Learn Norwegian with Duolingo

 

Norwegian is an easy language.

I have started learning on Duolingo.

These are the words I have learned, and most of them are short version of the English word. Effortless. Instant success. I noted them all down on today's diary page. I have a page a day diary big enough for making notes like this as well as my appointments. (In case the notes obscure my appointments, the appointments are already in my phone alarm).

English - Norwegian

a - en

bread - brod

brother - bror

father - far

hi - hei (pronounced high, the same as in English)

mother - mor 

no - nei  (pronounced nigh)

sister - soster (with a line across the letter o)

tea - te

thanks - tagg

water - vann

wine - veen

Norwegian-English

en - a

brod - bread

bror - brother

far - father

mor - mother

nei (pronounced  nigh or ni as in night) - no

soster (line across the o) - sister

takk - thanks

te - tea

A little more and harder?

Norwegian-English

du- you (similar to French tu)

er- is/are

Ja - yes (similar to German and Malaysian and South African)

kaffe - coffee

melk - milk

min - my (like mine, but the Norwegian adjective comes after the noun)

og - and

vin - wine

Useful Websites

duolingo

wikivoyage norvegian phrasebook

Please share links to your favourite posts from this blog.

Different Ways of Packing - the student way

Problem
How do you avoid packing on the last night if you have a late night farewell?

Packing
By Angela Lansbury

"How should I pack? Tell me, how do you pack?"
Chris says, "I pack light - don't care what I lack.
Who cares what you wear! I don't care what I wear
I pack like a student, rolled, creased or flat

"Every day I take out what I'll wear for that day
At night I put dirty clothes away
In a plastic bag carried home to mother
That's a handy trick I learned from my brother

"What's left in the case is labelled, it's mine
So I'm always half-packed for the next time
Oh, Angela, you make far too much fuss
Just throw it all in and do it like us!"
-ends-
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Christopher Columbus Statues, Stories, Monuments and Relics

Problem
Where was Christopher Columbus born, where did he live and die, was he Christian or Jewish, where is he buried and where is his statue?

Answers
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, say the Italians. You fly into Liguria, a ribbon of land on the Italian coast on the Ligurian Sea, to Christopher Columbus airport.

Photo by Alain Rouille from Wikipedia.

A grand statue of Christopher Columbus is in Piazza Aquaverde, Genoa, Italy.

Columbus in Europe
He offered his services to the King of Portugal, and eventually was sponsored by the King and Queen of Spain. His brother was a map maker.

Columbus Statues, Cities, Memorials
SPAIN
A statue of Columbus is in Barcelona, Spain.

PORTUGAL
A statue of Columbus is in Funchal on the Island of Madeira which is Portuguese.

USA
You can see statues of him in America in: New York city, New York; Denver, Colorado; Pennsylvania. Many cities and areas are called Columbus or Columbia.

PUERTO RICO
A statue is in Puerto Rico.

BOYHOOD HOME IN ITALY
His boyhood home is in Genoa, Liguria, Italy. You can read about it in Wikipedia and TripAdvisor.

Christopher Columbus boyhood home museum, Genoa, Liguria, Italy. Photo by Jose Antonio from Wikipedia.

Burial
His body was moved around.

SPAIN
Columbus's body is currently in the cathedral of Seville, Spain. DNA testing has shown the remains are related to those of his brother.

It is not the only country to claim to have his remains.

Whilst it is fairly common to have part of a saint's body in a Greek church, they seem to send off body bits in all directions to bestow sanctity on sub-churches. I've heard of many places which have the heart of somebody, or even a finger. But to have two skulls from the head of the same man would stretch credulity.

I read extensively around the theory that Columbus was of Jewish descent, and a converse, or converted Jew.

If I remember rightly, some people claim that his grandparents were Jewish and from an off shore island, and they and/or his parents moved to Genoa.

In order to gain sponsorship from the devoutly Catholic King and Queen in Spain he had to be Catholic.

He was due to sail on the day the Inquisition started, but was prevented by bad weather and went a day later.

Two converted Jews were connected with his voyage. One was the man who gave the money for the voyage, after Columbus got approval to sail officially under the Spanish flag on behalf of the Spanish rulers.

Another member of the crew, known to be a convert to Christianity, stopped off at an island and did not go back to Spain. If Columbus were seeking a refuge for fellow Jews, why did he not stop there himself? Did he go back to tell others?

Or did he turn to Spain to protect his family who were in effect held hostage. Surely he could have sent the ship back, with the story that he had died and been buried at sea?

Christopher Columbus left instructions to his son to always write their surname in a particular way, a very elaborate series of squiggles, thought to conceal yet reveal to the knowlegeable a Hebrew letter which was a code to tell others he was a convert who wished to keep in touch with others who, despite having converted, were always at risk.

Others say this proves nothing. Besides, he was buried as a Christian in a Christian cathedral and that settles the matter. However, the mystery and controversy keeps interest in a story from centuries ago, the statues. and monuments on the tourist circuit. He took not one but four voyages. For those of us who find preparing for any long trip a challenge, he deserves his statue and it is worth a stop and a photo.

In Genoa you can see the house of Columbus.

For more, see Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liguria
http://wikitravel.org/en/Genoa
http://www.italia.it/en/discover-italy/liguria.html
https://www.umbriatourism.it
Also see the tourist boards for Spain, Portugal, Puerto Rico and the USA
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share posts.

Russian words for knife and fork - memory aids

I am learning four languages this year through duo lingo free website, Spanish and Italian and German and Russian, trying to do one lesson a day of each.  I tend to do German first and Russian last as it's hardest because the alphabet is different. I am now up to what they call 30% fluent in German which I suppose means I have reached nearly one third (33 and a third per cent) of the way through their first, basic course.  I am only slightly behind in Russian, but now that I am reaching a slightly harder stage, or maybe losing my initial enthusiasm, I am having to re-do the lessons.

Some of the earlier words in Russian were easy and similar to English. Maybe they put the easy words first. Sestr is sister. Brat is brother - and I remembered 'My brother is a brat'.

Knife is nozh. (That's using the phonetic Russian, the way it sounds, not the Russian alphabet - which is another story.) At the moment I am thinking and speaking to you about the way of remembering the word, regardless of how you write it in the Russian alphabet. Once you know what it sounds like, it's easier to translate into the other alphabet. The Duolingo site is starting to put the words in Russian at the opening page which is off-putting as annoyingly they don't put the phonetic translation underneath.

Knife - Nozh
I use my knife to cut my food to nosh. N - 0 - Z - H. The only change is that the s becomes a Z. They almost sound the same.

Fork - vilka
The i l k have three uprights like the tines of a three prong fork. K at the end of the word fork, fork, villa, f and V are similar sounds.  f-v. or remember as if you are German, I vill have a fork-a. Vilka.

When you do the exercise on Duolingo, the words for knife and fork keep coming up again and again. You just need some way of remembering which of the two is which.

Angela Lansbury, author, photojournalist, travel writer and photographer, English teacher (O level, A level, English as a second language, English as a foreign Language) CVs, websites and package translation into English and soon to be languages teacher.

Russian words: my memory aids for Duolingo words

I'm struggling to remember the Russian words. Here are my hints to myself which I hope will help you. I learn the word on Duolingo then go back to test myself.

When you repeat the words several times you remember them. When you are just learning you need to be able to recognise the word - and to remember it when translating the other way, back from English into Russian.

Teaching somebody else reinforces your own memory.

I try to look for similar letters and associations.

Moi - my (m-i) M I
sestri - sisters S ST R revers the vowels in Russia e then i but in English i then e

Girls - devochki - DEV CH_K devoted to chicks - slang for girls in English.The chicks are devoted to chicks. Picture girls cuddling tiny newborn chickens.The chicks are small but the girls are big. The word devochki means girls.

U tebya est' koshki - do you have cats - (think do you take in kittens  T...A  K....I
est mens is in French - not the same but at least you know the middle of the sentence is a verb - I think you take in is it kittens = do you have cats

Plates - in Russian this word has the l and e reversed if you read the word backwards.

e d y a t  (no spaces - but spellcheck keeps changing the word) - eat
E d y A T - EAT

PLAN - PLAN same word in Russian and English

BRaT - BRoTher - (my brother is brat)

Angela Lansbury