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.

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.

How to copy, measure and sew a caftan

Problems
When i first arrived in Singapore I could not find clothes to fit. My low neck 'holiday' tops were unsuitable for teahing mixed sex Englisl language pupils. I swelled up in the heat so nothing fitted. Tight clothes were constricting My shspe changed as i went from the hot street inddooors into air conditioning and out again. I ubderstood why Indian eomen wear sarees and others wear caftans and sarongs.

I soon bought some caftans and bought
lots of fabric in Spotlight store.

I had several too long caftans from India. When i wore them i was in danger of tripping over and had to walk clutching the m and hoisting them up when climing steps and getting on and off buses.

I cut the lowest edge off, the height of a hand width. I wanted to keep the hem a safe height.

I used pinking shears to stop the hem fraying. A hem can easily be sewn by hand. It just takes time. I matched the colour of the fabric but i doubt whether anubody would notice an inexact match .

The leftover fabric I hemmed and made a matching scarf. If you need a belt you could use the spare material for a belt. You could wear the belt loose. Alternatively make two loops at waist level from a cut off pieve of fabric from the scarf o use two pieces of ribbon.

Do you need ribbons urgently? You probably have a dress or skirt with hanging ribbons inside the shoulers or waist of an old outfit. These ribbons are sometimes too long just what yiu need. Cut off a tiny piece for the belt on your new garment and sew back the end of the shortened hanging loop.

I have several styles of caftan. One has a low neck which requires cutting a large v shae fron the centre front and edging it with matching fabric Cut oof the hem or from extra material.

However my more elegant evening caftan has a high neck. Imagine using the lower third of a saucer and then cutting a vertical line to help get the garment over your head.

I wrote my measurements in my diary.

Width of fabric 114 cms.
Length 113 cms.

Mid point to neck approx 56 cms.
But 2 x 56 = 112. Be careful if you copy an existing garment. The two sides might not be the same.

Neck width at top - cut shallow semi cicle for high fastening.

The raised semi circle reinforces the neck at theback. When looking at shop bought garments I always wondered why they did that.

To fasten the neck elegantly at the top use small raised domed button like a small pearl on a shank. On the other side, sew aloop of ribbon. It's a bit fiddly to get the ribbon the right length for the button.  If it is too big a loop just sew the two inside edges of the loop to make it slightly smaller.

My neck se.mi circle is 16cms wide with a neck depth of 9 cms.
As they say in tailoring as wee as boot making and carpentry : measure twice, cut once!

Finally, the two long vertical seams:

Sew 20 or 22 cma in from the edge. Mark with safety pins and/ or tailor's chalk.

Failing all else mark with soap - which washes out!

I sew up to 20 or 22 cms below shoulders to alloe me to put my arms in.

In theory you could sew a horizontal line or sloping line above the waist to create a tighter sleeve or kimono sleeve effect.

I needed the two vertical sewing lines wide enough to allow for my hips and sitting down on a chair  easily.

But the two caftans which I copied had very different widths. The narrower centre for the body with wider flapping panels at the two sides with more material to hang over the arms looked more tailored and elegant.

Tips
If you can find a printed line of part of a repeating pattern, you can use that as a guidelines for a hem or vertical line.

Angela Lansbury, author and speaker. Please share my posts.