Amusing Rude Words in English, Chinese, Dutch, Thai and other languages

Flag of Singapore.

Words which sound rude or slang in English are handy words to know in other countries. You might hear Fuk and Kok in China and Hong Kong and Singapore. Crap elsewhere in Asia.

Singapore, Mandarin, Family Names

When I was in Singapore, on and off for thirty years, I kept hearing people saying fuck. At least, that was what I thought I heard. As an English teacher I wanted to tell them it was impolite in English, but I did not feel comfortable stopping strangers in the street to correct their English.  

You hear family names all the time because Chinese speakers have triple names, with the family name first, followed by the personal or given name. Think of Lee Kuan Yew, the Singaporean VIP. 

Lee is a very common name, also spelled Li, meaning plum tree, tree. Many words have different meanings, like English homophones, with different symbols, just as English words such as two and too.

Chinese, Mandarin, Hokkien Names

Years later, I learned that two of the commonest names in Chinese, in the top ten of popular names, are Fuk and Kok. Fuk, fook or Fu, depending on where you are, and the language or dialect. You might hear or speak Mandarin, in China and Singapore and taught universally, Fuk, 

In Cantonese in Hong Kong and southern China, you might hear Fook.

You might hear Fu, in another dialect. It means good fortune! 

Kok means country, city or defensive wall, or defender of the country. So that is another very popular patriotic name.

Europe - The Netherlands and Belgium

If you are not travelling to Asia, but to Europe, you will also hear the name which sounds like cock. It is Cok, which is dutch for cook. Mr or Mrs Cook.  Dutch is spoken and the name is used in Holland in The Netherlands, also in parts of Belgium, two adjacent countries.

Back in Asia, Singapore was once part of Malaysia. Malaysia's northern neighbour is the country of Thailand, where they speak the Thai language. The word which sounds like crap, sometimes written as Krub, is not rude but a respectful word used by men to address others, a bit like sir, and is used at the end of sentences, whether agreeing or making a statement, or asking a question.

Remembering Names

So, now you know what you are hearing regularly in other countries. It is easy to remember some common names, and to compliment the owner of the name by showing you know and admire its meaning in their language.

Don't tell them that their names mean something rude in English. They have already been told that many times. 

Tell them how lucky they are to be bestowed with such wonderful names, and live in places with such positive names. They will admire you for your knowledge, and be flattered by the fact that you always remember their name.

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Fasting and Feasting and Festivals

The feasting for Jewish New Year in the autumn is celebrated with the autumn apples and sweet honey and honey cakes.

The card below has a honey cakes recipe.

Greetings cards for Jewish New Year showing honey. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The Happy new year greeting is shanah tovah, literally, Year good.

The next major calendar date is the Day of Atonement, involving a fast.

Yom Kippur - Jewish Day of Atonement

The word Yom means day in Hebrew. Adjectives follow nouns in Hebrew. 

Yom Kippur, the day of the annual fast, which comes a week after celebrating the Jewish New Year. It begins on Wednesday October 1, 2025 at sundown; ends at nightfall on Thursday October 2, 2025. 

Who is fasting and why? It is in the Hebrew bible, which Christians called the Old Testament when they selected books for the New Testament about the year 300 AD. The early mention of the Day of Atonement which is taken as the instruction is in the biblical book of Leviticus (which is the Greek word for laws).

Who is expected to fast? 

Boys from the age of 13, girls from the age of 12. 

Who is exampt from fasting

Anybody who needs water or food for medical reasons. For example, water to drink with pills or food to go with antibiotics, or food eaten at intervals because of diabetes. Or anybody with an illness such as pnemonia. If in doubt you can ask a doctor or rabbi if you are exampted.

Children under the age of nine are not expected to fast. Between 9 and 12 or 13 they can be introduced to the idea.

Non Jews are not expected to fast.

Both Jews and Muslims vary in their attitudes. Officially there is not rule about not eating in front of fasting Jews. However, you might feel more comfortable eating elsewhere.

Some Jews and Muslims have said they have no trouble not eating when others are eating. Just as I have no trouble not eating shellfish, to which I am allergic, when watching others eating it. I am not tmpted. It is not for me. 

If you are busy praying or busy doing anything, you may forget hunger. Or your body is instructed by your subconscious that mealtime has passed and wait until the next offer of food appears.

Feasting

At the end of the fast, even the simplest meal may seem like a feast.

Moon cakes

Over in China, Singapore, and all over the web, are pictures of moon cakes for the Autumn Festival. I dream of mooncakes.

Traditional cake with pastry crust, sweet solid filling offset by boiled egg

Mooncake Photos from Pixabay. Captions by Angela Lansbury.

Festival & Feast Plans

Autumn Festivals and Autumn time. September, October, November, December. What's to look forward to?

Hanukah and Christmas. 

Christmas & Kosher Xmas

December 25th, but also the 26th for Boxing Day in the UK. Restaurants all December and January. In the UK and USA, provided by the company, you used to get kosher turkey and kosher plum pudding.

Hanukah Dec 14-22nd 2025.

In January you can buy a diary in England, Singapore, or the USA, with festival dates for the UK, and/or Jewish festivals. Calendars may mark the local festivals, eg Asian/ and oriental dates.

Calendars, Clubs, Diaries

If you are running a club an planning your ear's events and holiday dates, you might like them in. Add the feast days for club parites. Note the feast and fast dates when your committee, or members, or visitors are likely to be absent or on holiday.

Passover

Passover, which Jesus celebrated, as depicted in paintings of the Last Supper,  is another 'movable feast' which falls around Easter time.

Useful Websites

Autumn/Chinese/Moon Festival

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/mid-autumn-moon-festival-traditions#:~:text=In%202025%2C%20the%20Mid%2DAutumn,traditions%20marking%20the%20ancient%20holiday.

Jewish

https://orsl.usc.edu/life/jewish-holy-days-

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/event/hanukkah-usa-2025#:~:text=When%20Is%20Hanukkah%202025%3F,and%20end%20on%20December%2022.calendar/#:~:text=Sukkot%20%E2%80%93%20Jewish&text=Begins%20October%206%2C%202025%20at,nightfall%20on%20October%2013%2C%202025.

How I learn Korean on Duolingo

 I thought I would never learn to read or hear or speak Korean. I am still struggling with pronunciation.  I am listening to the sound on Duolingo and copying it by repeating it aloud every time. 

SEOUL

Seoul (/soʊl/; Korean: 서울; IPA: [sʌul] ^ⓘ; lit. 'Capital'), officially Seoul Special City, serves as the capital of South Korea,

The word for Seoul, the capital, starts with a curve like an upside down v, or the Chinese word for person. The word consists of several shapes. But when I am matching pairs, only one of the sets or words has the curve at the start and several shapes. 

However, to my surprise the recognition of both individual letter shapes and sounds, and multiple syllable words with several shapes is going well. I am doing it by trying to imagine a picture to match the shapes.  

For example the G sound looks like a gun, a vertical and horizontal. 

The word for milk has a double o, which reminds me of two breasts. 

The word for cucumber has n o on the left and a line like a vertical straight l on the right. So I imagine ti cross section of the cuumber and the length of the cucumber. 

The word for reoul starts with what look like an s/ R and s are adjacent letters of the alphabet  so I remember the successive letter of the alphabet, r is s.

Yes and oh are the same symbol. It looks like the letter o attached to the right hand half the letter H. It is pronounced oh! Think of oh, yes!

Useful websites

https://www.duolingo.com/alphabets/ko/hangeul

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

https://www.duolingo.com/characters

https://translate.google.com

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Update Chinese New Year UK , Saturday

 

Chinese New Year is celebrated enthusiastically in China, Hong Kong and Singapore. One of th largest celebrations in a Chinatown outside these countries is in London. Expect a big parade, decorated pedestriansed streets, and festive dinners. You will see red lanterns and hear lion dances. Although Chinese New Year started  midweek, the big parade in Chinatown will be on Saturday.

In Singapore you will see many lion dances, in pubic places, or in private homes. The lion dancers perform the undulating moving of the dragon to loud drumming and cymbals. They throw items to the crowd.

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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Weddings Worldwide - Reviewed after a Singapore Muslim Malay style wedding reception

Angela dressed as a guest for a Malay Muslim wedding in Singapore. Photo by Sharot family.

For a Malay wedding I wore an outfit which covered my arms to below the elbow, and covered my legs.

Weddings worldwide differ. I should know. I have written several books on the subject and been to Christian ,Jewish and Muslim weddings, English, French, Italian, Chinese and Malay-Singaporean style weddings. I have also conducted a mock wedding ceremony when the officiant was late and the bride wanted sunset photos in the Botanical Gardens bandstand.

My latest venture was to the wedding of a good friend in Singapore. It was a Malay style Singaporean venue. What made it different from, for example, a Chinese wedding or an English wedding?

An English wedding usually has a maid of honour or matron of honour  (the latter a married woman) and/or a couple of bridesmaids who are best friends or sisters. An American wedding can have a dozen bridesmaids, perhaps classmates of a college student.

A UK wedding might have ushers, males in co-ordinating colours showing people to seats.

In Singapore the wedding took place in a wedding hall on the upper floor of a skyscraper shopping mall. confusingly the car parks were on the third level. The wedding venue was on the 2nd or third.

A man wearing what looked like a traditional Sikh outfit, a colourful trouser suit with braid and headgear was in the street outside. When we stopped to look at the directions and try to work out the entrance to the building, he stepped forward to help us. I thought he was a polite bystander. However, he followed us into the building, and confirmed the level when we reached the escalator. So I presumed he had been parked outside by the organizers of the wedding or the venue.

We had been wondering how to present our gift of money. (In the UK you don't give money. You have a wedding list in a department store, nowadays maybe two, or online.)

At a previous wedding which was Chinese, the welcome table outside the hall ticked off our names, counted out the money, and gave us a receipt. Like an accountant. that way no money could drop out or go missing between the donar and the couple. 

At the Muslim wedding reception, the venue had a welcome desk inside the room, before a flowered arch. the table had a large box like the one for Xmas cards at house parties or Writers Circle Club parties in the UK. 

Card Sizes

I had been embarrassed that my greeting card was so small. At Christmas parties and weddings and birthdays in restaurants in the UK, visitors present cards up to A4 size. Mine was A5 size. At the last minute I had found  in my emergency greeting card box, several greetings cards and chosen one. (Rejecting the cards which said Happy Christmas, happy birthday and Condolences!)

I decorated it with gold glue glitter to make it more festive. 

St the venue I slipped it into the box and was presented with a thank you going home gift which was a small jar of teeny chocolate biscuits in a silver glitter cube shaped box.

To my surprise, my husband later assured me that my cards was large enough. He said my card was distinctive -larger than the others. The other envelopes were all the size of red packets given at Chinese New Year. 

Red Packets

Chinese New Year follows Christmas in the tourist calendar, being in January or February. Red packets used to be given away to bank customers. Now that banks are online, red packets are shown on websites and you can make donations through the web.  

The shape is elongated. They come in two sizes, mostly, like a half width of an A6 pocket diary.   

The food was laid out buffet style, 

Seating

The tables were round and there was free seating. I thought that worked well. You could choose to sit with family and friends, sit at the front to take photos, sit at the back keeping noisy children out of sight, mix with new people.

The End

The buffet was cleared away. We waved goodbye.

Layout and Dais

the central hall was a path leading up to the dais where the happy couple sat surrounded by flowers, to greet you. An mc alongside the couple had a microphone to call out who was approaching, and then hand you the microphone to give out an announced good wish.

(He was aided by a young lady a few feet in front who asked your name and how you were related to the couple. My husband and I later speculated on how she conveyed the message to the couple.

Coffee comic poem by Angela Lansbury, Coffee, Tea, Beer, Whiskey, Guinness and Wine tastings

Coffee cup.

 When you start to cough

It means you are dry

So have some water

Yes, give it a try

When you are tired

Make yourself coffee

Invigorating

Off you go, lovely

The Chinese like warm watet 

The English used to like drinking tea

I never start with neat whiskey

Coffee's the wicked, wake up drink for me

I start with a strong Nespresso coffee

Starbucks if I'm out at eleven

Apple juice at tea time

Midnight more coffee heaven.

I don't need expensive alcohol

I'm a cheap dinner date

Satisfied with Prosecco

One glass sets my smiley state.

But to stop cough leaking, waking once or all night

I see your smirks and laughter

Doctor said, three caffeines a day, not seven

Last caffeine at lunchtime, tap water thereafter.

I take a trail tour once a year

Trail the supermarket if not.

Travel reading wine bottle labels

I'll soon be a polyglot.

-ends-

tasting and Tours  - UK and Ireland

Guinness

You can visit the Guinness factory in Ireland.

UK and Scotland

Scotland has whiskey factories and tours.

Wales

Wales has many places open to visitors.

England

More than 300 wineries. Big tour centres include Denbies, with supermarket, restaurant, cellar tours, and depending on season and latest policy outdoor tours chugging up the hillside to see the sunlight on one opposite hill, shadow on the other, which makes sense of the mystery of why terroir is important and the same owner can produce two wines in different styles and prices.

Berry Brothers and Rudd wine shop in Piccadilly, London has tastings and  pre-Xmas events. Most are highly priced, occasionally there is a free tasting with offers to buy the bottles you have tried.

London has the Pall Mall club for serious drinkers, with a huge range of wines by the glass and bottle, and storage of your own bottles.

Champagne

You can visit Champagne tour in France, in the city of  Rheims.

Green Tea & Japanese Tea

You can have organised tea ceremonies at tea shops in Japan, Singapore and other countries.

Wine Tours

You can take wine tours around France and Portugal. Some organizers do the same tour every year. Others change the venues so there is always something new for repeat customers.

Coffee

Every country has its own brand. Italian coffee names have captured the market.

Singapore

Supermarket wine is expensive. You can get deals buy buying cases. A big club in the branch of the Pall Mall club.

USA

California is a great region. I liked the ice wines.

Canada

Wineries. Ice Wine.

Australia

Many wineries.

New Zealand

BYO, bring your own in restaurants. Buy a bottle in the wine shop near your restaurant. This gives you a huge rage of wines to choose from. (You may be asked for corkage, which is usually reasonable.)

THE ALPHABET EXPLAINED: The origin of every letter, and which countries will help you to be bilingual

I knew some of this about the origin of language. Very effectively presented. The presenter has a lovely, attractive English accent with perfect pronunciation. A pleasure to listen to him.

I have been studying Chinese (Mandarin). Chinese combines the earliest form of writing, pictograms. diagrams of natural objects, with signs representing sounds.

He shows how the modern Roman alphabet was derived over time. 

What he does not explain is how the Cyrillic alphabet was constructed at one point in time by Cyril and his borther. Just like Korean was invented by one person.

He has another video exaplining how German is easy to read if you can see how some letters in German are equivalent to others in English. 

Useing the existing Roman alphabet, the language Esperanto was devised to help Europeans who spoke several langagues, to speak to each other in a commong language which combines parts of each of the main languages, but kept to a regular structure with only 14 rules, quick to learn. 

If you are interested in languages you might be interested in these places:

SINGAPORE

In Singapore the four major official langauges and English Chinese (Mandarin), Malay (which is mostly the same as Indonesian) and Tamil.

Go on the MRT (underground railway) and you will hear announcements in four languages and see signs in four languages.

CANADA

You will hear English in Toronto and French in Montreal but in the capital all government empolyees are required to speak both languages. Most hotel and restaurant staff are also bilingual.

BELGIUM

You will see signs in two languages, French and Flemish (Dutch).

SWITZERLAND

A chance to practice three languages, French, German and Italian.

Writing a speech in your business or holiday language

 

Politicians deliver speeches with words in other languages of the host country. They have a phrase or entire speech in the language of the city or country they are visiting. No reason why every business person should not do this.

Actually, there is a reason to not try to pretend you speak better than you do. A friend of mine who was in sales said that when he was sent to another country he would learn the language but pretend he could not speak it. Then when the other sales team were muttering to each other that they would negotiate a price, or what was their final price, or even that they would cheat him, he would understand, but they would not bother to speak quietly because they thought he could not understand. That gave him an advantage in negotiating because he knew what they were planning and what was their last price, the highest they would pay, or the lowest they would charge. He got the best available deal which still left them happy and reached a conclusion to the business - so they could conclude quickly and go off to lunch!

Translation

You can translate words and phrases and short sentences on Translate Google. 

Put a message on Facebook and you can get it translated with a click.

Try to write and translate a simple sentence a day. Ask people in the Polyglot page on Facebook to translate or check your translation for accuracy. At the end of the month you should have a brief introduction to yourself.

The average person speaks at the rate of 125 to 130 words a minute.

I have also read 500 words for five minutes.

That means 700 words for 7 minutes.

Allow extra time for changing slides. How can you check your speed? To save typing out, pick up something already written. For example, you can note the number of words in a newspaper article, by counting sets of ten words. Read it aloud for one minute. Your five minute speech will be 625-650 words long. Roughly a page. Depending on whether you single space or double space for corrections. You should highlight the important words in yellow highlighter. (You can do this with font colours or background colours if you print your speech in Word or Powerpoint.)

My speech in Chinese or any other language might start like this

Hello, everybody. My name is Angela. I live in London, England. My first language is English. I also speak French. I want to learn Chinese. My favourite hobby is learning languages. I am learning Chinese on Duolingo. I am a teacher of English. I am not retired. I have a husband. And a son. A grown up son. A daughter in law. And a grand-daughter. She is one year old. I also like swimming. And eating out at restaurants. And visiting museums. And photography. I write a blog on travel. I am the author of twenty books. One of them is a book on Quotations. The title is Quick Quotations. Please look. You can see my books on Amazon.  I have lots of Friends on Facebook. Please connect with me on Facebook. 

Bonjour tout le monde. Je m'appelle Angela. Je vis à Londres, en Angleterre. Ma première langue est l'anglais. Je parle aussi français. Je veux apprendre le chinois. Mon passe-temps favori est d'apprendre les langues. J'apprends le chinois sur Duolingo. Je suis professeur d'anglais. Je ne suis pas à la retraite. J'ai un mari. Et un fils. Un fils adulte. Une belle-fille. Et une petite-fille. Elle a un an. J'aime aussi nager. Et manger au restaurant. Et visiter les musées. Et la photographie. J'écris un blog sur les voyages. Je suis l'auteur d'une vingtaine de livres. L'un d'eux est un livre sur les citations. Le titre est Citations rapides. Regarde s'il te plait. Vous pouvez voir mes livres sur Amazon. J'ai beaucoup d'amis sur Facebook. Veuillez vous connecter avec moi sur Facebook.

Hola todos. Mi nombre es Angela. Vivo en Londres, Inglaterra. Mi primer idioma es el inglés. Yo también hablo francés. Quiero aprender chino. Mi pasatiempo favorito es aprender idiomas. Estoy aprendiendo chino en Duolingo. Soy profesora de ingles. No estoy jubilado. Tengo un marido. y un hijo Un hijo adulto. Una nuera. Y una nieta. Ella tiene un año. También me gusta nadar. Y comer en restaurantes. Y visitar museos. y fotografía Escribo un blog sobre viajes. Soy autor de veinte libros. Uno de ellos es un libro sobre Citas. El título es Citas rápidas. Por favor mira. Puedes ver mis libros en Amazon. Tengo muchos amigos en Facebook. Por favor conéctese conmigo en Facebook.
Hallo zusammen. Mein Name ist Angela. Ich lebe in London, England. Meine Muttersprache ist Englisch. Ich spreche auch Französisch. Ich möchte Chinesisch lernen. Mein liebstes Hobby ist Sprachen lernen. Ich lerne Chinesisch auf Duolingo. Ich bin Englischlehrer. Ich bin nicht im Ruhestand. Ich habe einen Ehegatten. Und ein Sohn. Ein erwachsener Sohn. Eine Schwiegertochter. Und eine Enkelin. Sie ist ein Jahr alt. Ich schwimme auch gerne. Und in Restaurants essen gehen. Und Museen besuchen. Und Fotografie. Ich schreibe einen Reiseblog. Ich bin Autor von zwanzig Büchern. Eines davon ist ein Buch über Zitate. Der Titel lautet Schnellzitate. Schauen Sie bitte. Sie können meine Bücher auf Amazon sehen. Ich habe viele Freunde auf Facebook. Bitte verbinden Sie sich mit mir auf Facebook.

You can copy this and add in your name and hobbies and family. I tried to do Google translate into German and Hebrew and greek and Russian but unfortunately you get the foreign alphabets which I cannot read. You have to do the transliteration word by word and phrase by phrase and then check that your sentence structure is correct. 

Watch out for false friends, words which sound the same but mean different things in other languages or dialects. Even in English. For example, in English Pants translates to the American underpants. The American word pants translates to the English trousers. 

Useful Websites

Translate Google

Duolingo

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How Singapore AIrlines Introduced Me To UTalk Language Learning Inflight and the Korean word for three

Back in 2005 Singapore Airlines had Berlitz language learning on the flights. With about 12 hours sitting metaphorically glued to a seat in front of a screen, seemed like a good time to pick up a new language. 

I did not make fast progress. However, I was disappointed when the system stopped.

Imagine my joy when I discovered language learning had come back. this time with a system I did not know, called UTalk. I had a choice of several languages. I started with the most challenging, Korean. Did I learn anything? Yes, only one word, but it was important. I now know that the word for three in Korean is Sam. The Chinese and Japanese share the same word for three, San. (I learned the Japanese, Ichi, Ni, San, Shi. Sam, like same, like uncle Sam. This was the first evidence that some, not all, of Japanese and Korean and Chinese words could be similar. 

The Chinese and Japanese signs are mostly the same. Think of the no smoking symbol, which is read by the English as no smoking. The French will look at the same sign and get the message, which they translate in their heads into French.

English - Korean

Three - sam

Korean - English

sam - three

Useful Websites

Airline Passenger Experience magazine

https://apex.aero/magazine/

https://apex.aero/articles/watch-learn-flight-language-lessons-put-words-passengers-mouths/

Duolingo

Memrise

My Language Exchange

https://www.mylanguageexchange.com/

UTalk /Eurotalk

https://utalk.com/news/tag/wikipedia/

https://utalk.com/news/helping-yourself-to-learn-a-language/

For Children

https://utalklanguagegames.com/

https://eurotalk.com/en/store/learn/french/talknow/cd

Why Learn Another Language? (Plus 7 easy Swedish words)

Flag of Esperanto. From Wikipedia.

1 Be Bilingual

 Being bilingual could stave off Alzheimers for five years. Giving you quality of life. Saving you from sad visits to grannies. Saving the government money.

2 Why Start Language Learning With Esperanto?

If you only speak one language, (English and louder English) and are scared of languages, the easiest is to learn Esperanto. It is a made up language designed as an intermediary language for Europeans. 

What use is it?

a) People who learn it go on to learn another language and pick it up faster. 

3 Where can I speak Esperanto?

b) You can find or start Esperanto clubs on Meetup. In the UK there is one in Reading. 

c) Although no country speaks it, you can join the homestay system and stay with another Esperanto speaker for free for three days to practise the language. 

d) Countries like Hungary, whose language has little in common with neighbouring languages, favour Esperanto. Hungary has had Esperanto as an A level.) I bought the Esperato-English dictionary and did a correspondence course in Esperanto. You can see a map of where to find Esperanto speakers.

e) Esperanto speakers hold an annual conference.

3 A sense of achievement

Which languages are easiest? First Esperanto if you are European or speak English. Then Spanish, from that Portuguese or Italian. If you are learning Chinese or Japanese, they are a pair. The written language uses the same symbols, like the no smoking sign and washing symbols, the signs are the same, although the spoken words are different. Bulgarian uses Cyrillic like Russian. Cyrillic combines Greek and Hebrew with new letters. Spoken Arabic and Hebrew are similar. Salaam and Shalom mean peace or hello.  

German and Dutch and the Scandinavian languages are a group. Finland has Swedish as one of two official languages. Chinese (Mandarin) is also used in Taiwan, and Singapore. (Hong Kong uses Cantonese.)

Humour In Language

Lots of mistakes in language are funny in retrospect. I wanted trousers in a US department store. They say pants for trousers and underpants for pants.

I asked for rubbers.  

'Not stocked here. Try a drug store.' 

I found them. I confronted the assistant. 'What's this!'

An eraser.

The American for rubbers is erasers. Rubbers are contraceptives.

Spanish, Italian and Portuguese are a group.

Some simple Swedish words

Swedish - English

1 arkitekt - architect

2 modell  - model

3 polis - police

4 pappa - papa/Dad (notice the a, unlike American Pop)

5 professionell - professional

6 syster - sister

7 tomat - tomato

English - Swedish

1 architect - arkitekt

2 Dad/pop/papa - pappa

3 model - modell

4 police - polis

5 professional - professionell

6 Sister - syster

7 tomato - tomat

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

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Learn Chinese: How to say WHAT, WHO, WHICH, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, HOW, HOW M...

Learning and remembering names of people you meet when you travel

 "What is your good name?" was the charming question from an Asian friend-to-be.

My good name is Angela, which is Greek for messenger.

Biblical And Religious Names

Many names are from the original bible (which Christians called the Old Testament, after they added the New Testament. Abraham, David, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Paul, Saul, Solomon. For females, Rachel, Rebbekah, Sarah (which means princess - Hebrew version nowadays is Shoshana). Diminutives include Bekky, Rae, Ray, Sally 

Jewish, Hebrew and Yiddish

The Yiddish and Hebrew versions include Abram, Avram, Baruch, Moishe, Yitzak. Diminutives (short abbreviations) include Abe, Jo, Izzie, Mo, Solly.  The twelve tribes of Israel supply surnames such as Hart (a hart or deer). 

Cohen means priest. Anglicization results in variations such as Cahn, Kahn, Cohan and Cohn.

El and Ya (or Yahweh) are the two terms for God. Joel combines both. Eliza, Elizabeth. Daniel (God is my judge). Ezekiel. Michael (Micha-el). Jo-seph. Jo-anne.

From the New Testament, Mathew, Mark, Luke, John. 

Jesus (pronounced Hay Zeus in Venezuela) and Christus are Spanish. 

French

Marie (Mary in English) is given to many girls in France. Therefore a different name is added, such as Marie-Antoinette. Blanc means white, so LeBlanc is the white one, or white-haired, or pale skinned.

Greek

Peter is rock (English) and Petur.

Moslem

Mohammed is frequent amongst Moslems. David becomes Dawood, as a surname or family name. You can sometimes see that the names in Arabic are derived from Aramaic, similar to Hebrew. Amin is Arabic and means trustworthy, often used as part of a compound word.

Latin

Latin names include Caesar, Julius (from which we get the month of July), Marcus,

Danes & Scandinavian

Danes and Scandinavians might call themselves Christian as a first or middle name, such as Hans Christian Andersen.

Italian names

Male names end with o such as Mario, whilst the girls' names often end with a, such as Maria.

Iago is equivalent to John.

English Family Names

English names often end with son which means son of. For example, Johnson, Peterson, Robinson, Stevens, Williams.

Scandinavian Family Names

Scandinavian names often end with sen which means son of.

Scottish Family Names

The Scottish Fitz means son of. Fitzwilliam is son of William. The Irish O' means of. O'Connor means of Connor. Anderson means son of Anders.

Dutch Names

Dutch names might include von which means from.

German Names

German first names include Fritz, Hans, Herman, Wolf.

The family names include: Cassell, castle; Mann, meaning Mann, Kaufman meaning shopkeeper or seller, Klein meaning small, Muller meaning Miller.

Indian/Hindu/Sanskrit

Anand from Sanskrit means joy. Balakrishnan means child of Krishna. Kaur is a woman's name among Sikhs and others, used as a last name or the last part of a first name or personal name. Mohan means

Patel is Gujurati and means the head man of the village. Reddy is a caste from Southern India, and members of this cast are known for both farming and administration.

Shah, which I thought was King, is described as Emperor in Persian but a mere merchant in other groups. Of course, a merchant could be very rich and powerful (a bit like company director).

Sharma means joy or shelter.

Names from Gods include

Names of tribes include

Russian

Russian names include of or ov for a man, son of (place or person), whilst ova is daughter/female of a place or person. So Ivanov is son of Ivan.

Spanish Names

Spanish names, like French, are often taken from the Saint's Day, which is the birthday of the child being names.  Popular names include Teresa. José is the name Joseph in English (or vice-versa) and if your surname is Fidel that means faithful.

Rude Names

Some foreign names sound rude in English. It would be rude to draw attention to it. However, I must, in case you wonder why others are laughing, from embarrassment, when you are not. Cock means a part of the male anatomy in English. It is a popular surname in The Netherlands, because it means Cook in Dutch. 

The Chinese surname Kok is frequently seen or heard.

Some other customs you might come across which could confuse you. You may need to ask questions to clarify. In the UK in previous generations it was standard for a woman to take the man's family name upon marriage. Amongst the upper classes, when both families were prominent and well-known, a name could be hyphenated. Later with the advent of TV and media celebrities, women who took their husband's name might retain their own name by which they were already well known. For example, tennis player Billy Jean-King. 

In Spain the woman's family name is often retained as a middle name. No hyphen.

Chinese Names

Shan meaning mountain is a common girl's name. Shan Shan is a plural. Mountains.

Mei means beautiful.

Japanese

Ko means a female, a girl, a daughter. Hence names such Akiko, Yoko, Yumiko. 

Travel Tip

To learn somebody else's name, or impress yours on their mind so they don't forget you, repeat the name three times.

Useful Websites

https://www.momjunction.com/articles/popular-indian-last-names-for-your-baby_00334734/

Writing my elevator speech in Chinese and other languages

Why learn to read a foreign language?

I want to read foreign languages so that I can read signs on stations and in hotels. I need to read signposts and maps when walking, driving, or taking a taxi.

It is also useful to be able to translate the headlines in newspapers.

When listening to conversations, I listen out for useful words, at least to know if the answer to a question is yes or no.waiters and hotel receptions saying, yes, no, we can, and we can't.

Greek

In the Meze restaurant in Limassol in Cyprus, I could only see that they were still discussing whether they could find us a table and when.

Russian 

When I listened to a Ukrainian woman talking on the mobile phone to her son, I kept hearing Da, which is yes in Russian, so I assumed it was the same in Ukrainian.

USA

We often hear about how you should prepare your elevator speech. That's a two minute speech introducing yourself when you happen to find yourself with the CEO or VIP - or in fact anybody who might be useful. 

First, make yourself sound pleasant: useful, helpful. (I am visiting your lovely country.) Or a recipient of the listener's greater wisdom. ('We are lost. Are you local?')

Next, end with your question. Or call to action.

Your request for action or answers could be simple. 'Where is the restaurant?' Or, 'Where is the nearest toilet?'  

Cyprus

In Cyprus, our statements and simplified questions were, "We (are) British tourists. Here (only) one day.  (We don't mind) waiting, (for a table). (Is that  ) OK? (Can we sit on) a chair? (And read) the menu? (Maybe order) a drink?"

Eventually, I want to give the introductory or icebreaker speech to a Mandarin speaking club in Singapore. I want to know how to introduce myself in a minimum of four minutes for a four to six minute speech.

Some sentences are easier than others. Some nationalities are easier to pronounce than others. Decide what you want to say, and the easiest way to remember the useful words. For example, Is it easier to say, I am English, or, I am not American. 

Can I make a joke? using the same sentence structure, I might use different nouns or adjectives. Translate, I am not American, I am not Australian, I am not Chinese, I am English. 

Many phrase books such as the Berlitz phrase books divide the sentences into useful things you can say in certain situations or places, such as at the doctor, dentist, hospital, airport, train or bus station.

Berlitz also started Earworms. I have the discs and books. They come in a set of two. I have set one for German and Chinese. The part one starts with a conversation on a plane. I would like a beer, a glass of water, and so on, to the air hostess. To your fellow passenger, I am from such and such a city. Where are you from. Are you married? I am married. (Vital for singles, this one, if looking for romance, and for married people, when trying to prevent trouble.)

In Chinese I wanted to look up the difference, if any, between I and me, and me and mine.

What are: I , me , my book 

I translate into Chinese, then separate the words to see what each one means. Then translate back into English.

Google translate gave me this

I - wo

of - de

book - shu

You have to watch the accents which are a guide to the tone. 

Useful Websites

Sleepless Nights? Learn Languages!

Travelling to another time zone can upset your body clock. In theory, you can keep moving your bedtime by an hour until you are almost on the same time zone as your destination. Or you can watch films on the plane and keep yourself awake until the local bedtime, by which time you are so tired that you are bound to fall asleep.

I discovered that if you are awake and worrying, you can kill the worries and make use of the time by learning languages. Or do any other task you have been postponing. After midnight, it's 'free' time. You can write your novel, tidy, clean. You can do an easy task and get it out of the way.That frees up the next day to do work or vital tasks. Or simply sleep.

Unpack. Or pack for your next trip. Or make a packing list.

Or learn a language.

I have recently been using duolingo. com which sends me regular reminders by email. 

My flashcards for Chinese were from thamesandhudson.com and cost me 12.95 

If you are tired and fed up, the latest version of Duolingo in June 2022 has animated figures which applaud you, after five or ten right answers in a row.

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

thamesandhudson.com 

Interlingua Festival June 24th and 25th in Lido Tegelsee, Berlin, Germany

 

English version below   Hallå, namaste, sawubona! Wir können es kaum erwarten – in 10 Tagen startet das EXPOLINGUA Festival im Strandbad Tegelsee!   Am 24. und 25. Juni von morgens bis abends erwartet Dich ein vielfältiges Programm, u.a.: Korean in a bubble, Chinesische Kalligraphie, Encuentro Hispano, Berufsbild Übersetzer, Darbuka Trommel Workshop, Sumo, Jobsuche in Deutschland, Co-creative Haiku Poetry Workshop, Meet&Greet with famous Content Creators, Workshops für Sprachlehrer*Innen, Arabisch, Dänisch, Griechisch, Persisch, Schwedisch, Tschechisch, und das ist noch nicht alles!  Das Programm wächst noch immer jeden Tag!   Das alles Open-Air und gut erreichbar mit EXPOLINGUA-Shuttle-Bussen vom U-Bahnhof Alt-Tegel und S-Bahnhof Tegel oder alternativ mit den Öffis!   Sichere Dir hier Deine Freikarte – wir freuen uns auf Dich! ­ ­ Zur Anmeldung für eine Freikarte ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ENGLISH VERSION:   We can hardly wait: in 10 days the EXPOLINGUA Festival will start at lido Tegelsee, Berlin!   A diverse program awaits you on June 24th and 25th from morning to evening, i.a.: Korean in a bubble, Chinese calligraphy, Encuentro Hispano, job profile translator, darbuka drum workshop, sumo, job search in Germany, co-creative haiku poetry workshop, meet & greet with famous content creators, workshops for language teachers, Arabic, Danish, Greek, Persian, Swedish, Czech, and that's not all!   The program is still growing every day!   Open air and easily accessible with EXPOLINGUA shuttle buses from the Alt-Tegel underground station and Tegel S-Bahn station or alternatively with public transport.    Grab your free ticket here: we look forward to seeing you! ­ ­ Register here for a free ticket! ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Unsere Partner: ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

­ ­ ­ EXPOLINGUA Scharnhorststr. 24, 10115, Berlin

Useful Websites

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

https://www.facebook.com/blauhomine/