This plant appeared, uninvited, in our back garden in London.
I'd never seen anything like it before. So I sent a picture to the WhatsApp group for our street and asked if anybody knew what it was. The answer came back straight away.
I watched a video done by a man in th USA. Apparently the tiny yeĺlow flowers each last only one day. The plant produces 7,ooo seeds each of which can last a hundred years.
Where can you learn and practise speaking German?
Flag of Germany
You can use German in Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts of Switzerland. Also Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and parts of Belgium and Italy.
I am learning German on Duolingo.
I listened to a BBC podcast about how apps can help, and whether you gain more by adding a conversation with a live person or doing that instead. For me, at home alone, or on public transport, the app is a start and a constant practice.
Apparently you can turn off the sounds at the ends of an exercise, which might annoy others at home or in public places such as on a bus or train.
German - English
A capital letter at the start of a word indicates that it is a noun rather than a verb or adjective.
(Die )Jacke - (the ) jacket
du - you singular, like tu in French
English - German
Remember to use a capital letter when writing nouns in German.
jacket - Jacke, the jacket is die Jacke, (both die and Jacke end in the letter e)
you singular - tu
(you singular) must - musst (You must use the double ss in German)
Dear Friends
Lean from my mistakes.
Have you ever gone away without your passport or visa?
I once missed a trip to France because I left my passport in my big suitcase. When I went to pack for a brief trip, taking a small suitcase, I could not find my passport.
On another occasion I was so busy making sandwiches for the journey that I forgot my passport.
When I got to France, we were turned back at the border to Italy. I had left my passport on a lanyard over the back of a dining chair.
If your passport expires or is stolen, mine was stolen in Singapore, the British embassy will give you a replacement to get you home. But it costs about a hundred pounds.
It requires photos signed by somebody who has known you more than three years, such as a doctor or lawyer in a foreign country. They might charge twenty pounds or dollars to sign.
It was a temporary passport without pages for visas and was valid only for a week.
Back in London I had to go through all that cost, and supplying for authenticated photos again to get a new passport.
Each year check when your passport and credit cards expire? And how long it takes to receive a replacement. My daughter-in-law was going on a cruise with her family. She discovered that her passport was going to run out. Many countries won't let you in.
The plane seated us separately. Our luggage was on opposite sides of the plane. The duty free chocolates I had bought for his parents were left behind in the overhead locker, along with my hat and umbrella. I now take a folding hat and umbrella and keep them in my handbag. Any duty free goods go into my wheel on bag or are attached with a belt or knot.
My relationship with a partner broke up, because I checked out of the hotel when he rushed off to work. I left behind his silk dressing gown on the back of the bathroom door.
The only thing you hang on the back of the bathroom door is the hotel bathrobe.
Before leaving a hotel, photograph the minibar with all the contents, or none, so you can show reception downstairs as you settle the bill. Pay the night before for a quick exit if you oversleep or the taxi arrives early and starts charging you for waiting time.
Before going on holiday.
I lave the family my itinerary, transport, hotels, any foreign phone's numbers. And my insurance company hotline.
The last thing I photograph is my luggage. It it is missing I can show the photo, or fill out a form giving the brand name and colours.
In Japan you can buy a suitcase cover to protect it. A cheap alternative is on old tee-shirt with sleeves folded inside. You might wish to add a strap or ribbon to the hem.
Print the hotel name to show the taxi driver, and the nearest landmark, such as the nearby, church, square, shopping mall, beach. Note any other hotel with similar names. And cities with similar names.
And how many branches of that hotel are in the city. We tried to convince a suspicious hotel receptionist in Phoenix, Arizona, that we had a booking at the Holiday Inn, she she denied. When we produced our booking confirmation letter, she saw immediately that we were booked into a different holiday inn five miles away.
In the Canary Islands this year, July 2026, we stayed at a Melia Hotel. It had a long name. I just remembered the word Melia. Melia is a group. they had three Melia hotels in our destination. The taxi driver kept querying which Melia hotel. Luckily we knew it was near the beach.
If you can get your hotel to send a car to meet you at the airport, you can be sure of going to the right hotel.
So, learn from my mistakes. Happy travelling.
Where can you learn and practise speaking German?
Flag of Germany
You can use German in Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts of Switzerland. Also Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and parts of Belgium and Italy.
English - German
bed - Bett
carpet - Teppich
ceiling - Decke
curtain - Vorhang
floor - Boden
hiking - Wandern
hotel - Hotel
mountain - berg
packed lunch - Lunchpaket
pillow - Kissen
room - Zimmer
window - Fenster
I am allergic to - ich bin allergisch gegen
I eat - ich esse
-ends-
Please share links to your favourite posts.
anda - you
artichoke - artichoke
asparagus - asparagas
bas - bus
makan - eat
menu - menu
sandwic - sandwich
taman - garden
teh - tea
tiket - ticket
tomato - tomato
tuna - tuna
vinaigrette - vinaigrette (from the French)
air - water
water - air
Translate Google
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Malay_phrasebook
To see the differences and similarities between Malay and Indonesian :
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Indonesian_phrasebook
Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.
Where can you learn and practise speaking German?
Flag of Germany
You can use German in Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts of Switzerland. Also Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and parts of Belgium and Italy.
German - English easy words
Bald - soon (I remember soon you will be bald)
Bank - bank
der Computer - the computer
endlich - finally
der Laptop - the laptop
einen Moment - one moment
Projekt - project
Medizin - medicine
Nachmittag - afternoon
English - German words
Useful Websites For Learning |German
When it's your turn to stay home whilst the others are travelling, you may find yourself suddenly organizing your own food again after weeks away in hotels.
If the people you stayed with are now visiting you, you might think what you need.
I like to have guest towels in the bathrooms and shower rooms and guest toilets, marked guest.
I found guest towels on Temu and on Etsy.
Useful Websites
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1683120612/embroidered-guest-towel
