German Words Which Are The Same As Or Similar to English

The Same word German - English and English - German

Baseball - baseball  baseball - Baseball

Basketball - basketball basketball - Basketball

Cousin - cousin - Cousin

popcorn

Park - park  park - Park (capital initial letters in German for nouns)

Sandwich - sandwich sandwich - Sandwich

Similar Words German - English

fisch - fish

garten - garden

hallo - hello

hund - dog / hound

mann - man

milch - milk

musik - music

singen - sing

wasser - water

Similar Words English - German

bed - bett

beer - bier

hello - hallo

man - Mann (double the n and use an initial capital for a noun)

here - hier

milk - milch

music - musik

sing - singen

Useful websites for learning and translating German

duolingo.com

translate google

translate.google.co.uk

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Euston Station's Statue of the man, the map and the cat

 

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

More Albanian - needs on arrival and getting about

 

Flag of Albania.

I made lists of words I thought I would need to use or recognize when travelling, common words and useful words.

Words which are the same or nearly the same are hotel and farmaci.

Common words

and - dhe

danger - rreziku

the -të

or - ose

you - ju

warning -paralajmërim 

dhe - and të - the ju - you

ose - or paralajmërim - warning

rreziku- danger

You may need 

Linking words English - Albanian

at/beside - në/përkrah

from - nga

to - te

right/left - djathtas /majtas

yes/no po/jo

please/thank you - ju lutem/faleminderit

hello/goodbye - përshëndetje / mirupafshim

boy/girl - djale vajze

man/women - burrë/grua

Albanian - English (alphabetically) 

burrë/grua - man/woman

djale vajze - boy/girl

djathtas majtas - right/left

ju lutem/faleminderit - please/thank you

në/përkrah - at/beside
nga - from

përshëndetje / mirupafshim - hello/goodbye
po/jo - yes/no
te - to

Countries

Albania/Albanian

England/English

America/American

London/Londoner

Germany/German

Shqipëri/shqiptar
Angli/Anglisht
Amerikë/Amerikane
Londër/Londër
Gjermani/gjerman

Albanian - English

ajo - she

ju - you ( similar to the French tu, two letters, but more like d'you, to remember the j, I think you juvenile)

bar/snack bar/coffee shop/bistro/cheap restaurant/fine restaurant/local style restaurant/national food

From Maps

bridge - urë

cafe - kafene

car park - parkim makinash

city - qytet

drinking water

drug store - farmaci

entrance - hyrje

exit - dalje

free - falas

hotel - hotel

urë - BRIDGE
kafene- CAFE
parkim makinash - CAR PARK
qytet - CITY
ujë i pijshëm - DRINKING WATER
farmaci - pharmacy (UK) drug store (USA)
hyrje - entrance
dalje - exit
falas - free
hotel - hotel

Useful websites

wikivoyage

 

 So many Swedish words are similar to English. Here are a few which I have learned this week using Duolingo on the train and 

whilst waiting for friends.

Revision

English - Swedish

1 a/an - en

2 barnet - child (like the Scottish bairn)

3 book - bok 

4 Lemon - citron

5 Man - man

6 meny - menu

7 Pepper - peppar (Both words start the same, but Swedish changes the second e to an a)

8 rice - ris 

9 Salt - salt

10 The - et (two letters from the word the; also et looks like it)

11 we - vi

12 You - du

Now let's try it the other way around.

Swedish English

1 barnet - child

2 bok - book

3 citron - lemon

4 du - you

5 en - a/an

6 et - the

7 man - man (NB men and man look the same but one has a double dot about the a to make the sound change)

8 meny - menu

9 peppar - pepper

10 ris - rice

11 salt - salt

12 vi - we

Just an update on this article from 2019 which Google found for me. Since the time of writing Duolingo has introduced the feature which asks you to repeat the words and gives you feedback on whether you have pronounced the words correctly or should try again. duolingo also offers two buttons, to listen to the words said at normal speed or hear phrases and sentences said slowly and distinctly so that if you miss one essential word you can hear it again.

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/04/smarter-living/500-days-of-duolingo-what-you-can-and-cant-learn-from-a-language-app.html

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Yet more Spanish words: mother, man, waiter, Spanish, American

My name is .. ..........

a woman - una mujer

a man - un hombre

mother (see below)

the mother

the waiter

the waitress

Me llamo ............

 madre

La madre

El camarero

la camarera

National Origin/Residence/Work

I am - yo soy
English - Inglés (Remember the department store in Malaga, Spain, called El Corte Inglés) 

Are you Spanish?

From which city?

I am English /American -

Origen nacional / Residencia / Trabajo

¿Es usted español?

¿De que ciudad?

Soy inglés / americano - yo soy

Claiming A Reserved Table

I have a reservation/reserved - a table for  - yo tenga una reserva - una mesa para 

one,two,three - uno, dos, tres

four/five/six/seven/

eight/nine/ten - 

Can we sit over there?

I need a plate / another plate

I need/we need another glass

Reclamar una tabla reservada

Tengo una reserva / reservada - una mesa para - yo tengo una reserva - una mesa para

uno, dos, tres - uno, dos, tres

cuatro / cinco / seis / siete /

ocho nueve DIEZ -

¿Podemos sentarnos allí?

Necesito un plato / otro plato

Necesito / necesitamos otro vaso

Agua Y Vino, Vasos Y Vajilla

Me gustaría / un vaso de agua - un vaso agua (vaso es vidrio no florero)

Water And Wine, Glasses & Crockery

I would like / a glass of water - un vaso agua (vaso is glass not vase) 

I am going to order - voya pedir

bottle of wine - botella de vino

This is red wine -

I need  - yo necesita

Do you have a wine list?

Do you have wine by the glass?

Ordering - words and phrases

I don't eat pork

I am allergic to shellfish

May we order

I need a menu

Do you have a wine list?

Do you have wine by the glass?

Voy a ordenar - voya pedir

botella de vino - botella de vino

Esto es vino tinto

Yo necesito

Ordenar - palabras y frases

Yo no como cerdo

Soy alérgica a los mariscos

Podemos ordenar

Necesito un menu

¿Tienes una carta de vinos?
....... ... .... .. .... (You fill this in!)

About The Author

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, blogger, author of 20 books including an ebook on Improve Your English, from Amazon, and teacher of English and Business English and other languages to individuals, colleges and companies. For more information on learning languages see the previous posts. For information on sites to see in Spain and Portugal see the other posts. Please bookmark your favourite posts and share the links with your family, friends and colleagues.

Learn the Chinese words for Male and Female Toilet - and avoid embarrassment

Problem

I wanted to learn the Chinese words for ladies toilet.
I found the ladies toilet and copied down the word.
However, next time I tried to follow the sign, I found myself in the gents.

Answer
I went back to the guide and asked her to translate what I had written. I had written the word for toilet!

Read down the right hand column under simplified and find the sign for woman.

How to Remember Basic Brazilian Portuguese Words

Problem
It's easy enough to see that o menino is a boy and mulher is mother when I am reading, but how do I remember the Portuguese when I want to say something?

I learned these words six months ago. It's a lot quicker this time. But I still have to remind myself the first time I do the exercise and get it all wrong, or take ten second to think. When you are talking, you want the words to flow out automatically, not keep people waiting whilst you hunt for words and construct a sentence.

Answers
At first I had trouble remembering which endings went with which word, feminine and masculine. But it's pretty easy. The prepositions and adjective match the nouns. Think of it like matching colour on a string of beads. All the blues for boys on one side for one bracelet, all the pinks for girls on the other side for another bracelet. One you have got an o or a ending for the first word, the next word matches it.

o menino - boy , like the Buddy Holly song, "Oh, boy, oh boy ..."
a menina - girl

Oh - boy.
Ah - a girl. Girl may be written with the letter I, but the sound is a or er.

Portuguese - English
o homen - man ( I remember: Oh, ho, men. No just one man.)
a menina - girl
o menino - boy
a mulher - woman (looks like mother, every woman is a mother, but how do I remember U L? You love every woman?
voce - you (like the French vous which is you plural or you formal to a stranger)

English - Portuguese
boy - o menino
bread - o pao
girl - a menina
man - o homen
milk -
woman - mulher

you - voce

STOP - I haven't finished this post or put in the accents. I'll come back later. Go to next post!

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

I just started learning Esperanto on Duolingo! Have you looked at it?

Problem
I thought, I am learning enough languages. It will delay me and I might muddle it up with Spanish.

Answer
It has only 16 rules. It is all logical. It's easy to pronounce. The letters are easy. Just a dot turns an s into a Sh.

At first, I was taken aback that a man is la viro. Why la? Isn't that for women? Then I read the first page on the rules. There's no a. La is the for men and women. Like the British the, it does not change (unlike French with la for female and le for male and a table being female, la table.

I expect after a couple more lessons the la is the will stick and I'll no longer be puzzled to see la for a man.

I love it already.

I must admit I did try learning Esperanto years ago. Then I didn't get on with it. I got discouraged by making mistakes. The nice thing about Duolingo is that you don't have a teacher so nobody knows if you make a mistake. You just keep ticking a different box in the multiple choice questions until you get the answer right. Then the system helps you to remember the right answer by asking you to type it out copying the right answer. Then they check back by reversing the languages.

I am not muddling it up with any other language either.

When I have finished the course I can look for others who can speak or write.

duolingo.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, learner and speaker of languages. See my previous post on Zamenhof, inventor of Esperanto. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Three New Japanese Words and How to remember them

Problem
Today I read three new Japanese words. But how do I remember them?

Japanese - English
man - (not man but 10,000 - think of ten thousand Japanese men - only one steps forward and takes 10.000 steps)
po - steps - P like pedicure, foot
kei - meter - (kay looks like key - the key to measuring)

English - Japanese
meter - kei
steps - po
10,000 ten thousand - man

Keep saying new words three times, every hour today and for a week and then write it in your diary and look at it on your daily commute. (Like a gym or aqua class instructor shouting at you to repeat: " One, two, three - last time!" - shout at yourself.)

1
man - (not man but 10,000 - think of ten thousand Japanese men - only one steps forward and takes 10.000 steps)
po - steps - P like pedicure, foot
kei - meter - (kay looks like key - the key to measuring)

2

man - (not man but 10,000 - think of ten thousand Japanese men - only one steps forward and takes 10.000 steps)
po

- steps - P like pedicure, foot
kei - meter - (kay looks like key - the key to measuring)

3
man - (not man but 10,000 - think of ten thousand Japanese men - only one steps forward and takes 10.000 steps)
po - steps - P like pedicure, foot
kei - meter - (kay looks like key - the key to measuring)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42864061#_=_ (Story of 10,000 steps, and the 3 Japanese words)
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/polyglot-poem-by-angela-lansbury.html
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/how-to-remember-23-portuguese-words-or.html

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, learner and teacher of languages.

Easy To Remember German Words from the Poem Bridge on the Tay (railway disaster 1789)

Problem Translating German

I found a German poem about the Bridge on the River Tay. The disaster happened Dec 28 1879. Scottish poet immortalised the event and himself in the poem he wrote.

Wikipedia told me that a German poet had written a poem on this event. Was it a different poem, or a translation?

Die Brück’ am Tay

(28. Dezember 1879)

When shall we three meet again? The three witches in Macbeth, making predictions.

GERMAN

»Wann treffen wir drei wieder zusamm?«
   »Um die siebente Stund‘, am Brückendamm.«
     »Am Mittelpfeiler.«
         »Ich lösche die Flamm.«

5

 »Ich mit«

ENGLISH TRANSLATION
When will we three meet again? (Literally: when meet we three again together)
On/around the seventh hour, on the (bridges dam/ Google gives Bridge of Bruck?)
On/at the pillar /pier (middle pillar)
I'll erase/lose/extinguish/kill the flame (metaphor for life?)
I with (Me with, Me too, I also, I'm with you, I'll be with you)

         »Ich komme vom Norden her.«
»Und ich vom Süden.«
             »Und ich vom Meer.«

ENGLISH TRANSLATION
I come from (the) North
And I from (the) South
And I from (the) sea

»Hei, das gibt einen Ringelreihn,

10

Und die Brücke muß in den Grund hinein.«

»Und der Zug, der in die Brücke tritt
Um die siebente Stund’?«
             »Ei, der muß mit.«
»Muß mit«

ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Hey, here is a ring
And the bridge must (go) in the ground (fall/go in/enter)

And the train, which in/on the bridge goes
At the seventh hour
Oh, it must (go) with
(It) Must, (go) with (or too)

Ringel is ringlet
sieben is seven

15

        »Tand, Tand

Ist das Gebilde von Menschenhand!«

Auf der Norderseite, das Brückenhaus —
Alle Fenster sehen nach Süden aus,
Und die Brücknersleut’ ohne Rast und Ruh

20

Und in Bangen sehen nach Süden zu,

Sehen und warten, ob nicht ein Licht
Übers Wasser hin »Ich komme« spricht,
»Ich komme, trotz Nacht und Sturmesflug,
Ich, der Edinburger Zug.«

25

Und der Brückner jetzt: »Ich seh’ einen Schein

Am anderen Ufer. Das muß er sein.

[586]

Nun, Mutter, weg mit dem bangen Traum,

Unser Johnie kommt und will seinen Baum,
Und was noch am Baume von Lichtern ist,

30

Zünd’ alles an wie zum heiligen Christ,

Der will heuer zweimal mit uns sein, —
Und in elf Minuten ist er herein.«

Und es war der Zug. Am Süderturm
Keucht er vorbei jetzt gegen den Sturm,

35

Und Johnie spricht: »Die Brücke noch!

Aber was tut es, wir zwingen es doch.
Ein fester Kessel, ein doppelter Dampf,
Die bleiben Sieger in solchem Kampf.
Und wie’s auch rast und ringt und rennt,

40

Wir kriegen es unter, das Element.

Und unser Stolz ist unsre Brück’;
Ich lache, denk’ ich an früher zurück,
An all den Jammer und all die Not
Mit dem elend alten Schifferboot;

45

Wie manche liebe Christfestnacht

Hab’ ich im Fährhaus zugebracht
Und sah unsrer Fenster lichten Schein
Und zählte und konnte nicht drüben sein.«

Auf der Norderseite, das Brückenhaus —

50

Alle Fenster sehen nach Süden aus,

Und die Brücknersleut’ ohne Rast und Ruh
Und in Bangen sehen nach Süden zu;
Denn wütender wurde der Winde Spiel,
Und jetzt, als ob Feuer vom Himmel fiel’,

55

Erglüht es in niederschießender Pracht

Überm Wasser unten... Und wieder ist Nacht.

»Wann treffen wir drei wieder zusamm?«
   »Um Mitternacht, am Bergeskamm,«
     »Auf dem hohen Moor, am Erlenstamm.«

[587]

60

 »Ich komme.«

     »Ich mit«
         »Ich nenn’ euch die Zahl.«
»Und ich die Namen.«

        »Und ich die Qual.«

65

 »Hei!

   Wie Splitter brach das Gebälk entzwei.«
        »Tand, Tand
Ist das Gebilde von Menschenhand.«

ENGLISH TRANSLATION
And I (am)the torment
Hey!
So (in) splinters broke the (building/entablature) in two
(a) (tiny) fragment, (a) tiny fragment
Is the structure /construction (building or rebuilt literally has been built ge means past/gone/done) of (the) men's/ mankind's hand (the hand of a man but German makes one word from the double word phrase)

Looking at the German poem, I have picked out words which I can easily recognize and remember. I am recording them alphabetically. 

GERMAN - ENGLISH

Only one or two letters change to something which sounds similar. Same letters in caps.

Brücke - bridge (BR..E ck -dg)

dezember - December (DE.EMBER z-c)

drei - three (.RE. d-t) 

hand - hand

haus - house (H ..S au-ou)

ich - I (I..)

ist - is (IS. st-s)

komme - come (.OM.E k-c)

Mensch - man (M.N...)

nacht - night (N.cH. ch-gh) 

Norden - North / northern area (NOR.... d-th)

und - and (.ND u-a)

von / vom - from (..O. v-f n-m)

Wasser - (.A..ER water SS-t)

It's easy to work out the English from the German, in context, and once you know, especially with the help of Google translate.

ENGLISH - GERMAN

and - und

bridge - Brücke

come - komme

December - dezember

from - von / vom

hand - hand

house - haus

I - ich

is - ist

men - mensch

night - nacht

North / northern (area) - Norden

three - drei

water - Wasser

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages. I have several more posts on European languages, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Welsh and Romanian. Also destination guides and stories. Please share links to your favourite posts.

First Steps Learning Norwegian

Problem
What are those funny looking letters in Norwegian? How do you pronounce them?

Answer
Norwegian has three main unusual letters at the end of the alphabet.

The joined letters AE pushed together, are like the English words aeroport and Aesops fables, both of which were originally spelled with a joined pair of letters. Air and EE.
The technical term for the joined letters is a ligature.

The slashed O is another.

Wikipedia has pages of explanation and long words, very hard to follow. It's simpler to start learning on d u o l i n g o.

I immediately recognised one word from German, very similar to the English.

When I went onto duolingo everything became easier because you simply click on the speaker icon and hear the word.

Norwegian - English
mann - man

English - Norwegian
man - mann

One word already, and one you and I can't forget.

Next word

Norwegian - English
du - you

English - Norwegian
you - du

The last letter is the same in both words. Du is like the French tu.
my memory aid is
'How do you do?'
you - du
du - you

Tips
duolingo.com
https://www.duolingo.com/course/no-BO/en/Learn-Norwegian-(Bokmål)-Online
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Å

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speak and teacher of English and other languages. Please share posts.

German Pronunciation Simplified

Problem
How do you pronounce German words?

Answers

AU is OW as HOW NOW BROWN COW
I had a friend whose surname was Blau (rhyming with now) meaning blue.
frau - woman - think of a frowning woman with brows in a brown dress , pronounced f r o w,

IE
i e pronounce the second letter W i e n e r - p r o n u n c e d v e e n e r

V and W
W is v as in the German word for sausage: w u r s h t (pronounced v e r sh t).
So now you can recognize it when a German speaker talks about a sausage from Vienna.
You can also recognize what sounds like v e e n e r schnitzel.

Frequent use of W pronounced as V
was - (vas or vuss) what
wie - what
German wir - we pronounced veer

German - English
was - what (vuss as in fuss)
wir - we (veer)
wie - how (vee)
wieviel - how many (vee feel)
w i e v i e l u h r ist es (what time is it - v e e like the letter vee, feel, i s t e s s as in yes)

German J is Y
jung - young pronounced y o o n g , the vowel as in cook


English - German
we - wir (pronounced veer)
where

Finally, when writing, go back and check you have capital letters for all the words describing things. In English we save a capital lesson for a specific name of a person, Mr Blue, but in German the word man it would be Mann.

Tips
I suggest you get a notebook or diary and write down a key to the ones which puzzle you on one page with a key word in English for the pronunciation.
Left column for the sound as it is written in German, second column for the word in English.
I shall do this and take a photo and add it later.

Websites
Wikipedia give a complete guide, letter by letter, including variations for Switzerland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Standard_German
It is so long and complicated that it's hard to find the sounds you need and remember them.

For more tips on pronunciation:
http://www.fluentu.com/german/blog/how-to-pronounce-german-words/
Long and chatty. The opposite of Wikipedia.

duolingo.com
The first page of any of their dozen or so languages gives you a guide to grammar and pronunciation of the language you have chosen to learn. Even if you are not learning, or have finished the course and want a reminder, it's worthwhile going to their page one. Notes are at the bottom of the screen and easily missed so if you are on a small screen scroll down for them.

You might like to look at my other posts on German, French, Romanian, Italian and other languages. I also have travel articles in this blog on my trips to Italy (a press trip, covering Umbria and Francis of Assisi) and Cambodia (Ankor Wat temple). I also have several posts on Singapore and restaurants in London, Central London and Hatch End and Harrow. Other blogs cover etiquette, humorous poetry and my books. I am also you YouTube, linkedIn, Facebook, Lulu.com books and Amazon. If you meet me at a meeting of Toastmasters International clubs (UK, USA and Singapore) I am a chatty person. I am always delighted to talk about travel and culture and please to meet a fan and if you want to buy a coy of one of my books I'll sign it and write you a personalised message, motivation quote or a couplet based on your name. Happy reading.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phgotarpheer, author and speaker. Please share posts.Enable GingerCannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connection
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