Easy and difficult Spanish words

Welcome in Spanish.

Spanish Words Which Are Easy to identify and remember 

Spanish - English

las aguilas - the eagles

angeles - angels as in the American city Los Angeles)

botanico - botanic 

castillo - castle

entran - they enter (like make an entrance)

Puerto - port

gigantes - giants (like the adjectival word gigantic)

de - of

la  - the singular

lago - lake

las - the plural

los - the plural masculine, as in los angeles

mi - me

momento - moment

monasterio - monastery

montana (accent on the second n makes the pronunciation ny) - mountain

cruz - cross

parque - park

san - saint

la semana - the week  like the French word semaine

sol - sun

zona - zone / area

Difficult Words in Spanish

casarse - to get married

fiesta is a private party, not a public festival

Useful Websites on Spanish

duolingo.com

 translate

Hospital Visitors, Tips For Northwick Park Hospital

 

1 Know which department to visit. 

I was sent a letter to go for a blood test at Northwick Park hospital. When I arrived there were separate car parks and entrances miles apart for differnt departments. If I parked in the wrong place, I would have to take a long walk and pay twice  and be late for my appointment. There was no answering service at car park entrances to get advice. I had no idea where to go. I didn't know that the department I needed was haematology. 

I went to see my uncle's body in the morgue in Barnet hospital. No such building. They don't label it as such inhospitals because it unnerves the patients and visitors. Instead it has a mystery name to disguise it such as the trees or the John Smith building. 

Check the drop off points. The A & E may be for ambulances over, no access for cars and taxis. 

2 Take with you food and water and a change of clothing. 

You could be sitting hours waiting for your name to be called.. 

3 Know which name you are registered under. 

You may use your middle name, but be known by your first name to the hospital. If you are waiting to be called as John or Mary when your first name is Ali or Mae you might miss the call.

4 Check all facts on the hospital typework. 

I was listed as having an accident in a bedroom when I fell over an uneven paving stone in the street. It makes a big difference if you are suing somebody. I was able to phone and correct it. The person who answered said they would post the new version to me.

5 Shop around

if you have to wait, such as for medicine to be dispensed, while waiting you can go shopping, and shop around for the cheapest sandwiches or meal deals. At Northwick Park hospital on the fourth floor you find a Costa, a shop selling cards and scarves, gloves and gifts, a bag shop,a Marks & Speners, A Smiths bookshop.

6 In A and E by the check in area are masks, jugs of water, toilets, each with washbasins in the cubicle, a machine selling chocolate bars and snacks and drinks.

Also free newspapers.

Newspapers. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Useful Websites

https://nhsgp-online.uk/area/

https://www.nhs.uk/services/hospital/northwick-park-hospital/R1K01

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Guildhall Art Gallery - Fabulous Outside and inside - and free!

 

Guildhall Art Gallery, entrance. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

This is a remarkable building with exciting art and sculpture. Outside, to the right of the door, is a bust of William Shakespeare. Inside to the left, is a bust of King Charles III. Famous paintings are all around. Downstairs are the remains of  old London - a Roman amphitheatre, under a glass floor. Down in the basement is a magnificent Guildhall, full of statues, architecture, inscriptions and paintings and other things to look at.

Definitely worth a visit. And a return visit. Admission is free. A great place to take your foreign visitors and large families, if you are the one who is paying!

Nearest underground station, Bank.

Their online shop includes a bookworm brooch,  mug, travel mug, tea towel, pencil case, bag, fridge magnet and books.

Useful Websites

https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/attractions-museums-entertainment/guildhall-art-gallery

https://guildhall-art-gallery.myshopify.com/products/roman-mug-red-white

Finding your way around the Expo Exhibition or any exhibition hall

Is this how you feel at an exhibition! Day one I carried the guidebook and did not even look at it.

The next day I tried using the map and was confused.

The third day, I was determined to mark my route on the map. The first thing is to turn the map in the right direction, or to turn yourself. Locate the entrance to the hall. Stand facing it, or with your back to it. Pick the biggest nearby stand and locate their number.

Alternatively, start at the nearest doorway and go up and down each aisle. You could do all those on your left and then reverse, or walk along.

You might aim for what interests you first. Or simply stop at stands with live demonstrations, free food, and people who beckon and smile.

I went to a show at Expo. My third show in three months. I downloaded the catalogue in advance but that did not help me much. Most of the companies were seeking representation, so they were not big names like Starbucks. How do I remember which way I went and who I have missed?

It helps to mark your route on the map.

Try to find the exhibition catalogue and have a yellow highlighter to mark your route. That way you can

Mark Your Map

1 Work out which aisles and stands you have missed and route that way on your way out

2 Find your way back to a stand you promised to return to next day

3 Keep track of companies which have different names to the stand owner. For example, coffee maker or oven may be under another umbrella company name. However, they may be under their regional office on the Malaysia stand.

Toilets

Note the toilets with the most cubicles. I saw a long queue (Americans say line) at the ladies in one hall. I happened to recall that another toilet area is the other side of the big wall in the next hall, which was next on my route. I checked with a staff member who was by the bins. She confirmed.

No wait at all at the next area, so no delay, and no standing beside other people breathing in their flue germs or worse.

Avoid having too much coffee or sweet stuff. I felt quite ill by 4 pm and had to go home.  

Useful Websites

www.fhaHoReCa.com

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Learn To Recognize Useful Entrance and Vital Exit signs in Chinese

Pretty easy to remember.

Entrance

 The person sign is a bit like an arrow; it is beside the square which means place and can be a building or garden or park. Think of the person and add yourself entering like an arrow. This way in to the sale!

Exit

 Then imagine somebody shouting fire and six people rushing to the exit of the building or garden or park. Let's all get out of this enclosed place.

Exit and entrance signs in Chinese. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

You will see Chinese signs in stores and hotels in Singapore where the majority of the population are ethnic Chinese and speak Mandarin at home or in school or learn it at school.

Learn Ten Words Of Portuguese: they have their entrances and exits, as Shakespeare said

Problem

The first thing I do when researching a new country is look at the map. What do those names mean? How will I remember them?

Answer

I try to translate some of the place names. Placenames will help me learn the language as I will see them every time I look at the map.

I had always thought that the words Portugal and Oporto and Port wine has something to do with Port or gate.

Here's what Wikipedia says:

Etymology[edit]

The word Portugal derives from the Roman-Celtic place name Portus Cale^[29]. Cala or Cailleah was the name of a Celtic god and also the name of an early settlement located at the mouth of the Douro River (present-day Vila Nova de Gaia) which flows into the Atlantic Ocean in the north of what is now Portugal. Some French scholars believe it may have come from 'Portus Gallus'^[30], the port of the Gauls or Celts. Around 200 BC, the Romans took the Iberian Peninsula from the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War, and in the process conquered Cale and renamed it Portus Cale (Port of Cale). During the Middle Ages, the region around Portus Cale became known by the Suebi and Visigoths as Portucale. The name Portucale evolved into Portugale during the 7th and 8th centuries, and by the 9th century, that term was used extensively to refer to the region between the rivers Douro and Minho, the Minho flowing along what would become the northern Portugal-Spain border. By the 11th and 12th centuries, Portugale was already referred to as Portugal.

Portuguese - English
castelo - castle
do - of

English - Portuguese
castle - castello
of - do

...................
English _ Portuguese
river - rio

gate - portão
hotel - hotel
restaurant - restaurante
street - rua

entrance - etnrada
exit - sáida

pull - puxar
push -empurrar

open - aberto (remember open to you Albert)
closed - fechados
welcome - bem vinda

hill - colina (Colin is on the hill with Ina)
mountain - montanha (Like Montana but with an h ha ha!)

bay - baía
harbour - Porto (Porto the seaside city has a harbour)

street - rua
avenue - avenida
motorway - autoestrada

no entry - entrada proibida
danger - perigo (peri(l) i(f) (you) go)

entrance fee - taxa de entrada (tax of entry)
free - livre

PORTUGUESE- English
rio - river

portão - gate
hotel - hotel
restaurante -restaurant
rua - street (like the French rue - you'll rue the day you took this street, ah!)

Entrada - entrance
Saída - exit

puxar - pull
empurrar - push

aberto - open
fechadas - closed
bem vinda - welcome

Colina - hill (both words contain the letters l and i)
montanha - mountain (both words contain the letter mo.nta

baía - bay
Porto - harbour

rua - street
Avenida - avenue
autoestrada - motorway

Entrada proibida - no entry (entry prohibited - silent h, like the French can't say h)
perigo - danger

taxa de entrada
livre - free

Bon voyage (that's French but we say it in English) - Boa viagem!

You've learned 26 words, more if you count the double words in Portuguese. Bettert han ten isn't! But ten sounds easy. We have done well today.

Useful wbsites:
https://www.visitportugal.com/en
http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/homepage
http://visitbrasil.com/en/
https://www.duolingo.com/course/pt/en/Learn-Portuguese-Online

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, author and speaker, learner and teacher of English and other languages.I have several more posts on learning Portuguese and visiting Madeira. This week's winning post is the one on the marvellous meal at Osteria Modigliani, with over a thousand readers from Italy. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.