Learning the Russian letter P from a station name

Sign at Park Pobedy station, Moscow, Russia. Photo from Wikipedia by author Mikhail Vokabre Shcherbakov.

Problem
How do I learn the Russian alphabet? 
How do I learn to recognize station names?

Answers
Start with just one or two easy ones. I was looking at London underground train stations and their murals and decided to click on some other stations around the world listed as having murals. I came across Park Pobedy in Russia which showed the station name on the wall.

I thought - hey ! That's a great way to learn the letter P in Russian.
Both words start with P. 

Park is easier to recognize. I am reminded that what looks like the English P in the Cyrillic script is instead an English R. It's as if the Russians had simplified the alphabet, or the English had extended it.

Park Pobedy (Russian: Парк Победы - Victory Park).
The station is called Victory Park. I and you now know the Russian letter P and the Russian word for victory. That's a victory. 

English - Russian
Park -  (Russian: Парк Park).
Park Pobedy - (Russian: Парк Победы - Victory Park).
Victory - Pobedy (Russian:  Победы).

Russian - English
 (Russian in Cyrillic : Парк  - Victory Park).
 (Russian in Cyrillic: Парк Победы - Victory Park). The adjective is second.
 (Russian in Cyrillic: Победы - Victory ).

English - Russian
Park -  (Russian: Парк Park).
Park Pobedy - (Russian: Парк Победы - Victory Park).
Victory - Pobedy (Russian:  Победы).

П - P
а  - a
р -  r
к  - k

П - P
о - o
б  - b
е - e
д - d
ы - i

Visit Russia
https://www.visitrussia.org.uk

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have other posts on learning Russian and destinations around the world. Please share links to your favourite posts and look at my books on Amazon and Lulu.com

The Battle Of Cable Street and Shadwell Stations

Photo of Tower Hamlets Environment Trust pinky red plaque about The Battle Of Cable Street, 1936. Photo from Wikipedia. "THEY SHALL NOT PASS"

Problem
Where is the mural about the Battle of Cable Street?

Answer
In London's East End, near two Shadwell stations, only a stop away from Bank station on the red Central Line in the city near Tower Bridge.

The battle of Cable Street took place here on the 4th October 1936 when the fascist Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts tried to march through. The slogan was: "They shall not pass".

The mural shows the police with helmets and the police horses.

Photo from Wikipedia.

How to see the mural

The mural is on Cable Street, on the plain bricks walls of a couple of linked buildings, the town hall. If you want to go there the nearest stations are the Shadwell underground and above your head, above the street, the Shadwell station on the Docklands Light railway. (Also three buses. See link at end.)

My Story

I must have passed through Shadwell on the Docklands Light Railway, gliding along like passengers at Disney World and theme parks, looking down at the streets below, many times. At least three times a year, in the morning and again in the evening on my way to and from the annual World Travel Market at the brightly lit, huge, stifling hot and stuffy waterside Excel exhibition centre, where the staff of tourist boards, hotels, airlines, tour companies and travel writers gather indoors, every year, watching sales girls from South America and Africa and Las Vegas, dance and praise in swimsuits and grass skirts, prompting summer and winter escapes from London's chilly November. 

I have never thought to wonder whether Shadwell was originally built over a well. Nor did I realise that the famous Cable Street was just below, with a mural and plaque commemorating the occasion. If I have time to visit an exhibition at ExCel this year, I must make a point of getting off the train at Shadwell and seeking out the mural in the morning, because in the evening I was be tired, laden with shopping bags and the light will be fading.

If I miss the mural on the way to or from ExCel, I could take a side trip from Bank station when visiting a restaurant or shop or exhibition in the city.

What are your chances of seeing the Battle of Cable Street mural? The mural was been damaged in the past but the council has promised that if it is ever vandalised it will be restored and it is now protected by CCTV.

Shadwell Station, London, England

Shadwell station, interior. Photo from Wikipedia, author Sunil060902.

You can see the station staff with their orange high-visibility outfits and their megaphones. These people shout directions and will answer questions about any station you are going to. They will help you find your way from one part of the station to another when you are wanting to change onto the DLR or get off it and onto another line.

Shadwell station, South entrance in 2010, exterior. Photo author Sunil060902.

Tips

http://www.londonmuralpreservationsociety.com/murals/battle-cable-street/

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

http://www.visitlondon.com/#bIF5RTxGZfQAFWoJ.97

https://www.visitengland.com

https://www.visitbritainshop.com/world/

Author

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

See my earlier post on murals including this one. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.

Travel Tips and Packing Pointers

TRAVEL PILLOW
Here's a new idea for sleeping on the move. A pillow constructed like a wrap.
https://trtltravel.com/products/trtl-travel-pillow
When I looked this website was offering free shipping within the USA.

I like to look at Amazon to see if there are any reviews and compare prices. Whether or not you are on Amazon prime time getting a reduction on shipping, or not, might make a difference.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trtl-Pillow-Scientifically-Support-Washable/dp/B00LB7REBE


HEALTHY CHOICE BOOK
If you are tempted to eat unhealthy food for travelling, here's a bok with some new ideas. One is that you introduce a third unusual food, which is a bit healthier, instead of trying to decide between the donut and the apple and falling for the donut.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4930866/How-make-love-healthy-things.html

ZIPPER REPAIRS
Suitcase zipper repair kits. Here's the lastest I've found:
https://www.gotagher.com/collections/lifestyle/products/instant-fix-zipper-hc0052

I've seen various others on Amazon. We ordered a set of six. No instructions but the mechanically minded in my family got out pliers and attached the basic ones we bought.

I'm now looking for a patch to repair a ripped suitcase.


SMALL SIZE HAIR REMOVER

My other favourite is a hair remover which looks like it's lipstick size.
This device seems to be lipstick size and operated on the principle of a revolving blade. I had something similar years ago. (It looked similar but with a larger hair removal area like a half size lipstick on its side.

I found one offered on ebay for just over £20, with free postage, battery operated, brand Richoose. Another type, the lipstick size, for about £5, sometimes postage extra, sometimes free. You can also get nasal/ear hair removers at a cheap price.

STORY
My late uncle gave it to my mother, who was his sister. He said that everybody in the orchestra had these devices, so they could do a mechanical dry shave and did not have five o'clock shadow when being photographed on TV late in the day. I am sure the device, bought in the Far East, was very cheap. Everything was in those days.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer andphotographerr.

News On Babi Yar Nazis and Auschwitz survivor, Eva, one of the twins

Eva Mozes Kor, one of a pair of twins who both survived Mengele's experiments at Auschwitz. She is author of a book about her life and on forgiveness. Photo from Wikipedia and Flickr, courtesy of CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Centre, Indiana, USA 

Two people are accused of being part of a group involved in the events in Babi Yar in WWII, but others say there is not sufficient evidence the accused were involved.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4930280/Suspected-members-Hitler-s-death-squads-identified.html

How much relief is awarded by bringing people to justice, and how much relief can be found by releasing the hatred and resentment and forgiving?

The Story of Twin Eva Mozes Kor
I saw a striking video about Eva, a woman who was one of twins, experimented on by Mengele in Auschwitz. In the video she describes how she asked a former Nazi to write and sign a document describing what he saw. Later she wrote and said she forgave him, and she said that she felt much better, empowered afterwards.

After watching the video on Facebook I discovered that not only did she meet a camp attendant who used to watch the people dying in the gas chamber, she adopted as a grandson a descendant of camp commander Höss.

Further searches revealed that she had written a book and set up an educational foundation in Indiana, USA. She grew up in Transylvania in Romania.

https://candlesholocaustmuseum.org/book/surviving-the-angel-of-death.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Mozes_Kor

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

News in Brief:- Babi Yar gravestones display planned - and light relief from Kiev metro

Reading a poem about Babi Yar. Photo from Wiki, public domain, I presume because it was taken at a public place and public event, photo from US library, author unknown, from an article on poems by various authors on the subject of the Bai Yar massacre of more than 33,000 people, almost the entire Jewish population of Kiev, the biggest group in Europe, plus other local people who also died at the ravine.

Problem
Today was national poetry day in the UK. The 2017 theme was Freedom.

Just after I read about this I opened a page of news about Babi Yar. I remembered the poem about Babi Yar where so many died. It starts, No monument stands in Bab Yar ... You find several version of it, depending on how the translators have chosen to translate each word. It is no Monument stands, no gravestone stands, no stone stands, no memorial rises, no grave reminds you. Depends how you think it translates best, evoking the emotion, whether you think it should be sadness, or anger, or shock, or chill, stillness, ghostliness, fear, desolation, protest.

Postage stamp issued in 2011 to commemorate the 1941-43 massacres at Babi Yar outside the capital, Kiev. Photo from Wiki. Public domain.

Is there anything to see at Babi Yar near Kiev in the Ukraine? It is the place where Jews were massacred. Thousands. September. Yevtushencko wrote a poem about the lack of acknowledgement at the place and in Ukraine contrasts with Auschwitz in Poland.

Auschwitz seems to be on every brochure of tours which you pick up in Krakov, as well as numerous films. Polish schoolchildren are taken there.

Would Babi Yar in Ukraine upset me? I have been to Dachau and Auschwitz + Birkenau, assorted Jewish museums, Anne Frank House.

What is there to see at Babi Yar? They are planning to relocate gravestones retrieved from a cemetery as well as items found in the ravine. But what is there to see now?

I found pictures on
Jewish News
Babi Yar Website
Find a grave
Wikipedia.

I could identify several monuments. The most interesting and memorable monument and story was the personal story of the heroine of the Jewish Resistance. She is shown by a statue.

You can plot a walk past the various monuments. I was expecting to see a museum, but the site seems to be a website in two languages. To find this photo I looked in Wiki for this statue of the young woman (member of the Jewish resistance, imprisoned and killed aged 22). To learn about her I used the links to the other websites.

Menorah, seven branch candle stick lit on the eve of the Sabbath, with candles reparenting th seven days of the week. Monument to Jews killed at Babi Yar in 1941.

Monument to children on the site of the Babi Yar massacre, now a public park. Notice the date 1941. photo from Wikipedia in Ukrainian.

I noticed that one of the photos of Babi Yar was copied from the Ukrainian Wikipedia. I never realised there was one. I suppose there must be a wikipedia in many other languages. Although I don't speak Ukrainian, and it would take a while to copy every sentence or paragraph from different areas into Google Translate, I thought it would be worthwhile to look and see if they had more photos of Babi Yar. Sure enough they did. You have to type in something which their website will recognise. I typed in babi dar, found a page with that in a caption of acknowledgements for a photo. I clicked on that site with what looked like Ukrainian (similar to Russian, Cyrillic script) and there were the photos I wanted. I have not yet had time to translate all the captions and acknowledgements. If yu want them please go to the Ukrainian wiki. Go to the UkrainianWikipedia. You will find more photos of Babi-yar.

Grand station in Kiev with chandeliers. Photo from Wikipedia in Ukrainian.

Delightful Stations
In contrast to this sadness, see the delightful underground railway stations of the three train lines (more lines planned). The stations, like the ones in Moscow and St Petersburg, are designed as People's Palaces, with statues, giant historical paintings, chandeliers, pillars of different colours, with light bands around the top, like giant colourful torches, arches like cathedrals with patterned edges, trains painted blue.

https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babi_Yar_in_poetry
https://new.findagrave.com/memorial/5913027/jewish_memorial_at_babi_yar

I have written a guidebook to Jewish sites worldwide. I have written about ten books on popular subjects (such as How To Be The Best Man) published by mainstream publishers and ten more of minority interest self-published including a Poetry Workbook. For a selection of my books, see Amazon and Lulu.com

Angela Lansbury

News In Brief - Coat combined With Sleeping Bag

Trousers with pockets large enough for a map when hiking. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

I've read about them before. Clothes with dual function are my favourites. Here's the latest, a coat combined with a Sleeping Bag.

One picture showed it in pink with black leggings which looked absurd. The dark green camouflage look appealed to me more. but maybe the fact that the girl wearing the pink coat has it awkwardly off her shoulder didn't help.

It was from River Island. The price was more than I would spend. £180. Pricey. An online search bought up the picture immediately. Along came more on Amazon. Same price. Different styles.

So what are my favourite multi-purpose outfits?
1 Reversible dresses with matching scarves which work as a long double oblong scarf, hanging down the front, rolled up as a belt; or folded diagonally once into a shawl, triangular at the back.

3 Multi-style sarongs, especially if they have a video or page of diagrams. The trouble is most of the sarong styles require no bust, or ten types of bra, or somebody who doesn't mind displaying their underwear.

4 Pull up dresses with an elastic top which form two styles. Hang from the waist as ankle length skirts. Alternatively as knee-length dresses when pulled up over the bust.

The best versions have a matching material double tie piece sewn from the centre of the waist. This double ribbon or scarf, can be rolled or narrowed to form a belt, or spread as tummy cover, or bottom cover, when worn as a skirt.  When you pull up the garment, the hanging pieces can be thrown over the shoulders to make a sarong.

You need a lot of safety pins to secure it, or a thin jacket in a co-ordinating fabric if you want to cover your armpits or your arms with long sleeves. Why would you? To look decent, in a church or more formal occasion, or out in the street. Or indoors to avoid freezing in air conditioning.

5 Shoes which had options of two or more heel heights and styles.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4930024/180-sleeping-bag-coat-unveiled-River-Island.html
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=sleeping+bag+coat
Annalondon8@gmail.com

Guess how many countries where the capital and the state have the same name?

Problem
How many places are there where the city and the country of state have the same name? One? Two? Three? Four? Five?

Answers
1 New York, New York.
2 Singapore, Singapore.

Those are the two I guessed. I reckon there might be two more tiny countries or tiny islands. Six maximum. Let's see.

3 San Marino, San Marino.

Do you think that's it?
I'll check for some more. Come back in a moment.

I would count these:
4 Djibouti -Djibouti
5 Guatemala - Guatemala City
6 Kuwait - Kuwait city
7 Panama - Panama City
8 San Marino - San Marino
9 Vatican City - Vatican City
10 Gibraltar - Gibraltar

Would you count these?
If not, we have ten.
If you do continue counting places with almost the same name as the capital:

Country - capital
11 Algeria - Algiers
12 Andorra - Andorra la Vella
13 Brazil - Brasilia
14 El Salvador - San Salvador
15 Tunisia - Tunis

Tips For Further Reading
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_national_capital_and_largest_cities
https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/
https://www.educationumbrella.com/oxford-student-atlas-
However you look at it, the world has fifteen countries where knowing the name of the city of the country is a good clue or reminder of both the country and the city name.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and humorous speaker. Teacher of English and other  languages. Please share links to your favourite posts. See my books on Amazon and Lulu.com

More capitals in Europe - bet you don't know these!

Country - capital
Problem
Liechtenstein - Vaduz (How do I remember the spelling of the country.  And the others?)

Answer
LIE - I don't lie - about the fact that I struggle to remember how to spell it. I had better check. Yes, add CH. I repeated it ten times. TEN! Stein is German for stone. Add STEIN. Lie-ch-ten-stein

Capital - country
Macedonia - Skopje (Common letters E O - O E. Think of M and S like  the shop Marks and Spencers. Macedonia and Skipje. Is there a shop called Marks and Spencers in Skopje in Macedonia?)
Moldova - Chisinau (Common letter a. in both MoldovA and ChisinAu.) Double letter o in Moldova. Check letter I is twice in Chisinau, an unusual name. My, it's good to see you. HellO Chums.
Montenegro - Podgorica. (Montenegro means black mountain. The letters O-G-O-R are in mOnteneGRO and pOdGORica. Oh, I'll to to Montenegro and on the black mountain I will grow a POD of GOReous - I CAnnot tell you because it's a secret.)
Vaduz - Liechtenstein (Nobody invades Liechtenstein. Maybe they think it's stony.)

https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/c9a0abc8-4704-4d76-ba8f-acd8865c12aa?lesson=5

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages. Please follow and share links to your favourite posts.

How do I remember names of capitals of Iran and Iraq?

Problem
How do I remember the countries and capitals of places I have not yet visited?

Answer
For many countries and capitals in all parts of the world you can make up sayings. For example:

IRAN - TEHRAN is the capital
 such as I ran to Tehran in Iran.

IRAQ - BAGHDAD is the capital
My Dad's in Baghad; he is irate in Baghdad in Iraq. Using the letters IR.

Depending on whether you say ark or ack, you could make up a sentence rhyming with park or dark. I shall to a park in Iraq.  Or my Dad's in a park in Iraq.
Or I shall pack for Iraq; my Dad's going to pack for Iraq.
For books on remembering, go to

https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Remember-Almost-Everything-Ever/dp/1910232246

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

How To Remember European Capitals

The capital of Spain is  .......................................... Madrid

The capital of France is ...................................................................................Paris

What are the capitals of Finland, Croatia and Estonia? Georgia? Iceland?

Problem
How do you remember European capitals? I was doing an exercise on capital using Duolingo tiny cards - I'll give you the link at the end. I thought, I'd better record my system for remembering.

Answer
Use letter links. This is my system. I am Angela Lansbury.
OK - let's go!

Country - Capital * Memory Aids and Letter Links
This is how you do it.
France - Paris - * F R AnCe P A RiS

Paris, France and Paris, Texas are easy to remember, no problem for me because I grew up in Europe and lived in the USA.  But I can imagine that somebody from China or Africa or a child under ten might have a problem. Who else would need help remembering Paris, France? People developing Alzheimer's, drunks doing a quiz might have a blank moment. If you are ever teaching, or learning it is a good exercise to show you how to remember by linking words.

What do Paris and France have in common as link letters?  Paris has the letters AR and France reverses the letters as F  RA.  Think of pARis fRAnce.

The initial letters are linked. F and P are both uprights with two horizontals. join the two horizontal bars in the F and you have a P. So thin of  P ar is F ra nce.

paParis ends with a S sound. So does France, although the letter C is used instead. Once you have grasped the fact that English uses an e after C to make the S, sound, in words such as place, palace, police, it is easier to remember that Russian used C on its own as an S sound.  So the Russian word for Russia has the letter C more than once.

You could, of course, just keep repeating: Paris-France, Paris-France. France-Paris. France-Paris. For some reason I find it easy to recall Paris, France, than France, Paris. that's probably because I have heard Paris, France so often but rarely hear France, Paris.

Now, if you are a teacher in a primary school, you can teach your class or an individual who needs help. The same goes for teaching as a home tutor to a Japanese or Korean or Chinese seven year old, a refugee, or anybody.

Now, we are confident that we can teach ourselves and anybody else one common pair, let's look at harder ones.

I woke up tired this morning and before a glass of water I was blank on even things I knew well because my mind was on more serious problems in the day ahead.

Country - Capital (Letter links) (Twice is British English for two times.)
Andorra - Andorra La Vella (AND it's the same word twice, the country and the capital.)
Austria - Vienna (austrIA - vIennA )
Belgium - Brussels  (B E L g i U m - B r U s s E Ls - common letters B E L . . U . Eating Brussels sprouts in Belgium)
Belarus - Minsk ( B - M - I was beaming in Belarus in Minsk)
Bulgaria - Sofia (bulgar IA - sof IA)
Corsica - you won't find this listed in countries because it is a French island. The capital is Ajaccio.
Croatia - Zagreb (croAtia - zAgreb)
Cyprus - Nicosia (Common letters are C and S and  i looks and sounds like y, CS CypruS niCoSia.)
Czech Republic - Prague (Common letters are ERU: czEch REpUblic pRagUE
Denmark - Copenhagen (Initial letters D and C: Washington DC; D enmark C openhagen)
Estonia - Tallinn (Double l and double n. estonNIA - tAllINn I estimate they are tall in Estonia)
England - London (e n g L  a N D - L.ND..)
Finland - Helsinki (fINLand - heLsINki - common letters INL LIN . If I use a dot for the missing letters I see .INL... ..L.IN..)
France - Paris (common letters RA - AR)
Georgia -Tbilisi (Repeated letter I.)
Germany - Berlin (gERmaNy bERliN - common letters are ERN)
Greece - Athens (GrEece AthEns)
Hungary - Budapest (common letters are .U..A.. .U.A....)
Iceland - Reykjavik (Spelling of capital is Y and then J. Letters common to country and capital IA.)
Ireland (Eire) - Dublin (I r e L aN D - D u b L i N)
Isle of Man - Douglas (Common letters are S L O A, iSLe Of mAn - dOugLAs.)
Israel - Jerusalem (But you will probably fly to Tel Aviv.) Common letters iSRAEL jERuSALEm)
Italy - Rome (The Romans roamed from their home in Italy.)
Latvia - Riga (A-A - LatviA- RigA, or IA  IA l a t v I A - r I g A)
Lithuania - Vilnius (N - N; or LI UN - l I t h U a NI a - v I l NI u s)
Malta - Valletta (Double L and double T. Common letters ALT, vowel A twice in the country and twice in the cApAtal; m A l t A, v A l l e t t A, l and t once in the country but twice in capital)
Netherlands - Amsterdam (nethERlANDs - amstERDAM land and dam sound similar; the Netherlands has lots of dams - the capital is Amersterdam)
Northern Ireland - Belfast (northErn Ireland bElfast)
Norway - Oslo (nOrway Oslo - in Norway the pace is slow and the capital is Oslow, or Nice and Slow in Norway and Oslo)
Poland - Warsaw (I went to Poland and saw the war-torn Capital, Warsaw.)
Portugal - Lisbon (Last letter of Portugal is L; first letter of Lisbon is L.)
Romania - Bucharest (After roaming wearing my Roman robes and I needed a rest in Romania)
Russia - Moscow (Common letter S. RuSSia. moScow. The letter s is used twice in Russia, whilst the letter o is used twice in Moscow.)
Sardinia - another popular holiday spot, not a country but an Italian Island. The capital is Cagliari.
Scotland - Edinburgh
Serbia - Belgrade (sERBiA - BElgRAde. I want to be in Belgrade in Serbia.)
Slovakia - Bratislava. (The spelling SLOV or Slav is in the country and the capital. Common letters SLVIA. The Slovaks or Slovakians are going back to Bratislava.)
Slovenia - Ljubljana 
(Common letters are LNN: sLoveNiA and LjubLjANA. Now I can see why I mistyped the capital and put an ia at the end because the country ends in ia but the capital is merely a at the end. The capital has LJ twice. That is legitimate. LJ. However the j is more like a y or a u.  lyublee- arna.
How do I distinguish Slovenia from Slovakia? The first alphabetically is Slovakia with AK in the middle. Slovenia has EN in the middle, both letters later in the alphabet. The capital of )
Spain - Madrid (spAIN - MAdrId)
Sweden - Stockholm  (SS Sweden-Stockholm)
Switzerland - Bern (Mutual letters ER and N. switzERlaNd bERN.)
Turkey - Ankara (but you are likely to fly to Istanbul)
Ukraine - Kiev (Letters K i E in both words u K r a I n E  and KIEv)
United Kingdom - London - United KingdOM - LondON)
Wales - Cardiff - (Common letter is A. We drive by car to Cardiff in Wales where we have a whale of a time because everything is different.)

Capital - Country
Andora Le Vella   - Andora
Amsterdam - Netherlands
Athens - Greece
Belfast - Northern Ireland
Belgrade - Serbia
Berlin - Germany
Bern - Switzerland
Brussels - Belgium
Budapest - Hungary
Bucharest - Romania
Budapest - Hungary
Cardiff - Wales
Copenhagen - Denmark
Edinburgh - Scotland
Ireland - Dublin
Kiev - Ukraine
Lisbon - Portugal
Lithuania - Vilnius
London - England
Madrid - Spain
Minsk - Belarus
Moscow - Russia
Nicosia - Cyprus
Oslo - Norway
Paris - France
Prague - Czech Republic
Reykjavik - Iceland
Riga - Latvia
Rome - Italy
Sofia - Bulgaria
Stockholm - Sweden
Tallinn - Estonia
Tbilisi - Georgia
Valletta - Malta
Vilnius - Lithuania
Zagreb - Croatia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_national_capital_and_largest_cities
If you want to buy a book on memory, you will find lots on Amazon.com
http://amazon.co.uk.
http://amazon.com Type in books.
I just found a book on remembering which I don't' know but it looks good:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Memory-Illusion-Remembering-Forgetting-Science/dp/184794762X
https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several posts on languages and destinations. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Understanding Australian Slang

Australian Flag. From Wikipedia.

Problem
Waltzing Mathilda is full of words we recognize but don't understand. So is everyday conversation, whether it's Australian patrons and staff in a restaurant or shop in Sydney, Australia, bar tenders (bar men or bar women) in Earls Court in London, England, or Austrians on the ski slopes in New Zealand, Italy, Switzerland, America or Canada.

The three books I look to buy in another English speaking country are a dictionary of local language and slang, a one-volume encyclopaedia and a guidebook or book of facts.

If you have a dictionary or Thesaurus symbol on a computer o the laptop screen you can find a Theseaurus fast.

Here's a list :
Australian - English
angry as a cut snake -  angry as a bull, angry as a bear, mad as a hatter
fair dinkum - all right, OK, fair enough, that's reasonable
G-strings - thongs
outback - in the Styx, in the countryside, the back of beyond, somewhere remote, the middle of nowhere
more than you can shake a stick at - heaps of, a shed load
no worries - no trouble, no problem, never mind
sheila - female, young woman
thongs - flip flops
tucker - food, snacks (as in tuck box)

English - Australian
fair enough - fair dinkum
flip-flops - thongs
girl / lass / lassie / woman - sheila
no trouble - no worries
thongs - G-strings

You might be amused by the book Let Stalk Strine by A A Morrison, published in 1965.
More Information From
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4920118/The-origin-Australia-s-iconic-sayings.html
Macquairie Dictionary (Australian dictionary), edited by Susan Butler.
Webster's Dictionary (American English - devised by Webster who simplified American spelling for the benefit of ease and speed of immigrants. He also wrote a book of simplified grammar.)
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blotto
http://andc.anu.edu.au/australian-words/meanings-origins/all
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_English_vocabulary

Map of Australia from Wikitravel.

Perth is on the west coast; Sydney is on the east, Melbourne is in the south, and that little island off the south is Tasmania. White, to the right, is the two islands of New Zealand. You might like to book a trip to New Zealand on the same ticker which could be cheaper than an airfare to Australia then a separate ticket to New Zealand, especially if you try booking a round trip to New Zealand with a stopover at Australia on the way there or back or both.. 

Travel to Australia
http://www.australia.com/en-gb

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages. I have other posts on Australian and other languages, Americanisms and destinations Please share links to your favourite posts.

Where To Go And Stay and What To Say Over Christmas and New Year

UK Xmas Cracker. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Christmas trees in major cities. This is Prague, Czech Republic, with a free band playing music. They pass a hat around.

Prague: We went to a free midnight mass concert and hymns in Czech, Prague on Christmas Eve. No charge. But have coins ready for the collection box carried to each row of the audience for the poor and needy.

UK. Christmas decorations in English front garden. We drive around taking photos. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problems
Where or when do you say Santa Claus and where or when do you say Father Christmas? Where's best to celebrate or see celebrations of Christmas and New Year?

Answers What To Say
The choice of wording of Santa or Father is a religious distinction. Santa is short for Santa Claus, a saint, and also Latin, Italian, and Spanish as in the American place name Santa Barbara. 

Saints, created by the pope, are Catholic. (Catholic churches have statues of saints and Jesus on the Cross. Protestant churches are more austere.) 

After Henry VIII started the Church of England the word Saint fell out of favour, hence Protestants will use Father Christmas. 

The abbreviation 'Santa', short for Santa Claus, tends to be a kiddie word. 

Russia and China In Communist Russia and China religion was banned. So the Russians, who have colder winters in their northern capitals, celebrate and brighten mid-winter with a snow-white-haired and bearded gentleman called Grandfather Frost. 

Scotland The Scots are Protestant make less fuss of Christmas but more fuss over New Year. Go to Scotland or watch on TV in the UK.

Where To Go - By Country
Christmas is big in the USA, with Christmas trees in windows and lights across rooftops. Also in the UK and most European and other Catholic countries.

UK In the UK a large Christmas tree, a Norway Spruce, is donated by the Norwegian government, and placed in Trafalgar Square, London, England. 

Major events and activites for you: 
Advance planning: book restaurants. Order Santa Claus costume on line.
To do: (Some are free, some are free but turn up early or at non-busy times; some free but require booking seats, first come first served, others are time specific and rquire advance boking and payment.
Book Christmas shows pantomimes or ice shows.
Go ice skating on artificial rinks, or watch ice skaters to music.
Hearing Christmas carols under the tree. Seeing the lights in Regent Street and Oxford Street. The Harrods department store and Selfridges will have lights or decorations on the front and in the windows.

Outdoor seasonal tree with white lights. Expect to see large trees lit at night in Catholic countries such as Poland, in their capital, Warsaw.

Czech Republic
Our hotel served a 'special' higher price Christmas meal which featured the main dish of carp. Then we went to the free midnight mass.

Singapore
Singapore celebrates all religions and the major malls and streets have great lights and Christmas carols play in shopping malls and from lamp posts.

If you want to avoid Christmas and giving presents to children and the cost and time spent organizing gifts and Christmas dinner (for example, if you can't afford it, or are not Christian) you could opt for a non-Christian country, or a beach holiday.

Spain If you miss Christmas, or want to miss Christmas, you can go to countries which celebrate the Magi and birth of Jesus on January 5 or 6, notably Spain and other European countries. In Spain the big excitement is the national Christmas Lottery with a big prize, called El Gordo (meaning the giant). Families will make a grou bet and sit around the TV watching.

Italy
Popular places for Christmas include seeing Francis of Assissi, birthplace of St Francis. The appearance of the Pope on Christmas day at the Vatican also draws crowds. 

The Italian festive cake is Panettone, a huge domed cake which you can buy loose or in a decorative tin, in Italy and in Italian cafés in London, England. 

Venezuela
You also get Panettone in Venezuela.

Story
When I was a child it was not the done thing to celebrate other religions or to celebrate multiple cultures. My parents took me to an English hotel for Christmas, or to a beach holiday in Spain.

Hotels
Hotels have higher prices for Christmas meals and may be closed except to residents because the restaurants are fully booked.

UK. Christmas pudding with white sauce.

UK. Christmas pudding with ice cream - that's a first, new idea.

UK.Christmas pudding with yellow custard. You'll get this everywhere in the UK over Christmas, in restaurants and in pubs. Christmas tables in restaurants have Xmas crackers containing a joke or motto, a banger to pull, a paper hat and often a small plastic gift. Look for boxes of crackers in supermarkets. You may find it is banned to take crackers on planes becuase the crackers contain explisve or fire starting materials. 

Self Catering, Souvenirs And Gift What To Eat Or Buy - Fun and Food, Festivity, Souvenirs
Most supermarkets in the UK import foods from all over Europe and the world. In the UK supermarkets you can buy Christmas pudding and Christmas cake with a white iced top and messages and green trees and red Santas. Many biscuits and cakes and chocolates come in presentation boxes which are only available at Christmas time. The price of the contests and box will be dearer. But you can keep the boxes as biscuit tins, as a colletor's piece for your shelves, or for storing jewellery and knick knacks. Airport shops will have these, but also department stores and supermarkets.

France
The French Christmas cake is a log. The French word for Christmas is Noel. 

Germany
The Germans eat Stollen which is a long roll with a marzipan centre.

Christmas Dinner In Restaurants Restaurant prices go up around Christmas time and some restaurants will be fully booked both lunch and evening towards Christmas with office and social club Christmas parties, serving turkey, stuffing and roast potatoes, followed by Christmas pudding. (Usually other options including a vegetarian alternative).

Prices of restaurants drop in January, although last year in the UK some restaurants did not start their reductions until several days after New Year's eve.

New Year's eve you may also find high prices and fully booked bars and restaurants and shops and cafes closing early.

One club I belong to in the UK chose to have a DIY pot luck Christmas party and a meal out in January to celebrate the New Year. That cut the cost, as well as being an all-religion, all diet option.

Other English seasonal foods are mince pies. The cheapest are about £1 for six in a supermarket.

Prices of Christmas pudding (black domed pudding containing dried fruit, same as American plum pudding which is sold all year in the USA) are reduced in UK supermarkets after New Year.

Tips
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages. See my previous posts on Christmas and New Year. Please share links to your favourite posts.

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

Problem
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 pages which are only half full, and to use them to revise.

Answers
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 and separate from other items such as To Do lists and travel directions and lists of websites, comic poems I compose and songs.

How To Number 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.

I can write an index on the back page and / or 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 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 ook before starting another to fill up my dwindling shelf space.

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 neattypee-written list on top of my hand-written contents list.

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