The Book Of Languages - For Kids, Adults, Collectors, Polyglots

I was looking online for the name of a book I saw about vocabulary and phrases for Domestic Workers, when somebody else was going to buy it for me from Mustafa's department store in Singapore where I had seen it earlier. It cost only about ten dollars.

While searching online for books about language, I found The Book Of Languages.

It was an amusing read, I thought, as I browsed through it on line on Amazon books. (I always try both amazon.com and amazon.co.uk).

When the book arrived by post, again easy to browse through, a handy reference book.

One thing struck me as odd. It said Japan occupied Malaysia and Singapore for about 100 years until 1945. That did not tally with I remember clearly reading about the Japanese invading Singapore during early WW2. I just checked on Wiki, 1942-1945

However, there is another entry for Japanese empire.

Useful Websites for travellers:
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
duolingo.com
memrise.com (Learning languages with memory aids that you and others record.)
mustafa's: http://www.mustafa.com.sg/mustafalocationmap/ (Singapore's 24 hour department store)
tripadvisor
wikivoyage
wikitravel

Angela
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Mobile Phone tripods - price, flexibility and size

You can record yourself giving a speech as a practise run, and on the occasion of an event.

Use
I saw a mobile phone tripod used by others on a desk to record speeches. It could be used by the phone owner and by others.

The tripod can be used for your phone, or loaned to a friend, or kept in the club box or suitcase for use by whoever is speaking at each point in the next meeting.

Size
A small tripod is usually adequate on a desk, but needs to be tipped upwards quickly to get in the head of a tall person. Fiddling with rotating screws is a nuisance. They can't be changed in a hurry. You might dis-assemble the whole thing. You could drop the phone and make a noise and risk damaging the phone. Your discussion, (such as, "Does this knob turn clockwise?") comes out on the video.

I like the idea of the flexible legs. Especially in jolly red.

The one sold on line cost about nine dollars.

Singapore Market
In a Singapore market (at Chong Pang for Chinese New Year) I saw one for 7 and another for 12. (Yes, it might be Singapore dollars, or American dollars or Euros - or a marked price - or a market seller might jack up the price hearing my foreign accent).

Online
When the one ordered on one arrived, it was a Rollei Monkey Pod, twice the height I expected, twice finger to thumb outspread, instead of once finger to thumb outspread. That's too big for a jacket pocket, bulky in a handbag.

Savvy Shopper
But worth keeping. I shall now go back and look at the market and see if they have a smaller one.
You could consider these points when browsing or buying.

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

Airport Terminal Number disasters

Note departure terminal and arrival terminal.

Disaster Story Of Two Terminals
Members of our family recently left an airport from terminal 3 (Singapore).


Several hours later, somebody - I won't say who, told the car meeting us at the other end (Heathrow): "We are at Terminal 3."


On arrival, the terminal's number is on very small sign which we walked past without noticing.

Our arrival terminal was terminal 2. We were left in the cold waiting.

After a long conversation, 'you are at level so and so?'
"Yes, so am I - but I can't see you,"
"Your car number?"
"Number of passengers and bags?"
"Let's go through it again, such and such an airport, yes, level so and so, yes, terminal so and so ...?"
 At 'terminal so and so', we realised what was wrong.

The taxi wanted extra money for the extra time - and paying two lots of entrance to two car parks.

Moral for travellers: Rememberthe different terminal numbers at both ends.
Moral for taxi drivers: Check not just level but terminal, and tally it with the airline's flight arrivals. If a particular airline does not arrive at terminal 2 or 3, no wonder they are not there.

Moral for airport designers:
Name the Terminals and levels in large letters - and give pick up points numbers. Terminal 2 with two cups of tea.  If I am waiting at G for ground - picture of Giraffe, level one one Giraffe, level two two Giraffes,  but my taxi has three teas, maybe red-brown for basement, green for ground, sky blue for level three.

Colour Coding Car Parks
Disney - in Florida I think,  uses animals for car parks. You need the colours as well as animals. If you remember on day one it was crocodile, a reptile, and on day two it was a large four-legged animal - then you come back and don't remember whether it was a black silhouette of an elephant or camel or zebra or horse.

Colours in Paris
A car park in Paris used colours for different levels. I remember we looked at the blue sky with white clouds and thought, this is not where we parked our car.)

Feedback For Planning and Upgrading
Singapore asks the public for suggestions.
Heathrow terminals have feedback forms. Please add your thoughts to their forms.

If you do so, thank you for your help making life easier for all of us travellers.

Handy Websites
https://www.heathrow.com/arrivals

https://www.visitsingapore.com/travel-guide-tips/travelling-to-singapore/changi-airport-singapore

Author Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer. Author and Speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Packing list tips - checking your possessions in and out

Packing Lists
Where to keep the packing list?
On your phone,
laptop,

suitcase lid,
back of wardrobe door.

Have a column on the left to tick for packed (leaving home).
The column on the right is for re-packed (leaving destination).

Make sure you have both pairs of shoes and matched socks, bikinis, mobile phones with matching connectors in the same transparent bag.

Doorkeys.

A credit card.
Leave at home local cards for shops and services - in the usual place or make a note of where.
(Consider another credit card at home in case you lose one when travelling.)

Start to pack a week in advance.
Check the right size suitcase, with no broken wheels or handles. Attach lock and key to handle.
Add any frequent flyer tag. if your case is black, add a coloured ribbon for quick identification - which helps you and stops others mistakenly taking your luggage.

Include a link to the email reminding yu where you have hidden your home door keys and car keys or which family member has your door keys and car keys or the spares - and their phone numbers.

Photograph all keys in case you lose any.

Keys photo by Trougrouf in Wikipedia.

Order money and check rates. List exchange rate on your packing list.

Useful Websites
https://www.quora.com/Can-a-locksmith-make-a-copy-of-a-photographed-key

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

Packing - phone and accessories

Taking a flight? First thing - print you ticket? No need to waste your ink and paper. Nowadays you have e-tickets, or have it to hand on your phone. But which phone, not the one you were going to leave behind!

You want to be sure you have the connector, the charger, and as backup a power block. Make sure that is charged. How do you know that it is charged? Press in the button and you should see blue lights.

Packing Lists
Next, where to keep the packing list?

On your phone, laptop, inside the suitcase lid, on the back of the wardrobe door.
Make sure your phone accessories are in the same bag and on the list:

Charger connection lead (one which uploads and charges - some don't do both), and tripod and case.

On arrival check you have:

In-flight cancel wifi cancelled so you are back on wifi.

Alarms set to wake you at local time.

Inform family friends and colleagues you are home.

Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please save links to your favourite posts. 

Met Su Yan Delicious Kosher Chinese Restaurant

Met Su Yan
The name is Hebrew for delicious and the word has been split into three syllables to sound Chinese.

We ordered:
Duck pancake starter to share. You roll up the wafer thin neatly round pancakes stacked in steamer. Each person takes one and spreads the dark sauce to bind the filling to the cover, then adds the meat (shredded duck) and strips of onion and green something and wraps up the pancake into a roll. You eat the pancake with your fingers. If you are fussy about not eating with unwashed hands and you have just slammed a car door around
Fish ('bass').  One cynical diner later said, what gets called bass or any other name nowadays by the people selling fish - (at any stage wholesaler or retailer) can be anything.
What ever the fish was, it was very succulent. Everybody said it was good.

Lemon chicken. Not over lemony. If you don't like lemon, don't worry, it is good. If you love lemon, not quite enough.

Chocolate fondant (soft oozy centre).
or/and
Fried banana pieces in sesame seed.
I Changed the vanilla ice on the menu with the fondant to an accompanying raspberry ice.

Service
Service is included. We checked the bill after paying.

They will wrap up leftovers if you ask. When we lived in America it was standard practise for restaurants to offer to pack up leftovers. That saves them clearing up at the end of the day and reduces their disposal charges, as well as giving the customer a second snack meal at home for the price of one full meal with service and washing up done for you.

Glatt?
Their business card says Glatt kosher under the supervision of the Federation of Synagogues.

Kosher?
This means you can be sure of not getting pork. It also means no shellfish. This is useful for me, because I am allergic to shellfish.

Glatt kosher
What does Glatt kosher mean? Does it mean that they check the lungs of the animal, not just the particular cut of meat?

Or that different rabbis have their own systems of checking with some fussier than others? In the USA sometimes you have named rabbis checking. The ultra-orthodox will only eat at places checked by their own known or favourite fussy rabbi. (A bit like some places picking accepting a candidate with a degree, but fussier universities favouring different feeder schools, or employers preferring a candidate from a particular university

If you care, you probably know. If you don't know, you probably don't care. Either look it up in advance, or ask the staff when they are not busy.

Price
The set meal was about thirty seven pounds a person. The 'guests', one of whom frequently eats at such (kosher) restaurants, were willing to share a main course. In the end we shared the starter and dessert but ordered a main course for each person.

One person who paid said that for such a sum we could have eaten in a top Michelin starred restaurant in central London. What does a Michelin restaurant provide? Fancy plates and flowers. Hot and cold running staff asking if everything is all right. Surprises - freebies. Sometimes a parting gift such as a flower or a chocolate with the bill or even a wrapped mini cake to take home.

What do you get here? Glatt kosher. That in itself is a surprise for some.

Special Occasions!
At that price I don't think you, or most people, would eat there every day. Once a week. Or? Special occasions, One table was unofficially celebrating an engagement and the youngsters had chosen the venue.

A second similar restaurant is in the Golders Green area. We could all remember eating at Kaifeng Chinese kosher restaurant, which opened many years ago to great acclaim and was then a great novelty for being both kosher and Chinese, both of which were a novelty for some diners, and the combination being a novelty for others.

One of our diners said that Met Su Yan, Edgware branch, was better than other Chinese kosher places, which might have been great when they opened but no longer had the wow factor.
I have tried to give you not just my opinion but the varied views of four or more people.

Another was visibly celebrating a birthday.

Toilets
Cubicles marked men and women. No difference. Ladies, if the ladies is occupied, you could use the other.

Getting There

PARKING
Yellow lines right outside, but possible parking space further away from shops, so you might be able to drop off anybody in high heels or children or the elderly. Check signs to see whether and where you can park, depending on day and time.

Walk downhill from Edgware station. Towards end, before library, take left hand fork, at Y road junction. It is at the far end of shops on your right.
1-2 The Promenade
Edgwarebury Lane
Edgware
HA8 7JZ
tel 020 8958 6840

Website
www.metsuyan.co.uk

(Pictures will be added later today or tomorrow. Please come back and read again.)

Several more kosher or Israeli or Jewish style restaurants in Edgware, Hatch End and Golders Green and Finchley. Cheaper alternative B & K Edgware or Hatch End, Jewish style, not kosher supervised.

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

Solutions to several plane problems - including fast toilet queue

The complaints on planes follow the same themes:
You simply arrange everything in order, age order, time of wait order.
1 BABIES
PROBLEM
Crying babies disturb passengers.
ANSWER
This could be solved by having a child cabin and a childfree cabin.
 No? Then even a child side and a child-free side.

2 STORAGE
PROBLEM
Not enough room in lockers near your seat. Then you get chaos because on leaving the plane some people have to go backwards to retrieve their luggage.
ANSWER
On check in your are assigned a locker of a certain size limit and number to match your seat. 
3 BOARDING CHAOS
Board everybody by rows. This is often done.

3 LEG ROOM
When meals are served announce that seats should be upright so the person behind you can sit upright to eat.
At the end of mealtime announce that you may now recline seats to sleep.

Seats have too little leg room, so that when somebody reclines their seat,  the person behind might object. You already have some airlines asking for payment for longer leg room. The same could apply for a wider seat.
If seats had an optional, movable up and down vertical partition, you could prevent the person beside you spilling over.

4 TIME LIMIT TOILETS
Problem - Long waits for a toilet.

When you stand up,you can see the man woman signs for the toilet. But the ones at the front might be curtained off for business class. So you go to the back.

Answer Funnel Q or Short Q
I was told that Disney introduced the system of putting all the waiting people in one queue. (The British word is Q. Americans say line or line up. The person at the head of the queue is called forward to one of two or more doors or desks, whichever is free first.

This stops people getting peeved when their queue is slow, then swapping queues.The queue moves faster than having four or more different queues.
How to get somebody out? Either have a recording when the door is locked for two long. Or permit people outside to knock. Or communicate. Hello, are you OK? Or put a humorous sign saying doors will open automatically after five minutes! At that point a well-being check will be made. Those who want to apply make-up can use mirrors in waiting area. A small area can be used for changing clothes, with a wet-wipe disposal bucket.

I have seen the funnel queue used successfully at Primark and Marks & Spencer.

At supermarkets they discovered that people in a hurry with only two to ten items do not want to wait fifteen minutes behind three people who have a huge number of items. So they introduced a short quick queue for people who could be quick with only less than ten items.

The same could be done on planes.

Author
Angela Lansbury

How Do You Remember tones in languages?

French tones
In French I use the word eleve which has an upward diagonal above the first tone, a high note, the Chinese would say rising. The second e had a diagonal falling to the right above the letter e. Say Hey, you and you should get the sound.

Most other words in French emphasize the second syllable, such as Paree, ici (which rhymes with Paree).

English intonation
Emphasize the first syllable.













Japanese
Monotone with every syllable the same, staccato.



Chinese
Every syllable has equal emphasis. Listen to a Chinese speaker speaking Singlish (mixed English and Malay and Mandarin and local Hokkien dialect words. they say welcome as well cum. A native English speaker would say WELLcm or whelk-um.

I have joined a Polyglot group on Facebook. I wrote:

 The Chinese sentence ma ma etc with the tones indicated is a way of remembering tones in general. I remember that the one for scold sounds angry and low. I haven't yet got it but if I make the effort or had to teach it I would remember it. Make up a sentence in which the word has to be said in that tone because of the sense.

Chineasy and other YouTube videos clearly have native Chinese speakers saying the words. 

Other useful advice:

Listen to the language being spoken to become accustomed to the sounds. Listen to the radio as background sound, play recordings of the news, watch films with subtitles. Repeat what is said in the same tone even if you don't understand what is being said. Start with common phrases. 

Use Memrise and Duolingo. Look up placenames in Wikipedia and play back the sounds. 

If languages are too challenging, try Esperanto, a made up language, which looks like Spanish but has  The Chinese sentence ma ma etc with the tones indicated is a way of remembering tones in general. I remember that the one for scold sounds angry and low. I haven't yet got it but if I make the effort or had to teach it I would remember it. Make up a sentence in which the word has to be said in that tone because of the sense. They simplified everything into only 16 rules, so all plurals are the same.

Please see my other posts on English, Singlish and learning languages. Share links to your favourite posts.


Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, speaker and language teacher and trainer.

A Vietnamese Funeral

Seen in the Ethnology museum in Hanoi, North Vietnam.

As I walked towards it, I thought, what a jolly scene. Then I read the captions and realized it wasn't a jolly occasion at all. However, the colour helps the mourners cope, in my opinion. All black funerals make you feel worse. The colours are significant. A distant relative or passer-by could easily identify the son performing the rites and the daughter-in-law.

This scene is one of many intriguing items at the Ethnology museum. It has two sections in adjacent buildings, one ticket for both. Allow time to see them both.

We flew on Vietjet and stayed at the delightful Sunline Paon hotel. See my previous posts on Hanoi restaurants and attractions.

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Author and Speaker. Teacher and trainer of English and language and etiquette.

Advantages of Overnight Longhaul and Weekend flights

Advantages
You can take a late night taxi and not be caught in the morning rush hour.
You can put your bedding in the wash, get it out or dry it.
If your flight is delayed a reputable airline might put you up in a hotel overnight.
You arrive next morning in time for next day's meeting.
Cheaper prices for airlines.

Disadvantages
If you watch films instead of sleeping you miss sleep.
You arrive Monday morning but museums are all closed Monday.
Extra cost for Sunday morning taxis in the UK.

London's Oldest Wine Bar

UK

Gordon's Wine Bar, they say, is believed to be London's oldest wine bar. (Not to be confused with the oldest pub.) The building is associated with two great historic figures, Samuel Pepys, the diarist who recorded the fire of London, and Charles Dickens. 

Lots to read on their website.

Useful Websites
http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/301864/Gordons-Wine-Bar/#vars!date=1975-08-20_07:32:24!

visitbritain.com

visitlondon.com

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

Where Can You Practise Your Languages?

English
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, UK (British English), USA (American English). English pubs worldwide. A form of English spoken in Singapore is Singlish. Several English-speaking islands.

Arabic
Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia. Mosques.

Bulgarian
Bulgaria. Cyrillic alphabet, invented by Christian Bulgarian brothers, used in Russia. Read up in Wikipedia the history of Cyrillic and where you can see the statues to the brothers in different countries.


Chinese
Cantonese in Hong Kong. Mandarin in China and Singapore. Chinese restaurants in Chinatown London, England and other Chinese restaurants and Chinatowns worldwide. The classical sign language is the same as classical Japanese.

Chineasy in Wikpedia and on YouTube and look to buy on Amazon and Ebay.

Esperanto
Easy artificial language - go to conferences, take course in England (Stoke, England, UK), go to Meetups (Reading, Berks, UK) or stay with fellow speakers at homestays worldwide.


French
Belgium, Canada (different accent), France (pure French in Paris).

German
Austria, Germany, Switzerland.

Greek
Greece mainland and islands. Cyprus.


Hebrew
Israel. Jewish Museums. Holocaust memorials inscriptions. Cemetery tombstones. Synagogues.

Indonesian
Indonesia. Language almost identical to Malay. Hear announcements on Singapore train stations.


Italian
Italy. Italian restaurants.

Japanese
Japan. Japanese restaurants. The sign language is the same as Chinese.

Korean
Korea.

Latin
Archaeological sites. Roman museums, eg St Albans in England, Caerleon in Wales, Hadrian's Wall in the UK, also Italy (Rome, Pompei), Israel, Jordan and the Middle East. Latin has been dropped from some Catholic church services but you might still find it used.

Malay
Malaysia. Language almost identical to Indonesian. Hear announcements on Singapore train stations (MRT is an English acronym and means mass transit).

Polish
Poland. UK - many cafes, restaurants and mini-supermarkets in London, England, some with Polish language newspapers, free or paid for versions.

Portuguese
Brazil. Madeira. Portugal. (All have different accents.) Macau - just a little, placenames etc.

Russian
Russia. Cyrillic alphabet in Bulgaria.

Spanish
Mexico. South America. Spain. (Also see Spanish signs in the USA.)

Welsh
Wales. On trains from Paddington, London to Wales, and railway station signs and road signs in Wales, also tourist information plaques.

Toastmasters International
The USA has Toastmasters clubs which speak English, or Spanish or both. Canada has English speaking and French speaking clubs. China has English speaking clubs. Singapore has clubs speaking English, English and Mandarin, French, Tamil.
London has clubs speaking English, bilingual meetings in English and French, Polish, the Spanish and German clubs seen to come and go.
Toastmasters materials are published in English, and several other languages including French.

Meetupas
Also see Meetup groups for different languages, eg in Singapore I have seen English, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese and European languages.

Useful websites
Wikipedia has articles on all languages, where they are spoken, and their alphabets.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Mexico

Duolingo

Free internet lessons including English for speakers of other languages; English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Korean, Russian, Spanish and more and others in beta (tryout form) being added.

Polyglots
If you speak or wish to speak several languages, see videos on YouTube or look at or join polyglot groups on Facebook.

Language Swaps
You can join a Facebook group called Language Exchange. Also try the forums in Duolingo for translation queries.

Travel information
Useful websites
You will see the national flag on the page of any country in Wikipedia. Also check Wikivoyage and Wikitravel.
wikitravel.org
wikivoyage.org

Travel Information
visitbritain.com
visitbritainshop.com

Useful Information and Websites
Travel and Tourism
visitlondon.com
visitbritain.com
visitbritain.org
visitbritainshop.com
visittheusa.co.uk

Transport
virginatlantic.com (airline UK to USA and USA to UK and Europe and world)
skyscanner.net (flight date and price comparisons and offers)
citimapper.com
tfl.gov.uk (transport for London)
rome2rio.com (directions)

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

Singlish Speakers and Presenters Please Note

Singapore flag waving in the wind.

Problems
I give workshops as part of Toastmasters Meetings in the China, Singapore and the UK. Here is a flyer for one of my past workshops.

I have recently attended several demonstration meetings to college students and their instructors. I have given workshops on Speech Structure, and most often Language. I have observed several problems:

The Toastmasters Of The Day or the other speakers and instructors speak Singlish. The pupils sometimes speak English as a second language.

Firstly, the official speakers are unable to correct the pupils' use of English.

Secondly, they are reinforcing the idea that Singlish structures are standard British English. The pupils do not know any better. Worse still, pupils copy what they hear.

Thirdly, any pupils and visitors who speak British English may feel unable to correct what they hear. you do not want to correct a VIP who is your host, who collected you from the station. You do not want to correct a teacher in front of their pupils because the teacher would lose face. The pupils would be disappointed and embarrassed on behalf of their teacher.

Fourthly, presenters may speak well, but the slides have spelling or grammatical errors.

Fifthly, the slides are correct and produced from the USA or by another instructor or from the internet. However, the speaker has their back to the slides and misquotes text from memory, adding errors, or reads fast and incorrectly.

Finally, signs around the building are in incorrect English. For example, signs in the lifts and toilets. Signs might be produced in the buildings or left by contractors.

What are the solutions?

How To Give Feedback Politely
Agree in advance how to correct the VIP seniors' mistakes.

In Toastmasters as a Language Evaluator or Grammarian, I would name speakers who have used English correctly.

However, when drawing attention to errors I would simply say, "I heard: ...."

If you are a student or teacher of linguistics, or a teacher of English, you would enjoy a trip to Singapore. There you can read and hear examples of Singlish from local people. On the train station concourses and platforms you can hear the three other local languages, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. This will demonstrate how the intonation in other languages affects speakers learning English as a second language.

Singapore is a great stopover if you are travelling between the USA or Europe or Russia and want to continue on to Australia and New Zealand. Singapore Airlines in a member of Star Alliance if you need to mix and match airlines and use airmiles and lounges.

Useful Links
To find a Toastmasters International Club, use Toastmasters International Website and find a club. Or look at Meetups in your city.

Singapore Airlines
singaporeair.com

Author
Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several posts on Singapore - everything from 24 hours McDonalds to Changi airport eating and day and night (Night Safari) attractions and free attractions (Botanical Gardens), and London, England. Please share links to your favourite posts.

How To Organize A Meeting Or Conference Efficiently

Problems
People turn up late, disappear early. I have been to two meetings recently which had problems which could easily be resolved.

Check the day before and on the day that main speakers are attending.

VENUE
1 Give the directions to the venue on the agenda / meeting programme. Include both the car park for drivers, also the nearest train station, bus number, alighting point - even a map on the back  of your agenda.

2 Check the programme has the correct venue - (not the mailing address!
If you alternate between two company buildings, make the venue clear, or add To Check Venue phone ... (Name of organizer).

FOOD
3 Provide vegetarian food, vegan food (no milk or eggs).
Label shellfish (crustacians and molluscs - shellfish includes prawns).

Label nuts. Label milk and eggs. Your audience may include people with allergies.
Does it matter? Yes. They can come out in spots like chicken pox. They might vomit - not once but non-stop retching for 24 hours. Their lips and eyelids and nose and throat swell so they cannot breathe.

You may need to call an ambulance and escort them to hospital and inform their relatives, change their flights and fly them home a day later because the airline might refuse to fly somebody covered in spots and vomiting.

Story of An Agitated PR Lady
I was at a seafood restaurant on a press trip and mentioned my shellfish allergy to the PR lady. I was trying not to make a fuss. She insisted on telling all the staff and having a separate meal cooked for me. She said her previous trip was completely disrupted when somebody with an allergy went to hospital and the PR lady missed the second half of the trip.

DOORKEEPER
4 Have a designated person by the door to show latecomers to seats, or delay them.
Do not allow people to chat loudly outside the door. (You might add a notice Quiet, speakers on stage.)

BADGES
Name badges help you to locate VIPs and speakers and presenters.

In Toastmasters International you can name a topics speaker. in a big meeting you can identify a member of the audience by name. None of this: "Will the man wearing glasses come on stage, not you, yes, you."

The audience can identify the organizers. It is easier to start a conversation if you have one word of description of the meeting role or profession or qualifications on the badge of the person you are facing.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Start by announcing the fire exits, the directions to men's and women's toilets.
If it takes ten minutes to reach and use toilets on another floor, or the end of the building, past a map on the door or the table by the door.

TIMING AND TOILETS
When I was timer at a contest in a huge hall I rang the bell five minutes before the end of break and pointed to the direction and location of the toilets and said, "Meeting starts in five minutes. Toilets at end of corridor to my left, your right."

Author
Angela Lansbury, author, speaker, language trainer. Please share links to your favourite posts.

We speak only English - where can we go?

Problem
You want to make life easy for yourself or one of your group. After a stressful time in a country where you could not read the language, could not understand the taxi driver, and needed to pay for the transport and food and daily rate for an interpreter, you want an English speaking country.

Here are countries with English as a first language:


UK
Signs are in English.
A London accent with received pronunciation should in theory be the language in London. In peak seasons such as Easter and the summer holidays (July and August) London is full of tourists. If you are wondering what Brexit is all about, you might understand when you observe the huge numbers of Londoners who are second generation, or adults who speak a foreign language and use their children as interpreters.

If you have already been to London and the UK, consider a trip including Wales, Scotland, Ireland, The Channel Islands, The Isle of Man.

In Scotland you will be more easily understood in Edinburgh than in Glasgow.

In Wales signs are bilingual in Welsh and English.


USA
English is the first language with an American accent.
New York is hot in summer, cold in winter, great in the shoulder seasons, the Spring and the autumn (known to Americans as The Fall). Watch out for words which mean different things, momentarily, make a right, and pants.

English is spoken with an accent but slowly in the south.
If you have Spanish as a second language you will also see signs in Spanish.


CANADA
Toronto will be better for speakers of English than French speaking Montreal.
Ottawa is the capital where you will find bilingual speakers.

South Africa
English with a South African accent.


Australia
Apart from g'day and sheilas you will understand everything. Watch out for thongs. Except for the national song Waltzing Mathilda.

New Zealand
It is little England, like England in a delightful time warp. See lamb in the fields and on the restaurant menus. Enjoy empty roads.

India
English is used as a second language.

You might also consider: Gibraltar, Jersey, largest of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man.

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

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, teacher of English. See my posts on Americanisms. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Buy to rent? The problems of an absentee landlord!

You go to live abroad. You might hope to pay your rent by renting your old home. Or use your savings or inheritance to let a property back home.

Buy to let? What are the costs?

Costs
Replacing old furniture and fittings - and a family of four will destroy a washing machine, bed and carpet in three years which would have lasted your grandparents or singe granny ten years.

Replacing curtains. Replacing carpet - John Lewis one thousand pounds for one small bedroom. Get a cheaper quote. Add five hundred for fitting the carpet!

 Repainting walls. The painters quote - but they charge extra to do skirting boards and doors.

Advertising for a tenant  Paying management fee if you don't live near the property. Add fee for every visit.

LEGAL CHECKS
 Charge for annual gas and electricity check.

MAINTENANCE
Payment of maintenance covering.

EXTRAS
Add payment to gardener.

Window cleaner.

Five hundred or more pounds for professional clean - add fifty pounds if they do the furnished flat table and chairs and not just walls floors, carpet cleaning and oven.

Extra maintenance charge for repair of building roof, lift update, security phone update, subsidence, windows, garage doors, painting and roofs.

Charge to remove dumped furniture. Charge to remove tenants furniture.

Repair of damage left by tenant's furniture removers. Forwarding tenants' mail from their doctor and bank. Showing prospective tenants around for first.

Flying home from overseas when tenancy ends and finding tenants refuse to move out because ...

Correspondence with tenants. Meet inventory people. Charge made every time inventory is updated.

Tenant wants washing machine or sofa removed - spend half a day getting competitive quotes from rent a van.

Find single person removal, unwrapped item is damaged in .

 Tenant keeps windows shut forming condensation so whole place needs repainting.

Tenant moves out three days early. Have to pay council tax. Endless phone calls and log ins.

Accountant needed for paying income tax. Payment for Xero online accounting shortly to be a government requirement. Once a year accountant bill changes to once a month accountant bill.

Listing expenses for every visit.

Time transferring gas and electric bills and reading meters.

Endless queries over rental agreement. Leaking radiators. Tenants family die.

Tenants bring in another family (visiting parents, extended family). Increased wear and tear on carpets. Are they doing something illegal - overcrowding.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/buytolet/article-6620839/How-Britains-239billion-buy-let-bubble-burst.html

How To Remember Flags - a few fun flacts on flags from the UK, USA and Canada

I like to recognize flags which are flying.

The easiest ones to remember are the most distinctive.

The American flag is also called the stars and stripes.


How many stars and how many stripes? What do they represent?

The UK flag is called the Union Jack.









The design is a union or combinaton of three flags. The red cross on white you might recognize as the flag of England which is flown all over London when there are football matches involving the England team.

This flag, now I look at it, is not a correct version of the flag. The whites should be slightly off centre.
When the flag is flown upside down (originally and usually by sinking ships) it is a distress signal. Who knows or cares?

First, anybody in the navy or military knows. They need to be able to fly a distress signal when in trouble and recognize one flown by their own group or anybody else.

Boy scouts are taught this. I recall telling my small son this and was surprised he knew. He said he learned it from the Boy Scouts. They might fly the flag over the premises or at an international meeting. I presume girl guides are taught this either as part of general training or to attain one of the badges. If you are a steward or usher at an itnernational meeting and wear a flag on your clothing to indicate that you speak English you need to have it swn on the right way up.

(Having a coffee break. More later.)


The red maple leaf of Canada.


Useful websites
You will see the national flag on the page of any country in Wikipedia. Also check Wikivoyage and Wikitravel.
wikitravel.org
wikivoyage.org

Travel Information
visitbritain.com
visitbritainshop.com

Useful Information and Websites
Travel and Tourism
visitlondon.com
visitbritain.com
visitbritain.org
visitbritainshop.com
visittheusa.co.uk

Transport
virginatlantic.com (airline UK to USA and USA to UK and Europe and world)
skyscanner.net (flight date and price comparisons and offers)
citimapper.com
tfl.gov.uk (transport for London)
rome2rio.com (directions)

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

Two or three countries in one holiday? Where? Globetrotter's Shortlist.

EUROPE
Estonia, Latvia and  Lithuania
Walking holiday of all three, not cheap, over a thousand pounds. This one is on my wishlist. Kill three countries in one holiday. Triple the countries on my list of places I have visited.


FRANCE
Borders: France, Italy, Switzerland. Near Chamonix. 
Drive through the Mont Blanc tunnel from France to Italy. I famously  or infamously forgot my passport - left on the chairback of friends' home in France, so we had to turn back at the tunnel on one occasion.

Spain
Your choices are:
France and Spain, Spain and Portugal, or all three, France, Portugal and Spain. We have driven from London through France, down through Portugal and across to Marbella in Spain. 

We drove back across Spain staying in Paradors. Consider southern Spain and Gibraltar (when international relations are good).

SWITZERLAND
A country with four languages, French, Italian, German and Romansch.


Flag of the USA. Flag of Canada.

USA and Canada
Niagara is the place. See the Falls from both sides. 

Canada has the great views and the attractions and the crowds, motels and hotels. But also see the US side.We thought that Canada was too touristy. then we went to the US side and it felt empty. We went back to Canada and felt happier with attractions blaring at every corner.



USA - Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah.
Four states meet.
Wiki says:
The Four Corners Monument marks the quadripoint in the Southwestern United States where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. It is the only point in the United States shared by four states, leading to the area being named the Four Corners region.
I went to the point and was underwhelmed. But the landmarks in the region are legion.


Flag of Singapore.

Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia
From Singapore it's a hop across the bridge to Malaysia. (Must take passport.) You can walk, about half an hour across the bridge. take passport of course. 
Back in Singapore, you can catch a ferry across to an Indonesian island. 

What can I say - I am a Singaporean resident. Clean Green Singapore has so many must see attraactions such as Gardens By The Bay, the Night Safari, the free Botanic Gardens.

CARIBBEAN
St Martin and St Maarten, two halves of one island, French and Dutch. Practice your french on the French side. The Dutch side had quaint buidlings. The French side for language and food - all flown in so high quality means high prices. Do a two centre holiday or visit one from the other.

You might find one side of the island or order has the more expensive hotels. Depends what you want. Rustic and basic and authentic or big and international.

Singapore is a great stopover if you are travelling between the USA or Europe or Russia and want to continue on to Australia and New Zealand. Singapore Airlines in a member of Star Alliance if you need to mix and match airlines and use airmiles and lounges.

Useful Links
visitsingapore.com
Singapore Airlines
singaporeair.com
visit.britain.com
visitbritainshop.com
visittheusa.co.uk

Author
Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several posts on Singapore - everything from 24 hours McDonalds to Changi airport eating and day and night (Night Safari) attractions and free atttractions (Botanical Gardens), and London, England. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Useful Websites
https://www.explore.co.uk/holidays/walking-holiday-in-estonia-latvia-and-lithuania