A few words of Spanish from maps and daily life - how many do you know?

 

Spanish - English

agua potable  drinking water

antorcha torch

arriba above

bebida drink

calle principal main street

carne meat

casa house

cena dinner

cerveza beer

ciudad town

comida meal

computadora laptop

de of

desayuno breakfast

fresa strawberry

gran casa big house

leche milk

mercado market

naranja orange

nuez walnut

olivos olives

piscina (swimming) pool

pueblo village

puente bridge

puerta door

queso cheese

revista magazine

ser be

sopa soup

tiempo weather

vino blanco white wine

vino espumoso sparkling wine

vino tinto red wine

English Spanish

beer cerveza

breakfast desayuno

bridge puente

door puerta

drink bebida

house casa

milk leche

soup sopa

town ciudad (c like city)

red wine vino tinto

village pueblo

walnut nuez

white wine vino blanco (adjective after the noun)

Have You Booked Your Holiday? How To beat Procrastination And Setbacks And Keep Smiling

I have a dream, a dream destination for a holiday. Have you booked your holiday?

As soon as I hear the other person's answer, I can start surmising the whole life of the person who replies.

'Yes, I booked it last week.'
Judger. (Myers Briggs personality typing.) He or she will arrive early.

Another type will reply: 'Not yet.'

I ask: 'Why not?'

The answer: 'Still looking around.'

ADVANCE PLANNING
You can plan your year ahead. My family did this for a wedding and honeymoon. When is the wedding? June. Which countries have good weather in those months?
Read about destination in Wikipedia, Wikivoyage and Wikitravel.

Pay by credit card of a means which allows you to recover if the company goes bust.
Make a list of places to see.

Safety and Insurance
Check safety warnings on Wikivoyage, UK Foreign Office, and US state advisory. Check insurance. If government warnings are in place probably your insurance won't cover you. Also your company will advise you not to go or will not fund the business trip.

Make a list
Check passport (s). Visas.
Check flights.
check weather.
Check hotel prices.
Check activities.
Book first and last night events.
Know alternative exits if you have to leave suddenly lose your flight.
Check insurance exclusions.

Driving License
Take copies of driving licenses even if you do not intend to drive. Why? If another driver is too young or old or does not have an international license you might need documentation.

If your driver is to drunk, tired or ill you might want to share driving. If your driver is held by a hospital or police you might need to drive. If the chauffeur driven car is not available and you are offered self-drive this could be a better option than a bus when you are racing for a flight.

PROCRASTINATION Procrastinator. He or she will book late. And arrive late. Forget to check dates. Lose their passport. Miss the meeting.

JUDGERS & DECISION MAKERS Judgers like to take decisions. Clear the desk. Do tasks in order. Make a list. Work through the list. Don't interrupt me.

That's my husband.!

I wish I could be like him. I am trying.

TRY

Oops. I gave myself away with that sentence.

I've heard trainers say, 'Don't try to do it. Do it!'

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Churchill walking through the ruins of Coventry Cathedral in 1941.

Never, ever, ever give up.
Winston Churchill WWII 1939-1945

Find an ally to give you physical and mental encouragement.


Churchill and Roosevelt. Statue in Bond Street, London, England.

Find an ally.

Six years of war. Better than the hundred years war!

Finally - the war is over.

My parents lived through two world wars, born during the first word war, lived through the second world war. My mother lost her first husband. She married again, to my father, and had me. I asked my father, 'Did anything good come out of the second world war?'

He replied, 'Yes. Me!'

SETBACKS
What's beyond? You don't know.

Make a list.

Too many choices.


When I tell my husband, 'I have a problem,' he replies: 'It is not a problem. it is a task.'

Let's look at the sayings which can encourage you to change or proceed with your plans, to face setbacks, to share success.

OPEN DOORS
Closed And Open Doors One door closes, another door opens.

I put up a positive statement about a door on Facebook. 'If a door shuts, open it again. It's a door. That's now they work.'

Somebody replied, What if ... what if... what if ...

I replied:
True. But the whole point of an aphorism is to lift people who are easily swayed by a single sentence. Just give them something to hang onto.

Like showing a balloon or a musical mobile to distract a crying child.


ENFP - MYERS BRIGGS PERSONALITY TYPE If you are ENFP on Myers Briggs you are dwelling on the past and future and doubts. The purpose of the aphorism is to add a weight to the positive side of the see-saw to restore balance.

The encouragement gets you going. Gives you a boost.

If you have already started and you stop halfway, the encouraging word or idea or saying sustains you. Like chocolate for mountain climbers.

Yes, chocolate is bad for the teeth in the long run. Also the lift feeling wears off. But it gets you going

Similarly, I eat a chocolate biscuit or cake or a chocolate bar in the break before going speak on stage at a Toastmasters or other meeting. The sugar and caffeine lifts you up - only for 15 minutes, But I find that boost and time is enough to get me bouncing onto stage and beaming. (I also use wearing a red colour, making a noise to get attention wakes the audience and myself, interacting with the audience wakes them and keeps me alert.)

What about sharing the success, affecting their life, making a call to action, or using the written or spoken text to promote your message? End with a message.

The person who wrote to me on Facebook ended with a promotion. I replied and took their cue to end with a promotion: I wrote: This post is promoted by Braddell Heights Advanced Speakers in Singapore. Next meeting in 2020 is Wed Feb 5 evening 7 pm at BH CC and next Speechcraft Saturday afternoon Feb 15 at 2 pm.

What to say to yourself when you are travelling and waiting, or suffer a temporary setback.
Here are some positive sayings in English

TO GET STARTED
Procrastinators are other people. Procrastination is what you used to do. Positive action is what you are starting to take now.
Angela Lansbury

To beat indecision and self-doubt:
You have to be in it to win it

You don't have to see the whole staircase to start climbing.
Martin Luther King Jnr

Do It Now.
Just do it.
Nike.

A journey begins with a single step.
Attributed to Confucius (and others).


AT THE DESTINATION
Always have a plan B. I have arrived in a city for a long weekend and all the restaurants and shops and museums were closed on Monday.

AFTER SEEING A SETBACK, TO PROCEED POSITIVELY
You don't plan to fail. You fail to plan. Start your plan. Plan your next hour, day, week, month, year, 5 years, whole life goals.
One door closes, another door opens.

TO PROCEED WHEN TIRED
Keep right on to the end of the road ... (WWI song)

TO ASK FOR HELP
If you don't want to burden your family and friends and teachers and colleagues, ask a stranger.

If you don't want to risk involvement with a stranger, who might follow you, and ask for money, ask an official who is anchored to the help desk at the airport for a map with a list of restaurants.

Check out a restaurant list before you go, using the internet. Print it and put it in your pocket.

To save paper, keep it in your mobile phone. In case you lose your phone or use a different one, email yourself and pick up the email later on a new phone.

If you don't want to use a phone in a public place, write a blog post and ask a hotel concierge or friendly official to log into the website, read the suggestions, and draw the location on the hotel map. Then you will see how to get to the nearest good restaurant, and equally importantly, how to get back to your hotel.

If you are in a country or destination such as Hong Kong, where taxi drivers do not speak English, ask your hotel concierge to write the name of the restaurant on the back of the hotel card.

What do you want when you meet somebody else on your journey? To find the way? To the airport or restaurant? To get a recommendation for a restaurant? Or Supermarket? You will need that question written down in the local language. Either start learning the local language. Or write down the most needed words in that language with the translation and keep that piece of paper handy in the right hand pocket of your jacket.

CALL TO ACTION
If not now, THEN WHEN?
If not you, THEN WHO?
If not here, THEN WHERE?

TO SHARE SUCCESS
Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone.
Nothing succeeds like success.

To encourage others
Call to action.

Travel Inspiration
visitbritain.com
visitlondon.com
Churchill and Roosevelt statue, Bond Street, London, England.

Churchill statue, Parliament Square, London, England.

Coventry Cathedral


Churchill bust. Israel.

Useful Websites
https://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Myers-Briggs-Type-Indicator-Assessment/dp/0470343907
visitbritain.com
wikivoyage
wikitravel
tripadvisor

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, Author and Speaker. Please share your favourite posts

How To Protect Yourself Against Mosquitos

Mosquito. Photo from Wikipedia article on dengue fever.

Mosquitos bite and spread malaria and dengue.

Where?




In Singapore, Indonesia, and now even threatening cold UK.
Signs show you outbreaks.

Whether its the weather, global warming, it's a problem and there are several solutions.

Prevention is better than cure.

Mosquito Nets
Provided at some hotels in Bali. Make sure you close the bedroom door and windows. Pull the mosquito nets aroound your four-poster bed so the nets overlap, no gaps. Nets are not there to add romance but to protect you from bites.

You can also buy your own mosquito net to take with you. Invest in mosquito proof clothing with long sleeves and long legs.

Clothes
Wear long  sleeve and long leg clothes, or carry wraps to cover yourself at dusk or when you hear an ominous sound.

Note which of your clothes are knitted and which are woven. Carry a large wrap. Certain plants are known to repel mosquitos and can be bought for your balcony or garden.

Shut windows before you turn on the lights.

Camping shops sell suitable clothing. You can also buy sleeping bags which zip up and have drawstrings or velcro to cover you.

Aussie hats with corks attached to brims were designed to keep off mosquitos. You can also buy baseball style hats with added neck protection at the back or all around. If you need to improvise, add a scarf over the hat or under it.

Mosquito Areas
Keep away from water and long grass. Don't sit outside at the restaurant but enjoy the virew from a window seat behind glass. go inside at dusk. The dengue mosquitos are daytime. The malaria mosquitos are night time, dusk and dawn. Avoid grassy open areas around car parks and motorbke parking.

Perfumes
Pefumes designed to attract humans also attract insects.

Repellents
Instead opt for lavender or lemon.

You can buy anti-mosquito creams and sprays. Carry them with you on walks so you can apply them to yourself and the family. Some wear off after a few hours so you may need to apply them later in the day. You might also need to re-appy after swimming.

Fogging
Fogging (spraying), take place in Singapore around the vegetation at the base of skyscraper residentital blocks, hotels and so on. You should see the announcements about fogging on notice boards. Shut doors and windows as the white mist makes you cough.

Mosquito coils. If the coil is under the desk in your bedroom in Thailand or Indonesia but nobody has bothered to light it, at dusk or when you arrive, ring rception and ask them to light it.

Insect repellent. Carry with you or buy insect repellent. Also sting relief.

Nets
If you are the nervous type or moving into a news home, buy your own nosquito net and a hook to attach it to the ceiling above your bed. Also ask the landlord or landlady if you can have crened windows and patio doors. Unlike the USA, in Asia not all home and buildings have them.

Mesh
A hire car may be provided with mesh over the side windows. If not, consider whether to install it in your new or hired car. Mesh does get in the way of taking photos.

To Stop Insects Breeding
1 Empty or upturn vases, and pot underplates daily or regularly or bring them indoors.
2 Gutters should be cleared and insert anti-mosquito products.
3 Consider calling rentokit to fumigate the place. This is done a couple of times, an inital visit and follow up visit. Can be costly. Might be done by landlord rather than tenant if there is a demonstrable problem.

Useful Websites
https://www.nea.gov.sg/dengue-zika/dengue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_fever

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

How To Meet A Friend On A Station Platform In Singapore

What looks like a B top right of the left post of the doorway is an 8. Every doorway onto the train on the platform has a number.  The train has to stop at the exact same place to match the door so the passengers can get off.

It is handy to know about this number. Be prepared. In a rare instance of trouble you might want to use the number to guide station staff to an area of the platform or to part of the train carriage in the event of illness or accident affecting you or a stranger.

On a social occasion you might want to meet a friend on the platform to show them the way. Platforms are clearly marked A or B on each level. You need to specify which colour line as at a few interchanges you have a three level station, with a ticket office at Concourse level at the top, the oldest line above, and a line built later below it.

If you get on the train at a gate with a number and get off again from the same position, will the numbers match up?

Could you, for example, always get on at a particular number at your local station and meet up with a friend going to school or work?

How else could you use this number? You might also be able to select a route bringing a handicapped person out near the lift.

If you are a nerd who loves stations and facts, and being in control, here's just one more fact to make you feel you know your local station and all the stations and how the world works. If you ever get a job planning a building or roadway, you will want to number all the points in sequence on your plan, your construction, and your final map for the users.

If you are interested in stations, I have other posts on art on the stations in Singapore and stations in other parts of the world.

Travel Tips

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

australia.com

visitbritain.com

visitbritain.shop.com

visitbritain.org

visittheusa.co.uk

visitsingapore.com

Singapore Airlines: 

singaporeair.com

Author

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

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2018/12/secret-travellers-seen-on-newton-station.html

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/01/cute-musicians-in-cartoons-on-toilet.html

Business English Which Needs Attention

Problem
I am compiling a set of slides of signs which need converting into good English. Here's one.

Close should be closed. Close would be a verb, most often imperative. (Imperative means a command, something must be done, or do this The imperative verb. This action is imperative.) Please close this door.




I saw this in Raffles City shopping mall in Singapore. It could be a direct translation from Mandarin, or even Hokkien.

Oddities like this occur all over Singapore. Not that the UK is without its odd moments of shock or amusement.

What could they do? Google translate makes errors less frequently as the automatic translation improves, using an ever increasingly large set of samples to use as templates.

Use Grammarly.
grammarly.com

Travel Tips

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

australia.com

visitbritain.com

visitbritain.shop.com

visitbritain.org

visittheusa.co.uk

visitsingapore.com

Singapore Airlines: 

singaporeair.com

Author

Travel writer and photographer, Angela Lansbury.  

Teacher and tutor of English and other languages.Please bookmark and share your favourite posts and websites.

Check the key to your bathroom or bedroom door handle

This key should be supplied. The landlord may have lost it. When you get a new key, label it. Then you know what the key is for and which door it fits. You can also do a count and see if one is missing.

Learn a few words of Indonesian-Malay

Problem
How do I remember the Indonesian words?

Answer
No problem. Just look for the connections between the words in English and Indonesian-Malay.












Indonesian / Malay - English
goreng - fried (I think of the g in greasy and that reminds me of fried in oil or butter.)
kereta api - train (Malay)
maaf! - sorry! (My awful toe AAH! What the f. happened? It got trodden on but because I'm British I'll say sorry MAAF.)
silakan - please / please come in (letters 's l a' in silakan and 'l a s' in please. Silakan ends kan - sounds like can I come in - yes you can.
tidak - no (Concentrate on the d in the centre of the word as a reminder: you don't say, no - don't even think it)

English - Indonesian / Malay
fried - goreng
no - tidak
please (come in) - silakan
train - kereta api

REVISION
Words from pervious posts and earlier lessons in Duolingo:
Malay / Indonesian - English
apel - apple
ayam - chicken
bukit - hill
dia - he/she
dua - two (as in dual)
es - ice
foto - photo
merah - red (As in the place name in Singapore, Bukit Merah, meaning red hill, literally hill red.)
pintu - door
saya - I myself (s and y in both words)
selamat pagi - good morning (start a new page)
wanita - woman (Both words have the letter w, a n. Yes, it is a woman. Wan-it-a.)
Ya - Yes

English - Malay
apple - apple
chicken - ayam
door - pintu
good morning - selamat pagi
he/she - dia
hill - bukit
I - saya
ice - es
photo - foto
two - dua
woman - wanita
Yes! - Ya!

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Standard_Malay_and_Indonesian
duolingo.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages. 

Malay Greetings, Signs, Everyday Words

Malay - English

(In order in the sentence)

pintu - door

keluar -exit (adjectives follow nouns in Malay)

kecemasan - emergency / worried

di - at

sebelah - next door

hadapan - forward

dan - and

belakang - back 

kereta - car

api - fire

Malay - English 

(alphabetically)

api - fire (Both words contain the letter i, think of alight, potent)

belakang - back (both words have b a k)

dan - and

di - at

hadapan - forward

kecemasan - emergency (or worried)

keluar - exit

kereta - car (carriage of railway)

pintu - door

sebelah - next door

English - Malay

and - dan

at - di

back - belakang

car - kereta

door - pintu

exit - keluar

emergency - kecemasan

fire - api

forward - hadapan

next door - sebelah

Problem
What are those Malay signs? How do I say goodbye and thank you?

Answers
English - Malay / Indonesian

Welcome - Selamat tinggal
Goodbye - Selamat datang

Good morning - Selamat pagi (Every day is a new page. Good morning.)
Good afternoon - Selamat petang (The letters an in petang looks like a.m.)
Good night -Selamat malam

danger - bahaya (Reminds me of the phrase on beachside signs in tsunami areas - danger ... climb to higher ground.)
exit - keluar (The x and K are a similar shape, like people running from danger, from a door, in two directions.)
Entrance - Pintu masuk
door - pintu

Malay / Indonesian - English

bahaya - danger
keluar - exit
malam - night
masuk - go in
pagi - morning

petang - afternoon
pintu - door
pintu masuk - entrance
Selamat malam - Good night
Selamat pagi - good morning

Selamat petang - Good afternoon
Selamat tinggal - welcome
tinggal - live (If you and this girl are alive, and you are tickled, you are tingling.)

Author
Angela Lansbury, teacher of English and other languages. Home tutor, workshops, speeches for colleges and businesses.

How To Recognize and Remember Vital Words EMERGENCY EXIT in Malay and Indonesian

Problem
I often saw the words emergency exit in English with the words underneath in Malay and Mandarin but could not identify or remember them. You can see the words in Singapore on trains and buses as well as Malaysia and Indonesia.

I sat on a bus in Singapore at night, returning home from Nee Soon East Toastmasters club on a bus. Outside all was dark. How could I make use of my time.  I typed the English into Google Translate.

I saw the sign 

PINTU KELUAR KECEMASAN.

The English read EMERGENCY EXIT. But which word in Malay was which English word.

By reading several signs and extracting a common word, I could see that door in several signs in English was Pintu.

How could I remember it. It's a bit like the words port and portal. But the middle letter is i and the last letter is you.

I can, by constantly reading the sign for emergency exit on a train, learn to recognize the Malay. Pintu. But how would I remind myself how to find the Malay in my brain from the English word?

I have used the system of making up a sentence for first the consonants and then the elusive vowels: May I PoINT oUt to yoU that the Malay for Door is Pintu. A e I o U. I owe it to U to point out the door. PINTU. A pint for you if you can point out the door. PIN This notice on yoUr door. Emergency exit. PINTU - Door.

Bahasa Malay - English Language

(Note that in Malay the adjective may often come after the noun.)

Pintu - door

keluar - exit (I think of the cellar door is the exit when the intruder or spider wants to kill you, kill the problem by hiding in the cellar and taking the exit 'keluar' and you are All Right)

kecemasan - anxiety / emergency / worry

pintu - door

I can easily see that Pintu is door. But Keluar and Kecemasan both start with KE. Which is which?

This is enough for me to look at the three words and work out that Keluar is exit and Kecemasan is emergency.

Another way to remember is that the word exit is shorter than emergency and the word Kecemasan is longer than keluar.

The initials KE in Keluare remind me of EX in Exit.

Kecemasan reminds me of an alarmed person rubbing their hands, masan as in manual.

Now I can keep re-reading the signs on a bus or a train and if I see KELUAR I know it means exit. If I see kecemasan I know it means emergency and if I see KELUAR KECEMASAN I know it means emergency exit.

Now I can stop reading the sign and just note where on the bus or train I can find the emergency exit, the sloping window at the back of the train, like the lift up window on the back of a five-door car (as the brochures say) or as we say conversationally in England, a hatchback.  On the bus I noticed that the emergency exit sign was on a window alongside the door, so if the door is jammed, you go for the nearby window.

English  Language - Bahasa Malay 

anxiety - kecemasan

emergency - kecemasan

exit - keluar

language - bahasa

worry - kecemasan

Bahasa Malay - English

kecemasan - anxiety, emergency, worry

keluar - exit

pintu - door

Once you have grasped the principles of translating and memorising, you can start learning any language just from the bus or train. Start by reading the words. Even if you do not yet understand them, first you get familiar with repeated words. 

When it comes to remembering, you will later know the words in the column of foreign words. You simply have to look them up later and find a way of attaching to English words those foreign words you can quickly identify.

You may not yet be able to speak any Malay or Indonesian, but you can recognize the word for exit, or emergency exit on a bus or train.

PINTU KELUAR KECEMASAN 

Emergency Exit

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and teacher of English and other languages.

Malay Words Seen On Singapore Trains

Malay - English
Api - fire
Ayer - water
Bahru - new
Berhati-hati - beware / careful!
Bukit - hill
Jam - hour or time
Jambat - slow down
Jambatan - bridge
Kaki - foot
Kaki Bukit - foothill (station on Singapore MRT Downtown blue train line)
Kereta  - car
Merah - red
Mikrofon - microphone
Padang - field
Panggilan - call
Panjang - long
Pasar - market
Pintu - door
Polis/i police
Platform - platform
Timah - tin

Learning Languages Whilst Travelling - Malay For Emergency Exit

Problems
How do you learn languages while travelling?
What do signs mean?

Answers
Translate signs on buses and trains and words you hear.

Story
I had looked at the signs on the trains and buses. Finally I got around to taking a photo so I could translate later. I could see the word Pintu on Malay (which is mostly the same as Indonesian) was likely to be door. I speak Franch and remembered that the French for the door is la porte. But what were the other two words?

I photographed the sign on a bus window. It was at an angle but I later blew up the words.

I translated the three words by typing them into my search engine as translate ... I did not even have to specify the language. What came up was the heading Indonesian, not Malaysian.

Malaysian / Indonesian - English
Pintu - door
keluar - exit
kecemasan - worry (emergency)

So now every time I sit on a bus or train and see that sign I will be reminded of pintu, which I have confirmed is door, cellar is exit, and kecemasan is worry / emergency.

If you or I ever need the exit we can ask in Malay or Indonesian for the Keluar or keluar kecemasan. How do you pronounce it? Fortunately Malay and Indonesian languages are phonetic (sounds like it's written). K is a hard sound like the first and last letters in the word kick. C is pronounced like Ch as in the first and last letters of Church or the initial c in cello. S is S. Reminder sentence: don't kick the cello. Kecemasan.

Every time you and I sit on a bus or train we also have a reminder of the pronunciation of the letters k and c. Don't kick the cello.

Tips
1 For instant translation simply type any word you see into your search engine on your phone or iPad or laptop.
2 Keep a record of new words at the back of your physical diary or in the Notes page on a smart phone such as the iPhone.

Author
Angela Lansbury, English teacher, tutor, author, speaker.

Easy German words - we read a book by the door

Problem
How can I remember easy words.

Answer
Remember words which are similar in sound or appearance.

Story
I used to keep a list of French words in columns in a pocket book.
But in German so many words are similar that the words which are nearest in spelling are even more confusing and cause mistakes.

Answer
Note the differences.

Tips
English - German
book - Buch (notice the capital letter for a noun in German) . In church Germans read a hymn book. In German book sounds the same but its spelling is Buch. Last two letters same as church.

German - English
Buch - book

German - English
Wir - we

English - German
we - Wir Both words start with W. the e and I sound and look similar.

English - German
door - Tür
German - english
Tür - door
T and D are similar sounds. U and oo are similar sound. The English has a double oo, like a double door, but the German has double dots above the ü. To find the font with the dots, hold down the u key for a few seconds. The choice of symbols over the U appears. You want the second for the two dots. The Germans have a towering door. Tür=Door.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages.
Please like my posts and other blogs. Find me and follow me on Blogger.com, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube. Books by Angela Lansbury poet/author/ travel writer. There are four people called Angela Lansbury: two writers, one actress, one other. Look for my photo in the hat or a book cover with a caricature. Please share my posts.