You already know six German words, maybe more

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At a recent meeting of our language lovers club, I gave an introductory session on German. I started by asking who knew no German. I asked if they could think of one word of German. Silence. So I asked, 'Do you know any names of cars or food?'

The answer which came from the audience surprised me. I had not thought of it. It was the name of the car Volkswagen. That was a great example. Volks, meaning folk/in this context, belong to fol,. The w pronounced like a W. The English words, fol's wagon. A vehicle for the people, a cheap car for mass production.

I was delighted to add this to my existing list.

I already had two popular examples in mind. Kindergarten. kinder is child. Garden is garden.

 So that is two word, three words if you count the combination. Child. Garden. Kindergarden. 

Doesn't everybody know this already? Some people had forgotten it and were pleased to be reminded that they knew as many as five words. Others spoke English as a second language. The analysis of the word was new for a Hindi speaking guest in London, It was also new for a Chinese speaking guest who I met at Toastmasters in Singapore, now working and living in Korea.

For those with a wider vocabulary, several words come to mind.

Schwarz, german for black, in the name of the opera singer, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf. Kopf is head, so the family name's meaing was a black haired person. The most common surname in German is Smith, the same as in England, naming the trade which would have been popular years ago. Schmidt, smith. Schneider is tailor.

Blau is blue. 

More sophisticated words include ersatz, false, synthetic, pretend. 

Sunday Feb 18 th 2024 the subject is Japanese. You can visit our online speakers' language club LILT. The timings are 

 USA Central time and Belize and Central American time 7.30am, 

USA New York 8.30 am, 

UK 1.30 pm. 

France 2.30 pm (14.30). 

India  7pm.  

Indonesia (Jakarta time) 8.30 pm, 

Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan, th Philippines and Western Australia, 9.30 pm (21.30).

For the Zoom login, contact Carolyn Street on Facebook with a personal message, or find her or me though Advancity Toastmasters International club.

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What does that surname mean? Is it really a name? Learning, remembering and spelling English and German Foreign names

I gave a speech to Toastmasters on names and their meanings. I remember my surprise on learning that the commonest English surname, Smith comes from Smith, and that the German name Schmidt means smith.

The BBC did a good article on English names.

Rainbow

Today one of my contacts on Facebook, like me an author, had the surname Rainbow. I thought, what a lovely name. Did she make that up, change her name, as a pen name, or as a piece of positive thinking and marketing?

She told me that she chose the name as a pen name. But, after divorcing, she changed her name by deed poll. So the name was chosen, but is also official. 

I looked it up and was pleasantly surprised to find a detailed analysis and research on the name, which could be a translation of the German for rainbow. Regen is German for rain.

Here are some translations of German names and words which are part of names. German has more compound words than English.

German - English

baum - tree

blau - blue

braun/brun - brown

cassell - castle

geduld - patience ((both Dutch and German)

grun - green

klein - small

mann - man

regen - rain

Roth - red (as in Rothschild)

schwartz - black (hair or head or complexion)

wald - wood

weiss - white

English - German

black - Schwartz

blue - Blau

brown - braun

green - grun

man - mann

rain - regen

red - roth

small - klein

white - weiss

wood - wald

Useful Websites

 https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=rainbow

About the Author Angela Lansbury

BIOGRAPHY

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

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

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

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

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

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

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

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

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

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

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

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

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

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

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

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

Quick Quotations

Who Said What When