これは英語 で何という意味 ですか

[damkay]

HI! I'm studying the tae kim's guide and i have "invented" this sentence i want to know how to ask a Japanese person about a word for that i don't understand.

i wanted to use something polite:

これは英語 で何という意味 ですか

is this right ?? are there simpler forms so say it?

[play_on_my_words]

Personally, I would probably say 「ｘ」って英語でどうやって言えばいいのですか？

x here is whatever word/phrase. You can probably use は here instead of って if you wanted. I'm sure there are various ways of saying it and people will probably give you more examples. Anyway, that's just my 2 cents.

[Ranja]

i wanted to use something polite:

これは英語 で何という意味 ですか

is this right ?? are there simpler forms so say it?

Yes but that phrase might be used in a different context from what you have in mind.

A: Mountainは英語で何という意味ですか?
B: 「山（やま）」です。

So, it would be better to say これは英語で何と言いますか.

A: 山は英語で何と言いますか?
B: 「Mountain」です。