German - easy words, and harder words

 Where can you learn and practise speaking German? 

Flag of Germany

Flag of Austria

Flag of Switzerland

You can use German in Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts of Switzerland.  Also Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and parts of Belgium and Italy.

Flag of Luxembourg.

Flag of Liechtenstein.

At night when I lie down in bed I close my eyes but imagine my room and describe it in German.  

Easy German - English words

Bett - bed

Hotel - hotel

insekt - insect

Kamm - comb

Rasierer - razor

Rollo - roller blind

Rosen - rose

Tag - day 

Teppich - carpet

Vorhang - curtain (plural Vorhange, put two dots over the a to make it sound like e)

Zahnpasta - toothepaste

Easy English - German

bed - Bett

carpet - teppich

comb - Kamm

curtain - Vorhang

dessert - Nachtish (after dish, next dish)

hotel - Hotel

insect - Insekt

rose - Rosen

toothpaste - Zahnpasta

More Advanced Words

German - English

Kissen - pillow 

Jalousie - Venetian blind

English - German 

pillow - kissen

razor - rasieren

Venetian blind - Jalousie (not jealousy)

After that I imagine asking a hotel for a bedroom for the night.

English - German

I am allergic to feathers

I am allergic to shellfish

air conditioning

breakfast

breakfast room

desk chair

dining room

dining chair - esszimmer

double bed - Doppelbett

evening dinner

guest house

quiet - ruhig

heating

Hotel - hotel

how much is it/does it cost

large room

space

suitcase stand

toilet - Toilette

ladies' toilet

Lunch - Mittagessen (mid-day-to eat)

Useful English-German websites

duolingo.com

https://wikitravel.org/en/German_phrasebook

translate.google.com

-ends-

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Useful Words In Hotels Where They Speak German

Where can you learn and practise speaking German? 

Flag of Germany

Flag of Austria

Flag of Switzerland

You can use German in Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts of Switzerland.  Also Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and parts of Belgium and Italy.

Flag of Luxembourg.

Flag of Liechtenstein.

 English - German

bed - Bett

carpet - Teppich

ceiling - Decke

curtain - Vorhang

floor - Boden

hiking - Wandern

hotel  - Hotel

mountain - berg

packed lunch - Lunchpaket

pillow - Kissen

room - Zimmer

window - Fenster

I am allergic to - ich bin allergisch gegen

I eat - ich esse

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Useful English-German websites

duolingo.com

https://wikitravel.org/en/German_phrasebook

translate.google.com

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Cavalry & Guards Club Elegance in London

 

Notice the lid on the sugar bowl and the sugar tongs.

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The grand staircase. Upstairs. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Upstairs to the formal small or vast dining rooms for lunch or dinner.

The front upstairs room and the adjoining reception room have views over Piccaddilly near Hyde Park.

Place card for Angela at Cavalry & Guards Club, London, England, UK. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Useful website

https://cavgdsclub.co.uk/

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Misunderstood American and English words - momentarily searching for pants, rubbers and rugs

US flag

I remember how we as a British family visiting Disney in Florida were on the monorail and heard the words, 'We will be stopping at ... momentarily.'

I shouted to my family, 'Quick, quick, quick! It's only a brief stop. We'll get carried on if we don't get off in a hurry!'

Later I went to a department store and wanted to buy stationery. I asked an assistant, "Where can I find rubbers?" 

She said, "We don't stock them. Try the drug store upstairs."

I stayed in the same store, looked around and found the ruler I needed. Nearby I spotted the rubbers. 

I took one to the assistant and said, " I found it."

She looked puzzled, and nodded.

I said, accusingly, "But you said, 'we don't stock rubbers'."

"Yes," she agreed.

I demanded, "So what do you call this?"

"An eraser."

"Ah. What did you think I said, and meant?"

"Rubbers. Which you buy upstairs in the drug store."

Later I wanted to buy a carpet. 

I was told, "We don't stock carpets."

But carpets were on the floor below.

What do you call these," I asked as assistant.

"Rugs."

"Do you understand the word carpet? What does it mean to you?"

"Floor covering which is fitted, wall to wall."

Here's a list of words which you need to know when visiting another country or serving strangers in a shop or on the phone.

American - English

briefly, soon - momentarily

closet - wardrobe

hidey hole, hiding place, locked or shut in cupboard with doors - closed space, closet (as in the phrase skeleton in the closet)

momentarily (shortly, soon) - briefly, just for a moment

pants - trousers

realtor - estate agent

rubber - condom

rug - carpet

British English - American

carpet - rug

closet - enclosed, locked space, hidey-hole

fitted carpet - carpet

momentarily - briefly, only for a moment, soon

estate agent - realtor

flat - one level dwelling in a multi-occupancy building

knickers, panties, pants, smalls, underwear, undies - underpants 

rubber - eraser

Rug - small carpet, no bigger than the size of a kitchen table

wardrobe - closet

walk-in wardrobe - walk in closet

Useful websites

Wikipedia American English language

About The Author Angela

Angela Lansbury is a British author who has lived in the USA.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Angela Lansbury teacher of English (advanced and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, aspiring polyglot.

Angela Lansbury, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 

She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Americanisms, British English - and misunderstandings

What kind of misunderstandings could you get? We use the same words but with different meetings.

American - British

bangs - fringe

closet - cupboard, wardrobe

Do you copy? (Originally truckers. Now general slang.) - Do you understand/ D'you get it?/D'you hear me?

eraser - rubber

fall - autumn

faucet - tap

Freeze! - Stop! Stand still. Don't move.

monkey wrench - spanner

Parking lot - car park

a quarter after - a quarter past

rubber - condom

rug - carpet

Trucker - lorry driver

wind shield - windscreen

British - American

autumn - fall

car park - parking lot

condom - rubber

carpet - rug

fringe - bangs

a quarter past - a quarter after

rubber - eraser

spanner - monkey wrench

tap - faucet

windscreen - windshield

Useful Websites

wikipedia

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

About The Author Angela

Angela Lansbury is a British author who has lived in the USA.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Angela Lansbury teacher of English (advanced and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, aspiring polyglot.

Angela Lansbury, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 

She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

What I Liked AND DISLIKED About ITE (Institute of Technical Education) in Singapore

Singapore flag

I was driven to the ITE in Ang Mo Kio to evaluate a speech at a Toastmasters International meeting. This location was a surprise, as I had previously visited their West campus beyond Bukit Panjang. I had not liked the meeting room at the West campus, where we stood around in the tropical heat in the outdoor corridor outside the room.

So the ITE Central branch at Ang Mo Kio, all indoors, was a pleasant surprise. All new, clean, modern, with colours, curves, flowers.

The carpeting is like at an airport, a Singapore airport terminal. The ITE carpet stretched wall to wall and cushioned your feet.

You feel like royalty. You feel relaxed. You feel welcome. You feel happy. You feel energised.

The ladies toilet had flowers by the basins. Plus a shower. I do like to see a shower.

UK flag

Showers In The UK
I recalled seeing a shower at a motorway stop in the UK, in the toilets used by truckers and the handicapped.

Showers In Singapore
I saw another shower in an Indian temple in Singapore. Not so grand and modern.

They also have taps for food washing outside the building where you take off your shoes. If you are removing your shoes and prostrating yourself you want to be clean.

Showers and Sports
I asked my friends, who lecture and teach at the ITE, what they knew about showers in public buildings in Singapore. Mr Ong replied:
"You often get showers in the toilets at Sports centres and nearby."
Ah. that explains it, tells you where to look.

I knew that you often get showers in hotels with gyms. But I had not thought about sports areas in colleges and other public buildings.

ITE Sound
What did I dislike at ITE? The high pitch whine, apparently caused by the security system, perhaps when the door of a meeting room is open.

Mr Ong added, "ITE is where the government minister will speak, later in the year."

Maybe they can fix the whining sound before he arrives.

ITE gets my vote. A beautiful venue for the government and for the public.

ITE has three campuses, west, central and east.

I went onto the website and could not find the address. the address is under contact us which is  link across the menu bar which was off to the right of the screen, even though I was not looking on a tiny smartphone but a large screen.

ITE Central
2 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5
Singapore 567720

Useful websites
ITE College Central address and directions
https://central.ite.edu.sg/Contact-Info/106/ContactInfo.aspx

Singapore Airlines
singaporeair.com

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

Renovating Your Home Or Rental Home's Driveway and Floors: watch out for added work, time, mess and charges

The Driveway Lower Layers
The first time I met extra charges from builders was when I had the driveway re-laid. It was a lovely red tarmac but grass was peering through.

I didn't want brick. But this seems to be the modern thing. The advantage is that if you need to lift the driveway (we did for the gas board after we smelled a leak), the bricks can be lifted from one area of the drive and re-laid, no change in colour from newer tarmac.

I got a couple of quotations for relaying the drive with bricks, took the cheapest, and told him that I had a small budget and could not go over budget?

Were there any extra costs, VAT, anything else?

The assured me that was a fixed price. He would lay down a brick surface.

I assumed it would go on top. No. He insisted on digging up my lovely undulating red tarmac to lay the bricks on a new even cement surface.

Then he told me he had to dig up the existing cement underlay.

Then he said it was unusually deep, three feet instead of one foot. (Not sure of the exact figures.) He needed special digging equipment at vast expense. It would take a few days longer.

Since I was going overseas, but didn't want him to know that, I was not pleased at the longer time. And definitely not pleased about the extra cost. I refused to pay. I did not have the budget for it.

He agreed to finish the job, with or without the digging machine. He wanted cash.

However, I did not want to run around with that amount of cash. No guarantee that I could prove I had paid.

I insisted he came with me to the bank. They counted out the cash. I handed it straight to him under the bank cameras. He could not say I had removed any of the money. He knew the bank had just counted it.

I had a new drive. the gaps between the bricks were not sealed, just loose sand. Plants pushed their way through.

A few months later I found the driveway was sinking under the weight of a large car and delivery vehicles, such as a gardener's van and all sorts of heavy vehicles. Now I knew why the builder of the house had laid an extra deep foundation, to support not just walkers and bikes and minicars, but large saloons and delivery vans.

All sorts of heavy vehicles arrived, I noticed:
Window Cleaners.
The gas board.
The garden shed delivery van.
Postal van delivering parcels if no room in the road outside.
Grocery delivery van.
All large, heavy vehicles.

More recently I had another experience with prices inceasing, caused by what was hidden underneath, they claimed.

Carpet Laying
Next I called in carpet layers to install a new carpet. John Lewis was charging a lot. I went for a cheaper option.

After I had paid and waited for the order, I got another bill for over five hundred pounds to lay the carpet. Too late to change now. I had waited a month. I had paid for the carpet.

The carpet layers arrive. They want extra for moving furniture.

But we had already paid for moving furniture. I call the company. They say I must pay the carpet layers, and the carpet suppliers will give me a refund. But they won't call me and ask for my bank details - because of data protection - I have to call them to ask for the refund.

Next, the carpet layers go to remove the unerlaying carpet. It makes a huge sut all over the newly painted walls and the rolls of new carpet and the curtains and sofas.

It will cost me over two hundred pounds to clean the entire flat.

Next, the carpet layer says my underlay has been stuck down to the concrete floor with araldite or some strong glue.

He wants to go off and rent a huge heavy machine to remove the carpet and re-level the concrete. this will take another day as the machine cannot be delivered until tomorrow and he has another job. But the tenants are due to move in tomorrow - and the cleaners are booked for today.

The price for the carpet laying is now doubled. I do not like the idea of a big machine. It could damage the buildings doorways landing me with another bill. The carpet layer will take time off work from the strain of lifting it up the steps of the building.

I am not happy. He wants to drive off and do a tour of companies which might stock the machine.

I suspect I won't see him for hours, days. I have just spent two weeks hanging around whilst plumbers go off looking for the nuts and pipes they needed, they said, for fixing new taps. That was a job I thought would take an afternoon. However, it took two weeks. The cost of parts and labour kept escalating. Supervising the work and just opening and shutting and locking up the doors kept me on the site waiting from 9 am until they turned up at four pm and finally left at 10 pm.

I told the carpet layer, no. Just lay the new carpet on top. I want the old underlay underneath to deaden sound, which is one of the requirements for the leaseholders.

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

CARPET WOES

Carpet price
We get an initial estimate for carpet from John Lewis. Very high.

If you want a long-lasting good quality carpet, and have the budget, I would go for John Lewis.

However, if the tenants won't know, won't appreciate it, won't look after it, and you have to replace it because it is damaged or you need new carpet to compete with other new build properties in the area, go for a cheaper chain such as Tapi carpets, or a little local family-run business if you get a recommendation.

We get a lower estimate from elsewhere.

Fitting Price
After we pay for the carpet, not at the same time, we get a second bill for fitting. Now too late to change the order.

Furniture Shifting Price
We pay extra for the company to shift furniture.

They turn up and complain they were told there wasn't much furniture but there is a lot.
The company says I must pay the carpet fitters and the carpet company will repay the difference.

Contact With Sub-contractors
Because of data protection, nowadays you can't in the UK get the mobile of the carpet fitter or the inventory checker, because of data protection.

I think the company should give every person acting on their behalf a pay as you go system or pager.

Dust
I was not warned about dust. When the old carpet is pulled up, dust goes everywhere. All over the new paint. All over the bedding and curtains. Over small items such as table lamps.

I rush around moving things out.

 I open the sliding doors and windows.

The movers have their own vacuum cleaner, which is good. But they only do the floor, not the furniture covered by dust.

They leave with the bedroom furniture in the en suite bathroom, as I discover later.

I ask for the spare carpet to be left. One small piece covers the inside of a wardrobe.
The spare piece is too heavy for me to lift. It could be used to carpet another small room.

The new carpet prevents the front door opening and shutting. They say I now have to have the bottom cut off the door. I don't think I am allowed to do that, in case it damages the appearance of the communal area. I would rather wait for the carpet to settle, or try to adjust the door hinges if their is a slight gap at the top.

A wood-look synthetic flooring would have been cheaper and not obstructed the door. However, the lease will not allow floors of wood, granite etc to minimise noise to adjacent flats or those above and below.

But the imitation wood also has problems. See next post.

However, look on the bright side. The new carpet looks terrific. The spare piece solves the problem of the wardrobe elsewhere.
(Photos will be added later.)

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

  

More on buy to rent - Why? Why not? What costs? Which tenants?

You might never intend to buy to rent until:
Your parents die and you have to rent out to cover the charges for council tax and insurance is not valid when the place is empty.

You take a job abroad and need to rent out your place to cover the cost of renting overseas.

Even if you have been renting yourself, when you rent out you find new problems with each type of property and tenant.

Factor in costings:

new carpet, plus fitting (some companies charge separately for fitting)
painting walls - skirting boards - doors, inside cupboard doors and walls to match
new furniture or covers

Who might damage
Students
babies
elderly who get Alzheimers or are incontinent
children who crayon on walls
couples throwing housewarming or new year's eve parties

builders making holes in carpet, spattering paint on furniture, breaking glass wall fitting, paint on sockets

Author
Angela Lansbury
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

Power Cuts and Spoiled Frozen Food

Problem
When you are out or away for n evening, a weekend or a week or months, water comes through the window and soaks your carpet which smells. A power cut destroys your frozen food. What to do?

Answers
1 In theory you could set up a remote to shut the windows when it rains - and fix the electric trip switch.
2 Leave a key with a neighbour and ask them to check your trip switch whoever theirs blows.
3 Leave a light over the door. Whenever the light goes off it should alert the neighbour that the power is off (and the landlady if she calls regularly to collect her post from the post box (Americans call it a mail box).
4 Clear valuable food from the fridge. Or give it to the neighbours. Or ask them to keep it in their fridge. If their fridge is short of room after that, they can use your fridge - making sure their less valuable products are not destroyed in a power cut.
5 If you have family or friends nearby, you could give them the key to your flat, and ask the neighbours to ring your relatives when there is a power cut.

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

Today's Ten Easy Indonesian and Malaysian Words

Problem
How to learn Malay or Indonesian (both the same) in a hurry.

Answer
Start with
1 Words which are the same or nearly the same in English.
2 Learn phrases or sentences consisting of two words.
3 Learn useful sentences.

Story
I raided my own bookshelves for old CDs and phrase books. I found two phrase books and two discs from long ago travels when I bought them but did not have the time and energy to learn.

Indonesian (and Malay)- English

a n d a - your
b a l k o n - balcony
bis - bus
b u k u - book
b u k u a n d a - your book
c i n a - China
c o k l a t - chocolate
d a n - and (same letters, mixed up)
k a m e r a - camera
k a r p e t - carpet
m u s i k - music
p a s a r - bazaar (it looks different, but p and b and the same upside down, remove the double a from the English and it is almost the same word) also when you say it the sound is very similar)

English - Malaysian /Indonesian
and - dan
balcony - b a l k o n
bazaar - pasar (it looks different, but p and b and the same upside down, remove the double a from the English and it is almost the same word) also when you say it the sound is very similar) Bazaar or market
book - b u k u
bus - bis
camera - kamera
carpet - karpet
China - cina
chocolate - c o k l a t
music - m u s i k
your - a n d a
your book - b u k u a n d a

Easy ways to remember
Child is anak ; children - plurals just double the word, anak-anak. How do you remember. Children create anarchy. a n a k.

Spaces are inserted to prevent the words being changed by an automatic spell checker.
However, the spaces also help you concentrate on each letter of a new word.


Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, English teacher and tutor.

American rugs and British carpets

American and British words are different. A rug is a rug and a carpet is a carpet you might think. Not quite.

Rug
In England a rug is small. You would have a rug beside a bed or under a coffee table.

Carpet
You might have a wall to wall fitted carpet, or a giant sculpted Chinese carpet filling the entire room. If you need two people to lift it, then you would call it a carpet.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, English language teacher, author, speaker.

Why I Hate Hard Floors

  Tenants in the UK are demanding laminate or hard granite floors. It's the latest fashion. The safer carpeted floors are out.
   I hate hard floors. In the olden days we had wooden floors. A disaster. High heels and metal tipped shoes ruin wooden floors. You were always told to take off your high heeled shoes indoors.
   Wooden, lion and tile floors also become dangerously slippery when wet. My gym has this problem all the time. In a small bathroom it's even worse, because you are frequently with wet feet and wet hands, eyes shut from soap, slipping on soap, naked so not protected, and exposed to hard surfaces and projecting corners and unforgiving tiles. When you fall you hit your hips and head on something hard. (Then you are locked in, fallen against the door, with an indoor room or a tiny window and nobody can get in to help  you.
   In Singapore a maid or cleaner has to mop the tiled or marble floors of living rooms and kitchen and bedrooms. Afterwards you are in danger of falling.
   Crockery breaks when dropped. So does china-handled cutlery. Even those cheap china teaspoons which match mugs, and the china rice ladles.
   The floors are noisy. No privacy in the toilet and bathroom. Every little sound is echoed, magnified, broadcast.
   Walk around barefoot or in thin socks on a hard floor and your heels go hard. Then they crack.
   Give me soft floors any time.