Learn The Arabic Alphabet | For Kids | الحروف العربية

Visuals and repetition here help you to recognize and memorize the alphabet. You may notice that a few words are similar to Aramaic, Hebrew and Indonesian. The language teacher's greeting. Salaam peace, has the same three letters, consonants, S/SH L M, as salaam (Arabic) shalom (Hebrew) and selamat (Indonesian). 

Malyaisna and Indonesian are very similar, with a few vocabulary changes, like American and British English, so the Malaysian for good morning is selamat pagi, literally peace morning. Just as the Hebrew shalom means hello and goodbye, selamat in Indonesia and Malaysia will be understood to mean hello or goodbye.

Arabic, Hebrew, Cyrillic

If you learn a few Arabic letters you are part way to learning Hebrew letters. The priest Cyril combined the Greek and Hebrew letters used to write the old and new Testaments for the Christians to create the Russian and Bulgarian alphabet named after him, Cyrillic. so Arabic is like a hand with fingers pointing you to understanding, recognizing and learning other languages.

Please share links to your favourite posts.

A few words

THE SAME!

bank - bank

mall - mall

supermarket - supermarket

Arabic - English

ana - I

English - Arabic

I - ana

How the Hebrew Alphabet is related to English, Cyrillic, Aramaic, Arabic, Ladino, and Yiddish

Arabic and Hebrew

Hebrew and Arabic are both official languages of Israel. You can speak Arabic in many more countries. Why learn Hebrew?

Wy Hebrew?

Why learn to read or write Hebrew or study Hebrew? To read the bible in the original language - not only one of many translations - some of which are wrong or disputed. 

The original Hebrew words may have other meanings, or ambiguous meanings, or be metaphors, or have numerical meaning, of interest to people who are scholars or superstitious.

You might want  Arabic and Hebrew are both national languages of Israel which has Hebrew speaking and Arabic speaking populations. Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is still spoken by small groups in Israel and Syria. You can read Arabic and Hebrew on on kosher and halal food in supermarkets and online. 

Here is the Hebrew written left to write.

Alef	Bet	Gimel	Dalet	He	Waw/Vav	Zayin	Chet	Tet	Yod	Kaf
א‎	ב‎	ג‎	ד‎	ה‎	ו‎	ז‎	ח‎	ט‎	י‎	כ‎
										ך‎
Lamed	Mem	Nun	Samech	Ayin	Pe	Tsadi	Qof	Resh	Shin	Tav
ל‎	מ‎	נ‎	ס‎	ע‎	פ‎	צ‎	ק‎	ר‎	ש‎	ת‎
	ם‎	ן‎			ף‎	ץ‎

Vowels

The aleph is silent and used as a hanger for the vowels written underneath as dots or a short dash like a hyphen.

Final Letters

Hebrew has final letters, like Arabic and Greek.

If you show the Hebrew alphabset written downwards, that avoid the problem of confusing or misleading the reader or learner.

Arabic and Hebrew - Differences

Arabic is cursive (joined up writing). Hebrew is written in block letters (seaparate letters). 

The Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea scrolls, now in a museum in Jerusalem, are not one document from one era, as I thought, but many scrolls from different eras, in several languages, including Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek. The first scrolls were found by Bedouins, not in one cave, but a series of caves, eventually archaelogists found about 40 caves hollowed out by humans.

Hebrew and English

If you use the English alphabet, you already know the word derived Alphabet. The word alphabet is derived from the first two leters of the Hebrew alphabet. Aleph. Bet.

Hebrew and Bamitzvahs

A 13 year old boy marks his coming of age at his 13th birthday by reading the day's passage from the Hebrew bible which is still written by hand on a scroll. (Therefore extremely expensive to make.)

Hebrew and Yiddish

Hebrew is used to write Yiddish (which is derived from spoken German),

 Hebrew and Ladino

and Ladino (which is derived from spoken Spanish).

Hebrew and Arabic

A few Hebrew and Arabic words are similar. For example, the words for peace, Hebrew Shalom and Arabic Salaam.

However, another greeting in Arabic is marhaba.

The words for two numbers are similar. 

the word for God is sinilar. In Hebrew it is pronounced El, in Arabic Allah.

Hebrew and Arabic are the national languages of Israel.

Some of the Hebrew letters are similar to the derived Greek and Russian letters.  

Hebrew and Arabic are both written from right to left. Books written in Hebrew and Arabic open from  right to left. If you go to a Jewish wedding or festive meal you might be given a prayer book or song book opening from right to left.

Aramaic

Jesus probably spoke Aramaic to other people in the stree, assuming he was a real person, not a fictitious person, and one person, not two or more people from different times, or a  series of people, or a conglomorate character describing several people, such as the holder of an office, such as a teacher or rabbi or high priest, most likely spoke aramaic, but lived in the time attributed to him, born around the first year A.D. 

He would have spoken and/or read Hebrew in the temple. Just as Italians would speak Italian to each other but classical Latin in church.

the Jewish kaddish (praise of God) is said in Aramaic as part of synagogue services, as well as a mourner's kaddish, recited after a death, to show that despite death one still believes in and praises God.

Marriage Contracts

In modern times a Jewish marriage contract given to the bride is often in Arabic, but may be multilingual. It is written in Aramaic, sometimes also in Hebrew and English. The basic contract from a synagogue might have only the synagogue symbol or logo. However, it is common for the couple to order an ornate marriage contract with a decorated border or flowers or others symbols in colours and gold for display in a frame in the home.these are sold on the internet at various prices. You get what you pay for, as the saying goes. They vary from the simplest and smallest to the largest and most elaborate.

Arabic Alphabet

Wiki reminds us> 'The Arabic alphabet is an abjad that is used to write several languages of the Middle East such as Arabic, Persian, Pashto and Urdu.

Checking Languages

I checked Wikipedia because it gives references to different sources. Wiipedia articles on these languages are long and complicated. If you just want a quick overview or a picture of an alphabet, Simple Wikipedia is useful. it does, however, write the Hebrew alphabet left to write, which is absurd. I have never seen this before.  I have several books for adults and children on learning Hebrew and they have the alphabet written the way a teacher of Hebrew would show the alphabet, written from right to left.

Useful Websites

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

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_language

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language#/media/File:Israel_in_Hebrew.svg

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

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

Please save links to your favourite posts.

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

On Amazon.

Ten Commandments Yemenite Aramaic, Arabic and Hebrew Version (עברית ערבית ארמית)

The Ten Commandments chanted in Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic, from a Yemenite. 

I found this in the Polyglot page on Facebook.

Aramaic was the everyday language which Jesus would have spoken and heard in the street. You can still hear Aramaic in parts of the Middle East. And Orthodox Jewish homes have the ketubah, the marriage contract, in a frame in the house, written in Aramaic, sometimes also in Hebrew or, in Reform communities, in English or the local language.

Useful Websites

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

https://www.facebook.com/groups/polygotcommunity/

Facebook Polyglot Group

About the Author Angela Lansbury

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time 

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

Books by Angela Lansbury
How to be the best man. (Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Wedding Speeches and Toasts.(Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Unforgettable British Weekends.
Poetry Workshop Workbook.
The Tailor and the Spy. (Lulu.)
Larry The Talking Labrador. (Lulu.)
Writing Poetry for fun.

Quick Quotations

Who Said What When

 

How To Prepare For Weddings and Jewish Weddings

A few more thoughts on weddings, and Jewish weddings.
Apart from the usual drsses of the bride and mother of the bride and groom, and the flowers at the venue, and the wedding canopy, one item to admire is the bride's ketubah or marriage document.

The writing looks like Hebrew. It is written not in Hebrew but in Aramaic, which was the language of the poeple at the time of Jesus, pre-dating modern Hebrew and modern Arabic.

Ketubah from Yale University, USA. I found this picture in Wikipedia under Jewish weddings. The photo is in the public domain.

WEDDING LIST?

Will you have a wedding list or provide your joint bank account details?

VIDEO

Will you have a video and record the speeches and a few words from both sets of parents? 

MUSICAL RECORD

Will you video a moment or two of singing or music playing by any talented family members? (Years later it might be your only video of them playing.)

GRACE

Do we need to know how to sing grace before and after meals with the rabbi. Which tune?

TABOOS AND OBLIGATIONS?

Any Orthodox or other rules we should know about? Groom's family sit on left? Women sit separately, upstairs, behind barrier? Such as not shaking hands with the rabbi? Not eating before grace said by rabbi. Nor interrupting the bride reading her prayers before the ceremony?

Signing by a rabbi.
Photo by Meshulam in Wikipedia under Jewish Weddings.

Signing
Signing as witness with our Hebrew names? Not signing as witness because we are closely related?

Women and Dancing
Not dancing before the couple start the dance? Women not entering area reserved for men?

Timing
Give all guests directions from the wedding ceremony to the reception. You might find that a car leaves and a person gets left behind because they went to the toilet or could not find the designated car in the car park or could not find the person with the directions or did not hear the announcement of the venue.

If you have the reception at the same venue, five minutes is not enough time to allow people to proceed from the wedding ceremony to dinner.

Firstly, the ceremony could run late. Secondly people disappear to the toilet or stop to chat, stop to read noticeboards, make phone calls - even go out to the street to smoke a cigarette, get lost, one hundered people wait in line to read the seating plan and cross the room looking for their table, stopping to chat on the way.

Thirdly, a queue (Americans say line-up) to allow the Toastmasters to get announcement of each guest enterting the room and/or shaking hands with the bride and groom. Some will only stop half a minute to whispering congratulations. But a few will hand over envelopes or ask where to leave a gift, explain how they are related, add other queries, say why their spouse cannot atend or will be late, and tell their life story.

STANDING AND SEATING

Where do I stand or sit in the ceremony? Do the mothers of the couple escort the bride in? Is there a ceremony rehearsal or floor plan?  Do I have to say or read anything in Hebrew at any time? If so bring it to me so I can practise it.

Tips
Location and parking
We looked up the synagogue on google to see if we could work out the route and whether parking was available. That reminded us to ask about parking. On the internet I've seen wedding cars as well as funeral cars getting parking tickets, so it's as well to know the situation in advance and plan getting permission to park.

For security reasons access to the website is restricted and you have to log in with an email and password.

Angela Lansbury
Author and travel writer.

How do you say hello and goodbye in English?

You would think it would be simple. Hello and goodbye. But what people actually say is much more varied.

Greeting
Hi. (Informal. To friends. Smiling strangers. Not your new boss wearing a business suit. Not unless he is wearing shorts.)
Hello.
Good morning.
Good afternoon.
Good evening. (FFormal greeting from a waiter or restaurant owner as you walk in or sit down.)
Pleased to meet you. (Americanism which has crept into the English language.)

Farewell Phrases
Goodbye.
Bye-bye
Good night (After ten pm, after dark, when people are leaving an event to go home.)
So long.
See you /
Cheerio
Ciaou (Italian)
Adios (Spanish)
Hope to see you again / see you soon.
Have a lovely day.

Very informal (slang), rarer, old-fashioned
Ta-ra (more common in northern England)
Toodle-oo
tootle-pip
tooraloo (Irish)

In Singapore I have been asked the difference between good evening and good night. You would use the word evening earlier and at the start of an event. You would use good night later at the end of an event. You usually go out for the evening and sleep at night.

How about other languages?
Shalom. Hebrew - meaning peace, works for hello and goodbye. I think Arabic Salaam, is the same and both derive from Aramaic which would have been spoken by Jesus. In English Goodbye was originally God be with you.

Useful Websites
dictionary.com
phrasefinder.com
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/toodle-oo.html

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/toodle-oo
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toodle-oo
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/toodle-oo
https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/toodle-oo

About The Author
Angela Lansbury, the author (mainly practical books, not to be confused with the actress, the other writer of fiction, nor 12 other people on LindedIn) travel writer and photographer, blogger, public speaker, tutor for A and A level English to over 18s, trainer and workshop leader in English and business English for colleges and businesses and companies. Member of four Toastmasters International clubs. Frequent language evaluator at meetings (attending an average of 7 a week, lunctime and evenings, speaking contest judge, and for 2018-9 Presdient of Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Club in Singapore as well as Area Director helping six clubs achieve their goals of educating members and visitors.

Aramaic, Arabic and Hebrew - which languages are related and easy, especially for Arabic Speakers - and the Polyglot Page On Facebook

I find daily entertainment and enlightenment from the polyglots page in Facebook. Somebody asks which language is easiest for Arabic speakers. Suggestions are Hebrew, Maltese, Turkish, Farsi - and English because it is learned in school.

ARAMAIC
Somebody mentions Aramaic, the source of Hebrew and Arabic. Another reader asks, what is Aramaic?.

Aramaic was the spoken language at the time of Jesus; in the area where he lived according to the New Testament.

 Aramaic, spoken language at the time of Jesus (when I presume many were illiterate - could not read). Spoken Hebrew and Arabic came later.

Aramaic, according to the Wikipedia article, was the language in which Roman historian Josephus wrote, later translating his writing into Greek and Roman. Josephus was the defector who switched allegiance to the Romans.

ESPERANTO
Esperanto is the easiest language, especially if you already know English or one of the Romance languages such as Spanish or Italian. Like Aramaic, it is spoken by a relatively small number of people. (So is Hebrew, so is Maltese.)

VOCAB VERSUS STRUCTURE
Some comments point to vocabulary, others think grammar structure is more important. Others go for the ease of reading the written capital letters. Others go for understanding speech.

For me the language easiest to learn is the one on Duolingo the free language learning online website. Duolingo has easy Esperanto, as well as Arabic and Hebrew.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_of_Jesus
www.duolingo.com

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

Learning Arabic and Hebrew For Your Journeys

Israel and Hebrew
Signs in Israel are bilingual in Hebrew and English. However it is handy to be able to recognize the Hebrew letters.

Basic Hebrew Is Handy - My Story Of Searching For A Friend
I visited an English friend in Israel. She was staying in a flat. I found the block, but the block had about sixty bells - all with the names written alongside in Hebrew!

My friend's first name was Davina. I looked down the right of the right hand column, because Hebrew is written right to left, hoping to see her first name or surname.

You can imagine my relief when I spotted that within the first column were three names started with D. One was D-v-d, David. Another was long, and I could not recognize all the letters, but it was too long to be Davina. The third was a name with the three letters DVN in Hebrew! I can't remember whether the dots for vowels were under and over the consonants. It didn't matter. I rang the bell and my friend answered.

To learn to recognize the Hebrew on road signs, street names, and addresses when visiting friends and businesses, you can learn for free on the internet, or take classes at many synagogues.

Where else might you see Hebrew?
Travelling:
Mosaics from biblical times.
Archaeological ruins.
Old synagogues in Spain.
The Jewish quarter of Prague on a guided tour or self-guided tour of museums, synagogues and graveyards.
Holocaust memorials worldwide.

When Socialising:
Prayer books at a barmitzvah, Jewish wedding or Jewish funeral.
A framed embroidered or illustrated ketubah (marriage certificate) on the wall of a Jewish home.
The walls of synagogues converted to churches and mosques (Spain and the East End of London).
When shopping or walking to lunch. The outside of old buildings now used as shops or offices or housing.

The word kosher
It is pretty easy to recognize the word cosher, c-sh-r, but spelled right to left, on products such as matzoh (unleavened bread or crackers) and on kosher wine bottles in supermarkets and wine shops.

You will see Hebrew writing on many food products in supermarket. Also many products and instruction books.

Arabic
Arabic is useful in Israel and in numerous countries such as: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Malaysia and Arab quarters of cities. Plus reading street signs behind commentators in TV news reports from Syria, Afghanistan and other countries.

Arabic is on menus in Halal restaurants. You will also see Arabic writing on many foods from supermarkets and other products.

Duolingo also has Arabic.
Both languages are related to Aramaic, the language used and spoken by the Jewish citizens at the time of Jesus.
Google translates Arabic and Hebrew.
you probably already know
Duolingo.com

Signs are bilingual in Hebrew and English. However it is handy to be able to recognize the Hebrew letters. I visited an English friend in Israel. She was staying in a flat and the block had about sixty bells all with the names written in Hebrew. My friend's first name was Davina. You can imagine my relief when I spotted that within the first column was a name with the letters DVN!

To learn to recognize the Hebrew on road signs, street names, and addresses when visiting friends and businesses, you can learn for free on the internet, or take classes at many synagogues.
Duolingo also has Arabic.
Both languages are related to Aramaic, the language used and spoken by the Jewish citizens at the time of Jesus.
Google translates Arabic and Hebrew.

You probably already know the plural in Hebrew, im, from the words cherabim and seraphim, in English cherubs and seraphs.

Useful Websites
Duolingo.com

See also my post on Eurovision in Israel.

Author

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

Lingua Franca and Aramaic, the language Jesus, Jews and Romans spoke

Problem
What does Lingua Franca mean?

Answer
Lingua Franca is the go-between language in a city or country or continent where people speak different languages or dialects.

So English is the Lingua Franca in India.

Aramaic was the common language or in between language at the time of Jesus.

English Lingua Franca
I believe that one of the reasons that the English natives speak so little of foreign languages is that English was the lingua Franca of the empire until the 1900s.

Story About German
At school in England in London's East End in the 1920s and 1930s children learned German. German was easy and handy in the East end of London. People had come from Russian, Poland and Germany (Austro-Hungarian empire.) Yiddish and German were close languages. Germany was nearer than Russia, the latter being too far to visit. German could be used in Austria and neutral Switzerland. German was a lingua Franca. Dutch and the Flemish spoken in Belgium were similar to German. 

French was a fancy restaurant language for posh people.

German as Lingua Franca
However, although many people spoke German as a second language, speaking it in public places outside German speaking countries became unpopular after WWI and WWII. After the British royal family took umbrage at their German cousins after World War I, the rest of the country copied.  Dislike coupled with fear of the Nazis.

In the late Sixties I went on holiday to Greece and I and a friend met Dutch boys. They spoke German as a second language, along with English. But they insisted on speaking English to practise their English.

Even in the 1960s, a pleasant conversation started with an elderly German in a cafe led to embarrassing conversations about where they learned English or had been in their youth. My inability to distinguish between the active and passive and before and after in German led to some confusion.

I remember the German man who I met in a cafe, smiling about his wartime experiences. He spoke English.

I went into English, "You learned English - after - you were captured by - soldiers? Before or after? No? You learned English - after - you captured - soldiers? Before or after?"

French Accents and Canadian
I must admit conversations with the French fared no better. I had learned French, travelled to Paris and drove through France to Spain or Germany, had French au pair girls from Paris. So my French grammar and accent developed and improved year after year. I learned the Parisian accent, which I later discovered is not the same as French spoken in Montreal.

Taboo Topics
However, it was better to talk to Parisians about food than history.  I discovered that Dunkirk was regarded by the French as the time and place where the French were deserted by their allies. As an innocent grammar school girl, speaking to a French girl, I had previously spoken joyfully about the wonderful sailors, rallying to rescue our soldiers at Dunkirk with brave little boats.

But the effect of World War II, following on The Great War, was to make most British people turn their backs on the German language they had learned at school. They did not want to speak German, speak to Germans, nor visit Germany. This left them in a language vacuum.

Revision of Language Learning
Oddly enough, in my experience, things have changed, certainly in the North of France. The French running the cafes around the Normandy battlefields and making their living from showing tearful Brits the rows of graves, reviving them with French food and wine, are nowadays extremely warm.

A new generation of Germans, especially all the people I meet in the travel industry, are delightful, understanding, welcoming, and keen to show off their excellent English and explain the mysteries of German grammar.

Political alliances and language fashions have ups and downs. While we are in an up, with opportunities to travel and so many opportunities to travel from our armchairs around language learning sites, we have greater opportunities than ever before.

Flag of Canada

Polyglots
When I went to Canada, to Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa, I was disappointed that Montreal was entirely French speaking with French signs. I understood, but was equally disappointed, that Toronto was entirely English with English signs. However, I was delighted with bilingual Ottawa, with bilingual signs.

In America, Spanish is increasingly the second language. Knowing Spanish opens the gate to learning Portuguese and Italian.

On other continents, other contenders in our lifetime for popular languages are Chinese (Mandarin) and Arabic.

Polyglots often live in countries where they are surrounded by several languages, have parents who speak different languages, so the children are bilingual, and learn a third language as the lingua franca or common language.

Aramaic
The bible was written in Hebrew and Aramaic. Aramaic was the lingua Franca. Aramaic is still spoken today in pocket communities in several countries. Apparently it is not an easy language. Not just that you cannot find many people who speak it. If it is an old language, is the grammar easy? On the contrary, quite complicated.

Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic
For a long time I had wished that Aramaic could be revived. I could recognize Bar was son of, as in Bar Kochba, Bar Mitzvah (son of the law). Bar is son in Aramaic. B e n is son in Hebrew, as in Benjamin and Ben Gurion. Bin is son in Arabic. All are easy to remember.

Even more, I wished that Israel had adopted Yiddish, written in the Roman alphabet, instead of Hebrew written in the Hebrew alphabet. I am still struggling with the Russian, Hebrew and Greek alphabets. (Which reminds me to spend five minutes on each today.)

Hebrew Keyboard - even more confusing.

I hope to become a polyglot,which means a speaker of several languages.

Tips
BBC article on polyglots and languages
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-40824597

Article on Aramaic and Lingua Franca
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/09/aramaic-middle-east-language/404434/

www.duolingo.com Free online language learning.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages. I have other posts on Aramaic, Hebrew, Russian, Greek, Welsh and travel. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Learn Languages From Songs With Subtitles: Hebrew to English, Arabic and Aramaic

Problem
What do songs in foreign languages mean?
Can I learn words the easy, fun way from songs?

Answer
Yes, just go onto YouTube and type in the title of a song and the words 'translate into EnglishP or "subtitles in English' or 'lyrics in English', or just the language you are learning.

Story
I've been trying to learn languages from songs for years. Nursery rhymes and songs. At kindergarten (that's a German word from the German word kindergarten) and in primary school (for Americans, this means elementary school) I was taught Frere Jacques which I have remembered life long.

Now, today, I've discovered something else. I was sent a link to an Israeli song. I'm started learning Hebrew on Duolingo (I wanted to learn the alphabet, and I also started Russian and Greek). I have been to Russia, Greece and Israel a couple of times or more. However, from the Israeli song I recognised only two words, erev for evening - looks almost the same, and beseder, which I thought was enough (or in context OK?).

Urgh! I then went searching for the lyrics, and instead of finding the English in a column alongside the Hebrew, which is what you tend to get if you type in the words of a classical song such as something from an Italian opera, I found a link to another version of the song by some other singers with subtitles along the front.

Songs are excellent for learning languages. They are memorable, so you want to sing along with the chorus, then you keep repeating the tune and the words in your head. So now I am on a quest to find a song in each language I am learning, preferably one with helpful vocabulary.

The Hebrew song, when you stop to think about it, is quite humorous. I like the line about everybody giving you advice!

Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic
Incidentally, Hebrew and Arabic are similar with a base in Aramaic, which is the language which would have been spoken in the streets of Jerusalem two thousand years ago in the era of Jesus and the Romans (along with lots of other notable figures from world history). I think Aramaic is still used for weddings and funerals worldwide at Jewish events, as well as being spoken in villages by several groups today, alongside Hebrew and Arabic, by Moslems, Jews and Christians in Aramaic speaking areas. (See my previous posts on Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic words and names of people. Ben is son in Hebrew, as in Benjamin and Ben Hur, whilst Bar, another word beginning with B, is Aramaic for son, as in Barmitzvah (son of the law or good deed) and Bar Kochba.

Google translate would not translate Rak b/Yisrael but I then found the translation is on the Youtube website at the start of the song and throughout.

Words from the song
adam - man/person
b' in
Bar - son in Aramaic
ben - son in Hebrew (Benjamin - biblical name meaning son of my right hand)
chinam - advice
ha - the
kol - whole, all
Rak - only
shalom - peace in Hebrew, salaam, peace in Arabic, Jerusalem - city of peace
shel - of (as in the song Jerusalem shel b a h a v - 0ops trouble with autocorrect - Jerusalem of Gold
simcha - celebration
yam - sea
yishun - sleep
yom - day (as in Yom Kippur, the Jewish religion fasting holy day)
If you can recognise the words Adam (man), ben (son) shalom (peace), you already know three words of Hebrew and if you know salaam you know one word of Arabic. Build, build, build on your languages. Habonim - (ha-bonim) the builders - a name for a youth group.

Im is the Hebrew plural for a noun, such as cherubim - lots of cherubs, bonim - lots builders.

Uni (pronounced Uh - knee (+I in Hebrew)
rot-ze (want)
bonim (builders).

Tips
I'll repeat:
Go onto YouTube and type in the title of a song and the words 'translate into EnglishP or "subtitles in English' or 'lyrics in English', or just the language you are learning.

Here's the song which started my quest today for translations of songs with subtitles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvabkdetO1s

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, teacher of English and other languages.
Also correction and translation of websites and other material such as CVs, instruction books and sales materials.
Pleas look at my other posts on this blog and my other blogs on language and spelling in blogger.com . You can see more Angela Lansbury author, poet, speaker, Toastmaster, profiles and posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, on my web pages and my books on Amazon.com and Lulu.com Please like my pages, follow and share.

Learning Languages: Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew

Problem
What is Aramaic?
Why should I care?

Answer
1 It was the everyday language of Jesus and of the Talmud.
2 A modern ketubah or Jewish marriage document is written in Aramaic.
3 Aramaic helps you to remember words and names in Arabic and Hebrew.
4 Kaddish, the prayer said at prayers for the dead during a "Shiva" - "Seven" (days of mourning)is written in Hebrew but is Aramaic.

Oh vey - both words mean woe. Vey is woe in Aramaic, which is said to be the mutual origin of both ancient and modern Arabic and ancient and modern Hebrew.

The word Mammon, as in You cannot serve both God and mammon, comes from the Aramaic word for wealth or profit.

Bar is Aramaic for son, as in barmitzvah, son of the law. The Hebrew for son is Ben, as in the name Benjamin which means son of my right hand.

Aramaic - English
Bar - son
mammon - wealth
vey - woe
Yonathan - Jonathan
Yoseph - Joseph

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_language
http://www.aish.com/jw/s/Common-Jewish-Words-Their-Origins--Meaning.html
http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/20240/what-word-did-jesus-use-for-god-in-aramaic
Tips
bar mitzvah - son of the law

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Author and speaker. English teacher and teacher of languages.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Like my posts and share. More on LinkedIn.
Books by Angela Lansbury, author, on Amazon and Lulu.com

Welcome in all languages and Welcome to Wales

In a community centre in London I saw this handy list of the word welcome in several languages. I also photographed something similar on huge boards at the entrance to the World Travel Market at Excel exhibition centre in East London.

The word welcome is similar in several European languages.

English - welcome
I put those most similar to English in groups
I know the German from the welcome song in the film Cabaret
German - Willkommen

Dutch - welkom - (the simplest)

Danish - velkommen - similar to Danish but longer like the German but with a v
The Germans write the W but say v. (I remember the German pronunciation of w as a v from the kosher or kosher style food in Finchley restaurants which served worscht and eggs - salami and eggs, written on the menu as starting with a w but pronounced with a v 'Ver - sh - t.'

French
bienvenue  - split into two words you can see très bien, very good, venue, or place, or to come venir
Shorten bien and you get the more common ben, used in English words beneficent or full of goodwill and bounty, beneficial, bringing good,

The Italian, Spanish and Portuguese all sound similar, which makes them easy to remember but also easy to confuse.

Italian
ben venuti
(My memory aid or mnemonic is, it is the duty of an Italian to say benvenuti. The letter I is the initial of Italian, appears twice in the word Italian, and ends the Italian word for welcome - ben venuti.

Spanish
bienvenidos - the Spanish word starts like the French, which is their neighbour on the border to the north, then rhymes with dos (two) and amigos (friends)

Portuguese
bemvindo - the Portuguese like the letter m. Bem instead of ben. I remember than Portuguese is More difficult because it has the letter M. It is also West of Spain. Turn the letter W upside down and you get M. But both the first and second syllables are shorter than the Spanish, and the word is narrower and the country is narrower than neighbour Spain. The vowels in the Portuguese follow the vowel sequence (a)EIO(u).

Hebrew (modern)
Shalom - peace -
It is two syllables, a word which is very well known because in addition to welcome it is both hello and goodbye in Hebrew.
Also it is part of the word Jeru-salem city of peace. You might also have heard it used in the chorus song Shalom Aleichem (peace be with you) e-vay nu shalom aleichem (we bring you peace, popular song) - I think it's in Fiddler on the Roof, and or Exodus.

In addition it is easy to recognize and remember because it is similar to the

Arabic (modern) and Aramaic (ancient and modern)
Salaam aleikum, peace be with you in Arabic. Both languages coming from the Aramaic, the joint or root language. Aramaic is still spoken and/or understood in a few places, in Northern Israel and by nomadic Beduins. For historians and language buffs and those who are keen on religions and culture , excitingly Aramaic was the common language at the time of Jesus. You also get Aramaic in some names. Compare the words for son, both the Hebrew and Aramaic being used in ancient scripts, Medieval times and today, such as Benjamin, Ben Hur (in the film), Ben Gurion, and Bar Kochba.

Malay
Selamat Datang - related to the Arabic salaam, the same consonants, Malaysia being a Muslim country, it has a sprinkling of Arabic words and phrases.

Welsh
I then went looking for the pronunciation of the Welsh word for welcome, Croeso. It sounds to me like c r o y  - so.

(I have instead spaces to stop changes made by auto correct which ignores my efforts to click on the cross which should men this suggested change is not acceptable.)

At first I clicked on the play sound image and an image opened but nothing happened. It opens a window and you have to click again on the second play sound image within the new window.  Why did I not spot this immediately? Because it is the opposite of Wikipedia where you click on the image beside the word and it immediately makes the sound.

For a really handy list of common phrases in Welsh, check here:

http://www.heart-of-wales.co.uk/welsh.htm#

Google gives me a translation of the Russian for welcome

Добро пожаловат

Dobro pozhalovat

What about Japanese? The Japanese are developing an ap for that.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-36976211?post_id=10155595000985597_10157243217530597#_=_

I have many more posts on Wales and the Welsh language, and learning other languages including Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian, Hebrew and Greek, Duolingo, typing foreign languages and keyboards in other languages. I teach English, English grammar and pronunciation and conversation, and foreign languages, and memory workshops.

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