Spanish words which are easy to add

 

When I was a child and when I was single I admired people who spoke other languages. Now I am putting effort into learning. Any time I have a spare minute, I practise.

Notebook - cuaderno

Today's revelation is the word for notebook. Cuaderno. I struggled with this. Then I looked at the letters and noticed the letters NO at the end of cuaderNO. NOtebook. 

Now I was half way there. When I saw the word cuaderno I could remember it was notebook. But how could I remember that notebook was cuaderno? I split the word into syllables. I tried cu-ad-er-no.

Starting at the end of the word, I knew it ended with NO. working backwards, it was Er - no. If you prefer, infERNO.  In the middle you have ad, like add. It starts with cu, like queue, in British English. Cut. customise. By this time, I did not need any extra reminders. I now know the word cuaderno. 

However, when I searched for the pronunciation, I found the word split like kwa-derno. kwa - dare - know. I only had to hear it once to remember how to say it.

I shall now add in my notebook the word cuaderno. 

That is a lot of time to spend learning one word. However, if I learn only one word a day, that is 365 words a year. If I write a blog post on one word a day, I shall have learned 365 words effortlessly. If you read a blog post by me every day for a year you will have learned one word effortlessly. Let's more that up to ten words a day. 3,650 words a year!

The word is masculine, with an o ending, like the names Mario, Romeo. Plural cuadernos, like los in the name of the American city Los Angeles.

So, here are nine more words.

bailerin - dancer

 (Starting ba like ballet, with an l. Try ballet dancer. BAiL daN -cER). In a dancing class. ballerina BA Ll ER IN a.  Now I can look at the word bailerin and see a ballet dancer.She is doing a spin, a pirouette. 

Spanish - English translation and memory aid

bailerin - dancer

cuaderno - notebook

ensalada - salad

sal - salt

salada/salado - salty . savoury

sin duda - definitely

sol, el sol - sun, the sun (masculine)

solo - only

soleada/o, but dia soleado - sunny, sunny day

La España - Spain, note the word starts with e, and the accent on the n in the Spanish word, n pronounced like ny in canyon

English - Spanish translation and memory aid

 dancer - bailerin

definitely - sin duda

only - solo

notebook - cuaderno

salad - ensalada

salt - sal

salty / savoury - salada/o

Spain - La España

sun, the sun - sol, el sol

sunny - soleada/o

Useful websites on other languages

duolingo.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language_in_South_America

https://www.spanishdict.com

https://www.spanishdict.com/lists/4924632/es-words

https://spanishvip.com/vocabulary/spanish-words-with-s/

https://worldhelloday.org/

https://www.wikihow.com/Say-Happy-Birthday-in-Spanish

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilde

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Learn A New Language - For All Travellers, For Stopovers, Holidays, Business or Being An Expat

Flags of Europe from Wikipedia

Flags of Asia from Wikipedia

Which languages should you learn and why? Where are you likely to travel on holiday or business in the next five years? If you have no concrete plans, which languages are closest to your language? Since you are reading this in English, I shall relate languages to English, but also look at groups of languages, so that if you have learned or plan to learn another, you can add an extra language more easily.

Spanish

I remember speaking to a friend, Peter, who was planning to buy a property in Spain and move there for part or all of the year. He had started learning Spanish at a local evening class. He met a girl at the Spanish evening class - and married her. 

My parents also bought a property in Spain so they could spend winter there. I did not make any conscious effort to learn Spanish, which was a pity. But when driving around I noticed the words villa and casa and banco and decided to list the number of Spanish words I already knew and recognized. I thought there would be 5 to 10 words. I listed the words as we passed signs. To my amazement, in only a weekend I had a list of around thirty words. 

Much later, when Duolingo came along, and I could learn for free, I started learning Spanish in a system which taught whole sentences and basic grammar as well as wider vocabulary.

French

 I grew up in London, England where I went to a girls' grammar school, and I wanted to learn Spanish and German at school. Unfortunately, the timetable was arranged so that my class learned Latin and French. My parents were happy that I was learning French. France was a nearby country. Postwar, WW2, my parents thought it was better to travel to France than to Germany, so recently at war with us (not once but twice in their lifetimes). French was the language of menus in restaurants, more useful. They didn't know, or didn't say, but German was more challenging grammatically.

When I was doing O level, my parents sent me on the summer holiday to a Frnech course in France. (I met a Swedish boy.) Later I went on holiday touring Greece with a French group. I made lists of French words in a small vocabulary notebook. I liked mackerel and discovered that the French word was similar, maquereau. That was easy. I didn't learn all the names of the other fish.

On holiday, a boy sitting beside me asked if I like fish. I replied, in French, I like mackerel. 

He gasped in astonishment at what he assumed was my extensive vocabulary, and told the others, 'I asked her if she liked fish and she replied she liked mackerel!'

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

Visit Buckingham Palace Grounds to Picnic Or Order Online Tea, Biscuits, Marmalade and Magnets

 

My son went to Buckingham Palace gardens with his wife.

 They brought me back this golden covered notebook. It has the royal crown symbol on the front. The top and bottom corners of the front cover are reinforced with metal corners.

 The back has a label which says 'Made in Great Britain from recycled leather'. For me the recycled leather was the greatest novelty. The price was six pounds ninety five pence.

I asked my son what he thought of the visit to the gardens. 

He said, "We enjoyed it because we were lucky with the weather. And the company I work for took me out for lunch before we went there so we did not need to buy any food or drink. It was worth it just to say you've been. But I would not bother to go again. We did not pay extra to see the rose garden. I have seen roses before. I wanted to see the island in the middle of the lake. But that was not accessible."

Shopping Online

Looking at the online shop, you could plan your purchases in advance to discuss with family what they want. Plum preserve at under five pounds seems reasonable, a red apron for twenty pounds. I consider over a hundred pounds for a two or three tier cake stand is excessive. But a tartan umbrella for about 15 pounds might be just your thing.

Useful Websites

https://www.rct.uk/visit/the-state-rooms-buckingham-palace/buckingham-palace-garden#/

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d187549-Reviews-Buckingham_Palace-London_England.html

https://www.royalcollectionshop.co.uk/foodhall.html

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/The_Garden_Front.jpg

How to Introduce and Use A New word of the week, the day

You may have seen regular columns about new words and their meanings in Readers Digest. You can also subscribe to services which send you a new word every day.

Notebook Trick Leaned In School
At school in Latin class the teacher taught us to take a small A6 notebook which was light enough to carry in our pockets and write down new words we learned and take out the pocket book to read when waiting for the bus to school so that we learned the new words effortlessly.

Learning Vocabulary
I did the same for French and English.You can do the same with Spanish or any other language you are learning. Or teaching.



Toastmasters International
At toastmasters International the Grammarian is often called Language Evaluator. You might think that Language evaluator sounds more friendly than the scary word Grammar. However, I feel that Grammarian, or Grammar Police makes the job clearer than Language evaluator.

Some clubs give a certificate or gift to the appointment holders such as evaluators. Other will present a small ceriticate of thanks. Some will give you a round of applause. Others send a thank you by email or whatsap.



The Challenge Of Finding New Words
The first task of the Grammarian. (I use that word because it is shorter and quicker to type) is to give the word of the day. All speakers try to remember and use the word. They may either use it conventionally or inventively.

However, if you use an everyday word they have learned nothing new. But if you use a long complicated word they have trouble using it in a sentence, pronouncing it correctly, and remembering to use it.

Oxymoron
I used to use the word oxymoron regularly. I though as Grammarian it was useful to introduce a term or rhetoric. I allowed the use of the word oxymoron, a contradiction. The word itself was very rarely taken up.

But many people thought it fun to select an oxymoron from a list I wrote on the whiteboard in advance. It gave them something to look at if they arrived early or had to wait for a late start. it saved me wasting time and turning my back on the audience. Alternatively I would ask a volunteer to write on the white board. The short list was seriously funny, military intelligence, pretty ugly, plastic flowers.

Clubs In Singapore
I have used this word at clubs in the UK and also visited more than 75 clubs in Singapore, several times at my own two clubs. I am a member of Tampines Changkat Advanced and the President for 2019-2020 oof Braddell Heights Advanced.

Listing Word Used
I wish I had kept a note of clubs visited and which word I used. I shall start a new notebook now and do that. I can list the words at the top of the page from the front of the book. At the bottom of the page I can list the clubs visited using this word.

In addition, at the back of the notebook I can list the clubs. With 75 clubs, a page per club would take too much space. In a small notebook I could just write three columns on the back page. Club name, date, word used.

Ensuring The Word Is Used
At one time this year I was promoting an event, a workshop for Toastmasters, and was obliged to go around the room speaking to as many people as I could before the start of the meeting during the 15 minute networking session. I found myself frequently introducing myself and the word of the day. On one occasion somebody asked me to write it down and show them the spelling. They copied it onto their speech which was in their hand. The person beside them, not to be outdone, copied the word onto their programme sheet.

Later in the same meeting I told everybody to write down the word. I went around the room asking each person to say the word in a sentence. This worked well, got audience involvement. I have since made this my policy, to either get them to write down the word, or to say it in a sentence. If the room is small and you have fewer than 20 people you can pick people in the audience, go clockwise around the table, or left to right along the rows.

I have got in the habit of asking them to write it down on the programme or add it to the opening of their speech. They can pop it into a prepared speech. Or use it in an impromptu speech (called table topic because it is sometimes a mystery subject drawn from the table or a bag. They can also use the word to describe the speaker who has just spoken and their subject matter (she gave gave us thoughts for the future action - we must think about what she said in future). Or use it in the introduction to another speaker,

At Funchun toastmasters club in Singapore, my word of the day was changed on the day to reflect the programme theme.

Futures fast forward future.I did not find anything interesting in the word fast or forward but took the word future. I was able to give the audience news, that the plural word futures in finance is a noun and describes buying substances and crops not yet harvested such as cocoa and oil. This involves risk, fixing a price before the quantity and quality is known, guaranteeing the price for the seller, insurance for them, buying a crop whose price is agreed now for a crop which will be available in the future. This was a new concept I taught them, a word which nobody used, but they will recognize and understand. Instead several managed to introduce into their speeches the conventional everyday sense of the word future😃, talking about the present plans for the future and the future development of individuals, clubs and society.



Flag of Singaore.

Many clubs in Singapore, knowing their members are often native Mandarin Chinese speakers with English or Singlish as a second language, have a large paperback dictionary. However, they may not get it out, because they forget or have other urgent tasks. Or they think as a native speaker I don't need it.. I find it handy to consult the dictionary.

If I don't have a word of the day, I can flip through the dictionary. If I want to find synonyms (similar words to the core word) I can read down the list. If I am nervous or flummoxed or tired I could read out aloud from the dictionary. It tells me whether the word can be both a noun, with several meaning, or a verb, and an adjective.
I could ask somebody else to read the definition. That gives me a break, creates a variety of speakers for the audience to watch, involves another so at least one person is listening and learning.

They notice, or I point out, that the club has a dictionary which any speaker or member or guest is free to consult..

If you are asked to be a Grammarian or Language Evaluator when visiting a club, you can ask for the dictionary and look up a word. So, no need to be afraid to be the Grammarian.

Volunteer
If you are visiting a club and want to make yourself useful, noticed, helpful, reciprocate for receiving a welcome and free food, volunteer to give a word of the day.

For speed, you might wish to print out the word of the day, or carry an A4 sheet of paper with the word of the day written large and neatly in black felt tip pen. I learned from a teacher in London, Lorna, that as a teacher its is easier and quicker to carry your own black felt tip pen and a washable board marker all day every day.

If you have two copies of the word of the day, one copy can hang on the wall behind the lectern, or in front of the lectern, attached by Blutac (which you carry with you or attach to all four corners of the back of the sheet of paper before leaving home.

The second copy of the word goes on the back wall so it can be seen as a reminder to every speaker standing behind the lectern.

Carry A Marker
You don't want to delay or hunt for a pen, to look inefficient, allow the class to mutter whilst you look for the pen, nor risk writing on a board with an indelible marker and then have to hunt for alcohol to remove it.

You could write down a new word of the day in your notebook every day. Then if you visit a club in the evening, you have a new word ready prepared.

Invite Angela
If you see me or want to invite me, you can be assured that I can find a word of the day and make it simple or challenging for the audience.
I often add my taboo non-word of the day which is actually. I remind everybody:

"That was ..."
One of the speakers, Hyder, who is often a language evaluator, gave a speech after my word of the day oxymoron. In case we had missed it, he used a phrase and added - 'that was an oxymoron'. If they are inventive or want to gain credit that's is useful. You can ask the speakers simply to use the word, or to point it out in addition. However, they may not want to lose time by adding that explanation each time, especially if in a timed section or a meeting running late.An alternative is to ask the speaker or the audience to tap on a desk once or tut and/or nod in acknowledgement.

Taboo Word Actually
The word actually can actually be used correctly to contrast what you expected and what actually happened. But do not drop the word actually into every sentence, or several sentences, because it takes up time and can an actually be annoying, and some people actually use it as many as three times in one sentence, and you actually lose track of what they are saying as you actually count the number of times they say actually.
You can also do the same using your phone and consulting dictionary.com and a thesaurus online.

I hope you can now speak up, be a grammarian, and find and record new words every day. Even if you don't want to do so, you know how it is done.


Useful Websites
Toastmasters find a club
Facebook polyglots

• Bilingual dictionary
• Collegiate dictionary (American)
• Learner's dictionary (mostly British)
• Electronic dictionary
• Encyclopedic dictionary
• Monolingual learner's dictionary
  • Advanced learner's dictionary
• By sound
  • Rhyming dictionary
• Reverse dictionary (Conceptual dictionary)
• Visual dictionary
• Satirical dictionary
• Phonetic dictionary

Pronunciation

About the author
Angela Lansbury is the author of twenty books including the classic Wedding Speeches and Toasts, the best seller Etiquette For Every Occasion, and the self-published Quick Quotations.
She has been a long-term member of Harrovian Speakers and HOD Speakers in London (since 2005) and more recently a member of Braddell Heights Advanced in Singapore (President July 2019-2020 June).
Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.

Wonderful Welsh - and how to start learning any language

Problem
I want to learn Welsh. Why. A relative of mine protests, "What for? Even the Welsh don't speak Welsh!"

Answers
I'd like to understand the words of Welsh songs. On a visit to Wales, or going though my old CDs, I sit listening to a harpist or Welsh male voice choir. What are they singing about? I would be so much more interesting if I understood the words.

I have started learning Welsh with d u o l i n g o.com (spaces inserted to evade the automatic spell checker).

To keep myself on track and help you I've made a list of the words and my memory aids.

In a notebook I number the pages in the top corner. On the inside cover, I draw a margin and draw a series of horizontal lines with a ruler. I list the pager numbers down the margin. Then, if I have the Welsh on only one page, I can quickly find it. Here is my starter list of words.

Welsh - English
coffee - coffi

English - Welsh
Mum -

An alternative is to list your words in a blog, as I have. Or write them in Notes in your phone. Read them whenever you are waiting for a bus or train.
More later.

Useful Websites
duolingo.com
visitwales.com
visitbritain.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Caricature of man listening to music on MRT train in Singapore

I drew this on the MRT in Singapore.Look carefully at my signature and you will see teeny eyes of a face in the initial a and the last a. I never draw my name the same twice on caricatures. The creativity and uniqueness of my signature is part of the ensemble.

A notebook, a gift for helpers

I received a notebook as a thank you for visiting Nee Soon East to evaluate a speech. One can never have too many notebooks. As a writer, traveller, speech writer, and speech evaluator and contest judge, I can never have too many notebooks.
Thank you to Nee Soon East Toastmasters Club.

If you are a member of Toastmasters International you will be welcomed as a guest at many clubs worldwide. To volunteer for a role as a speaker or evaluator, it's a good idea to contact them a week or more in advance. However, sometimes I turn up on the day and offer to be a backup speaker or evaluator and another member drops out, perhaps because they are needed at work.

If you want to visit a club go to Toastmasters International Find a Club website. 

How To Add An Index, Contents Page, Page Number To Travel Notebooks

Problem - How To Keep Order Inside Language Notebooks

I have been making lists of German, Spanish and Italian words in my notebook as I do my daily lessons on Duolingo and add words picked up from other sources such as emails, newspaper articles, Facebook pages and food packaging. However, I now need to find the notebook pages which are only half full, and to use them to revise.

Answers - How To Organize Language Lists

 - Advantages Of Separate Notebooks

You might be wondering why I don't have a separate notebook for each language. I started doing that.  I would do that if I were taking language lessons in a class, instead of only online.

Advantages Of One Notebook

But I soon had a book for German, a book for French, a book for Spanish, Another for Latin, Greek, Welsh. The books cluttered up the working space and it took time stopping to find another book each time I found a new word. It was easier to have them all in one place, one notebook.

Notebook Size and Weight

I would also have to carry six or more notebooks with me on any trip out. The same applies on long travel.

Advantages of Small Notebooks

I soon started having one small, fat, thick notebook. It has a ribbon page marker and an elastic pen holder. It is small enough to go in my shoulder bag, and many jacket pockets.

The advantage of carrying it with me is that I can add words I think of or see or hear during the day.
The problem with taking the notebook out of my home or office is that I might lose it.

Advantages of Large Notebooks

My other book is A5 size and stays at home on the desk or nearby. Being large and brightly coloured, it is easier to find in a hurry on a cluttered desk or side table.

At this point the pages on languages need to be easy to find. They must be separate from other items such as To Do lists, travel directions, lists of websites, comic poems I compose and songs.

How To Number Notebook Pages

I now do what I should have done the day I started the notebook. It's what I have done to notebooks in the past. I write the page numbers on the top right of each right hand page, the odd numbers. Later, if I have the time and energy I will go back and write in the even numbers.

Indexes Hand-written

I can write an index on the back page and / or on the inside back cover.
If you start early in the book's usage history, you can count the number of pages first and leave enough lines for one line per page. I often draw a line down the middle of the index page or fold the page in two vertically to get more words on a page. This applies particularly on the larger A4 size book because the pages are so large. But it also applies to the smaller book because I want to cram in as many words as possible in that compact book before starting another to fill up my dwindling shelf space.

Creating Contents Pages List In A Notebook

Today I discovered another trick for finding space for the contents list. I had run out of space on the inside back cover, the back page and the front page. I closed my notebook and looked down at the blank front cover.  I thought, at least I can write down the subjects on the cover, the contents alphabetically, like I do on the outside of box files, without listing the pages.

I started to write the contents of the first page on the top left. Then I thought, I can make a complete index. The page already has a frame. A divided it into three columns. I counted the pages. Under 100. That meant about 30-page numbers down the left of each column. I listed the numbers, then drew horizontal lines with the aid of a ruler.

I tried to keep the handwriting neat. I wrote in capitals. I wrote slowly. I took care to keep the letters on the line, not floating above and not doing diagonally.

It would be neater to print the contents. When I have time I shall do so. There's nothing stopping me from sticking a neat type-written list on top of my hand-written contents list.

Storing Language Notebooks

Where do I find my latest notebook on languages? Alongside my dictionary of that language. Or in a shoe box or box file labelled with the name of the language.

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages.

Please share links to your favourite posts.

How To Practise the French Language (or any language)

Problem
How do you keep up a foreign language. (In my case French.)

Answers
1 THINK IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE
As you look up from your desk, or around you on a bus or train or plane, describe the scene in the language you need to practise.

2 READ LABELS
Read the labels on goods and food. When you see the foreign language, read it aloud, slowly then faster.

3 SPEAK FRENCH TO ACQUAINTANCES
When you speak to friends and strangers, tell them that you speak French (or other languages). If they are a native speaker or speak that language, immediately start speaking in that language.

4 KEEP A LANGUAGE NOTEBOOK
Do what I did to expand my vocabulary when I was learning French at grammar school for A level. I bought a small notebook. I folded the pages in half vertically. On the left I headed the column English. The right hand column was headed French.

Every time I came across a new word in French I noted it down with the translation, or I looked up the translation later. When I thought of an English word and didn't know the translation, I added the English word and looked up the translation later.

5 TRANSLATE TRAVEL PAGES & WEBSITES
Look for the French version of websites. Start with the French, and note the words you don't recognise. Then read the English. Then go back to the French. For example, when reading about the bull fight and fair in Dax, France (described in my previous posts) I went onto the website for Dax, which was in French, started reading the French, got tired, looked for the English, then went back to the French.

I thought I spoke French pretty fluently. However, I had a hard job at first telling the difference between a matador and a picador and a toreador in English, never mind the Spanish and French.

Sometimes I can't find the translation symbol on a website. I think to myself, there's no flag showing either their country or mine, but it's a tourist website, so they must have the translate symbol somewhere. I started clicking on all the tiny double letters. Eventually I found that English appeared when I clicked on the letters EN. (I had been looking for UK or GB.) After I read the English, at least skim read it to get the gist of each paragraph, I was encouraged to go back and try reading the French again.

I also read several paragraphs in Spanish, although my knowledge of Spanish is minimal, so many words are similar to English. However, some sentences made no sense because I missed just one word, the subject! Miss that one word and the ten word sentence is incomprehensible. Translate or learn that one word and you can translate a whole sentence, or have the courage to continue reading an entire paragraph.

6 START A BLOG IN FRENCH
Blogger is blogueur.

Story
This week I was in a sauna and spoke to three women who spoke English as a second language. They were initially speaking to each other in Arabic. One was from Egypt, another from Iraq, a third from Morocco. I addressed them in English and they replied in English. When I was left alone with the woman from Morocco, we discovered that we both spoke French as a second language and both wanted to keep up our French. So we started talking in French.

I told her about Duolingo. That free internet language learning website currently has about 12 other languages for speakers of English. I use Duolingo to learn languages other than English and French. But she could use Duolingo to improve her English and French or learn Spanish.

TIPS
www.duolingo.com
https://offqc.com/2013/05/09/clear-up-doubts-about-words-related-to-blogging-in-french-602/ (A French Canadian site)

Author
Angela Lansbury travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Auteur
Angela Lansbury.

I was going to translate only the signature.

Google translate gave me:
Écrivain et photographe de voyage, auteur et conférencier.

I can translate the whole post.

Here is what I got from Google Translate

Problème
Comment maintenez-vous une langue étrangère. (Dans mon cas français).

Réponses
1 PENSEZ EN LANGUE ÉTRANGÈRE
Lorsque vous regardez de votre bureau, ou autour de vous sur un bus, un train ou un avion, décrivez la scène dans la langue que vous devez pratiquer.

2 LIRE LES ETIQUETTES
Lisez les étiquettes sur les produits et les aliments. Lorsque vous voyez la langue étrangère, lisez-la à haute voix, lentement et plus vite.

3 FALER LE FRANÇAIS À DES ACQUISTIVITÉS
Lorsque vous parlez à des amis et à des étrangers, dites-leur que vous parlez français (ou d'autres langues). S'ils sont un locuteur natif ou parlent cette langue, commencez immédiatement à parler dans cette langue.

Writing Rhyming Couplets About Your Holiday, Capturing the Moment, and Captioning Photos

I took a trip to Singapore, liked what I saw and wanted more

Problem
You can't remember the places you visited. You spend a lot of time waiting around on stations and at airports.

Answer
Write rhyming couplets about your holiday. You can turn them into a poem or a rap song. Or just use them to remember vital information or amusing information. You can also use a poem for a wedding speech - or even a funeral.

Story
I went to Harrow Writer' Circle summer party. We had prosecco and home made sandwiches and cakes and salads provided by members and circle funds. Members read their work.

Member Alan read out a series of rhyming couplets about his holiday in America. I thought that was a great idea I would copy.

A member of my family told me to take a book next time I go on a journey which is long or likely to involve changes and delays. I don't need a book. I just need a notebook. Then I can write down rhyming couplets about my journey. I can list the place names, such as stations, airports, landmarks, restaurants.

Tips
You can find rhymes in a rhyming dictionary or on line.
Cover your notebook with a duplicate or no longer needed map of the destination.

Use a favourite pen.

Angela Lansbury with caricature of William Brougham. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Author of: Poetry Workbook. Poetry Pets and pests. An extract from Alan's poem is in my next post. 

Useful websites

Travel diaries online from Amazon, stationery shops

Blank notebooks - Daiso / supermarkets

Rhyming dictionary or Thesaurus from Amazon and big bookshops

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Learning the colours in Welsh. From black to yellow. And sing a rainbow song.

Problem
How do you learn the colours in Welsh?
Supposing you want to buy a red dress?
What do the words sound like in Welsh?

Answer
Look the words up in google translate. Learn with Duolingo. The easiest words are those which are exactly the same to read. Brown. Turquoise. Same in Welsh and English. Duo lingo includes a symbol for sound you can tap on to hear the words. I read through the forums and eventually I found the answer to my question. the sounds on Duolingo are computer generated. It would take too long and be too complicated to record every word.

If you want to hear languages spoken by native speakers, try YouTube. If you want to learn whole sentences in the spoken language, learn from courses which are mainly or partly on discs. The easiest and quickest is Earworms which is a sub section of Berlitz.

Story
I was looking through Duolingo, the free website. They make you stick to the system of lessons in order. They are quite right too. Otherwise I would skip to the end and never complete the course, lose track of what I'd missed.

However, I could not resist reading through the headlines in the middle of the red buttons. I spotted colours, the lesson which would be most appealing to me. Colours is the one I could practise most - every time I saw anything coloured I could keep repeating the Welsh.

You Tube Welsh Colours Video
When I googled 'colours Welsh' I immediately and unexpectedly found this handy video. I wish the children would smile. The colours are not very clear. The children seemed to be shaking the cards instead of holding the cards still. Visibility improved when I switched to full screen by clicking the symbol in the lower right.

I decided to write out the colours in my notebook which I always carry in my right hand pocket. The easiest colour to remember is pink, spelt p i n c .

English - Welsh
colour -l l i w
colours - l l i w a u
black - du
blue - g l a s (I think of blue eyes like glass)
brown - brown (looks the same but the r is emphasized)
green - g w y r d d
grey - llwyd
lavender - l a f a n t
orange - o r e n
pink - p i n c
purple - p o r f f o r
red - coch
turquoise - turquoise
white - g w y n
yellow - m e l y n (I think of mellow yellow M E L  Y; also Mel is wearing Yellow and LYN is wearing Yellow, which is M E L Y N in Welsh)

Welsh - English
blue - g l a s
brown - brown
coch - red
du - black
g w y n - white
g w y r d d - green
l a f a n t - lavender (I think of a laughing ant on the lavender plant)
m e l y n - yellow
o r e n - orange
p i n c - pink
p o r f f o r - purple
turquoise - turquoise

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker, teacher, tutor, workshop leader and speaker about English and learning foreign languages. See my other posts on destinations and languages such as French, German, Italian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Russian, Welsh. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Travel diary, notebook, pen, storage box. Possible gifts.

TRAVEL DIARY AND NOTEBOOK

One of the things I pack for any travel trip is a notebook and pen and pencil and rubber.

If I have a long trip or side trips, I pack at least two notebooks, to be sure not to lose the entire trip by leaving my jacket on the plane on the way home. I photograph highlights, business cards and addresses. If I have a base in one country and a weekend away, I take a fresh notebook just for that weekend. 

An alternative would be to have a Filofax. 

I like a notebook with an elastic band around it and a pencil attached. Another aid to travellers is a pocket in the back cover. You can buy a diary or 'travel notebook'. A friend bought me a travel notebook as a gift. 

If a hardback notebook is too big and heavy, leave it behind and write up your scrappy notes in neat handwriting on a dull or rainy day when you are stuck at home.

Notebook Storage

Where to store all these vital records? A shoe box will do. Label it with dates. keep all diaries and travel diaries together. 

(Something to leave the children, be sure your diaries are kept and not chucked out in a garage sale of books. Keep notebooks near photo box to be sure you take them with you have a quick clear out when moving house, downsizing or moving to a retirement home.)

 Cover your storage box.  With what? How about all those luggage tags and boarding passes, which will make a quick record if you want to check where you went and when.

An idea for a Christmas present for a traveller or items for a Christmas stocking (or Hanukah stocking - they come in blue)? A travel notebook, diary, photo box, pen, photo key ring, a box covered in travel tags you have rescued from the waste bin and taken off old suitcases. 

Speaking of key rings and photos, Staples in London, UK, has 3D key rings and photo cubes and pendants. I've seen the same in Singapore shopping malls. I'm sure the same are in America and Australia and all over the world. You'll see them in stationery shops and kiosks in shopping malls.

Staples, Watford, Herts, England. Copyaprint. 3D laser photo in glass.

If you are willing to splash the cash, dash to an outlet and order your notebooks and pens. If you are looking for a bargain, try the Pound shops. 

DIY Travel Diary or Notebook

1 If you are artsy and crafty (in both senses), or a parent or teacher, you could make a gift or get the children or grandchildren to make a travel notebook, diary, or travel diary. You could make a whole travel notebook, making the paper, the cover, binding the book, or using thick card for the front and back, making a collage on the front, cutting two holes with a hole punch, tying the pages through the two holes with ribbon etc.

2 You may be able to buy a diary with attached notebook or ribbon or a cheap notebook with an elastic closure. Check your options then add what is easiest for you to add.

3 For DIY, add a piece of elastic as a marker, attached at both ends, top and bottom of back cover on a hardback book. 

4 Stick a photo on the front. 

5 Add a loop of elastic around the middle of a pen and stick the elastic to the inside of the notebook or diary back cover.

6 Make a pocket on the inside back cover. You need not just a thee quarters page of thicker than the pages card. it needs a concertina at the top and bottom, one fold inwards.

An Italic pen and calligraphy set? If you already have a calligraphy set, time to use it to make a DIY Xmas card or New Year card including photos of the year and your hand-written message.

And if you are home alone whilst the others are away travelling at Xmas, lots of free time to organise you travel photos and diaries. 

(See previous post on stationery week next April.)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Spanish word of the day - leche, means milk

Are you a beginner or advanced at learning Spanish. I read an article on eight words which are used in Spanish phrases. At the end of the article I could not remember the longer phrases enough to sue them, although I might have been able to recognise them and understand their meaning if I heard them. However the good result was that I learned or was reminded of the common word in all the phrases.

Living in a country, you acquire vocabulary on a daily basis without effort. If you want to learn a foreign language, just by reading something in that language or about language every day you are gradually acquiring more knowledge. Anything is better than nothing. A word is day is 365 a year. One hundred words plus gestures is get by. One thousand words is considered a working vocabulary.

When I was studying French for A level I carried a notebook in my pocket or bag to read whenever I was waiting at a bus stop or railway station. I simply divided each page into two columns and wrote new words with French on the left and English on the right.

Most stationery shops and supermarkets sells small notebooks, lightweight, no trouble to carry. Without a ruler you can use a book to mark the column or even simply fold the page in half.

I should do that for Spanish. An alternative is to use the note pages at the back of your diary.

http://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/favorite-spanish-words?slc=engmag-a15-info-favoritespanishwords-tb&utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=CON&utm_campaign=cd_engall_gen_cuk_spanishwords

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, author, speaker.