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

-ends-

Useful English-German websites

duolingo.com

https://wikitravel.org/en/German_phrasebook

translate.google.com

-ends-

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Packing List for business and holiday trips

 

Here is a generic packing list you can adapt

Shopping list

Checks in advance

Passport checks 

Check for the expiry date, and the expiry date allowed by destinations. Some countries require 6 months, in case you overstay.

Check your passport has no rips or tears or the airline might deny you boarding

Check enough blank pages are left for visas.

Visas - check requirements for all family and colleagues including spouse, children, nanny, granny, driver, guide, family members who are different nationality.

Allow time for visa issue, or you have to pay extra for fast delivery or courier if you don't have time to go to the embassy, even if sending it remotely is allowed

If you need a new passport you may need to reapply for visas in the new passport. You might have to send back your old passport. In that case copy it so you have a permanent record of your travels for your diary and family history. Records of travels can prove you meet residency requirements, and remind you to not exceed them. In addition, evidence of travel might prove you could not have committed a parking offence or serious crime because you were overseas.

Car

Car tax

MOT (car road worthiness)

Tyre pressure

Petrol (gas) - fill up, note or dated photograph amount in car, in case of petrol theft

Car numberplate noted

car insurance, check expiry date

Car insurance number 

car insurance helpline

Compare car hire costs and book car hire

Note location of car hire office

Note location of meet and greet at airport, or parking or valet parking, which side of building, which side of road

Suitcase

Check suitcase is regulation size and weight, 

fits in boot (trunk) of car, 

is not too heavy to carry

leave space for souvenirs, gifts from family, hotels, restaurants, conference bags and literature, guidebooks bought at destination, maps and brochures

Check suitcase wheels work and are clean

pack luggage trolley, strap, string, labels, scissors with blades less than the regulation, which could be a maximum of six inches from a certain point on the scissors or knife blade

Photograph luggage and note colour and brand in case you need to report loss, or speak to those whose language is not English

add identifying colour or sticker to black suitcases and all suitcases and bags, umbrellas, walking sticks

Note hiking sticks with points might not be allowed, as carry on, also sports equipment such as cricket bats, surf boards, tennis rackets, so these must be packed in checked in luggage or sent separately as oversize luggage

Clingfilm or luggage protector might be useful to protect luggage from scratches and dirt

LANGUAGE

Print vital words of foreign language of destination (from Wikitravel phrasebook of the country or countries of your travel tip)

Learn the word for help

(I was able to shout AYUDA, Spanish for aid or help, when I fell downstairs in a Spanish parador hotel in La Palma, in the Canary Islands)

Print the word for allergy and the type of allergy for a restaurant or doctor or pharmacy

Travel insurance

 patient number, eg UK  NHS number 

helpline number

Destination

Destination and contact details and names for family, neighbours or colleagues

Hotel

Book room upgrades

Airline

Book airline upgrades such as leg room, exit seat, 

check in online at correct time, being sure not to pay extra on budget airline for printing boarding pass, ate or early check in

Holiday booking location and date confirmation

copy of passport left at home with passport number

First night hotel reservation

Location of destination hospital or doctor

Before leaving home

Inform work or club of duties others must do whilst you are away

Inform work or club of dates you are not available. For security do not tell media nor allow others to broadcast the fact that you are out of the office, your home, or your country. Simply say you are unavailable, or away from desk, or unable to take calls.

Cancel gardeners or window cleaners, or leave their payment with others, or book them for your return.

Leave a set of door keys and credit cards at home in case they are lost or stolen from you whilst away

Turn off gas, electricity, water, heating, air con, or leave it on low, according to length of stay and weather forecast and safety requirements

Check for items left in dishwasher or microwave or fridge which might go rancid

PETS

Arrange pet sitter.

Get pet acquainted with pet sitter or pet holiday location. 

Put chip and tags on pet. Leave pet toys and food and instructions. Check pet insurance and where pet sitter should take pet, and instruct pet sitter on insurance, pet hospital or vet location and whether pet should be saved at all costs if injured or ill. 

Check if pet is allowed in cabin of aircraft and what leash or bedding or pet food must be provided.

AIRLINE

Book special seat, window for photos, aisle for claustrophobic, near toilet, away from noisy galley and babies, quietest part of plane, upgrade, seats of family together, near exit if in transit,

Available airmiles

HOTEL OR CONFERENCE CENTRE

Find out if there is a group or delegate or longstay discount

Join hotel loyalty scheme to get upgrades, freebies, better toiletries.

Book junior  suite or sea view.

Note which side of hotel is on busy road.

Book ground floor if afraid of heights. Book higher floor if afraid of intruders through doors and windows.

Book room near fire escape, or away from left noise, or near lift or conference room or restaurant or swimming pool if likely to be in a rush.

Book rooms near other members of family or group.

Book rooms near lift if you have mobility problems.

Check hotel has a lift or porter for luggage if you cannot carry luggage or have many bags.

Ensure suitcases are locked, and keep valuables and laptops with you because the luggage trolley may go in another lift.

Keep swimsuit handy in travel bag, wheel on gab or top of suitcase, in case pool closes at 5 pm or just after your arrival. You could even travel in a swimsuit to be sure of using the pool if you are only staying one night.

Check pool closing times (5 pm at some SPANISH parador hotels in the Canary islands of La Palma and Tenerife).

Tell restaurant in advance it is your birthday, allergies. 

Arrive early and check room before accepting it.

Compare with rooms of others in your group. 

Swapping Bedrooms For A Bidet Story June 2026

My bedroom in the Parador Teide on Tenerife had a bidet but the next Parador on La Palma gave me a room with no bidet. I thought it was just a lower grade or older hotel. I asked to see a friend's ground floor room and discovered they had a bidet. 

I went back to reception and asked if they had a room with a bidet at the same price. They did. I requested a swap. 

My husband was already asleep on the bed. However, I wheeled out the suitcases and left him a note of the new room number. 

After installing everything in the other room, I went back and found he was awake and astonished that all the suitcases and bags had been moved in the dark without disturbing him.

   

Travel ITEMS

Clothes

Travel Documents

Travel Bag

Before Returning Home

Before Leaving Hotel

Before Leaving Hotel Bedroom

During and after accident

Photo of location for insurance

FORWARD A COPY TO another family member

Photo of injury for doctor/insurance claim

Details of vehicle or condition of place of injusry (eg broken step, wet floor)

Hospital x-ray and report and translation for continuing care at home on return

Make report to insurance within the required time frame

MEDICATION

Daily pills 

Painkillers eg aspirin or if allergic to aspirin, panadol/paracetamol - know the local generic name to buy cheaper than branded products eg in the Philippines

Travel pills

 sea sickness 

sleeping pills

Insect repellent

Insect spray )if travelling by car, not a pressurised can if on aircraft_

Stingose or other bite cream.

Medication for mouth ulcers, athletes foot, dandruff.

Special Trips 

Equipment

Clothes

Sports

Swimming = swimming costume, hat, beach shoes, beach bag or towel, sunhat, sun cream, wqterproof keyholder, waterproof watch, cover for phone. Buckets and spades for children. Information on tsunamis, beach flag warnings/

City and hotel Precautions

Earthquake shelters, fire escape. 

Check in

Check out

Day before departure

Pack all except travel clothes and food. have address inside suitcase.

ALARMS

set alarms on hotel clock, mobile phone or watch

Order early picnic breakfast if needed, vegetarian if needed, request compact packing if travelling on airline with luggage restrictions. remember to ask for vegetarian or fish alternative such as salmon if you don't like beef, pork, processed meat, cheese, egg, tuna (our three star parador de las Canadas del Teide on Tenerife gave us salmon and egg instead of ham and cheese, but the grander five star Taoro hotel said they only did regular and vegetarian, gave us thick white bread, and when we changed one item to vegetarian and said one vegetarian, for me, we got one breakfast instead of two, so the other made in a hurry had to be rushed up the car park to us after we had checked out.

Skiing

Ski boots, poles if practical and preferred rather than hiring, trousers (pants) thermal underclothes, gloves, hat, goggles, padded jacket with interior and exterior pockets, lift pass lanyard and identity photos.

Hiking

Wine events

Pack bottle stoppers, Champagne stoppers, Platypus flat screw top drink containers, water bottles filled with water, wafers or savoury biscuits, tee shirts with wine logos, ear-rings with wine symbols, names of delegates, good year charts, colour identity charts, books on wines, business address cards, passport or identity card to prove you are over 18, hard shell suitcase to support wine, protective plastic bottle covers, gift tags and bottle bags for gifts to VIP speakers, or helpers 

Conference

Learn the names of the VIP speakers, your colleagues overseas, the organizers. Look up their photos on Facebook or LinkedIn in order to recognize them.

Check if any of your group of old or new friends or colleagues are travelling back the same way. You might car share, sit together, swap advice, share alternative car hire if the airline cancels the flight.

Before boarding plane home

Pack computer or laptop if on airline with luggage restriction, pack

Leave room for computer, umbrella, folding walking sticks if travelling on airline with luggage restrictions.

Thank organizers.

Note hotel names in your diary and write reviews whilst you have time at the airport and it is fresh in your memory.

For some repeat events you might wish to book the hotel again for next year, especially for annual events such as the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland in August.

SIMPLE PACKING LIST

Dress / Suit for travel, underwear (bra, vest, underpants) socks, sandals, bag for documents, spare clothes, night dress / pyjamas Optional swimsuit. Scarf, belt, jewellery for evening. Sunhat. Jacket, Raincoat.

Toothbrush and paste, comb, lipstick.

Notebook and pen.

Diary.

Travel documents - passport, visa, airline ticket on phone, car park ticket, driving license, hotel reservation letter, mobile phone and charger, and sockets, laptop and powerpoint, mouse and cover. Additional camera for conference calls.

Packing Clothes

Day dresses and suits (numbers of days of stay, maximum 7, wash and wear repeat for second week.

Sandals, spare pair, waterproof or beach shoes, evening shoes, hiking boots or walking shoes.

Socks.

Evening blouses and skirt, 

best dress or suit, 

jewellery to match,

 necklace, bracelet, rings, brooch, scarf slip, safety pins and sewing kit with needles threaded with black and white cotton or self threading needle, or needle threader. Optional spare spools of black and white thread for shortening hems and dresses or repairing tears.

Packing Medication / cosmetics

Toothebrush or elecgric toothebrush and charger

Toothepaste

Tweezers and nail file or  manicure set

Hair conditioner and shampoo

insect spray for car and bedroom

insect repellent for body in day, evening and night

warm evening jacket for air conditioning

Shorts and sleeveless top for sunny spells

Warm jumper, sweatshirt and jacket for cold mountains, sea breezes, mountain hikes, evenings, bike and boat rides.

Paxkable umbrella, kept handy for travelling. 

(Some gym bags have a waterproof zip compartment underneath for wet swimsuits, sweaty gym outfits, laundry, or wet umbrellas).

For travelling I have bought a bag with a horizontal strap to fix the bag on top of a wheelie bag. You can also buy computer cases with a strap.

Soap and or shaving cream and razor

Packing List  - take it with you to check you have brought back everything you set out with, nothing left behind.

Hotel Bedroom Check

Two or more people should do the bedroom check.

Check every room and every cupboard, behind every door (hook on the back of the bathroom door for your own bathrobe or night dress or swimsuit or underwear_

Check in cupboards (even if not used by you - our toddler put a toy in a hotel cupboard)

Check under beds for pens and slippers.

Check under pillows for night clothes and contraceptives. 

Check wastebins for items which have fallen off tables.

Check the minibar for your pills as well as food and drink, alcohol, birthday cake, chocolates and cheese and milk.

Photograph the minibar when you arrive and leave to prove to yourself and the hotel whether you took any goods.

Check bathroom for toothbrush left for you to clean teeth after breakfast.

Check balcony for shoes and swimsuits and underwear and night clothes left to dry.

Check pockets of all discarded items. To get onto a Ryanair flight without paying fifty pounds for excess baggage, after we had already paid for three bags, my husband put my laptop in a suitcase and threw away the case. I check the padded pockets and found my power brick and mouse.

Car check

Check car boot, glove box, door pockets, pockets on the back of the front seats, under the front seats.

On the end of your packing list write reminders for next trip.

My reminders are

1 Keep a coin handy for a luggage trolley at Stansted airport in the Uk.

2 The collection point for cars is by the valet direction upstairs, not back down at meet and greet where you left your car.

3 Pack Nespresso or Lidl coffee capsules if going to the Canary islands. We did not like the coffee capsules given free with the coffee making machines in four different hotels.

Happy holidays!

Useful Websites

Visas

See embassy websites.

Suitcases

A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING

Have a standard place for everything. For example, business cards on the left, toothbrush and cosmetics on the right. Swimsuit top left. Swimsuit and underwear top right. Day clothes on top. Evening clothes at the bottom. Or day clothes on one side. Evening clothes on the other side. Always lay the suitcase down the same way. For example, pull up handle on the right. 

If two of you have a suitcase each and both need an x shape folding suitcase support. One hotel reception told me they have a room full of them to supply to guests on request.

Check ebay and amazon and other specialist luggage shops and brands. You might look for hard shell cases to protect fragile items and bottles. I like expanding suitcases, which have double zips.

Suitcases with double dividers allow you to open one half without the contents of the other half spilling everywhere. Another solution is packing cubes. Or pack flat and secure with inner straps.

As for scissors, no blades longer than 6 cm measured from the fulcrum.

Useful Websites

What you cannot take on Ryanair

https://help.ryanair.com/hc/en-gb

Japanese Language - A Quick Reminder

I thought I could probably remember up to ten Japanese words, and you could probably do the same, at least five, without visiting recently or at all.

Here is my list, amplified with a quick look back through my own blogs on Japanese.

Akiko  girl's name meaning bright or autumn child (ko as the ending of a name means child or girl)

arigato - thank you

baddo - bad

basu - bus

beddo - bed

bento - box of lunch, think of lunch box, divided into compartments like an airline meal

creamu - cream

desuku - desk

e Edo - (name of former capital, gate of the river, now used in other place names)

fan - electric cooling fan

gamu - gum

geisha girl - entertainer, usually female, multi-skilled including singing and sympathy

ginko - nuts, prized for health giving property

hai - yes (I think  of Hi. Another memory aid would be to think of a high excited agreement of delight at a suggestion)

Hiroshima - hiro is wide and shima is island

hoteru - hotel

iki-gai - zest for life, reason for living, passion, inspiration, what gives your life meaning

jinzu - jeans

judo - gentle way, (martial arts). judoka - judo practitioner, judo-ki judo clothing or uniform 

kamera - camera

karaoke - singing for fun, to recorded music, using songsheets of video subtitles in the language you choose, provided by the company hiring the studio room, often in a shopping mall or hotel The word means empty orchestra.

kawa - river

Kiko (ki-ko means hope-child, or bright future)

Kimono - wide sleeved outfit, wrap around, secured by a wide belt. Associated with women, but can also be worn by men. Often heavy, satin or similar, lined, elegant, with seasonal patterns

Kin-tsugi - literally gold(en) journey, adding a gold line over a crack in a cracked or broken porcelain 'china' case, crockery, bowl or other object, to recycle and upcycle. Kinkaku-ji means the golden pavilion.

kinokunia - bookshop name, huge store in Singapore, name meaning country, trees

kissu - kiss

Kōhī - coffee

konnichiwa - hello / good afternoon

Kyoto  kyo means capital, to means capital, together they mean capital city

l

menu - menu

Midori - green, a girl's name, and a green drink, sweet, melon flavour,20% alcohol and as it is quite strong, used with non-alcoholic mixers to make cocktails

miso soup, like a green tea, meatless, seaweed?

mori means mountain

N 

Nagasaki, name of the city, from Naga meaning long, and saki meaning headland or cape

Noriko - girl's name law-child, discipline

O obi - wide sash worn over a kimono to tie around the waist.

Ohaiyo gozaimasu. Good morning.

piza - pizza

q

resutoran - restaurant

sake - the drink, a spirit, served hot or cold from a small porcelain bottle into tiny porcelain cuts without handles. I love it.

sayonara - goodbye. You can watch a video on You Tube of the popular classical song, in English, featuring the word sayonara.

sensei - teacher master maestro

sofa - sofa

sushi - pressed rice, topped with sliced raw fish, or meat 

sachimi Sashi - sliced/pierced thinly - mi = meat)

shoppingu moru - shopping mall

taxi - taxi

Tokyo means Eastern Capital

tometo - tomato

u

v

wagu beef, tender marbled meat from a breed of cow called Wagu, fattened up from Kobo in Japan, or Australian, expensive because of the cost of feeding the cattle

Wasabi - horseradish or similar plant, green paste with sharp flavour

x

Yotto - yacht

Yoko - girls name meaning sunlight-child, child of sunlight, bright child

Yokohama yoko is by, beside, next to, and hama is beach or shore

yukata - light summer kimono, fold-over wrap, housecoat, often cotton

Yukiko - girl's name snow-child, pure and soft

zero - zero

Useful websites

https://www.namesmama.com/japanese-girl-names/

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

https://japaninsides.com/japanese-words-that-sound-like-english-38261

wordhippo.com

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Easy Swahili for Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and talking to friends from East Africa: hoteli is hotel

 I was talking to a new friend who had emigrated from East Africa to the UK many years ago. She told me she could speak Swahili. I started a multilingual club for Toastmasters International running through languages from A to Z, starting with Arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew, three linked languages, and ending with Zulu, an African language close to Xhosa. After a year of learning a language a week, with 25 slides on words on menus, words on maps, everyday words, landmarks for tourists to visit, I was exhausted, but I have two new friends keep to restart it. Under the letter S I featured Spanish, with Portuguese and Italian. Now I plan to add Swahili.

When I looked up Swahili in Wikipedia I was astonished to find that Swahili, far from being a minority language, is huge, with about 200 million speakers worldwide. (Could be only 150 million. Only!) So, let's start.

Swahili

I started Swahili on Duolingo. The first few lessons were easy, because it was all written in the alphabet I know. (I struggle with Greek, Hebrew, Russian which is a combination of Greek and Hebrew created by two brothers, one called Cyril, who gave his name to Cyrillic. I have conquered basic Mandarin signs but there are many more. Korean is a step ahead. 

Duolingo Swahili

But back to Swahili. Dulingo nowadays has used its hundred or so employees over in the USA to create not just amusing animations to hold your attention, but a guidebook at the start of each set of lessons. Sometimes I photograph the guidebook page so I can keep it open next to me. You could print it off or have two screens open as a reminder when you do the exercises.

In Swahili I created my own memory aids. Eventually you should start to remember simply by the endless repetition. But when I do things last moment at night and like Cinderella I want to go off to bed at midight, I want to finish fast.

I ended up number one for the thirty in my Amethyst league, by doing about an hour of Swahili when I was too tired to do anything else at eleven to midnight.

5 SIMPLE & SAME SWAHILI WORDS

Today I wanted to find some simple words in Swahili. I already had a page of words in Spanish in Google translate. I changed the Spanish to Swahili and looked for words which were the same in order to find things easy to remember. 

Swahili - English

hoteli - hotel

kamera - camera

latte - latte

menyu - menu

palm - palm

English - Swahili

camera - kamera

hotel - hoteli

latte - latte

menu - menyu

palm - palm

5 Easy Swahili words

Swahili - English

daima - (delightful - my memory aid) wonderful

kihispania - Spanish

soka - soccer

I - mimi

(In addition to mimi being I, M in front of a word means froM that country)

Mchina - Chinese

***

2 CONFUSIONS ! CLEARED !

you - wewe 

he/she - yeye

consusingly, you looks like we and and he or she looks like ye, or old fashioned you. I needed to find a memory aid for these words which you will see below.

English - Swahili. 

delightful/wonderful/lika a diamond - daima

 Spanish - kihispania

soccer - soka

***

I - mimi (like me, me)

you - wewe / ninyi (we - you as well as me, not just me, you)

he/she - yeye (yeah, he and she too, yeah, he can come too, yeah, she can come too, yeye spelled like he and she, ye ye)

If this is all to easy, or you finish the Duolingo course, or you are planning a travel, you can look at the Swahili wiipedia.

The Swahili Wikipedia (Swahili: Wikipedia ya Kiswahili) is the Swahili language edition of Wikipedia. 

Useful Swahili Websites

duolingo.com Swahili

translate google English - swahili

Wikipedia Swahili language

Wikivoyage - Kenya, Tanzania, Africa

Wikitravel (has advertisements, annoying if you are not travelling there, though they may highlight modern sights, hotels and tour operatora, but handy if you are planning a trip)

See my previous posts on Swahili.

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Portable potty for camping, cars, hotels, homes - or invalids

Hotels & Confence Centres

 I am planning a holiday at a conference centre and they might not be able to provide a room with step free access. What if the room is ground floor, but has a high step into the min shower and basin and toilet area?

Invalids At Home

What about at home? I am having difficulty walking. It's painful. 

Hotels - Historic

When I was a child, every bedroom at home or in a hotel, had a potty under the bed or in the bedside table, (Americans call it a night stand). As far as I remember, they did not have the sophistication of a lid, wwhich would have got in the way of the user in the dark. You left a tip for the chamber maid who emptied the potty in the morning.

Commodes

I looked up commodes. Up popped something interesting. A portable potty for camping. 

It looks like those concertina plastic cups which collapse and expand. I must admit, my experience is that they collapse when you are using them, spillig water. One would not want that to happen with a portable potty. For several reasons. The danger of injuring yourself. Makig a mess. Damaging the potty. Stress

Portable Potty For Camping

The portable potty comes, modern style, with a roll of about ten bag liners. easier than washing out the whole item. I don't know how heavy it is to carry.

Could it be used in hotels? Or for invalids?

Homes Without Toilets

Would it save women in countries like India from risking going out at night when they could be attacked, robbed, raped?

Portable Potty Reviews

I read the reviews which said that it was sturdy. 

Portable Potty Prices

It is a lot cheaper than the commodes for long term invalids, designed like dining chairs, bucket chairs. 

A cheaper folding chair potty is only six pounds seventy four pence. From Temu. Free delivery. Allow 4 days.

Cars and Traffic James

The other time you might need one is when stuck in a traffic jam.

Campervans

Or in a Campervan. Which does not hook up to an emptying device. 

Blocked Toilets

Another use would be for when the toilet is blocked. 

Renovating Apartments

Or staying in a new or renovating apartment during building or rebuilding before the services are connected up.

Cheapest Potties

The collapsible, carry in a case potty from Temu is fifteen pounds twenty pence. I also saw it at 16.21.

The cheapest lidded potty is under five pounds (ten dollars). 

Useful websites

https://www.temu.com/uk/portable-camping-toilet-lightweight-adjustable-height-foldable-travel-potty-for-adults-durable-pvc-construction-ideal-for-travel-camping-emergencies-black-retractable-versatile-design-g-601100182187551.html?

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Make The Alphabet With Ava Cutlery Game - How to use Cutlery in Restaaurnats to Teach children to read letters

 V I watched with amazement and admiration as Helena showed her niece, Ava, how to turn knives and forks into letters of the alphabet. Helena was teaching 4 year old Ava how to spell her name, A, with the knife and fork tips together. Then create V. E and F. 

Helena did it first. Then Ava copied her.

Do you know how to create letters with knives and forks?

A common name in China and Vietnam is Li. Easily created with chopsticks.

Photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

I lay awake at night thinking it through. I kept counting how many letters you could make using the liner shape of a knife or fork. I counted sixteen straight letters. 

The other letters had circles, half circles, and quarter circles. How would you make the circle and curves? Easy, Look for items with curves on the table. 

Either draw arond theme, or place them entire., or use pieces of multiple small fruit such as grapes, strawberries, cherries, to create lines and curves,

Here is my list of letters.

Line Letters - using knives and forks 15 of them

A E FHIKLMNTVWXYZ

Letters with curves (11 of them)

BCDGJOPQRSU

You could also do this on planes with their cutlery.

Useful Wwebsites

https://www.policybazaar.com/plans/baby-names/2-letter-baby-boy-names/

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Perfect and Vital Photos of Holiday Resorts, Business, family, friends, clubs

A welcome sign can be used to open a slide show or blog.
 

You can take photos on travels, whether on business or holiday, either for a purpose or as a backup.

These are the photos I take

IN ADVANCE - TICKETS & LUGGAGE & PEOPLE

If you forget, take luggage in transit or as you check-in at an airport.

Suitcases showing colour, style (hard side), size and brand, for identification in case of loss. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

1 TICKETS

Tickets and reservations. They may be on the internet but the internet could go down. They may be on my phone but the phone might need charging or not get a connection to show them.

The hotel, plane, or tour or restaurant might not recognize you. Your reservation letter would reveal that you are at the wrong branch of a Holiday Inn. Of an Asian hotel has listed your first name as a family name. 

2 BAGS

Photos of luggage. In case I need to search, send others to search at baggage claim, or fill out a form. If you lose luggage they ask the colour and brand. If you have eight items it is hard to remember, and if there is a query, or language problem, you can show a picture.

3 PEOPLE

Photos of your companions are useful. Lose your husband at an airport or meeting. In a large shop? Lose a child? Show the photo to an official or bystander.

DESTINATION

4 Destination photos. PLACES. 

First I take my hotel. If I get lost, I can show the picture to a local person. Even if I can't speak the language, or the cannot understand my accent, they can lead me to the end of he road and point to my nearby, yet seemingly elusive hotel.

Hotel Imperial, Valladolid. Spain. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

5 PEOPLE

Photos of people on business, or friends. Take a photo to add to your contacts. If you have six people called Marie, or Patel, or Ali, you will be able to identify the person who you promised to send the photos of the three of you at an event.

6 FOOD & DRINK

Photos of wine bottles, labelled food at a buffet, so you can ask for it in a local supermarket to take home as a souvenir or gift.

7 Photos of yourself. For a passport photo or visa or ski lift pass. Or in action to show your credentials as an expert, as a chef, of speaker, on a TV show, with the book you are selling.

8 YOUR FAVOURITES AT HOME

Photos of books or goods or restaurants you want to sell of recommend.  If you live in a well known place such as New York or Rome, you might meet somebody who says they are going there, so can you recommend a restaurant or hotel. Take your favourite hotel or restaurant or museum photo just before you go, so you can show it, and WhatsApp it to the person who asks you.

9 LOCATION NAMES

A name, phone, signpost, welcome design of each city or hotel. This helps you to identify cities, landmarks, churches, temples, people, hotels, every picture taken on holiday. Date each picture in the caption, with the country. It's obvious at the time. Three years later, it won't be.

10 WEDDINGS

Weddings. Photograph the invitation showing the names of the bride and groom, and their parents. Then the main people at the top table. Add those at the table where you sat. Any person you spoke to. 

Record the name of the caterer or photographer, if you wish to do business with them later. The official photographer might take only those at the top table. Ignoring your family, your best friend, or Auntie Sally from overseas who dies so you have no happy photo of her for the obituary because nobody else took a photo of an old lady, only of the teenagers dancing.

11 VIP Conference Speakers

 At a conference, photograph the speakers, people you meet, those given awards. A video of a speech if its brief and not using up too much of your camera or phone memory. Sometimes people are very grateful to have a record.

Remember to get your own speech recorded. And a photo of yourself being presented with an award. This is handy in years to come, including an end of year party for a slide show of members, or a celebration of a hotel or restaurant or club at the end of the first year or after ten years or twenty.

Birthday picture of Angela. If a photo is blurred, it can later be edited. Some software programmes which you can buy or get free will do this. I was offered a sharpening of photo service on one of the websites like ancestry com and 23 and me. In Jul 2024 my Samsung Galaxy phone started offering to save photos in higher resolution, which would take up more space on the phone because of increasing pixels if you did it for lots of photos. An alternative is to save special photos in the cloud or on a remote disc, on another phone, on another family member's phone. Or take more photos, checking which are blurred and saving the better ones.

A birthday or anniversary picture can be used to send to family overseas, or a montage of pictures for an anniversary, a screen covered by photos, the birthday of an 80 year old or somebody reaching 100 years old. A happy picture can also lift your spirits at a funeral.

12 DRAMAS

Accidents and dramas. Your photo could help with an insurance claim.

13 LANGUAGE

Learning languages is aided by photos of signs, menus, even laundry lists.

VIDEOS

You can also take a video of your walk from a hotel to a nearby shop or railway station. Then reverse it to find your way back, or to tell another family member or business associate or club member where to find you and the venue

PHOTO TIPS

Photograph food from displays, but not through glass.

Photograph yourself smiling. Unsmiling for passport photos. 

Without glasses and hats which obscure eyes. 

Cut or pin back fringes covering eyes for passport photos.

Unfold arms to look more welcoming for PR for yourself or a company. People think folded arms look more important. No. It just looks like you don't want to get involved with others. Or you have something to hide. Norwegians are serious people. The USA, UK and Europe go for the friendly smile.

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Did you put on weight on holiday, or the business trip? How to find out

Weighing machine. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

You can tell if your buttons are popping. Your clothes are tight.  

What about the fact that you weight yourself naked at home?

Simple. Weight yourself fully clothed in your commonly worn travlling outfit before leaving home. Do it the day you leave or the day before. That is your first day weight.

But dare you weigh yourself.?

1 Pharmacies. In italy and other countries there are weighing machines. You may have to pay. They could be free.

2 Any time you go to the doctor for anything the doctor's prmises or nurse's room probably has a weighing machine.

3 Many hotels and hostels have a large weighing machine for weighting large luggage. This is to help guests find out if their luggage is over weight before leaving for the airport.

4 Some countries in Asia have street vendors who sit with a wighing machine at their feet and make their lving by charging you a small fee, or accepting a donation, from passers-by who wish to weight themselves.

5 Some large deaprtment stores stock weighting machines. Some may be in packets and won't work until you remove the packaging or insert a battery or turn them on. However, look around, you might find one which works. If you smile and chat up a bored assistant, they might help you.  

6 Carry a tape measure. Measure your waist. 

Sometimes the scales tell you mystery numbers.

Just google it to find the conversion.

Useful Websites

https://coolconversion.com/weight/kg-to-stones-pounds/_56.4_kg_in_stones_and_pounds_

Instructions/Receipts for Your Hotel Bedroom/Suite Kitchen/Second Home/Household/Tenant: Where To Find, Follow, Or Issue, Vital Hotel, Studio and Second Home Household Instructions

Essential Instruction Leaflets

When you stay in a hotel or a studio flat or rent or buy a second home for the summer or winter, everything is a mystery. You want to know how open the windows,  turning the heating or air conditioning. To find out how to operate the electric curtains in Albania, I needed  the number to call reception. (Is it 0,1 or 100?) To make a booking for a restaurant, or day tour, you might need the number to dial for an outside line. (Sometimes 9.)

Hidden Instructions

If you open the bedside drawer, you might find a page with the instructions. But once or twice I have found the useful guide only when I checked the drawers before checking out! Sometimes the room instructions are on a card underneath the magazine or the tour booking instruction. Or on the back page of the file of tours to book. The result is that if you don't want to book tours, you don't find the instruction page.

When I lived in the USA we had no family nearby so we spent our weekends taking trips to see other cities and landmarks. We stayed ed in a different hotel each night. 

I found that American and Canadian hotels and especially studio flats had very good instructions. The washing machine often had the instructions inside or outside the lid. 

In the kitchen or kitchen area, a laminated card was placed on the wall. It told you where to find the tin opener and bottle opener, soup ladle and kettle. 

The window instructions were clear. In a San Francisco hotel windows could not be opened, for safety, so nobody and nothing fell out. But air vents were indicated, so you could open them and close them. 

Other hotels, such as one in Greek Cyprus, told us not to go out leaving windows open, to prevent insects from flying in.

How to change a plug, check the fuse box, turn off the water at the stopcock, deal with a chip pan fire - what not to do, should be part of the school citizenship program. 

Insurance companies should issue householders with a booklet to reduce the cost of claims for leaks. 

Also, it is PR to sign up with us and get this free booklet. Estate agents could offer a free household check with with photos. Or it could be part of a surveyor's survey. Or part of the inventory (sometimes meter readings are included).  It should be on the back page of your and lord-tenancy agreement. 

Hotel guests, tenants and landlords, and householders need instructions. You could keep your sale and contract agreement and instructions and viatl emergency numbers it in a coloured box file for every occupiied, unoccupied and rented home, hotel and business. 

I bought a brightly coloured box file when I let out my late father's home. It was occupied by my son, when he was still a student. A box file with the household instruction booklets for the washing machine and so on, the date to renew the gas check, replace the fire extinguisher, can be kept on a separate small shelf in the kitchen by the door or above the old phone or in the laundry room. 

Education In Household Tasks

I have heard landlords and people letting out rooms complaining that the tenant called them up to drive across town and change a light bulb. I met a landlord, and a tenant, who took out light bulbs to cut down on electricity bills.

If you are looking to entertain a child or grandchild or babysitting, demonstrating one of these tasks could keep your child entertained. If you are a supply teacher at a school, you could run this as a lesson, if they don't want to learn, instead run it as a competitive quiz with multiple choice answers, and a small prize or certificate for the top three, and a certificate of attendance for the others.

When you buy a plug, it sometimes has wiring instructions attached. It is tempting to throw this away. You could put it in your magic instruction box, 

Label your box enticingly - 'Quick DIY Tips to save you money!'. Print out a big diagram of what is inside each plastic see-through folder, keys (with pictures and numbers of the window keys, door keys, and . How do guests and tenants secure belongings if workers go into an empty room to check the heating or plumbing or electricity? You could look your valuables such as passports or money in a suitcase. In the safe. In the hotel safe at reception. (With an alarm on your phone remind you to collect your passport before leaving the hotel. I have been on group trips when the coach was ten minutes down the road, after touring to collect people from four hotels, and the tour guide got on and asked, "Do you all have your passports?" One guest, aghast, told us, "No - I left it in the hotel safe!"

Hotel Safes

Hotel rooms often have safes. On my most recent trip to Albania, one hotel has safes. One hotel guest complained that the safe closure did not work. No bedroom safe? Ask for a demo, or repair. Maybe reception has a safe. Lock valuables in your suitcase. Wear them with you in the hotel.

What about lost goods and insurance! Insurance companies may ask for receipts. You can take a photo of the receipt when you buy the goods. Then keep receipts in one file at home, perhaps a file marked Mail Order. Or in the underwear drawer. Or bedside table. Of in a hidden safe. Or at your office so that you have the record in the case of damage to your home, such as from fire, floods, explosion, bomb, hurricane, earthquake or burglary which might damage the records as well as the goods.

Most DIY jobs instructions can be found on

Wikihow

Youtube

Websites of Homebase, B & Q and other DIY stores. They often have leaflets printed out, or barcodes you can scan to get instructions.

Useful Websites

https://everydayoldhouse.com/quick-easy-ways-to-organize-user-manuals/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-12262121/How-20-basic-DIY-jobs-Brits-change-lightbulb.html

Albanian words which are similar to English words

In Albania you immediately see the words Hotel and Bar. Reading through two language or multi language information in hotels you find many more words look the same, with the letter c changed to k.

Some handy words include farmacia for pharmacy or chemist. Dentist is dentist, as I learned from an advertisement at the airport, confirmed later by other sources.  I had wondered whether the ad was partly in English for the benefit of English speakers, but a check of Albanian words proved the word dentist spelled exactly the same is Albanian as well as English.

When driving and watching signs, we eventually worked out that the Albanian for (city) cente is qender.

Taksi is taxi.

limon is lemon.

Alphabetical list

Albanian - English

bar - bar

dentist - dentist

farmaci - pharmacy/chemist/drug store

hotel - hotel

limon - lemon

qender - center/centre

taksi - taxi

English - Albanian

bar - bar

center/centre - qender

chemist/pharmacy - farmacia

dentist - dentist

Hotel - hotel

lemon - limon

taxi - taksi

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Albanian/Loan_words_for_English_speakers

https://develop.consumerium.org/wiki/User:Jukeboksi/Learning_Albanian#Loan_words_for_French_speakers

https://app.memrise.com/course/1054595/discovering-albanian/1/

Third set of Albanian words - simple spelling. Five easy words for hotel, restaurant, museum, tourist, visitor

Post under construction. come back soon

THE SAME WORD!

1 The word hotel is the same in both languages. 

SMALL CHANGES In Spelling

Simplest Change  - S to Z

2 Museum, change the s to z and drop the um end. Muze.

3 Visitor, change the s to Z. Vizitor.

SLIGHTLY HARDER CHANGES in spelling

Change by dropping o or inserting o

4 Tourist - simplify the spelling by dropping the o, turist

5 Restaurant in Albanian is spelled similarly to the English, but with simplified spelling. Change the au to o. Restorant.

We can now read and recognize 5 words.

English - Albanian

boat/plane varkë/aeroplan

cheap/expensive e lire e shtrenjte

hotel/restaurant hotel/restorant

How much Sa shumë

museum/shop muze/dyqan

one, two, many një, dy, shumë

tourist/visitor turist/vizitor

Albanian - English

varkë/aeroplan boat/plane hotel/restorant hotel/restaurant muze/dyqan museum/shop turist/vizitor tourist/visitor një, dy, shumë one, two, many Sa shumë How much e lire e shtrenjte cheap/expensive

Short phrases paired

I want it/I don't want it

I like it/I don't like it

too hot/too cold

I am/You are

I am worried/tired

I am relieved/grateful

I am well/happy/fine/good

how are you?/that's good

let's go

let\s start

that's all

it's done/finished

is that okay?

is that enough?

How do I pay?/Here is the money/

Questions

are you

where is

shkojme

le të fillojmë

kjo eshte e gjitha

është bërë/mbaruar

A eshte ne rregull?

mjafton kaq?

Si të paguaj?/Këtu janë paratë/

Pyetje

jeni ju

ku është

e dua/nuk e dua

më pëlqen/nuk më pëlqen

shumë nxehtë/shumë ftohtë

Unë jam/Ti je

jam i shqetësuar/i lodhur

Unë jam i lehtësuar/mirënjohës

Unë jam mirë / i lumtur / mirë / mirë

si jeni?/kjo është mirë

e dua/nuk e dua

më pëlqen/nuk më pëlqen

shumë nxehtë/shumë ftohtë

Unë jam/Ti je

jam i shqetësuar/i lodhur

Unë jam i lehtësuar/mirënjohës

Unë jam mirë / i lumtur / mirë / mirë

si jeni?/kjo është mirë



shkojme

le të fillojmë

kjo eshte e gjitha

është bërë/mbaruar

A eshte ne rregull?

mjafton kaq?

Si të paguaj?/Këtu janë paratë/

Pyetje

jeni ju

ku është

Useful Websites

Translate Google

Wikipedia

Wikivoyage

Albanian Language - reminder and update on easy words such as hotel and restaurant

 

Easy words

Romanian - English
b a n k ë - bank (Typing the e with double dots above is easy. Just press on the letter e and hold it down. Up pop a choice of letters e. Number four is the one with two dots above. Keep your finger on the pressed e and tap 4.)
f a r m a c i - pharmacy (in the UK called a chemist)
hi - hi
hotel - hotel
h o t e l e - hotels
kafe - café

peshk - fish
plaza - plaza
r e s t o r a n t - restaurant
s a n d u i ç - sandwich
s t a c i o n - station

English - Romanian
bank - b a n k ë
café - k a f e

fish - peshk (from the Latin, like the English zodiac sign pisces, f and p being often linked in various languages)
hi - hi
hotel - hotel
hotels - h o t e l e
plaza - plaza
pharmacy (in the UK called a chemist) - f a r m a c i
restaurant - r e s t o r a n t
sandwich - s a n d u i ç (hold down the letter c and tap the number one)
station - s t a c i o n

Now you know how to recognize ten easy and useful words in Albanian.

• Albanian words of Latin origin include 
• Latin amīcus → Albanian mik 'friend', inimīcus → armik 'foe, enemy' 
• benedīcere → bekoj, 
•  castellum → kështjellë 'castle', 
• centum → qind 'hundred', 
•  medicus → mjek 'doctor', 
•  spērāre → dial. shp(ë)rej, shpresoj 'to hope', pres 'to await', 
• voluntās (voluntātis) → vullnet 'will; volunteer'.
• 
  
• Some Albanian church terminology has phonetic features which demonstrate their very early borrowing from Latin. A few examples include Albanian bekoj 'to bless' from benedīcere, 
• engjëll 'angel' from angelus, 
• kishë 'church' from ecclēsia, i 
• krishterë 'Christian' from christiānus, 
• kryq 'cross' from crux (crucis)

Using google translate

darkë - dinner (think of a meal after dark)
drekë - lunch
mëngjes - breakfast
çaj -tea
mali - mountain
bukë - bread
Mish - meat
pulë - chicken (like french poule)
peshku - fish
vegjetarian - vegetarian
perimesh - vegetable
bizele/bizele -
makinë - car
karrota - carrot
birrë - beer
verë - wine
e kuqe
të bardhë - white
verë e kuqe - red wine
verë e Bardhë - white wine 
verë me gaz - sparkling wine
alkoolit - alcohol
pa alkool/ - no alcohol
pa alkool - without alcohol
tabela - table
karrige - chair
dhoma g ainjumi double bedroom
krevat dopio - double bed
sapun - soap
tualet - toilet
makinë - car
autobus - bus
treni - train
aeroplan - plane
sot - today
nesër - tomorrow
mbyllur - closed
e mirë (e admirueshme) - good (admirable)
keq - bad

e tmerrshme - terrible

sheqer - sugar
rosto - roast
marmelatë - marmalade
rrushi - grape
fruta kivi - kiwi fruit
piper - pepper
muzikë - music
opera - opera

tortë - cake
biskotë - biscuit
cokollate - chocolate
luleshtrydhe - strawberry 
mjedër - raspberry
boronica - blueberry
domate - tomato

me - with
dhe - and
ose - or
të - the

 Unë/unë/e imja - I/me/mine
ju - you
ai - he
ajo - she
atë - it
ne - we
ata/ - they
ato - them
valixhe - suitcase (like valise)
kosto - cost
i madh - big
i vogël - small
kapelë - hat
veshjet - dress
fund - skirt
bluzë - blouse
këmishë - shirt
kravatë - tie
kapak - cap
shall - scarf
stoli - jewellery
argjendi - silver
ari - gold
lëkurë - leather

Story
I met an Albanian at Toastmasters. Smiling and good looking. Always smiling. I like Albanians.

He was a builder. Then I met another man. He was a plumber.

He asked me, "What do you do?"

I said, "I am an author, and I teach English, and I'm learning other languages."

I asked the plumber, What's your language?"

He said,"It's Albanian."

Hm. For once I was lost for words.

Problem
I don't speak one word of Albanian. He was ahead of me, speaking both Albanian and English, some French, a bit of Greek. He spoke my language fluently. But I was a teacher and could not speak one word of his language.

Answer
I could learn one word from him. I could get a free lesson.

Keep it simple. I asked, "Is it easy to read Albanian, if you speak English? Are the letters the same?"

Tips
"The Albanian alphabet? Yes, the letters are the same. But Albanian has more of them."

That sounds very Alice in Wonderland. I asked, "Please explain."

"The Albanian language has 36 letters, mostly the same as in English, but double letters are counted."

Ch sounds like Russian, looks like Russian, has a cedilla and pronounced ch as in the English word Chance.

SH as in should counts as one letter.

xh - pronounced J as in Jack.
For example:
uncle in English is written in Albanian as - xhaxhi - pronounced judge ee

th - a new letter. "A little th as in thing think, fifth."

dh - "a strong th as in the or this, themselves, leather".

What about sentence structure?

"I am reading a book:
un - i
yam
duke
ledur," says my Albanian friend.

I could not grasp that the first time, let alone remember it. Let's make life easy. I asked, "Which words are the same in both languages?"

"Many Words Are The same:
hotel
taxi
train."

Now, let's try some everyday words such as hello and goodbye, and yes and no, and please and thank you.

thank  you - f a l i  m i n d e r e t (sounds longer in Albanian). Sound like Ali but it start f a l i (memory aid for thank you, thank you, Ali, I can't fail FALI; mind / minder / et / tete.
hello
goodbye - l a m t u m i r ë

What does the double dot on the ë mean?
If you click on the sound symbol underneath the word at the bottom of the text box in Google translate you can hear that the ë sound like er, a short version of err.

To type the e with the double dot above, press down the e key on your laptop keyboard; up pops a list of possible accents - see that the one you want is number 4; continue to hold down the e key and with your other hand, your right hand, tap the number four key at the top of the keyboard. Release both fingers and you should see the e with the two dots. If you get an ordinary e, or double ee, you have mistimed it by holding or release one finger. Just try again.

How are you? Ok.
c u ok
mir - ok
t mir - you ok

"You ask about the whole family, your father ok, your mother ok and so on. So you hear, '... mir ... mir ...  mir?' "

They also use OK because they learn English as a second language in school, so no problem speaking to Albanians. They have similar words such as:
stress - stress

What about yes and no?
Yes - po (I think of very possible - yes)
no - yo , (I think of ay-yi-yi, absolutely not, you have to be kidding me)

How confusing. Both end with o, and the no starts with a ye like the English yes.

Remember, yes, it is possible. Yes is po.

No, no, yo, yo. Can I operate a yo-yo, no, no!

rr (rolled r)
r r u g is road or street

table - same as English and French

Useful Websites

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Albanian_phrasebook#:~:text=Albanian

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

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