Noah Webster House

  Noah Webster House Events

Noah Webster House holds a series of events, here and elsewhere. It is the HQ of the local historical society. Events include 

An easter egg hunt. (April 2026)

War of the Words.

Free poetry Jun 17th 2026. (Check venue.)

You can sign up to their newsletter to be informed of events.

Noah Webster House Shop

The shop sells

a tea-towel with pictures of local attractions

apparel 

literary theme ear-rings, quote by Hemingway, no friend like a book

tee shirts in blue or green with the words ale taster

a postcard, bookmarks

books, including one on Word of the Day, one on Scrabble, others on Webster and local history

Useful Websites About Noah Webster House

Useful Summary Of What to see including the video

https://historicsites.heritage.org/site/noah-webster-house/

wiki - detailed account

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

official site events

https://noahwebsterhouse.org/events/

Fans' Group

https://west-hartford.fandom.com/wiki/Noah_Webster_House

Hotels, motels, budget hotels, suites, bed, and breakfast

Check if breakfast is included in the room price. If separate, you might want to stay in one hotel and breakfast in another, to save money, or gain better beds, better breakfasts, or double the experiences and know which place to choose on your next visit

https://www.booking.com/landmark/us/noah-webster-house

English and American spelling - practise and practice

 American and English spelling differs slightly. Some would say differs a lot. You rarely get any misunderstanding. You can find yourself in difficulty or delay when composing work to be published in another language, or using a dictionary.

Some of the most common changes I have noticed are:

Why Is American Spelling Different?

American spelling was simplified and made more phonetic, easy to teach others, teach yourself, and understand and remember, Webster's dictionary was published by Webster, a publisher who produced school text books, work books, and the dictionary which still bears his name in the USA. 

I learned this when I visited the home of American Webster in the USA when my husband and I were living there.

England still follows the old spellings which allow you to instantly see the meaning of two words which sound the same. 

Practise and Practice in British English

In British English, the SE ending is for the verb, the doing word, and CE if for the noun, the object, or subject of a sentence, the idea. It is good practice, to practise.

May 14th 2026 is the date of the annual fundraiser, War of Words, for Noah Webster House in Hartford where several teams compete for a trophy.

You can buy an American Webster's dictionary from Amazon online and from physical bookshops in the USA.

The Oxford English dictionary, with British spelling, is sold on Amazon and online bookshops and from shops in the UK.

Online dictionaries sometimes give English spalling, sometimes US spelling. Some online dictionaries allow you to hear both the American and English pronunciation and intonation.

Japanese Intonation, Chinese, Korean, and French - practise it to be taken seriously

For my own benefit, I prefer to  write Japanese and Korean words with a hyphen in the middle. The hyphen reminds me that each syllable is pronounced with equal emphasis. 

I walked all around a city in Korea looking for a restaurant for the evening. I had learned the words for goodbye and thank you. I wrote them on a piece of paper and read them out with a bow as I left. The restaurant staff all had hysterics, every time.

When I got back to Singapore I asked a Japanese friend, 'Do you know any Korean words?'

'Ah yes, no. Just a few.'

'Do you know why they laughed when I said goodbye in Korean?' 

'Ah - yes.'

'Did I pronounce it like a rude word?;

'Ah - no. Korean, like Japanese, very stuck-ah-to. You speak very like sing-ing a song.'

'Very sing-song!'

So, for the Koreans, listening to me was like me listening to a Welsh speaker.

I remember a Welshman tyring to chat me up on the phone. He said, 'I am feel-ing ve-ry roam-an-tick.' I was thinking, roam antic or Rome antic?

All the double syllable words sounded like a different sets of words. 

Maybe I would be a success doing stand-up comedy in Japan or Korea. I could do it online.

Practising Pronunciation

The serious moral of the story is, if you are doing business in Japan or Korea, and wish to be taken seriously, practice not just the spelling of the words to recognize and remember them, but listen to the intonation. The same apples to any language. Vocabulary will get you understood, especially if you have the words written on your phone and can show a sentence. but to sound authoritative, and to be understood by others with different accents, you should learn the correct pronunciation and intonation. 

That applies when you are an English speaker learning another language. It also has to be explained when teaching foreigners to speak English. 

The Word Welcome

Singaporeans would often start the Toastmasters club meetings with the word welcome. But they said, Well - come. I would be thinking, is that well, like um and ah, you know, I'm thinking about it, come, let's get started. Or is it, well, come, slang for have an orgasm. I would then go back to listening to them, having missed their next sentence or two.

The Word Almost

However, running words together can also change the meaning.

When I was in Asia with my son, a local man said to us, 'You are almost welcome.' My son and I looked at each, and burst out laughing. It took only a second to understand that he meant you are all most welcome. But that second was enough to create a new phrase or sentence in our minds.

We still remember 'almost welcome' years later. A reminder of the event helps lighten our mood, make an evening continue with a smile.

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Japanese Language - A Quick Reminder

I thought I could probably remember up to ten Japanese words, and you could probably do the same, at least five, without visiting recently or at all.

Here is my list, amplified with a quick look back through my own blogs on Japanese.

Akiko  girl's name meaning bright or autumn child (ko as the ending of a name means child or girl)

arigato - thank you

baddo - bad

basu - bus

beddo - bed

bento - box of lunch, think of lunch box, divided into compartments like an airline meal

creamu - cream

desuku - desk

e Edo - (name of former capital, gate of the river, now used in other place names)

fan - electric cooling fan

gamu - gum

geisha girl - entertainer, usually female, multi-skilled including singing and sympathy

ginko - nuts, prized for health giving property

hai - yes (I think  of Hi. Another memory aid would be to think of a high excited agreement of delight at a suggestion)

Hiroshima - hiro is wide and shima is island

hoteru - hotel

iki-gai - zest for life, reason for living, passion, inspiration, what gives your life meaning

jinzu - jeans

judo - gentle way, (martial arts). judoka - judo practitioner, judo-ki judo clothing or uniform 

kamera - camera

karaoke - singing for fun, to recorded music, using songsheets of video subtitles in the language you choose, provided by the company hiring the studio room, often in a shopping mall or hotel The word means empty orchestra.

kawa - river

Kiko (ki-ko means hope-child, or bright future)

Kimono - wide sleeved outfit, wrap around, secured by a wide belt. Associated with women, but can also be worn by men. Often heavy, satin or similar, lined, elegant, with seasonal patterns

Kin-tsugi - literally gold(en) journey, adding a gold line over a crack in a cracked or broken porcelain 'china' case, crockery, bowl or other object, to recycle and upcycle. Kinkaku-ji means the golden pavilion.

kinokunia - bookshop name, huge store in Singapore, name meaning country, trees

kissu - kiss

Kōhī - coffee

konnichiwa - hello / good afternoon

Kyoto  kyo means capital, to means capital, together they mean capital city

l

menu - menu

Midori - green, a girl's name, and a green drink, sweet, melon flavour,20% alcohol and as it is quite strong, used with non-alcoholic mixers to make cocktails

miso soup, like a green tea, meatless, seaweed?

mori means mountain

N 

Nagasaki, name of the city, from Naga meaning long, and saki meaning headland or cape

Noriko - girl's name law-child, discipline

O obi - wide sash worn over a kimono to tie around the waist.

Ohaiyo gozaimasu. Good morning.

piza - pizza

q

resutoran - restaurant

sake - the drink, a spirit, served hot or cold from a small porcelain bottle into tiny porcelain cuts without handles. I love it.

sayonara - goodbye. You can watch a video on You Tube of the popular classical song, in English, featuring the word sayonara.

sensei - teacher master maestro

sofa - sofa

sushi - pressed rice, topped with sliced raw fish, or meat 

sachimi Sashi - sliced/pierced thinly - mi = meat)

shoppingu moru - shopping mall

taxi - taxi

Tokyo means Eastern Capital

tometo - tomato

u

v

wagu beef, tender marbled meat from a breed of cow called Wagu, fattened up from Kobo in Japan, or Australian, expensive because of the cost of feeding the cattle

Wasabi - horseradish or similar plant, green paste with sharp flavour

x

Yotto - yacht

Yoko - girls name meaning sunlight-child, child of sunlight, bright child

Yokohama yoko is by, beside, next to, and hama is beach or shore

yukata - light summer kimono, fold-over wrap, housecoat, often cotton

Yukiko - girl's name snow-child, pure and soft

zero - zero

Useful websites

https://www.namesmama.com/japanese-girl-names/

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

https://japaninsides.com/japanese-words-that-sound-like-english-38261

wordhippo.com

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The Flags of the UK, England, and Scotand

 

The Union Jack, flag uniting the countries of the United Kingdom.

The Union Jack contains the flag of Scotland. 

The Union Jack combines the flags of England, which football fans will recognize as the Red cross on a white background, with the flag of Scotland. (Plus the red saltire of St Patrick of Ireland. Wales was already united with England when the new flag adding Scotland, after the death of unmarried and childless Elizabeth I when the king of Scotland, James became the King of England as well.)

The flag of Scotland is the cross of St Andrew, a saltire (x shape) of white on blue. You will see this on buildings, alongside the Union Jack. Currently, in 2026, the Scottish flag may be flown on government buildings where there are two flagpoles alongside the Union Jack, but not allowed to replace or be put solo). 

Flags also appear on the front (bow) of a ship, as ships are not simply advertising their country but are required by law to show their country of origin by flying it on the flagstaff, a short pole or stick at the front. 

A more specific flag at the back, the ensign, is like a signature, at the back, the stern, higher on a flagpole, I presume so it can be seen from the front and all around, gives more detail, of the owner-operator, such as whether it is the royal navy or a commercial ship.

Useful Website

Wiki on flags

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

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

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

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Stay for sauna and self-catering in Scotland at a Distillery

Above, top the flag of Scotland.

The Union Jack contains the flag of Scotland. 

Scotland's Attractions

Scotland' s well known attractions are Edinburgh castle, the Edinburgh festival with comedies and serious plays. Glasgow's museums and galleries, such as Rennie Mackintosh. The Lakes - the the loch Ness monsters.  And whisky distilleries!

Food In Scotland - Plain Porridge

You start your day with porridge. Made from oats. Add salt, or it may come with added salt, instead of the sugar you would get in London. 

Distilleries - Whisky

During the day you could visit a whisky distillery, and end your day with a night cap, a drop, or dram of the local drink.

Whisky distilleries are a feature of Scotland. Popular with the Japanese. In fact anyone, even if you don't drink the stuff.

Short Tours and Long Stays

If you are interested in gin, vodka or whisky, a distillery tour might interest you. You can also stay at Arbikie whose accommodation option is self-catering. Add a sauna. Or simply sit admiring the scenery, their website suggests.

Whisky is strong stuff. So are other spirits. A wee dram (a small sample of drink) is enough for me. 

A little goes a long way. So a barman will gladly dilute it make a longer drink. You can add water to whisky, or ice, in which case it is called 'on the rocks'.

Turn your other spirits into cocktails. Perennial favourites are gin and tonic. 

Or vodka and orange. That's for me.

 Useful Website

https://arbikie.com/pages/stay-with-us-1

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Charing Cross Station Artwork

 A lot of platforms. But here are some of them. More later.