Perfect German with words almost identical to the English

 German - English

campen - to camp

das Ende - the end

Freitag - Friday (Fr i a in both words and the final letters g and y both have tails)

Hilfe - help (consonants H and l in both languages)

Mann - man

Park - park (noun, as shown by the capital initial letter, not the verb)

perfekt - perfect

Poster - poster (the nouns in German have capital initial letters)

Problem - problem (das Problem, the problem)

Schere - scissors (looks like shears, both German Schere and English scissors contain the initial letter s and the letters c and r) 

schneiden - to cut (Years ago my family living in Edgware in north west London used to know a lady called Mrs Schneider. It was a surname for Germans including Ashkenazi Jews who were tailors or occasionally wood cutters)

Wald - forest (I used to know a family called Waldman)

Useful Websites For German Words and German Family Names

To learn German for free allowing ads, or paid for without ads

duolingo.com

To find the origin of names

familysearch.org

en.geneanet.org

Ask Gemini

  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.

-ends-

Please follow my blogs on travel, dress of the day, and comical poetry. Share links to your favourite posts.

EASY DIY CLOTHING! NO SEW! + QUICK 2018 video

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Iron on Patches? Ribbons, bows and ties?

Iron on patches can be expensive if they are large like this one, showing the umbrella.

You might also want to sew the outside of the patch in case the glue fails. Hm. What if you want no iron as well as no sew?

SEWING

No needle? No machine? Never mind. the internet has videos showing how you can create and re-purpose clothes. As I contemplate two weeks in lockdown quarantine, with not enough clothes, I am wondering what I can do. Watch videos for answers.

Fabric extension belt

You can cut the fabric for a skirt so that the belt is an extension of the fabric's waist line. I have a skirt cut like this. On one side, the fabric is short, the width of my hand, sticking out like a thumb, just long enough to tie to the long piece on the other side of the wrap skirt. 

The same system can be used to extend the cut of your cloth to make a shoulder strap. The shoulder strap can lie flat, or be twisted and twirled onto a rope. or plaited. I prefer flat 'ribbons' which don't rub and are wider.

Fabric Glue

If you have a fabric glue, that helps. 

You can also use: 

If you are looking at glueing shoes, you need shoe glue. I wondered if shoe glue was even stronger and firmer than the strongest glue. No. On the contrary. Shoe glue sets softer, so that you can flex the soles of the shoe when walking without the pieces pulling apart.

Patches

Think about quilts from patches. Think about iron on patches. Most hotels can supply an iron.  Two pieces of fabric can overlap with a patch holding them together. A large patch can be cut into strips.

Ribbons

Ribbons can make ties. Alternatively, ribbons can be glued or stapled, or folded under a pleat.

A ribbons can make a an ankle fastener, belt, a cuff tie, a bow, or a bow tie, or a long necktie.

Safety Pins

If staples and pins seem to dangerous, use safety pins. Small ones are easy to conceal. Large ones can be concealed by tying ribbons over them.

Safety pins can be a feature. Do you remember the Liz Hurley dress?

 

Staples

Staples can attach two pieces of cloth or ribbon, the cloth or ribbon can be folded, so that the staple is not visible and does not touch your skin.

Tie Pins

Tie pins can be used to fasten two pieces of material. You could use two or three or more to form a line. Conceal them or display them.

Tie Up

Alternatively, do what they did in the old days with togas and sarongs and sarees. Wind a long oblong of material around your body. You can tie it at the waist or tuck it over. Tie it above the bust or tuck it over. Tie it over one shoulder. Alternatively throw it over to drape or hang at the back like a shawl or tail. Tie it behind your neck.

A thin fabric is easier to tie up using the pointed ends.You can tie a knot or a bow.

Tuck In

You can tuck fabric into itself, like a sarong.

You can also tuck fabric into underwear, such as pants (Americans say underpants), a bra, or a vest or a tank top, or a half slip or long slip.

Wear A Cover-up

Wear a Jacket

An open back can be concealed by wearing a bolero or jacket.

Wear a Scarf

A thin scarf makes a belt. A scarf conceals an untidy knot.

A scarf can be twisted into a rise and pinned on with a safety pin.

Useful Websites

https://www.wikihow.com/Tie-a-Sarong

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

YouTube video about no sew

About the Author

About Angela The Author

The Author - Quick Quotations

Angela Lansbury B A Hons  is the author of ten books by regular publishers plus another ten self-published books. 

About Angela The Speaker & Trainer

Angela Lansbury is a teacher of English and other languages to Toastmasters clubs and businesses.

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Vice President  Public Relations, Immediate Past President.

Former Area Director S3. Club Coach for Nee Soon South Toastmasters Club.

Also Member of: TCA Toastmasters Club; Singapore Online Dynamic; Harrovians UK

Garen Tee on using story telling in business, on bha.learncool.sg . Also educational on using Powerpoint for posters.

Next BHA meeting, Wednesday evening, May 5th, 7 pm Singapore. Next meetings 1st Wednesday evening and third Saturday afternoon, Singapore time.  

Angela The Blogger 

Angela has several blogs speeches, comedy and song writing and organizing, writing intermittently, but writes almost daily on these three:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

See next post on sculptor Tom Harvey.

Please share links to your favourite posts. 

Moon Cake Season Started - See Mooncakes At Sheraton Towers Hotel and Singapore Shopping Malls, for Crazy, Rich Singaporeans and You

Mooncakes at Sheraton Towers Hotel. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
Mooncakes - what are they? They are expensive - which sort should I buy?

Answers
TRY
You can try before you buy at Sheraton Towers Hotel, Singapore. They have a sampling plate with two varieties, the cheapest mixed nuts and another with the dearer egg.

You want to know what you are getting. The prices for a box of four range from S$72 (that's 72 Singaporean dollars, not American dollars) to S$108 for double egg yolk.

GIFT BOXES
Who buys a presentation box? This mid-autumn festival is like Christmas for the Chinese. You give gifts to business contacts. I guess that many visitors will buy a box to take home to family and friends.

If you are feeling flush, with a business budget, or want to reciprocate to somebody whose company has paid for your hotel stay, go for the most expensive 4 pieces of white lotus seed paste with double egg yok at £108.

The traditional mooncakes have a pastry covering like a pie. The pattern stamped on the top comes from a wooden casing used during the cooking. I bought one second hand at a sale from a Chinese resident who was going to the USA. It was a novelty. I never used it, after I discovered how time-consuming and complicated it was to make mooncakes!

The snowskin version is in white or contrasting or compelmentary colours such as pink and purple. They look lovely, but I prefer the traditional pastry casing.

If you want to share around an office of eight or fewer people, a bigger box of six pieces of the mini snowskin mooncakes costs only $62 for 8 pieces.

SLICES
Why only four pieces for all that money? A family of four would get one each. However, as you see from the sample plate, a mooncake can be cut up into eight or more bite-size pieces to share with a group, after a meal or at a party, and they are very filling. It is usual to cut up the round or square mooncakes into triangular slices, like slicing a cake.

Double egg mooncake.

TASTES - EGG
When I first tried mooncakes, I was not enamoured with the egg yolk. I felt that bits of boiled egg were taking up space which could have been occupied by the sugary and more unusual tasting filling.

However, the salty egg offsets the sugariness of the mooncake. Two years after first trying mooncakes, I find I like the egg yolk version as much or more.

Their locations include the restaurant which produces them:
Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant.

Other outlets are in two more restaurant locations:
Sheraton Towers hotel Singapore lobby.
Full of luck Restaurant @Holland Village
Also Takashimaya department store and several shopping malls
Change Alley
Junction 8
Jurong Point
Tampines Mall
Takashimaya (in Ngee Ann City building, a landmark on Orchard Road).

You can buy them during the autumn festival, until September 23rd at Junction B, Jurong Poing and Tampines Mall, unto the 24th at the other outlets.

Look out for mooncakes in Chinese restaurants, supermerkets and shops all over the world. You should be able to find cheaper ones in Taiwan. You can also buy online.

FOR CRAZY, RICH SINGAPOREANS
Li Bai Cantonese restaurant takeslarge  orders. You have to wait a couple of days. They charge $50 delivery, which is waived if you order 50 or more boxes. Who has that kind of budget? If you've read the book or watched the film Crazy Rich Asians (locals say it should be called Crazy Rich Singaporeans), you will know that some people do.

The film has been showing in Singapore and is going worldwide in September 2018.

What's New
You can also order mooncake ice creams from ice cream shops.

Last year I was in London, England and asked for a mooncake.  My family were able to buy one from Changi Airport in Singapore.

Classic mooncake.

What's inside?

Mooncake with nuts. This one has small pieces of nut.

Exotic fruit flavours.

Useful Websites
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2018/07/diy-mooncakes-what-is-in-mooncake.html

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.
I have several more posts on mooncakes and Sheraton Towers Hotel.
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Why You Should Dress To Impress When Travelling

Problem
How do you travel prepared for the dust and dirty of travel, but also something smarter for a conference or special occasion? I was sitting judging a speech competition and heard a section of a speech on the familiar theme of Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover.

Dress To Impress has become a catchphrase we use in conversation, but I think you would have to be careful about using it for business it's actually a copyright phrase for an established business.  The two popular sayings seem to contradict each other.

When a speaker at Toastmasters International is on stage at a contest, they have usually a 5-7 minute speaking slot. I sat looking at the clothes of the speakers.

The master of ceremonies (at the event I attended called contest chair) was wearing an elegant but subdued outfit, dark coloured, tailored, perfect.

Two or more contestants wore smart shirt with jeans. I was distracted from what they were saying as I mused on the contrast. It looked as if they had dressed in front of a half length mirror, not a full length mirror.

Others wore three different colours, such as a blue shirt, black jeans and borwn shoes. If you have black hair and pale skin, you might choose black shoes to match your black hair.

The French used to have a simple system. You have one colur for your season's clothes, such as navy or red, or white, your bag and belt and shoes are in another colour, black or brown or navy.  (For ladies or dram the cotnrasting colour could be either subtle 'autumn' colours, light and bright spring colours, or vibrant summer colours.) You could match with your hair colour, eye colour or skin colour.

You might think that the same colour fits the same person always. However, if you change your skin colour, by getting a suntan, that changes which colours suit you. So does a change of hair colour. Bornw hair might suit purple. However, blondes might look better in bright red. Redheads might want pink or orange listick, depending on their skin tone and whether they have blue or green or brown eyes. I love red, red lipstick, red clothes, but red spectacle frames do not suit me, nor does red hair.

Shoes and Socks
The old rule used to be that socks should match shoes for the office. At one time you wore white socks with black shoes. That creates an odd, outlandish effect if nobody else wears the same style.

If you don't have shoes to match your outfit, maybe you should match your outfit to your shoes. If your black shoes are smart, or your brown shoes are comfortable, work upwards with socks and trousers and a shirt or blouse to match or co-ordinate.

Mix and Match Books
Their outfits reminded me of those mix and match books you are given as children, showing people in various costumes, with two halves, or three parts, divided horizontally at waist or knee height. You flip the top or lower half to create different characters, but often totally incongruous.

The moral of the story is, don't just wear a smart shirt. That might work in a restaurant when you are sitting down. However, if you are on stage at an event, do not wear a smart shirt with torn jeans. Wear a co-ordinated outfit.

I am horrified by the number of websites offering shirt and tie sets with two patterns, one on the shirt and another on the tie. They don't co-ordinate. They mesmerise your eyes. They shout confusion.

Tailors
When I find some suppliers of smart shirts and ties, with cotnrast collars, I shall note them. Some of the people who I asked said they had their shirts made to measure with matching ties. In Singapore and Hong Kong many companies offer outfits. They also visit London. I am wary of comitting to a tailor who wants the money for a complete outfit.

Dress Suit Outfits
A shop which sells wedding outfits will have suits and shirts and ties - compelte outfits. They often have seasonal sales, last year's lines or ex wedding hire outfits. Just one example is Impeccable, in Hatch End, NW London England.

All Black Or Not?
Some people, men and women, wear all black. Easy when buying, no trouble matching. However that can create a morque look. Do you look depressed or ghoulish?

All black works well if the clothes are smart and new and well pressed. However, if you have dark skin, and black hair, and dark eyes, such as Indian Or African American, you want to consider a white shirt or a lightening effect.

If you are on stage or on TV, find out the colour of the curtains. A well known optical illusion is to make somebody disappear by having them wear black clothes against a black curtain. To get attention to your face, you want to be sure your eye white and white teeth stand out with a frame or halo. Try out a white hat, white shirt, a cravat, white tie, or bandanna, or white background caftan. If that looks too dramatic or absurd, try cream colour, or a colour, even white and gold.

The important thing is that the effect is pleasing, gives you confidence, and makes others admire you.

Useful Websites
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Muddle-and-Match-Adventure-Monsters-Jungle-Imagine-4-Mix-Match-Board-Books/162983697951?hash=item25f295de1f:g:3TAAAOSwCERaxtgz
https://www.qoo10.sg/ad?keyword=Button%20Down%20Shirt%20Men&jaehuid=2000180829&__ar=Y
http://www.marksandspencer.com/3-pack-easy-to-iron-shirts-with-tie/p/p60126538?image=SD_03_T11_2206B_E4_X_EC_90&color=BLUEMIX&prevPage=srp&pdpredirect

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

What's that plant which smells so delicious at night?

Rangoon vine? Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
Every evening I passed a wonderful plant, pink flowers, aromatic stop-and-sniff aroma.
What is it?

Answer

I passed a lady clipping away at the edge. I passed her and stopped to look. She must have heard my footsteps and seen my shadow.

I smiled and she smiled. "Lovely plant!" I exclaimed. "Beautiful colours. What is it?"

She replied, "A 'Rangoon vine'. From Burma, now called Myanmar - next to Thailand. I am snipping away the dead parts."

I asked, "How do you know which parts are dead?"

"The dead parts have turned black."

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

She also showed me boughainvillea. "The government plants it over the bridges because it needs so little maintenance. No need to water it. It thrives on sunshine and lack of water."

She showed me more plants. "This is calamansi, as we call it. You call it lime. "

Sh moved on, "Do you like lemon grass. I'll cut you a spike of lemon grass. Smell it where it's been cut."

She kept pointing out more plants, "Over there's aloe vera. It's supposed to be good for you, if you know how to apply it. But if you do the wrong thing, it can be bad for you."

Such is life.

Useful Websites:

http://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/plant-inspiration/plants-for-evening-scent/

Author

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

How I Photograph Through Windows On Bus Journeys

Problems
You can't take good photos because you are at odd angles, traffic gets in the way, you get reflections, and the windows are likely to be smeary.

Solutions
EDITING PHOTOS
Angles
You can adjust the angle of the photo afterwards. If that cuts out half the signpost, the elegant chimney, or the pretty tree, leave the photos which are diagonal at the corner of the page as the angle is deliberate.

Mounting
The picture is out of focus? Put it behind the bolder headline as a faded background.

Crop
Crop the picture to remove unwanted litter, people, modern signposts spoiling the view of ancient buildings. On my laptop I get a grid dividing the picture into six or nine. Moving the focus of the picture into the middle sometimes improves it no end. The same goes to people. But occasionally I find that the trees or buildings on the left and right provide a good frame. So I go back to the original which is always there.

I used to duplicate pictures to keep the original beside the cropped version and compare them. when cropping and later Now I have so many pictures that it takes hours to find anything. I have to spend more time labelling the 'Information' on every picture to be able to find distant or detail or even a person and a place. Also too many pictures takes up space and costs money in more storage.

Overlap
If cropping the bottom right cut out something important at the top right, overlap the pictures so the next picture obliterates the corner. Nobody knows what they don't see. Yes, it takes time.

Cut it to the part you want. Overlap pictures to cut out the corners.

WINDOW CLEANING
Clean the bus windows. Why doesn't the bus company clean the windows?

Maybe they do. Even if they did, the first kid eating ice cream or sweets and stand up to look out, bracing against the window when the bus jolts or leaning forward to look out smears sticky all over the window.

Inside or outside? In theory, I could do the outside of a window when the bus is stationery before it departs at the start and end of the journey.

Probably if If I were to do the journey again, I would carry window cleaner. Maybe not. Perhaps wet wipes would be lighter and less bulky.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I have other posts on photography, destinations, learning languages, London, worldwide. Please follow, bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.

What Travelling Teaches Us About Language And Time

Problem
Different countries view time in different ways. In New York and when checking in at the gate to catch a plane, you must arrive ten minutes in advance, ideally half an hour in advance. No matter what your excuse, the plane will go without you.

Answers
You have to be aware of local culture. The Spanish 'mañana' attitude applies in Spain and other hot countries. Malaysia and many Mediterranean, Arabic or tropical countries, a relaxed view of time is the norm.

In Singapore I try to arrive half an hour to an hour before the open doors time, when networking starts, before what should be the not time start to the welcome speech to the meeting.

However, often I am amounts the first three to arrive, the first not counting those who open the door. Although I am late I am the first visitor to arrive.

What do different cultures think and say about time and language?

SAYINGS ABOUT LANGUAGE
It is said that
1 The English speak two languages, English and louder English.
2 A picture is worth a thousand words.
3 Actions speak louder than words.
England and America are two countries separated by a common language.
(George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, wrote Pygmalion in 1913, awarded the Nobel prize 1925.)

SAYINGS ABOUT TIME
USA
New Yorkers are punctual.
1 Time and tide wait for no man.
2 Time is money.
(Benjamin Franklin.)
3 Do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. You may delay, but time will not. Lost time is never found again. (Benjamin Franklin.)

AFRICA
The clock did not invent man.
So little time, so much to do.
(Cecil Rhodes.)

CHINESE SAYING
The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is today.

LATIN AND THE ROMANS
The Romans used to say:
3 Carpe Diem. (Seize the day.)
Tempus Fugit. (Time flies. Full version is: Tempus fugue - Time flies and never returns)

GERMAN
Eternity was made to give some of us a chance to learn German.
Mark Twain

What problems have you had learning German?

INDIA
Time is free.

ITALY
He who goes slowly goes safely and goes far.

SPAIN
The 'mañana culture. Spaniards say:
Those who rush arrive first at the grave.
4 Tomorrow is the busiest day of the week.


UK
5 Better late than never but better never late.

More haste, less speed.

Measure twice; cut once. (Saying used by tailors, cobblers and carpenters.)

Time heals all wounds.

There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Brutus in Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.

Time and tide wait for no man.
Geoffrey Chaucer.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

6 If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds worth of run
Why then the whole wide world is yours
And what is more, you'll be a man, my son.
Rudyard Kipling


Tips
More amusing foreign phrases from:
http://www.fluentu.com/french/blog/french-proverbs/?lang=en


Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please share my posts.

Hiding stains on garments when travelling

I was in Singapore during Chinese New Year when the main event is Chinese New Year dinners, Singapore style - called Lo Hei, where you are served a central platter in the middle of a round table and all the diners stand and toss the noodles and coloured ingredients in the air - with the risk of splashing your clothes. One American lady apparently made a fuss because her fine blouse or dress was splattered and needed dry cleaning at high expense with the risk of staining.

The memory of this event has bothered me for years. Whenever I go to an Indian restaurant I wear a scarf which can be washed which I drape across my chest or lap or both. The scarf should protect my dress. Also if my clothes are splashed I can wash them and cover the stain or damp patch with the scarf.

What happens if you get a splash during dinner? The usual answer is to go to the Ladies and wash as soon as possible.

(If you are stuck at the table and can't rush off, for example, because you are listening to the VIP giving a speech, or the groom's speech at a wedding, and somebody else reached for their sparkling wine for the toast and knocked their red wine over you, what do you do?

You might tip some white wine or water into a glass, from their into a coffee saucer, or use a teaspoon to scoop up a little water. Tip the water onto the corner of your white napkin - if all else fails, a white paper tissue from your pocket, a white tissue begged from a bystander, or even a corner of the tablecloth.

For a spot, without wetting a large area, apply with a piece of cotton wool borrowed from hotel reception or a member of your dinner party who is staying at the hotel.

Dry Cleaning
I recently bought an item from Ebay which was advertised as having some small stains on the top and skirt of a dry clean only garment. When it arrived, I made the mistake of trying to spot clean the stains on the skirt.

I knew from previous experience that some dry clean only garments can be hand washed. Providing you start with cold water. Also watch out for the buttons and other appliqué items which might colour run, or would be damaged, or pull off easily and snag so they would not be safe being tossed about in a washing machine nor a tumble drier. The same applies to delicate crochet where a button from one part of the garment, or a zip pull, could catch in a hole and tear the garment.

Washing Disasters
I have also had a silk garment shrink in the wash. (I now have a shrunken top, though the skirt is OK.) I also had a garment with a lining of a different fabric, so the lining shrank at a different rate from the outside. Result, one part shrunk, and seams puckered.

So I thought I'd already learned my lesson on garments which I had bought so cheaply that I considered that after wearing them four or five times I had had my moneys worth already and would risk washing them.

This tine I had a set of four garment, two parts with tiny stains, two on the skirt, four on the top. So I thought, let's try a tiny cold water wash. No use, still stained.

So, I thought, be bolder. Try a bit of soap and rubbing.

However, as soon as I added the water, the rough crepe silk started buckling and creasing, contrasting with the smooth just ironed look of the rest of the skirt. Disaster!

I tried pulling it straight. I would have to wait and see if hanging it upright helped the creasing fall out. Yes, it is just crumpled, not damaged, but looks as if it needs steaming, far too delicate to iron.

If all else failed, I would have to make a dart and sew up the creased fabric.  Luckily it was a fairly full skirt. Enough fabric for the dart. Enough fabric for it to swing about and not notice.

Hiding
A long jacket or coat might cover the skirt when I arrived at my venue. When I was seated nobody would notice what was below knees level. A long scarf could also cover a stain.

On the other hand, It was too nice a garment to wear on any occasion except a grand event where I wanted to look my best, feel my best, and impress.

Sew on Sequins, Buttons and Ribbons
The spots were tiny, smaller than my little finger's finger nail. I decided not to risk trying to spot wash the top. I would cover the spots with sequins.

Sewing sequins
How do you sew on a sequin? It has only one hole. If you radiate the threads it looks odd.

To hide the three threads you have to sew in one direction only. Then place the next sequin overlapping the thread on the first.

An alternative if you are in a hotel and have no sequins is to use pearl buttons. You can usually get a sewing kit from a hotel or supermarket with a couple of pearly shirt buttons. Pearly buttons can be sewn on with white thread. A five star hotel might have a button sewing service, which could be safer than trusting them to dry clean your garment or sending your garment out to a laundry when you have a plane to catch next day.

Pin or Sew On Ribbons
No sequins nor buttons? If you don't have sequins of buttons, or don't think sequins and buttons suit the garment, consider ribbons. You can double a length of ribbon and pin it on with a brooch. No brooch? Pin it on with a concealed safety pin.

Make a ribbon patch or appliqué. Cut out oblongs of ribbons, seam them and sew them on. Or wind the ribbon into a spiral to make a rose or abstract decoration.

Beads
Small or large beads could also be used.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Author of How To Get Out Of The Mess You're In.