in Arabic, you can write تمتع بعطلة جيدة. This can be transliterated into the Latin alphabet as “tamatae bieutlat jayida”.
Arabic is the fifth most-spoken language in the world, with over 300 million Arabic speakers globally. Arabic words are written from right to left, while numbers are written from left to right. Also, the Arabic language doesn’t have any capital letters — instead, it uses quotation marks for emphasis.
Chinese (simplified): 祝您假期愉快! (Zhù nǐ yǒu yīgè yúkuài de jiàqī)
In simplified Chinese, you can write 祝您假期愉快! to wish someone a pleasant vacation. This can be transliterated into the Latin alphabet as “Zhù nǐ yǒu yīgè yúkuài de jiàqī”, pronounced “joo neen jyah chee yoo kwhy”.
Simplified Chinese is one of two official writing systems used in the Chinese language, the other being traditional Chinese. Simplified Chinese is mostly used by Mandarin and Cantonese speakers living in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Danish: Hav en god ferie!
Want to wish someone a great vacation in Danish? Try “Hav en god ferie!” or simply “God ferie!” And, if you’re not sure how to pronounce it, refer to this Danish pronunciation guide.
Danish is the official language of Denmark and one of two official languages of the Faroe Islands (a set of 18 mountainous islands located between Scotland and Iceland). The Danish language has three additional vowels compared to the English language.
Dutch: Fijne vakantie!
There are several phrases you can use to say “Have a good vacation!” in Dutch, including “Fijne vakantie!”, “Prettige vakantie!” or “Goede vakantie!”
“Fijne”, “prettige” and “goede” are variations of adjectives such as “nice”, “pleasant”, “enjoyable”, “good”, and “great”.
Dutch is spoken in The Netherlands, Flanders (northern Belgium), Suriname, Antiba, and the Netherlands Antilles (a group of islands in the Caribbean). You can learn more about the Dutch language and where it’s spoken here.
Farsi: یک تعطیلات خوب داشته باشید (Yek ta’atilat-e khub dashte bashid)
To wish someone a great vacation in Farsi (otherwise known as Persian), you can say یک تعطیلات خوب داشته باشید (“Have a good vacation!” or “Enjoy your vacation!”). This Farsi phrase can be transliterated into the Latin alphabet as “Yek ta’atilat-e khub dashte bashid”.
Farsi is one of the oldest languages spoken in the world. You’ll find native speakers of Farsi mostly in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, but also in Israel, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, Türkiye (Turkey), Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates.
French: Bonnes vacances!
If you want to impress your colleagues with your français, you can wish them a nice holiday by saying “Bonnes vacances!” or “Passez de bonnes vacances!” If you want to wish them a good trip, you can use a phrase you’re probably already familiar with: “Bon voyage!”
French is one of the fastest-growing languages in the world, and it’s the official language of 29 countries — including France, Belgium, Benin, Canada, Cameroon, Madagascar, and Switzerland, to name just a few. For more fun facts about the French language, check out this post.
German: Schöne Ferien!
The German language is renowned for its super-long words (the longest German word is an impressive 63 characters long: Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz, the name of an old food safety law that was effective until 2013).
So you may be relieved to know that wishing someone a great vacation is actually pretty straightforward in German. You can say “Schöne Ferien!”, “Gute Ferien!” or “Schönen Urlaub!”
Greek: Καλές διακοπές! (kalés diakopés)
To wish someone a good vacation in Greek, you can say Καλές διακοπές!, which transliterates as kalés diakopés, pronounced like “kah-les dee-ah-koh-pes”.
Greek belongs to the Indo-European family of languages, and it’s one of the oldest documented languages in the world. There are around 13 million Greek speakers globally, the majority of whom live in Greece, Cyprus, and the United States. You can learn more about the history of the Greek language and where it’s spoken here.
Hebrew: שתהיה לך חופשה נעימה (Shetihiye lakh khofsha na’ima)
The Hebrew translation of “Have a good vacation!” is שתהיה לך חופשה נעימה (transliterated into the Latin alphabet as “Shetihiye lakh khofsha na’ima”).
Hebrew is a Semitic language, and it’s the official language of Israel. Hebrew is written from right to left, while numbers are written from left to right (similar to Arabic). The Hebrew alphabet contains 22 letters and, interestingly, no vowels.
Indonesian: Selamat berlibur!
If you want to wish someone a good vacation in Indonesian, you can say “Selamat berlibur!” Alternatives include “Semoga liburan Anda menyenangkan!”, “Semoga liburanmu menyenangkan!” and “Selamat menikmati liburan!”
All of those phrases mean “Have a good vacation!” or “Enjoy your vacation!”
The Indonesian language, also known as Bahasa Indonesia, is the official language of Indonesia and it has some 200 million speakers (either as a first or second language). You’ll find an interesting history of the Indonesian language here.
Italian: Buona vacanza!
To say “Have a good vacation!” in Italian, use the phrase “Buona vacanza!” or “Godetevi la vostra vacanza!” which means “Enjoy your vacation!”
Note that the Italian language has both formal/polite and informal forms, similar to French (vous and tu) and German (Sie and du). The phrase “Godetevi la vostra vacanza!” is the more formal version, but if you’re speaking to someone with whom you have a more familiar relationship, you could say “Goditi la tua vacanza!”
Norwegian: Ha en god ferie!
Not to be confused with the Danish “Hav en god ferie!”, you can wish your colleagues a great vacation in Norwegian by saying “Ha en god ferie!” or simply “God ferie!” Alternatives include “Ha en fin ferie!” or “Ha en riktig god ferie!”
Polish: Życzę udanych wakacji!
To wish someone a pleasant vacation in Polish, you can say “Życzę udanych wakacji!” or the more formal version, “Życzymy udanych wakacji!”. You can also say “Miłych wakacji!”.
Polish is the second most-spoken Slavic language in the world with over 40 million native speakers (second to Russian). The Polish alphabet has 32 letters, 9 of which have diacritics (an accent which indicates a difference in pronunciation—for example, A vs Ą). You’ll find a complete guide to the Polish alphabet here.
Portuguese: Boas férias!
Want to wish your colleagues a great vacation in Portuguese? Say “Boas férias!” or “Boa viagem!” (“Have a good trip!”).
In Brazilian Portuguese, you can also say “Boas férias!” and, for “Enjoy your trip!”, “Aproveite sua viagem!” or “Faça uma boa viagem!”
Portuguese is a romance language, and it’s the official language of nine countries—including Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, and Cape Verde. There are two distinct variations of the language: European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese. We’ve outlined the main differences between them here.
Russian: Хорошего отдыха! (Khoroshego otdykha)
To wish your colleagues a great vacation in Russian, you can say Хорошего отдыха! Which transliterates into the Latin alphabet as “Khoroshego otdykha”. Alternatives include Хорошего отпуска! (Khoroshego otpuska!) or Хороших каникул! (Khoroshikh kanikul!).
Russian is the eighth most-spoken language in the world, and the most-spoken Slavic language. The Russian alphabet uses the Cyrillic script and has 33 letters—10 vowels, 21 consonants, and 2 letters which don’t have a sound.
Spanish: ¡Buenas vacaciones!
Español is the second most-spoken language in the world, so it’s well worth learning some useful phrases. If your colleague is heading off on vacation, you can say “¡Buenas vacaciones!” or “Que pases unas buenas vacaciones”.
Spanish uses inverted exclamation marks at the beginning of all exclamatory sentences/clauses — as in ¡Buenas vacaciones! where it expresses enthusiasm or excitement. Similar examples include ¡Hola! (“Hi!”) and ¡Feliz cumpleaños! (“Happy birthday!”).
Swedish: Ha en trevlig semester!
To wish your colleagues a good vacation in Swedish, say “Ha en trevlig semester!” or “Ha en bra semester!”
Swedish is the official language of Sweden and the Åland Islands (an archipelago in the Baltic Sea), and a national language of Finland (alongside Finnish). With some 11 million speakers worldwide, Swedish is the most-spoken Scandinavian language.
Turkish: Harika tatiller geçirin!
How about wishing your colleagues a great vacation in Turkish? You can say “Harika tatiller geçirin!”, “İyi tatiller dilerim!” or “Size iyi tatiller!”
There are about 80 million Turkish speakers worldwide, with the majority of native speakers in Türkiye (Turkey). The Turkish alphabet comprises 29 letters — 23 of which are identical to the English alphabet and 6 additional letters (note that Q, W and X are not part of the Turkish alphabet).
The Takeaway
Picking up the odd phrase in another language is fun, and it’s a nice way to show an interest in your colleagues’ native languages. But the benefits of language learning at work go well beyond simply being able to exchange pleasantries or wish someone a great vacation in their native tongue.
When you give your employees the opportunity to learn a new language, you demonstrate a commitment to learning and development — a known driver of employee retention — and empower them to develop critical soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, and creative thinking.
Language learning at work can also boost morale, increase productivity, and help you grow your client base. Ready to learn more about how you can offer flexible, effective language training for your employees? Visit Babbel for Business today to schedule a demo and get started.
