Easy and Difficult Spanish words

 

Spanish - English

bateria - battery

nota - note

notas - notes

planes - plans

primero - first

English - Spanish

battery - bateria (think of Maria has a bateria)

first - primero (like prime number)

 note - nota

 notes - notas

plans - planes

Harder words

Spanish - English

caja - box (I think letter c for container)

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Plan Travelling to Give a Presentation - lessons learned

I recently gave a slide presentation using a Microsoft PDF at a club venue I know well in Singapore. I had the choice of using a borrowed laptop with a larger screen. Or a smaller laptop which would be lighter to carry.

I chose to usu the larger laptop. The screen would be easier to see if I had to turn it to the audience if I could not connect my laptop with the screen.

Lesson Learned
By the end of the afternoon the laptop failed - no battery power. No connector to the wall socket for mains power. I had the connector which links the laptop to the display screen in the office, and to the screen in the demonstration classroom. But I did not have the power! When using my old Apple machine, the power cable with the square power block was obvious. With the black laptop, just a lot of unfamiliar leads and bit and pieces and cables.   So much to remember and carry! I should have made a checklist of cables and connectors required.

Luckily, I had a print out of all the slides as a reminder.

Feedback
The feedback I got was:

Font Size, Shape and Colour
1 Use a minimum of 18 point font so people in the back row of even a small classroom can read it. I later looked on the internet to research this and found varying recommendations on a website called Quora.

The respondents also discussed which fonts are best for changing from an apple to a Mac system, for dyslexics, which colours are best, less tiring than black and white, yet acceptable and readable for the colour - one suggestion was the blue on yellow or yellow on blue). Sans serif which I prefer apparently makes you read on, whilst serif (with the feet like Times Roman, which I hate - to me it looks old fashioned and confusingly cluttered) apparently leads the eyes along the line of text

Acting Out
2 'We enjoyed the way you acted,' said Teresa.
 'You managed to act out grammar.,' said Trevor.

Acting Singlish
I had demonstrated the English phrase, 'an off day', folding my arms and looking glum. 'Having a day off' - short for 'a day off work' - running towards the door gleefully. Finally, the Singlish phrase 'an off day' which sounds to English speakers like the first (demonstrate glum again) when what they mean is the second (run to the door).

Singing
I demonstrated bring and take. For bringing and bringing back (alliteration!) I sand Bring Back My Bonnie To Me (an old Sottish folk song, well known in the UK, more of a novelty in Asia).

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

Learn a Few Words of Portuguese

Problem
I am too tired to study, but the reminder from Duolingo is in my email.

Answer
Last thing at night, when it's too late to do anything else. I can learn a few words of another language, preferably a country where I am likely to go on holiday. Portuguese.

This is the basics from the start of the Duolingo course. You get the words for man and woman, boy and girl, eat and drink, I and you, bread and milk.


I like to write the words down alphabetically, from each of the languages.

English - Portuguese
the boy - o menino
the man - o homem

Portuguese - English
o homem - the man
o menino - the boy

If you go onto the Duolingo course you are given an introduction to the grammar at the start of the course.

The cards act as revision, or an easy start. You can hear the words being said.
https://tiny.cards/decks/3hCnB8/portuguese-basics-1

If you are stuck in a car in snow briefly, you may want to pass your time listening to Portuguese on a disc such as the ones by Earworms. If you are in the car for a long time, you might prefer to conserve your battery, and play the disc on a music device.

You can save your disc onto a laptop such as the MacBook Pro. Other lighter laptops such as the MacBook Air require a disc player which plugs into your laptop. When you insert the disc, the itunes store is likely to ask if you want to save the disc.

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

Fun Facts For Everybody About Formula One, and Cars In California and Worldwide

Formula one race took place in Singapore yesterday, Sunday September 19 2016. Even if you have little interest in Formula one, and cannot see the race or attend it, you must have seen information on it in the newspapers or on TV.
How might it affect you?

1 You can watch the race if you can afford a ticket.
2 You can watch the race on TV.
3 You might have to avoid the area during the race time - I saw signs in advance warning of road closures and I took pictures of the signs.
4 You might have to listen to a family member telling you about the race.
5 You might be wondering whether it will be going ahead (what could stop it - the haze) and if it goes ahead, what's in it for you?
6 You can see pictures of the finish with fireworks online.
7 You can learn about the race and cars and its implications for cards worldwide.

Last year when I was in Singapore we were all worried about the F1 potentially being cancelled because of the haze. Cancellation would have been bad for the Singapore economy. Our friend who goes to the FI race for his birthday would have been disappointed.

Fortunately no haze this week this year - apparently the winds over Indonesia blew away the smoke from forest fires leaving lovely clear skies so everybody was breathing easy in Singapore. However,

FACT 1 DRIVERS ARE HOT
Yes I know that if you are a racing car enthusiast your favourite F! driver is 'hot' metaphorically, but drivers are physically hot. They can be inside a car up to two hours, driving around a circuit, strapped inside a car, going around a race track inside a car at high speed, one short stretch inside a tunnel.
It's hot inside the cars. It's so hot that the drivers have to drink water during the race. Some drivers ask for a reminder message to be sent that they should drink water.

FACT 2 WHEELS ARE CHANGED IN 2 AND A HALF SECONDS
Have you ever needed a wheel change? How long did it take? The F1 drivers who need a wheel change get it done in two and a half seconds.
Did I hear right? Surely that's twenty seconds - under a minute - really impressive.
Not twenty seconds, two and a half seconds!
How is that possible?

FACT 3 HOW THEY CHANGE WHEELS FAST
They have a man in front with the stop and go flag.
Car races in.
The jack - up man or men raise the car.
A team of people for removing wheels. One person with a large electrically driven rotating bolt turner to remove bolts from one wheel; later re-fix bolts on the next wheel. Four of those.
The wheel lifters. On each wheel, somebody to remove the released wheel; and somebody to replace with the new wheel.
After the wheel is lifted off -
The bolt or screw on machinery holders leaps forward.
After wheel is on - Four people raise a flag by each wheel.
When all four flags are raised the man with the stop-go flat raises his flag.
Driver roars off.

At the end the winners are announced and then the fireworks light up the skies.
If you are sitting at home you can see the fireworks on your screen.

It's over. So how does the knowledge of it benefit me or change my world?

One of my friends celebrated his birthday by going to the F1 race. You might buy somebody a ticket for their birthday.

FUEL in F1 cars
The braking in F1 cars is used to provide energy to re-charge the battery. Why? Because it's efficient and the manufacturers and organisers want to be seen as environmentally friendly.

This is the same system used in hybrid cars. They use braking energy to convert into power to keep the batteries going.

Did the F1 and racing car development necessarily cause the development of cars this way? My informant, (a racing car enthusiast in my family) told me that cars for the road and cars for the races were both probably working on the same idea and development independently. It's all a bit technical for me. If you want to know more, check it out on line.

CALIFORNIAN INFLUENCE
The idea of using brake energy to recycle energy for use by cars came from California where the laws about vehicle emissions prompted research and development of the use of less polluting of air from emissions from diesel and petrol (which Americans call gas).

BIRTHDAYS & FIREWORKS
So, now we have ideas for birthday presents, a glimpse of life in Singapore and Indonesia and how one affects another, how California influences cars production and cars on roads worldwide, and how racing cars and hybrid cars on our roads operate. I'm off to look at fireworks on line.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker

Watching for waterproof watches - my buy at Mustapha's

My waterproof watch stopped. No need to throw it away. Buy a new battery.

Battery
I usually try to ask the shop to fit the battery. A jeweller has the skill and tools and experience to do it quicker, without dropping and losing vital screws. If the battery is wrong, you know at once and don't need to take a second trip.

Repair
We have been struggling for days to close up the back of my waterproof watch. A friend of mine in Singapore told me that you can get watches repaired cheaply at the shops in HDB government housing estates. (HDB Housing Development Board.) She reckoned I could get my watch repaired for ten Singapore dollars, about five pounds, half or a third of the cost of the cheapest new one.

How do you find such a shop? Either take the MRT (train) to one of the estates. Or ask a colleague or employee of the place you work at or visit overseas.

Mustafa's Department Store
Meanwhile, having lunch in Little India, I was able to pop into Mustafa's department store, which is next to Farrer Park MRT station.

The lady seated at Mustafa's entry door to check bags was able to direct me to the watch department on the ground floor.

Watch Department
The large counter in prime position the centre of two aisles could offer me only one brand of watches at a minimum price of $100. I always imaged that Mustafa's, with its central cashiers and packing system, must be one store. But the impression I got on this visit was that each counter operates like a separate sub-store, ties to a different owner or manager with links to one manufacture or style or price range, no interest in directing you to another area.

I was therefore under the impression that the counter where I stopped had the store's complete range. However, by asking a second assistant, I was pointed to another area at the side where a different section had another range of much cheaper watches.

Here I discover another brand of watches Takane, not waterproof of splash proof only for about waterproof to about $30 (about £15 - see today's exchange rate on a conversion website) or $35/40 for the row above in the revolving cabinet.

I looked at the cheaper ones first, then decided they were not what I wanted. Besides the difference of 5 or even ten dollars was under £5. For me, it was more important to get a watch which would not be in danger of breaking every time I washed a cup, or washed my hands, especially in Singapore where I went in the shower at least twice a day, often three times a day, or went for a swim every day.

Takane Brand Colours
The Takane brand offered a whole range of colours. I could have had black, pink, orange, royal blue or mixed colours.

I chose a black and red watch. The strap is black. The dial is red. The black stays clean in daytime and looks sophisticated with black evening clothes. Style M403. I found it later on the website.

The red is a cheerful touch. Unlike an all red watch, the red won't clash too much with orange and pink clothes.

Size
Equally important, the Takane watches also come in both small and large sizes. The large ones, apart from being heavy, look clumsy on my small wrists, as if I have borrowed somebody else's watch. Big watches look clumsy on a small wrist.


Instructions In Box
I chose to wear it but asked to keep the box. Just as well I did, because the box contained instructions.

Four Buttons
I liked the fact that my watch did not have symbols on the four oblong buttons but English instructions, clockwise from top left, reset,st/stp, light, mode.

Setting Accurate Or Fast
I asked the man in the shop if he would set it to the right time. I wanted to have it going right away, to be sure it worked, and to save the half hour reading instructions.

On second thoughts I asked him to set it plus five minutes to make sure I was always five minutes early or on time rather than five minutes late. (This worked brilliantly. I kept dashing out five minutes late, but actually on time. So I was on time or early everywhere.)

Instructions
I later looked at the instructions in the box. It is has a 100 year calendar. That should be enough for me.

I shall photograph the instructions in case I lose them and to have them handy if I want to use the stopwatch or change the battery, or buy a battery (CR 2025 - who would know). In addition to having a back light, it has a stop watch. And dual time!

I am very pleased with my purchase. I have been looking all over London at watch shops, department stores, motorway stops, and most of the watches are not waterproof, are huge and heavy, or cost too much, usually all three.

Now I know a brand which suits me, I can probably buy them on line.

The brand - Takane.
www.takane-watch.com

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer,