It is said that American’s probably began the exchange of valentines in 1700
when the hand-made kind were still chic. Then, in the 1840’s a business-minded woman by the name of Esther A. Howland began to sell the
first massed produced valentines in America. Could she have triggered the start of the over-commercialized side of
V-Day? If so, thanks Esther. Thanks a lot. Personally, I think it’s a fairly cruddy holiday that singles the singles
out, gets the lonely down, keeps the heart-broken sulking and takes the love-sick to the bank. Show people you care all
the other 364 days of the year for Pete’s sake. Despite my bitter sweet feelings towards the holiday I bought into the
commercialized event by purchasing some Dora the Explorer Valentine’s to exchange with my friends during an anti-V-Day
soiree I had planned, but ended up cancelling. Dora, like myself enjoys teaching and learning new languages in addition
to exploring new places. With all that being said, let’s learn a few new ways to say "I Love You." Feel free
to use them any day other than Valentine’s day.
- Albanian – Te dua
- Basc –
Nere Maitea - Berber – Lakh tirikh
- Cantonese – Ngo oi ney
- Croatian – Volim
te - Danish – Jeg elsker dig
- Estonian – Mina armastand sind
- Flemmish – Ik zie oe
geerne - French – Je t’aime
- Gaelic – Ta gra agam ort
- Hopi – Nu’ umi
unangwa’ta - Spanish – Te amo
- Tunisian – Ha eh bak
For more ways to say "I love
you," go to this Columbia.edu site.