Love Speaks Every Language: My Journey Discovering ‘I Love You’ Around the World

Living abroad has taught me one of life’s most beautiful lessons: love needs no passport. As I’ve stumbled through new languages, fumbled with unfamiliar customs, and navigated the wonderful chaos of expat life, I’ve discovered that those three little words – “I love you” – somehow manage to break through every barrier we humans create.

The Universal Language of Love

Here’s what amazes me: whether you’re whispering “Wo ai ni” to someone special in a Beijing café or hearing “Ahibak” (if you’re a woman) or “Ahibik” (if you’re a man) from an Arabic speaker, that flutter in your chest feels exactly the same. Trust me, I’ve experienced it – that moment when someone shares these words with you in their mother tongue hits differently. There’s something raw and authentic about hearing love expressed in someone’s first language.

A World Tour of ‘I Love You’

Let me share some of the linguistic treasures I’ve collected along the way (and yes, I keep a little notebook because I’m that person):

• Asian Languages: Mandarin Chinese keeps it simple with “Wo ai ni.” But Vietnamese? Oh, it gets interesting! Women say “em yeu anh” to men, while men say “anh yeu em” to women – because apparently love needs pronouns too! In Indonesia, you’ll hear “Saya cinta kamu,” but venture to Yogyakarta and suddenly it’s “Kulo Tresno Karo Sampean.” (I still can’t pronounce that one properly!)
• European Romance: The French “je t’aime” – cliché? Maybe. Still gives me goosebumps? Absolutely. Romanians go with “te iubesc,” while the Portuguese prefer “amo-te.” Each one rolls off the tongue like poetry.
• From Africa to the Middle East: Swahili speakers keep it melodic with “Na kupenda.” In Morocco, depending on where you are, you might hear “kanbghiik” or “kanhebek.” Lebanese friends taught me “B7ebbak” (yes, that’s a 7 – don’t ask me why!), and Palestinians say “bahebak.”
• The Indian Subcontinent’s Diversity: Hindi made me realize how gendered language can be – men say “Main Tumse Pyaar Karta Hoon” while women say “Main Tumse Pyaar Karti Hoon.” Then there’s Gujarati’s “Hu tane prem karu chhu,” Marathi’s “Mi tula prem karatoy,” and Bengali’s sweetly flowing “Aami tumake bhalo mashi.”

The Philippines: A Special Case

Can we talk about the Philippines for a second? With over 30 dialects, it’s like a linguistic buffet of love! In Tagalog, “Mahal kita” gets the job done, but when you really want to lay it on thick, “Mahal na mahal kita” brings the drama. There’s also the more formal “Iniibig kita” for when you’re feeling fancy. Head to Cebu, and suddenly everyone’s shouting “GIHIGUGMA KO IKAW” – which, let’s be honest, sounds way more passionate in all caps!

Beyond Words: The Language of Actions

You know what really got me? Watching a friend’s child run up and squeeze their legs in a bear hug – no words needed. That’s when it hit me: sometimes love speaks loudest in silence. A shared glance across a crowded room, a hand squeeze during a scary movie, that friend who knows exactly how you take your coffee – these moments taught me that “I love you” comes in a thousand wordless forms.

Lost (and Found) in Translation

Okay, confession time. My language learning journey hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing. A friend once told me about their Spanish class in Málaga where they asked some Chinese exchange students how to say “hello, good morning” in Mandarin. The students, being helpful souls, wrote it all out phonetically. Fast forward to my friend greeting their Chinese colleague back in England… only to have them burst out laughing. Turns out they’d been confidently declaring “I love you!” to random Chinese speakers for weeks! These gorgeous mix-ups? They’re half the fun of living abroad.

Love Without Measure

A wise expat friend once told me over too many glasses of wine: “Love is not a word to say, love is a feeling to display. It’s that thing that happens between the words, you know?” (Okay, maybe they were a bit tipsy, but the sentiment stuck with me.) They were right – love without measure, love without perfect pronunciation, love despite the language barriers.

This whole adventure of collecting “I love yous” has shown me something profound. Whether you’re nervously practicing “ya tebya lyublyu” for your Russian partner, surprising someone with “Ek is lief vir jou” in Afrikaans, or sticking with good old “I love you” in English – what matters isn’t the accent or the grammar. It’s that leap of faith, that vulnerability of putting your heart into words, any words.

So here I am, a walking, talking collection of international love phrases, still adding to my list. Each new expression reminds me why I fell in love with this expat life in the first place – because out here, in this beautiful, messy, multilingual world, we’re all just trying to connect, one “I love you” at a time.