Altre Tanto, Igualmente, Gleichfalls

If you’ve read my profile, you know I grew up in three different cultures. Throughout my childhood, I put in a lot of effort trying to run away from two of them, and be the “all American” kid. Never wanting my parents to speak to me in their native languages, I fought to only have English in my life. Needless to say, my efforts were fruitless as I ended up learning all three languages and having all three cultures become a natural part of who I am; what makes me, me.
Growing up, there was nothing more I loathed then when people asked me to say something in Spanish or German. It made me more self-conscious of the words coming out of my mouth. And when I did, I'd loathe even more their reactions; "Hay que linda!", "Que preciosa!" or the giggle of delight from my aunts. Reactions like those caused me to stumble even more through every word of every sentence I spoke, making my language level seem even more basic. In fact, few adults knew I could speak or understand either German or Spanish as a child. My cousins would confess to their parents how I spoke with them in Spanish or German while we played. Their parents didn't believe them and they’d end up being punished for lying.

By the time I had reached adulthood, I had adopted an appreciation for my multi-cultural, multi-lingual background. I married and we moved to Italy. It was then I embraced the opportunity to learn a fourth language, Italian. Unlike the other three languages I grew up learning, I didn’t have any background with the Italian language. I credit my multi-lingual upbringing to having facilitated my ability to learn it. Five years later, I was speaking Italian better than the German or Spanish I grew up with.

Anyone who has learned a foreign language knows to become a fluent speaker it is important to think in that language, rather than trying to translate phrases and words into your own native language, and back again. However, speaking with fluency in a foreign language takes years and practice.

So, in stating that, I am going to share with you a shortcut. In three different languages, a single word which can help you to look like a better practiced speaker, as well as, help you avoid the anxiety of finding the right words in the write tense. Because, after years of anxiety over whether or not my own verbs were conjugated properly or my sentence structure was correct when I spoke Spanish or German, I adopted these shortcuts.

Igualmente in Spanish, altre tanto in Italian, and gleichfalls in German. All three pretty much mean the same thing, a “Same to you” or a “Right back at you” or "Likewise". A fantastic short reply to “It’s nice to meet you”, “Have a good day”, "Hope to see you again" or similar greetings you’d normally find yourself scrambling to answer politely and grammatically correct when exchanging salutations. The times I've used these phrases myself, I've been mistaken for a more proficient speaker.

Please feel free to borrow my shortcut. You’ll see what I mean and appreciate the words the next time you’re stuck for a reply in Spanish, German, and/or Italian.