German new and easy words

 German - English simple words

Das Badezimmer - the bathroom

Die Couch - the couch

Dann - then

Film - film

Ist - is

Lange - long

Laut - loud

So - so

Sorry - sorry

Voll - full

Die Wasshmashine - the washing machine

English - German

the couch - Die Couch 

Film - Film

loud - laut

full - voll

  Where can you learn and practise speaking German? 

Flag of Germany

Flag of Austria

Flag of Switzerland

You can use German in Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts of Switzerland.  Also Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and parts of Belgium and Italy.

Flag of Luxembourg.

Flag of Liechtenstein.

-ends-

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Learn some Malay-Indonesian and Understand and Remember Slang

Lots of Indonesian is easy. Ticket is tiket.
Tiket Harian Berjaminan, literally: Daily Ticket with Guarantee (a seven day ticket).
Jalan is street. You see this word all over the place, on street signs and maps.

However, after you learn to read Malay/Indonesian, you find that in Indoneisa they speak slang, a bit like the British shortening words, saying yeah for yes.
Wikivoyage gives a handy phrase list and I have added my own aide-memoire (French for memory aid):

How to speak prokem like a Betawi

The everyday speech of Jakartans (Betawi) is liberally laced with slang (prokem) expressions. Like any slang, words come in and out of fashion with bewildering rapidity, but some features can be distinguished:

• f becomes p
• z becomes j
• The prefix me- for verbs becomes ng-
• The suffixes -i and -kan turn into -in

A short glossary of common Jakartan expressions:

no 

tidak → nggak/kagak/gak/ogah/moh

I 

saya/aku → gua/gue

you 

kamu/anda → lu/lo ('A n d a' is you, which you see on signs in Singapore. For the written word, I think of 'and you'. I had to insert spaces because the spell checker thinks I have mistyped the word and. For the spoken word, think of you and lu.) 

sorry 

maaf → maap

to come up 

menaik → naek

to take 

mengambil → ngambil

to look 

melihat → ngeliat

to use 

memakai/menggunakan → pake/make/ngegunain

to visit 

mengunjungi → ngunjungin

what are you doing? 

kamu sedang apa? → ngapain?

to pay 

membayar → bayar/ngebayar (The shortened version is simpler and easier to remember. B a y a r for pay her. 'ow much am I gonna pay 'er, gebayar, meaning to pay.)

how much is it?

berapa harganya? → berapaan nih? (How do you learn this phrase? Think of pan as pay. Think of nih is you as in the Chinese greeting nih how - how are you.

Keep pointing at items on the table or in the room and asking, 'berapaan nih?'. Think of if as 'how much as you asking,' or 'how much would I pay you for this?' Think of it as: 'how much would I pay you for bread?' Berapaan nih? Berapaan nih? Berapaan nih? How much could I bear to pay you for bread? Berapaan nih?

If you have trouble saying it, don't say it. Ask somebody else (preferably somebody Indonesian) to say it. Just listen to them. Three times. Berapaan nih.

Glossary - means a short list of word explanations, like a short dictionary

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Language teacher, English and other languages.

Motivational and Humorous Thoughts Brighten Your Day - Stencilled On Walls At ArtBox

Problem
After you've bought food and drink, and been round all the stalls selling clothes and phone covers, what else is there to see and do.

Answers
Stencilled signs on the walls provide an apoortuntity for photos or Selfies.

Romanian Revision - Sorry - and Learn ten Romanian Words

Problem
How to keep up momentum learning Romanian? I nearly started my day with Vietnamese and Korean because I wanted a new challenge.

Answer
Make a list of plans for the day, priorities, and place them beside your computer.

Romanian Revision / Additional words
bun / b u n a - good (like the French words bon but with a U)
bun venit - welcome
la - to
la r e v e d e r e - goodbye (Notice the five letters r e v e d no second r, unlike the English word reverse which I accidentally typed into Google translate. Goodbye has shortened over the years from the original greeting of God Be With You.)
multumesc - thank you (Think of it as multiple thanks. Notice the repeated U.))
n o a p t e - night (Both words start with the letter N and the last consonant is the letter t. Even if you can't remember the Romanian version, you should be able to recognise it if you hear it, and if it is said to you either repeat it or nod and smile.)
noapte bună - good night
r e v e n i - return (verb)
S c u z e - sorry (Notice The Romanian ends with ze, not si like other languages such as Italian.)
venit - income, rent (noun)

English - Romanian
good - bun / b u n a
goodbye - la r e v e d e r e
good night - n o a p t e b u n a
welcome - bun venit (The English is short for well come.)
la - to
Night - n o a p t e - night (Both words start with N. To remember the spelling, I think NOAh, Poor chap, had a good nighT-Er!)
return - r e v e n i (Sounds like the film the Revenant, meaning a ghost or person who returns.
sorry - S c u z e
thank you - m u l t u m e s c (Think thank yoU - m U l t U.)
venit - income, rent (noun)

For revision, re-read my previous posts.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, language teacher. Please share posts.