How to Learn Languages Quickly And Easily - lessons from bilingual Americans and multilingual schools

 There are four ways we learn languages.

Hearing Wrods, Rhymes & Songs 

We hear them and recognize sounds and groups with order (grammar). Children hear nursery rhymes and speech.  Adults hear songs and films and conversation. 

Motivation

The motivation could be to speak a language on holiday, to impress people socially, communicate with or understand your family, your boss, your customer. 

Multi-lingual learners of languages are motivated. They go to live in a country and listen to the radio, read newspapers to practise, engage in conversation. They devote a certain number of hours each day. 

Chinese Speech Contest Winners Secrets\

The Chinese winner of the International Speech Contest had been detemined to win. The contest was held in English. She spoke Chinese. She first had to learn English. 

What was her secret? She told us at a club meeting.

TV Programmes Help

She learned English by watching the Americn TV series, Friends for three hous every morning. It took her two years. 

Toastmasters International Clubs Help

In addition, she went to English speaking clubs. She went to Toastmasters International speakers' club meetings to listen to English and practise speaking. Toastmasters International meetings have a language evaluator who teaches the word of the day and gives a report on the good usese of language and suggests improvements. 

The groups welcome guests. Many meetings are online. New clubs are keen to have listeners and potential members. Some people join for networking, so the more the merrier.

Toastmasters has clubs which speak Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, French and other languages and has manuals in several languages.

Searching For Patterns

Your brain recognizes patterns. If you hear something twice, that could be coincidence. Hear someting three times and the brain starts to record a pattern.

Learning Names By Repeating

Americans learn names by asking your name and repeating it three times. So when I meet an American who knows this system the conversation could go like this. 

His, my name is Kaylie. What is your name? Angela Lansbury - like the actress Angela Lansbury in Murder she wrote. Are you related to the other Angela Lansbury? Do other people ask you if you are related to the actress Angela Lansbury? Are their other people called Angela Lansbury on LinkedIn and Facebook? Will I find you on social media under the name Angela Lansbury?

Useful Websites

https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2023/may/bilingual-clubs-cross-borders#:~:text=In%20other%20cases%2C%20bilingual%20clubs,%2C%20Tamil%2C%20and%20Traditional%20Chinese.

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Naming traditions around the world - Spain, the UK, the USA

Naming traditions vary from country to country, group to group. family to family.

In my family, people in my grandaprent's generation turned out to have different names to their birth certificates, because when they married they found themselves sharing a house with other women of the same name and that was too confusing. 

In the UK, the kings sometimes had the same name as the father. That made succession easier. The initials stay the same. People who once swore allegiance to the king by a certain name, had a sense of continuity. Less alteration to banners and embroidery. no embarrasssement about calling somebody by their predecessor's name. Easy to rmember the name of your king for the subjects and visiting ambassaors or royalty, or scribes.

If you visit Spanin, or a Spanish restaurant, or somebody Spanish visits you and explains their system (as hapened to me) you find that often the mother's family name is kept as a middle name. That was done in the UK by Billy Jean King, tannis player, and if you are already known in your profession or trade by a name, it is easy. 

Americans tend to name sons as Junior. That way, in the USA, at least you distinguish between father and son when writing bout them. Martin Luther King Junior. Of course, the name Martin Luther itself is already a name copy of a famous long-dead person.

I have seen two posts about people who are angry that another relative or friend wants to use the same name as the writer. In one case the other person got pregnant first. In another the relative wanted to use the name of a deceased child. 

In the second case the upset writer said she was not sure what she was jealous about.

Not sure what you are jealous about? It's blindingly obvious. You are jealous that she has a daughter and you don't. You feel that she has stolen your daughter's memory. You are probably afraid feel that every time you hear the name it will remind you of your daughter. To me the whole things is absurd, to have two people in a household of the same name so when you call out they both come running. Quite simply, you have been outvoted. Your mother gave her name to her child and her grandchild. Unfortunately the grandchild died, so now your mother has another chance at immortality. Your mother also lost. You might suggest adding another middle name so that it won't cost anything to change the name if you have another child or your relative's child herself wants a unique name. 

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How to identify the country your fellow diners come from, France, the USA, The UK

 I sat in a restaurant in France, listening to the people at the next table, and looking around the room at other diners.

Flag of France

French Diners & Cutlery

The French were totally at ease, hardly looking at the food or bottles of wine. Locals. Regular diners at that restaurant.

They mop up the gravy with bits torn off their bread rolls.

The French lay their knives and forks diagonally when they finish eating.

I could tell the French by the shapes of their mouths, and they way they shrugged as they talked. Even if you cannot hear the words, the last syllable is emphasized and goes up, along with the shoulders, or a nod.

American Diners and Cutlery

A couple in the distance were not clear. English tourists. No. I could not hear English. Slight American accent? A Frenchman who had learned English with an American accent, talking to an American girlfriend? I was puzzling. Until I noticed the cutlery. They were eating with forks in their right hands, nothing in their left hands. Definitely American.

American travellers are confident. They often talk loudly.

Italians and Hands

The Italians had laid down their cutlery. They were tlaking with both hands. Both hands in the air.

Chinese and Chopsticks

In a Chinese restaurant, we could identify the Chinese. They were eating with chopsticks. Tourists were eating with knives and forks, or struggling with the fork and spoon which managemnt offered, until asked for a knife.

Finally, the British

British Table Etiquette

We put our knives and forks together, parallel, in the six o'clock position. Arms off the table.

Japanese Table Manners

Japanese women cover their mouths when they laugh. They politely hide the teeth, their gold fillings. Their intonation is monotone, all syllables have the same weight.

For example, the town Hi-ro-shi-ma. It sounds like four separate words.

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How they applaud in the UK, Asia and the USA - snippet

In England when you applaud somebody they don't clap themselves. If a VIP is announced, everybody else claps. You can identify the VIP by looking for the person who is not clapping.

You can't do that in Singapore. People clap themselves. Yes, they really do.

To me it looks very odd in Singapore when Asians clap themselves. Surely they can't be so boastful as to applaud themselves.

Englishman, Malcolm, says that Americans applaud in the same fashion as Asians. When an artist such as a singer or actress is invited on stage the audience claps. The singer then turns to the audience and claps, clapping them as a thank you to them for clapping her or him.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Author of
Quick Quotations.
How To Get Out of the mess you're in.
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Beware of British and American Misundertandings Of Words

Backsides
Also watch out for backside, which to Americans means the reverse of a page or back of a house. In the UK back is sufficient. Backside is slang for bottom or bum or buttocks. 'Park your backside here' to a Brit would men sit down. Euphemism or more frequently insulting.


Guys
Another trap is guys, which to Americans means both sexes. In the UK it means only males. If you tell a group of Brits that you want the guys in the gym at 7 pm it is possible that the girls won't turn up.

Pissed Off and Pissed
Pissed off in both languages means angry. Pissed in English is slang for drunk,

See discussions on Facebook Polyglots page.

Useful Websites
google translate
https://www.facebook.com/groups/polygotcommunity/?multi_permalinks=2424564744428950&notif_id=1573005658987014&notif_t=group_highlights
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/11/american-english-and-british-english.html

About The Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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Buying Gifts For Hosts: Flowers, Drinks & Etiquette of Bouquets British, European And Asian Style

European Bouquets
Bouquets in Europe, especially Romania, are carried home upside down with the heads pointing towards the ground.

I find that very unnerving. The first time I saw a man carrying an upside down bouquet, I thought he was a nutter. Then I saw another. I wondered if it was some Dracula festival where you kill flowers. We were near a florist's shop in Bucharest.

We were waiting for a bus. I asked a local couple and a couple of Americans about the flowers. Apparently it is common in several countries.I heard two theories about this. One was that cut flowers have sap which drips out of the stalks.

Asian Flower Sellers
In Vietnam you also see flower sellers with huge bunches of flowers on bicycles.

Singapore Flower Display. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Asian Flower Displays
In Asia flowers are presented to the owners of new shops and restaurants and businesses and displayed on columns outside the front door.

I had a bouquet delivered to Singapore. My family in London, who wanted me to lend them money, had decided to send me a bunch of flowers. First I received a virtual flower. I had no idea this was the herald of a real flower delivery.

The bunch of flowers was very odd.
My bunch of flowers in Singapore came wrapped in a piece of brown sacking with a brown rope string. The flowers looked like teeny heathers, entwined with groups of coloured cotton wool balls in magenta and white.

Beware Of Standing Water
I had no vase, so I cut horizontally in half a plastic drinks bottle. you have to change the water every day without fail. First, water can breed mosquitos. You see signs everywhere. Vases of flowers are banned in cemeteries in Singapore. Saucers under pots also have to be emptied. If you leave a vase for a few days in the UK the water goes green. In Singapore it soon went black and foul-smelling.

I would suggest a potted plant for the balcony. Or a potted orchid which will last.

Buying On A Budget
If you are budget conscious, do not buy from big tourist places such as the Botanic Gardens or Gardens Bu The Bay until you have checked out the local shops. You may prefer the tourist places.  Their flowers are lovely. If price is not object, they have everything you could want, including grow your own herbs, at vast expense. You will pay four times the price you would pay in the local supermarket or market.

I would have preferred a pot of orchids. But shop around. I once bought in Singapore for friends in the UK a tiny orchid in a pipette. It never grew. For half the price I could have bought a full size orchid.














UK Flag.

In the UK you get a set of cut flowers on stalks. Roses.  Daffodils in season. Always even numbers, usually a dozen or half a dozen.

Wrapped in coloured tissue paper in pastel or vivid colours and green plastic twine and/or transparent plastic printed with a pattern of flowers and/or the planting instructions and a coloured plastic imitation ribbon bow.

I later found out I could buy orchids in Tesco supermarket in London for half the price of Orchids in Singapore. The prices in the UK came down still further in the August summer sales and the post Xmas sales.

I thought I had the most unusual bouquet. Then I saw that brides had vegetable bouquets at weddings. If you are vegan, or don't like the idea of cut flowers.

Vegetable bouquet. Photo from Timofey Shalpegin - photo in Wikipedia.

Within the UK you can send flowers from the major supermarkets. You can also pay extra for adding a glass vase, a teddy bear, chocolates, and for free next day delivery for a year.

Useful Websites
https://www.jollyflorist.com/en/send-flowers
https://theflowerfactoryusa.com/
https://www.prestigeflowers.co.uk/
https://www.interflora.co.uk
https://www.marksandspencer.com/l/flowers-and-plants/all-flowers-and-plants
For succulents in pots:
https://www.noahgardencentre.com.sg
https://www.fareastflora.com/
Phone line and leave your message at:
https://www.tohgarden.com/others/mid-autumn-2019-tropical-orchids-and-plants-promotion/

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

Branding And Improving The Image And Reality of Chile and other Countries for Tourists

The BBC ran an article about branding countries to tourists and investors. Yes, Chile's mountains reflected in water look beautiful. But so are the Lake District in the UK, the fjords in Norway, and the mountains in New Zealand.

Unique Selling Point
What's unique about Chile? The mountains reflected in water are lovely. However, the giant cacti are an equal or better unique selling point.

Image Improvement
Reading the BBC news article about branding countries including Chile, my opinion is your image does not improve by making your logo a new colour but by having something special and different to see.

But even that won't work when crime makes the headlines. It's no good having a pretty logo when the news says that somebody just got killed in your capital city and the crime rate is not going down but up. Don't invest your time and money in hushing up the crime. Invest in catching criminals and reassuring tourist that they are being protected.

Priority Spending
Also, not investing and donating overseas but in fixing crime and danger and inconvenience in your own country. We learned when the Americans stopped coming to the UK during a crisis that the tourist industry, the hotels, depend not so much on ten packpackers but as on one elderly couple booking the hotel suite for their holiday of a lifetime.

If your nearest and dearest got mugged in a city you don't go back, however pretty the logo. See Naples and die - supposed to mean it's on your bucket list. Unfortunaely might have another conotation.

Top Tourists
A few high payers make a ten per cent difference to the profit which was the difference between profit and loss. (Admittedly, the middle aged elderly couple in the three, four or five star hotel may be there to watch over their student offspring or boy scout nearby at a hostel or in a tent in a field on a cheap summer trip.)

What Needs Fixing
The UK and USA need to stop sending money overseas and fix their own crime and social deprivation. In the UK we have roads, the NHS, crime and pensions which need fixing before dealing with everybody else's problems. Fix your family first, your country second, the world third.

Brexit Bother
Brexit is proving a huge waste of taxpayers and ministers' time and money. We are importing criminals and imprisoning them with nothing to do but learn new crime methods from each others when they should be trained to perform useful work and sent home to help. We need full employment worldwide so everybody can make their own clothes, and shoes, grow and cook food and build and repair their own houses - to safety standards.

Internet Advantages
The internet is doing a good job spreading health advice and great ideas and we have both children and adults working on inventions and projects such as bringing toilets and wind-up radios to schools and remote villages.


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

My forthcoming website - Luxury travel for less - my experience and yours?

I have started drafting the home pages for my forthcoming website on WordPress which I hope to have running within the next fortnight. Here's a peek at the draft of one of the home pages:

What is my experience and how does it compare with yours?

Travels Overseas
My first holiday overseas was at the age of five. Quite adventurous in the 1950s. My husband started traveling later and then overtook me. He likes to go hiking and trekking, Everest, Kilimanjaro, that sort of thing, wearing out special boots and poles with spikes.

Romania Hiking
I know because I did that last year in Romania. with a group. Anybody can make a mistake once.
He prefers a smart car such as a Rolls Royce of a Jaguar. Failing that, he is happy with a yak.  And a porter carrying the tents. I once rode on a camel to Petra in Jordan. A camel lets you off by bending its front knees so its back becomes diagonal, like a water chute. If you are not expecting it, you shoot forward over its head. I was less scared shooting the rapids in the USA and in New Zealand. Frankly, I would rather sit in the club lounge of a hotel or shop for shoes, thank you very much.

Camel in Jordan
I once rode on a camel to Petra in Jordan. A camel lets you off by bending its front knees so its back becomes diagonal, like a water chute. If you are not expecting it, you shoot forward over its head. I was less scared shooting the rapids in the USA and in New Zealand. Frankly, I would rather sit in the club lounge of a hotel or shop for shoes, thank you very much.

I'll try anything once. I usually try it again, ten years later, and find my memory was right. Things have not improved.

In Romania I didn't have sufficiently waterproof shoes. As a result, I was abandoned on one side of a puddle which had turned into a pond. Left alone for three hours, I watched the puddle (which has a technical name) thinking that there must be something alive in it. Sure enough, there was.

I stayed still and it came out. Then another. A whole army of them!

 I amused myself watching and videoing them - they were either toads or frogs. A day later, with renewed interest, I read the information boards about wildlife. They were yellow-bellied frogs.

Everest
I was horrified to learn that most of those out in the wild trips to placeEverest Everst, with all the porters and permits, and special clothes, can cost more than staying in a five-star hotel.

My husband regards hiking like this as easy. He prefers something more challenging like Everest. He goes off with a yak and a personal porter carrying the tents and a birthday cake on the top of the mountain.

I would rather sit in the club lounge of a hotel, enjoying the free drinks, or shop for shoes in the hotel sale.

Up and Down
So I frequently veer from the expensive to the cheap and cheerful, from Singapore Airlines to Ryanair, from feast to famine. Since I and my husband are both freelance, our income goes up and down.

I understand the desire to try something new, whether its truffles or pink champagne, but everybody likes a bargain.

Comedy
Yes, I am still married, which surprises most people. I went on a stand-up comedy course. My opening line was: "My husband and I have separate bedrooms. Mine is in London. His is in Singapore." I am reminded of a badge (Americans call it button) which I saw in San Francisco. It said: If you're rich, I'm single.

Morocco Honeymoon
When we got married, we honeymooned in Marrakesh, in the Mamounia hotel where Winston Churchill stayed. We were given twin beds!

I became obsessed about double beds, and four-poster beds and honeymoon suites.  Everywhere hotel I went into, I asked to see the honeymoon suite. I wrote for Brides magazine.

Camping
Quite a contrast to the camping sites in the UK and Europe which I wrote about for Good Motoring and Camping and Caravanning magazines. I also wrote about Butlins for a mother and baby magazine. Whilst I was earnestly and happily chatting up a woman whose daughter had lost her front tooth, and a man in tattoos, my husband declined to join in the sing-songs.  He stayed upstairs lying on the bed reading motoring magazines.

Polite Praise
I used to have a goal of visiting a new country every year. Now my goal is to learn a new language every year. My aim is to tell you the truth, but politely, as they say, to damn with faint praise. I would never want to hurt the feeling of the majority of people working in restaurants and hotels who sometimes appear completely incompetent but are doing their best, like so many writers having achieved success in one area, start again at novices in another, earnestly trying to do something new for the first time, like me and you.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer, author and speaker. My books are on Amazon.com and lulu.com Please share links to your favourite posts.

Marketing Umbria To Tourists and Students Despite The Earthquakes, Knocks and Knox

I suppose that everybody in Italy has heard of Perugia but the British and American tourist asked to name the places they most want to see in Italy probably would first name Rome, Venice and Florence. I have been to Italy many times. My parents drove to Italy when I was a teenager. We visited Venice. We flew our own car over (unheard of nowadays) and drove down the Amalfi drive to Positano. For about fifty years, from the nineteen fifties to the year 2005, a painting of Positano was on the walls of my late parents' kitchen.

As a teenager I went on a group holiday to Lake Garda. We stopped at Sicily on a cruise. We went to Italian operas in London. My parents learned to speak Italian. We had an Italian au pair girl and after she left us and went back home we visited her family's home in Bologna.

We loved Italy. Italy had brought ice cream to England. Before the arrival of Chinese and Indian restaurants, eating out was to Italian restaurants, favourite foods being spaghetti Bolognese, cannelloni, ravioli and pizza. First we had espresso coffee. Now cappuccino, latte, Americano (so called because it's the way Americans like their espresso, with added hot water to make a long drink) and all over England, Costa Coffee shops.

When I was writing about honeymoons for Brides magazine and other magazines and newspapers a tourist board took me to Viareggio to sit on the beach. Then this year I was invited on a trip to Umbria. Perugia region.

Perugia Student City
By now, in the year 2016, I had heard of Perugia. Everybody in England and America had heard of Perugia. It was in the news, double page spread in the Sunday newspaper, not as a tourist destination, from the point of view of those making a living from tourism, or proud of their city, and their reputation for hospitality, for the wrong reasons. A British student, an American student, an Italian student, and the tragic murder of the the British student.

My first thought about Perugia and students of the Italian language was, why did they study in Perugia rather than nearby Florence? Was it just because of the lower cost?

Perugia Language Schools & Foreign Students
Perugia is a magnet for foreign language students. It has a Foreigners University college.

Whilst there I met a student who had graduated posing for photos on the steps of one of the grand buildings. She was from Poland. She was wearing a wreath, like the Romans did.

I can see that people in Europe might know about Perugia. But what are the Asian students doing here? The Chinese are invited over by the music schools to study music. First they must complete a crash course in Italian.

How did the English speaking students from UK and America learn about Perugia. What did they know about the history of the historic city of Perugia?

Etruscans
I looked up Perugia. The walls of the city are Etruscan. I'd heard the word Etruscan. But history and history books have not been helpful and kind to the Etruscans. The Romans gave us Latin used in churches, Christianity, and we can learn Italian. Etruscan is a language nobody speaks. What's left of the Etruscans and where?

I don't even know what the Etruscans look like. I asked my friends from the tourist board. To my astonishment one of them says, "I am Etruscan!" She is tall and has long black hair, brown eyes and slightly dark skin. I would have thought of her as glamorous Italian.

We drove around the valleys surrounded by green hills and tall poplar trees like dark green pencils. Perugia is left to the last day. Perugia is nearby, only the next hilltop, always in sight, but far away. Perugia from afar, like the other Umbrian cities, is like those backdrop hilltop cities in medieval paintings.

Enjoying the enchanting scenery, I have almost forgotten about my other worry, earthquakes. We are less than fifty miles from a place which has had not one but two earthquakes. And they want to rebuild in the same place!

Earthquake
The place with the earthquakes, it's name begins with N, Norcia, is the other side of the mountain, apparently through a tunnel which was initially blocked by rockfall, hampering rescue efforts. Oddly, hearing about the tunnel, I feel safer, knowing, or imagining, that a mountain or hillside is both a visual and protective barrier between me and a rock fall.

San Francisco Safety
I imagine that Americans will be more immune to fear of earthquakes. San Francisco was rebuilt twice after earthquakes. Building regulations get tougher and buildings get safer and better constructed. I went there after the more recent earthquake and was shown by a San Francisco hotel manager how tall skyscraper swayed in the wind and the rooftop chairs were fastened to protect them from getting damaged, damaging the building, or falling on cars and people below.

Mr Fixit, Marco
At the Caprai Winery I met Marco, the ebullient head of the winery, who greeted us literally with open arms. He was late to meet us because he had been out all day, driving to Rome, all day there to discuss the redevelopment of the earthquake area, then driving back to meet and greet us.

He told me that the meeting took so long because everybody had to contribute their say, the politicians, The country, area, town, the religious order, the architects, health and safety, tourism. I wondered, what about the aid agencies, volunteers, accountants, donors, sponsors, fund-raisers? Money?

Reassuring, he told me, that if agreement on action could be reached, money was not a problem.

My first thought was how were people living? We'd heard they were relocated and scattered about the region in hotels. That is demoralising, temporary, not a home, cuts you off from family and friends, costs a lot of money, blocks beds for visitors in high season.

Marco said that people were housed in Portacabins. The main concern was not accommodation, but the huge logistics (and how to spend the money) rebuilding the historic cathedral dedicated to St Benedict. The most demoralising things was not fear of another quake nor lack of rebuilt homes but that building, the centre of the community, it's tradition, its importance locally and nationally, its symbolism, its supplying the residents with a reason to be proud and to invite travellers and tourists to the area.

Frankly, I was puzzled. I was far more familiar with St Francis of Assisi than St Benedict. What was so special about him? St Benedict and St Francis of Assisi are complete contrasts.

St Benedict
It was St Benedict who founded the idea of organising and increasing monasteries worldwide, gathered together scattered hermits, who had prayed and ate alone, begged food or gave alms to others. He wrote the book of rules still in use which governed the communities with rules, rule books, books, ornaments, chapels, frescoes, dress codes, hours of prayers and either chants or silence. Subsistence and employment for all types from the intellect to the cook to the gardner to the orphan, the sick, the beggar, the landless, the traveller. The monastery was the school, the library, the hospital, the hotel, the orphanage, the employer. All those monasteries you see, the huge buildings worldwide, that's the result of St Benedict. Other subsidiary or rival orders were set up copying his system.

The Benedictine monks are named after St Benedict. How did he get his name? Bene in Benedictine is good as in the word beneficial, doing good and bringing good. Dict in the word Benedict is speaking, as in dictation.

By contrast, St Francis of Assisi, seemed to like nature and animals and birds. He lived more simply. He was more of a loner, went out into the fields, and reputedly was seen talking to the birds. Yet people, like birds, flocked after him.

Safe Hands
When I looked at beaming Marco, enthusing about St Benedict, with his arms outstretched, I felt, we are in a safe pair of hands. I remembered the song, He's Got The Whole World In His Hands. You have only to look around what has been done in the Umbrian area by the wineries and the families which own them. Winery and cashmere factory. Winery and wine museum and oil museum. Truffle hunting and restaurants and hotels and bars.

So much to do, to taste, try, learn. After a few blips, setbacks, the tourists and students will be coming back to Perugia and Umbria in increasing numbers.

I shall explain more about each area in later posts. Please come back and read more.
Why do graduating students in Umbria wear wreaths on their heads? This is done all over Italy as well as in Sweden, Finland and parts of America.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_wreath

More information on Umbria in Italy from:
www.umbriatourism.it

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Like my posts and follow me on blogger and Facebook, linkedIn, Youtube. Read about me and my books and buy them from Lulu.com and Amazon.
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com.

Travelling with children - tales and tips

Most flights, at least the long haul ones, have a kiddie pack. It contains paper and pictures and a pencil or crayons or coloured pencils (depending on age), sometimes a badge or record book or information about planes.

I've also seen airline staff kneel down and distract babies and toddlers.

I confess I once fell asleep on a long haul flight accompanied by a son aged under ten. When I woke he had vanished!

I paced up and down searching for him. Eventually I heard his voice.

I was embarrassed to find he was sitting talking to a couple of Americans who could not escape. I was surprised but not surprised. In the airport lounge he had mesmerised a lady. I asked him what he had said. He had counted from one to one hundred in French whilst she listened amazed, to hear if he said it all correctly. It turned out that she was a teacher of French.

Now, on the plane, I found a couple of Americans were sitting entranced by his English accent, as he talked non-stop. They claimed he had entertained them for hours. The lady politely said something like, 'Gee, we're sorry to see him go. Ya'll have a great time.'

A very useful guide for parents and travellers from Cheapflights is here:

TAKE THE STRESS OF OUT FAMILY FLYING THIS OCTOBER HALF TERM
Cheapflights’ guide to avoiding mid-air toddler tantrums or teenage turbulence
With the October half-term holiday looming, global flight search and deals publishing website Cheapflights is sharing its top tips for stress-free family flying.

Research1 by Cheapflights shows just how fearful some parents are at the thought of flying with little ones, with a third (36%) saying it’s more daunting than a visit to the dentist, doctor or taking their children to have their injections. One in 10 say they’d much rather be stuck in a traffic jam, while 14% claim they’re more worried about flying with kids than doing the weekly food shop with toddlers in tow.

Parents who worry about the attitude of fellow flyers are rightly concerned, as 42% of travellers cite ‘crying babies and fidgety children’ as the least enjoyable part of a flight.

To make the whole experience less stressful for all concerned, Cheapflights is offering some guidance on how to make the flight fly by. Cheapflights’ travel expert and father of two Phil Bloomfield said: “Family time should be fun time, yet for many parents the thought of flying with their kids fills them with dread. A little planning and our top tips should help parents to travel trouble-free with their kids, whether they be tots or teens.”

For the youngest of fliers, avoid disappointment by checking with the airline about their minimum age policy as they differ between carriers. British Airways, for example, will accept a baby aged just 48 hours, if born without complications and once its parents have sought medical advice.

Infants must be seated on an adult’s lap. Yet there is a huge discrepancy between how much parents have to pay, with many of the UK carriers being put to shame by international airlines. For example, Air Canada and Air France do not charge for children sitting on an adult’s lap on their domestic routes, and Air New Zealand, American Airlines, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Qantas, South African Airways and United Airlines all allow infants (regarded as a child aged under two years) to travel for free. By comparison, British Airways charges 10% of the accompanying adult fee; easyJet charges £22 whilst Ryanair charges £20, both one-way; Flybe charges 12% of the adult fare.

For older children needing their own seats, Cheapflights recommends checking out Delta or Swiss, which are much more cost-effective for families with Delta charging 50% and Swiss 65% of the adult fare.

Once the flights are booked, Cheapflights’ top-ten tips should help dissipate the dread:
The car seat-travel bag combo (available online from various retailers) is a life-saver for parents, which can be pushed or carried through Departures then transformed back into a car seat on arrival.
​Parents of babies should consider flying with British Airways, which offers a bassinet - either a cot for tiny ones or a seat with harness for older babies - ensuring a much more comfortable flight for little ones. British Airways also allows parents of infants to take an additional bag into the cabin and as much food as their baby may need.
Don’t count on in-flight entertainment as the only distraction for older kids: regardless of how engaging it promises to be, it can break down! Have a back up plan. And tempting though it might be, hold off on the use of electronics until towards the end of the flight – perhaps as a reward for good behaviour - otherwise they won’t want to do anything else.
Pack earphones that fit: airlines’ free handouts rarely fit smaller heads or ears.
On that note: ensure magazines, colouring or storybooks are new to beat boredom: on long haul flights, try to something new for each hour in the air.
Pack sealable wet bags in hand luggage, which are great for soiled or wet clothes, keeping on-board snacks or treats (bribes!) fresh and for storing rubbish.
Avoid any food that can be smeared by sticky fingers – dry crumbs are less fuss to wipe up than wiping down a sticky small person. Adopt a ‘little and often’ approach to snacks or treats.
Stick to water: juices or fizzy drinks when spilled get sticky… (and have higher sugar content).
Flying can be a formidable milestone for little ones, so take the time to explain the process of travelling through the airport and what is expected of them. For example, going through security or the importance of the ‘seat belt on’ sign. Every aspect can become part of the fun of the trip if they are engaged and cooperative.
Layers of loose-fitting clothing (to avoid in-flight fiddling with bothersome buttons) that can be easily added or removed are ideal for aircraft with overly-efficient air-cooling.

Families seeking the best value flights this half-term still have the chance to find great value flights to their favourite holiday hot spots. Cheapflights suggests the following destinations that are proving most popular:
Alicante, Spain: Enjoy a sunshine break in Alicante on the Costa Blanca. Return flights start from £434 per family of four (£115 per adult and £102 per child) based on flights departing London Gatwick with Iberia and returning from with AirEuropa via Cheapflights.co.uk. Dates: 24 – 31 October 2016.
New York, USA: Get that Empire State of Mind with a family break to the Big Apple. Return flights to JFK start from £1,704 per family of four (£551 per adult and £301 per child) based on flights departing London Heathrow with Air Canada via Cheapflights.co.uk. Dates: 24 – 28 October 2016.
Milan, Italy: Jet off on a city break to Italy’s fashion capital. Return flights to Milan Malpensa start from £354 per family of four (£95 per adult and £82 per child) based on flights departing London Luton with easyJet via Cheapflights.co.uk. Dates: 24 – 28 October 2016.
Paris, France: Say bonjour to the Eiffel Tower and practice that schoolroom French. Return flights to Paris Charles de Gaulle start from £198 per family of four (£56 per adult and £43 per child) based on flights departing London Luton with easyJet via Cheapflights.co.uk. Dates: 24 – 27 October 2016.
Algarve, Portugal: Escape to the beautiful beaches of the Algarve for a week of sun with the family. Return flights to Faro start from £690 per family of four (£179 per adult and £166 per child) based on flights departing London Gatwick with easyJet and returning with Ryanair via Cheapflights.co.uk. Dates: 24 – 31 October 2016.
-ENDS-

I love the idea of rehearsing what will happen at the airport and on the plane. Asking an older child how they want to spend the flight and negotiating is a good idea.

I thought of sending you just the tips for parents then decided to send everything. Hope you found it useful.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Why does my blog have so many Russian fans rushing to read me?

I now have more readers in Russian than readers from elsewhere. It's not a gradual jump, but a sudden jump.

American Admirers
I used to have more American readers than British reasons. At first I was puzzled. I asked a statistician in my family. He said that American has a larger population, and a larger number of English speaking readers using the internet. The Americans astonish the sensitive British by gleefully making references to the Boston tea party. I never learned about this at school in England. I learned it when I went to America.

That is the joy of travel, and nowadays we can travel anywhere, see the sights and learn the history, just be using the internet. You may recall (or research) that the Boston Tea Party was when the Americans' ancestors threw tea overboard in protest against tax on tea levied by the British government of those days. This event sparked off the American Declaration of Independence).

Many Americans' ancestors arrived in America after those days. Many British visitors to the USA also have ancestors who arrived in Britain after the days of the Boston tea party. So this game of my ancestors are better than your ancestors soon gets dropped as a mere joke, The Americans are actually very keen on all thing British.  When they take a trip to Europe, at least they can speak English in England.

As a result I tried putting in more references to when I lived in the USA in Rockville, Maryland, and places I had visited. I thought that would attract even more Americans, give them what they wanted.

Sparse Singaporean Readers
However, when I wrote about Singapore I did not attract many more readers in Singapore. However I got more readers from Russian and China, presumably planning to visit Singapore.

German Readers and Travellers
However, the next strange thing is that until last month, the third greatest number of readers came not from another English speaking country such as Australia or New Zealand or South Africa, but from Germany. Is that because the greater number of tourists to London are from Germany, or English speaking Americans on bases in Germany, planning to spend weekends in London.

Russians Rushing in
Suddenly I get a spike in Russians. I recall writing a blog post about buying Russian/English letters on my laptop keyboard.

Mostly I write about places I have been to, places I plan to visit, language learning and other travel related topics.

I would be delighted to hear why Russian readers are rushing to read my blog. Please write if there is any topic you would like me to cover.


Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
See more about me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube (type in author or poet after my name or tok for my photo). My books are on Amazon and Lulu.com

Garam masala means what? Hot and spicy, hot, why hot?

I see it so often on 'Indian' restaurant menus in UK and Singapore run by people from the 'Indian' continent (often Pakistani or Bangladeshi owned) restaurants in London. I have it in the spice rack. On the menu from a Eurasian restaurant in Singapore I came across the single word m a s a l a (not nasal -predictive text tried to insert that).

What does a Google search reveal? First, Wikipedia.

Garam masala (Hindi: गरम मसाला, Urdu: گرم مصالحہ‎ garam ("hot") and masala (a mixture of spices)) is a blend of ground spices common in North India, South India, Pakistan, and other South Asian cuisines.^[1] It is used alone or with other seasonings. The word garam refers to "heat" in the Ayurvedic sense of the word, meaning "to heat the body" as these spices, in the Ayurvedic system of medicine, elevate body temperature.

Cooling Cucumber
I used to be puzzled and sceptical about the idea that certain foods heat you. I thought it was metaphorical. But now I think it is practical.

I have noticed that I often feel cold when tired and hungry. After eating I feel warm.

 Obviously an iced drink is cooling. Cucumber is liquid and refreshing and used as lubrication in Victorian style sandwiches in summer to counter the gluey effect of white bread.

Back to masala. Hot spice. Hot in the sense of spicy, hot in the sense of raising your temperature.

Why is Indian food hot and spicy? Why drink hot tea in hot countries?

Admittedly, in Spain they tend to serve soups and drinks tepid. What about warm beer? Iced drinks? In Singapore people often ask for tepid water. (I hate hot drinks made with boiling water which burns me. I add cold milk to coffee. It adds calcium the chance of burning your mouth is reduced.

The English tourists to Spain like their food to have been heated to a high enough temperature to kill the bugs. That is what we are used to at home and what we are expect. Tepid food suggests to us that it has not been sufficiently heated to kill germs, that it has been heated but left lying around, exposed to flies, while we, the customers have been kept waiting, ignored by so-called waiters, that neither the cook nor the serving staff have any concern for the freshness of the food, or the physical and mental health of the customers.

When the British and Americans visit Singapore, Indian and and other Asian countries, it takes some adjusting to understand the varieties of temperatures of food offered.

One member of my family refuses ice in Coca Cola because it waters down the flavour and enables the staff to pass off a small glass as a large one.

I would reject ice on the grounds that ice in India and Thailand and Singapore has been found to be contaminated in the past. On one occasion the bride and wedding party were all sick after drinking drinks made with ice from a supplier who had re-used ice previously used to cool raw fish.

So, up to you, hot or not? At least you now know that garam means hot.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, researcher, author, speech writer, speech trainer, speaker.

Chocolate gifts for yourself and your hosts

Chocolates are usually an acceptable gift.

The everyday chocolate favourites from UK supermarkets are the home-grown companies of Burnsville and Cadbury. Americans generally prefer their brands such as Hersheys.

However, for a special or novelty gift you might look for something which seems more expensive or unusual.

In the UK a favourite local brand is Thorntons who also make chocolate cakes. Green and Black's was bought up but is still highly regarded as a speciality chocolate in all kinds of flavours, with the bars of flavours such as fruity ones such as orange also appearing in boxes of tiny assorted flavour bars.

In UK shops you can buy European brands such from Belgium, also Swiss brands such as Lindt. If you want an upmarket own brand from a supermarket in the UK, Marks & Spencers often has seasonal specials or Belgian chocolates.


For a quick, inexpensive gift, look in Poundland. You can afford to buy two or three small boxes just in case.

I sometimes put them in hand luggage for any trip. I can be sure that even if our luggage went astray we would have gifts for a hostess or host and any unexpected invitation to lunch or dinner.

If our plane were delayed on the runway for hours, at least I would have some sustenance.

Americans will often take a small gift to an invitation to lunch at a restaurant or club, especially good idea if you are not sure you will be able to reciprocate.

An Australian brand is Chocolatier.

Happy munching and giving.

Passover - what's the connection with Easter?

Passover -
Festival time celebrating the Angel of Death passing over the houses of the Hebrew slave class who were building the pyramids (according to the Bible or Old Testament, which many will know from MGM movies). The Hebrews were spared from the deaths which struck the firstborn sons of the homes of the Egyptian overlords.

Discovery Channel called in forensics experts and concluded that deaths were from contaminated cereals. The result was that rulers introduced using up old crops before the new harvest, hence Spring Cleaning, giving up foods for Lent, and cleaning the house for Passover, banning bread with raising agents, eating only dry crackers called matzoh, even using a special new set or crockery if you are religious during the festival of passover.

Seder Night
Jews celebrate a Seder night. Seder means order. The tradition is to celebrate every holiday for two days so that despite world time differences, wherever you are, your celebration or observance coincides with Jerusalem and Israel.

So in many families one woman will hold the first night at her house. The second night is held at another, her younger sister or sister-in-law's house. The leftovers, or a second portion, will be taken from the first house to the second. It's a bit like some families in the UK where one family makes Christmas day lunch, and the next day they go to a friend or relative for Boxing Day.

For a Seder night you need to have bought or made the festival foods which are eaten in order. You use a book which tells the story of the Passover. (Americans might like to think of it as a forerunner of Thanksgiving). Jewish bookshops and online bookshops and gift shops sell plates and paper napkins.

The festival meal involves fun and games for children, who are given portions to read, are sent playing hunt the matzoh, and the ceremony ends with joyful singing of traditional songs.
The last words are 'Next year in Jerusalem'.

Just like Christmas Dinner, people who might be alone and not celebrating will be invited to a festive meal by the better off or bigger families. If you are travelling, you get a letter of introduction sent in advance if you are hoping to be invited to a Seder. For example, one year I went to Israel and was invited to a Seder night at the home of a relative of a friend.

Nowadays some Liberal synagogues organise a communal Seder. If you are not religious, or are a young mother in a mixed faith marriage, or have a small family, it is easier for mother and more fun to be in a large group where older people organise the food and a Rabbi leads you through the Haggadah which is the book. In the USA and Israel and probably other places you can go to a hotel. They will print their own Haggadah for that year, often in both Hebrew and English, with the name of the hotel or synagogue on the back.

The foods
Matzoh! Unleavened bread. Various stories account for this. The tradition is that the Hebrew Slaves were allowed to leave by Pharaoh. (Remember the song, 'Let my people go'.) But they left in such a hurry there was no time to let the bread rise, so they carried with them the dry flat crackers.

Finally, it is said that the "Last Supper" depicted in the famous paining of Jesus and his disciples, is a Seder meal. So if you go to a Seder, you are attending the most recent version of a festival going back    hundreds of years.

Nowadays a Seder night in most of the English speaking world is a family occasion, like Christmas Day lunch, celebrated with women and children, unlike the men only Last Supper depicted in the painting centuries later.

If you are not religious but you are invited to partake in a Seder night, what can you expect. This is getting long so see my next post.

Travel At Passover and Easter
From a traveller's point of view, the downside is that flights will be full and hotels will be booked. The plus side is that you can enjoy booking a Seder night and seeing families and friends.

Angela Lansbury BA Hons, author, writes about travel, food and drink. See more of her and about her on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon.co.uk books and Lulu.com

Richard III, Roundworms And Your Diet

A newspaper article on Richard III says he had roundworm, which you can get from meat which has not been properly cooked and from using faecal matter as fertiliser. The article also says that roundworm is prevalent in tropical countries.
   This reminds me that meat should be thoroughly cooked, both at home and in restaurants. I always ask for medium, never rare.
   The debate about salads is also raised in tropical countries. When I first went to Singapore I listened to the Americans saying they would only eat salads from Australia or the USA because they did not want the risk of food fertilised by faecal matter. (They put it less politely.)
   People who lived in the tropics liked what they were used to eating and buying, at cheaper prices, and were against food which they though had added chemicals.
     Health and safety ideas can back up your existing preferences after the event. Or cause you to take or change your view.
  Two more views on what people prefer to eat: Some people think that insect life is a sign that a vegetable is good to eat and not treated with chemicals.
   But I have liked pre-washed salad since I read about how it is spun around flinging off anything which should not be there. I have never been a fan of worms in my food. I can't stop worms eating people after they are dead and buried. But I'm with all those people keen to stop worms eating me and my food. I don't want worms eating my food, whether apples, fruit or vegetables, before I eat the food. Nor do I want worms grabbing the nutrients from my food after the food reaches my intestines.