French Words You Already Know In English

French menus need not be a mystery. You already know many French words.

French flag

B

ballet

banquette

bête noire 

bon - good, used in bonjour, good day, bonsoir, good evening, and bon-bon the sweet

boulevard

bouquet

brasserie - eatery

brassiere - bra, item of women's clothing also called soutien gorge which means lift neck which is a euphemism or polite word

C

cafe

cafetiere

centre - centre

chauffeur

coiffeur

corps - body, corps de ballet

croissant

E

entrepreneur - person who starts businesses and enterprises, entre-enter - prener to take

et - and , as in son et lumiere

fumer - to smoke, as in pas de fumer, no smoking, no fumes. De means of. ne - pas is no.

L

lait - milk, cafe au lait is coffee with milk, au is at 

lumiere, as in son et lumiere, light

M

madame - madam

matinee - afternoon performance, matin is morning

menu - le menu is the menu

mortgage - literally dead hand

moulin - mill or windmill as in Moulin Rouge, red windmill, a London landmark

N

naive

ne - no, don't 

noir - black, as in film noir which is a gloomy or sad film

Nom de plume - pen name, literally name of pen

P

President

R

r.s.v.p respondeez s'il vous plait - reply /respond please, literally if (it) you please

regrette - regret, as in the Edith Piaf song, je ne regrette rien, I don't regret nothing (anything) 

renaissance - rebirth, art era, newspaper name

republique - republic (newspaper name and street name)

Restaurant

Reunion - meeting

rouge - red, as in the cosmetic, also as in moulin rouge, red windmill, adjective second after the noun

S

servis - service, as in servis compris means service included

son et lumiere - sound and light

suave

T

train - train (written the same way, pronounced tran, just the same without the letter i)

V

Ville - town, centre ville means centre of the town

W

W le weekend - the weekend - le is the, weekend is an English word which pops up in conversational French

Useful Websites For Spelling & Meaning & Inserting Accents

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/bete-noire

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Spanish words on your Mexican or Spanish or South American restaurant menu and in the restaurant

 I have been religiously learning Spanish words prior to y next trip to a Spanish speaking country, Spain. Spanish is also useful for South America as well as central America, nd is increasingly used in the USA. I practise on Duolingo every day. I also have Berlitz's earworms. Here are some handy words and phrases>

Spanish - English

agua - water

bebidas - drinks

blanco - white

botella - bottle (Double l pronounced like y)

cerveza - beer

cuchara - spoon (starts cu like cup shape)

dua - two (like duo)

menu - menu

mesa - table

por favor - please

rosado - rose wine

sal - salt

te - you singular

tinto - red wine (think of tinted)

vaso - glass (my memory aid is glas vase)

vino - wine

English - Spanish

beer - cerveza

bottle - botella

drink/drinks - la babida (las) bebidas

fork - 

glass - vaso

knife - c

menu - menu

my - mi

please - por favor

red wine - vino tinto (adjective second)

rose wine - rosado

salt - sal

Spoon - cuchara

table - mesa

two - dua

white - blanco

wine - vino

waiter -

water - agua

you (singular) - te

Quiz

Questions

Give the Spanish for

1 table

2 knife

3 fork 

4 spoon

5 two

6 wine

7 water

8 waiter

9

10

Answers

1 mesa

2

3

4 cuchara

5

6 vino

7 dua

8 agua

9

10

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

Wikivoyage phrasebook

Double Dutch - learn double the words in half the time

The Netherlands is the land of windmills, clogs and canals. Famous people include Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Anne Frank. 

I am learning Dutch. 

What an easy language. Like simplified German, modified English. i am learning on Duolingo. 

Why learn Dutch?

It is spoken in The Netherland but not only in the Netherlands. It is also spoken in the half of Belgium. Plus South Africa. And a former Dutch area of South America. And lots of Dutch words are in Indonesian.

Every year I take a hiking holiday. Our group includes people from German and Holland. I have already finished the Duolingo German course. Now I have started the Dutch.

Let me do a quick check of the easy words I have learned. I have put my memory aids at the end of each line.

Dutch - English

appel - apple

boek - book (starts with the same two letters)

boterham - sandwich (The word looks like butter with ham. I think of a ham sandwich.)

Een (pronounced en) - an/a

goed - good

het - the (same letters, but in Danish the t moves to the end of the word)

Hij (pronounced hi) - he/it

Ik - I

je - you

jongens  - boys like young ones, starting with J like the Jack in a pack of cards)

Jullie - you (plural, like the American You all)

Kind - child (like a shorter version of the German word for child, Kinder, in kindergarden)

melk - milk

menu - menu

English - Dutch

a/an - een

apple - appel

book - boek

good - goed

he/it - hij

I - Ik

milk - melk

menu - menu

sandwich - boterham

the - het

you - je / Jullie (you plural)

A few more words

Yes.

Ja. (YAH)

No.

Nee. (NAY)

Help!

Help! (HEHLP!)

Where is the toilet?

Waar is het toilet? (wahr is hut twah-LET?)

Police!

Politie! (poh-LEET-see!)

Stop! Thief!

Stop! Dief! (STOP! DEEF!)

I need your help.

Ik heb uw hulp nodig. (ick HEP uu HULP noh-duhg)

It's an emergency.

Het is een noodgeval. (hut IS uhn NOWT-guh-vahl)

I'm lost.

Ik ben verdwaald. (ick BEN vuhr-DWAHLT)

I'm sick.

Ik ben ziek. (ick ben ZEEK)

I'm injured.

Ik ben gewond. (ick ben ghuh-WONT)

I need a doctor.

Ik heb een dokter nodig. (ick hep uhn DOCK-tuhr no-duhg)

Can I use your phone?

Mag ik uw telefoon gebruiken? (MAHG ick uuw tay-luh-PHOHN ghuh-BROWK-kuhn?)

Numbers[edit]

1

een (AIN)

2

twee (TWAY)

3

drie (DREE)

4

vier (VEER)

5

vijf (VAYF)

6

zes (ZEHS)

7

zeven (ZAY-vuhn)

8

acht (AHGT)

9

negen (NAY-guhn)

Good morning.

Goedemorgen. (GOO-duh-MORE-gun)

Good afternoon.

Goedemiddag. (GOO-duh-MIH-dahgh)

Good evening.

Goedenavond. (Goo-duh-NAH-vunt)

Good night.

Goedenavond. (Goo-duh-NAH-vunt)

Good night (to sleep)

Slaap lekker. (SLAHP LECK-uhr)

Monday

maandag (MAHN-dahg)

Tuesday

dinsdag (DINSS-dahg)

Wednesday

woensdag (WOONS-dahg)

Thursday

donderdag (DON-duhr-dahg)

Friday

vrijdag (VRAY-dahg)

Saturday

zaterdag (ZAH-tuhr-dahg)

Sunday

zondag (ZON-dahg)

Months[edit]

January

januari (jahn-uu-AH-ree)

February

februari (fay-bruu-AH-ree)

March

maart (MAHRT)

April

april (ah-PRIL)

May

mei (MAY)

June

juni (YUU-nee)

July

juli (YUU-lee)

August

augustus (ow-GHUS-tus)

September

september (sep-TEM-buhr)

October

oktober (ock-TOW-buhr)

November

november (no-VEM-buhr)

December

december (day-SEM-buhr)

Colours[edit]

black

zwart (ZWAHRT)

white

wit (WHIT)

gray

grijs (GREYS)

red

rood (ROWT)

blue

blauw (BLAW)

yellow

geel (GHAYL)

green

groen (GHROON)

orange

oranje (oh-RAHN-yuh)

purple

paars (PAHRS), purper (PUHR-puhr)

brown

bruin (BRUYN)

Can you show me on the map?

Kunt u mij dat op de kaart tonen? (KUNT uu may daht op duh KAHRT TOW-nuhn)

street

straat (STRAHT)

Turn left.

Sla links af. (slah LINKS ahf)

Turn right.

Sla rechts af. (slah REGHTS ahf)

left

links (LINKS)

right

rechts (REGHTS)

straight ahead

rechtdoor (REGH-dore)

towards the _____

naar _____ (NAHR)

richting ______ (righ-ting)

past the _____

na de/het _____ (NAH duh/hut)

voorbij (VORE-bye)

before the _____

voor de/het _____ (VORE duh/hut)

north

noorden (NOHR-duhn)

south

zuiden (ZIGH-duhn)

east

oosten (OHS-tuhn)

west

westen (WES-tuhn)

breakfast

ontbijt (ont-BAIYT)

lunch

lunch (lunch)

tea (meal)

vieruurtje (VEER-uuhr-chuh)

supper

avondeten (AH-vunt-ay-tun)

chicken

kip (kip)

beef

rundvlees (RUNT-vlase)

fish

vis (vis)

ham

ham (hahm)

sausage

worst (wohrst)

cheese

kaas (kahs)

eggs

eieren (AIY-urr-un)

salad

salade (sah-LAH-duh)

(fresh) vegetables

(verse) groenten ((VEHR-suh) GROON-tun)

(fresh) fruit

(vers) fruit ((vehrs) fruyt)

bread

brood (brote)

toast

toast (toast)

noodles

noedels (NOOH-duls)

rice

rijst (raiyst)

beans

bonen (BOW-nun)

coffee

koffie (coffee)

tea (drink)

thee (tay)

juice

sap (sahp)

(bubbly) water

spuitwater (SPUYT-wah-tuhr)

water

water (WAH-tuhr)

beer

bier (beer)

red/white wine

rode/witte wijn (ROH-duh/WIH-tuh waiyn)

.shampoo.

...shampoo. (shampoh)

...pain reliever. (e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen)

...aspirine, pijnstiller (AHS-pee-ree-nuh, PAIYN-stih-lur)

...cold medicine.

...hoestsiroop. (...HOOST-see-rope)

...stomach medicine.

...maagtabletjes. (...MAHG-tah-blet-yus)

...a razor.

...een scheermes. (...uhn SGHARE-mes)

...an umbrella.

...een paraplu. (...uhn pah-rah-PLUU)

...sunblock lotion.

...zonnebrand. (...ZOH-nuh-brahnt)

...a postcard.

...een postkaart. (...uhn POST-kahrt)

...postage stamps.

...postzegels. (...POST-zay-guls)

...batteries.

...batterijen. (...bah-tuh-RAI-uhn)

...writing paper.

...schrijfpapier. (...SGHRAIYF-pah-peer)

...a pen.

...een pen. (...uhn pen)

Let's end a meeting

Thank you.

(formal) Dank u. (DAHNK uu)

(informal) Dank je. (DAHNK yuh)

You're welcome.

Graag gedaan. (GRAHG guh-DAHN)

Useful Websites

Duolingo

Memrise

Translate Google

Wikivoyage phrase Dutch

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Dutch_phrasebook

Fourth set of Albanian words

 

My husband said, "The only words I need to know are hello, goodbye, please, thank you, may I see the drinks menu? And, 'where is my drink?' "

English - Albanian

hello - Përshëndetje

goodbye - mirupafshim

please - ju lutem

thank you - faleminderit

may I see the drinks menu - Mund të shoh menunë e pijeve

where is my drink? - Ku është pija ime?

Albanian - English

Përshëndetje - hello Mirupafshim - goodbye Ju lutem - please Faleminderit - thank you Mund të shoh menunë e pijeve - may I see the drinks menu Ku është pija ime? - Where is my drink?

Useful Websites

Use  Translate Google

Wikipedia Albanian Phrasebook

 

 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

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Simple Swedish words - learn to recognize 12 similar words

 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.

English - Swedish

1 a/an - en

2 barnet - child (like the Scottish bairn)

3 book - bok 

4 Lemon - citron

5 Men - man

6 meny - menu

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

8 ris - rice

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 in the next post.

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

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Travel Tales:Easter Eggs Outings to Restaurants offering consistency versus restaurants offering a memorable variety of food and decor

Here is my outfit of a chef's white hat (made from concertina paper over a pillbox hat), a white blouse and an ostrich egg, which was a souvenir from South Africa. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Where will we eat out over Easter? What brings me back to a little local restaurant is consistency. That is what you get at fast food outlets. You know that if you like something, it will be the same next time. McDonalds, Kentucky fried chicken, bagels. But what if you want something special? If we can't travel, we have more money for a little treat nearer home. I think back to previous Easters.

For an expensive restaurant, I expect a surprise. What surprises do I remember? Firstly the two magic restaurants.

The Magic Of The USA

The magic hotel and restaurant in San Francisco. When you opened the wardrobe (closet) door, you saw the picture of a cow on the back wall. A recording started playing welcoming you to the hotel and telling you to go down to the restaurant and ask for table 9.

When you went down to the restaurant and asked for table nine, the staff immediately knew your names, welcoming Mr ... (my husband), Mrs ... (me), and A ... (our small son - who was so excited!).

Other notable restaurants in the USA included the one which had a girl on a swing overhead. Not a model of a girl on a swing. A real girl. On a real swing. Suspended from a high ceiling.

The other novelty restaurant I remember was the very long thin restaurant which had flags on the table which flags you hoisted to show you were ready to order. Then the waiters roller skated down to your table.

Magical London

Central London also had a magic restaurant. First you arrived at a door which had several handles. That was a decoy. 

After you had tried them all and located the correct handle, a voice told you to push an adjacent panel. The panel was a revolving door.

Inside, we asked for the menu. Up comes another staff member who does a magic trick. He produces a white cloth from thin air. He puts it down on the table. In small letters it says please turn over. On the other side is the menu.

Now, what about the amazing food?

First, for our first wedding anniversary, I and my husband visited the souffle restaurant in the London hotel. I think it was the Hilton. The first course was an artichoke souffle in the entre of an artichoke. 

But most top restaurants manage to end with a memorable surprise.

The Egg-cellent Dessert

The Harrow at little Bedwyn closed, alas no more, but the memory stays. The meal ended with a dessert which looked like an egg in an egg cup. It had a yellow mango centre. Instead of the stick of bread for dipping in a boiled egg, there was a shortbread finger.

I had trouble with the Amazon website. I could not find Easter eggs to eat. My searches came up with colouring books and plastic eggs and eggs dyes and moulds and egg shape crayons. Even when I found food fresh, I got real eggs, moulds and crayons.

So I went on to google and realised I would have more luck trying manufacturers of chocolate, such as American Reese, or UK Cadbury or Thorntons. Maybe a brand or country name such as Swiss Alprose, Belgian, Ukrainian, Canadian, Australian, South African. Or Marks and Spencer or Tesco or Aldi. Or a chocolate shop.

The Thornton picture I found said out of stock. But what is out of stock online might be available in a shop.

I saw halal Easter eggs. Quora had some questions about Easter eggs. At first sight opinion seemed to be divided. But reading again, I concluded, some people think you should not take part in any religious activity providing h implies that you are a member of a different religion. You can eat an Easter egg so long as it is halal and you are simply eating chocolate. 

I heard a similar ruling from a rabbi to a friend's daughter, when asked whether it was OK to visit her mother on Christmas Day. If you have a day off work and wish to visit your mother, on any day, that is fine. 

So in theory it would be OK to give halal or kosher chocolate to somebody of another religion, so long as you were not trying to make it a religious object. (Eggs are a universal and pagan pre-Christian symbol of life, appearing in other religions, including Passover, and Chinese New Year. However, it would be a good idea to check with any recipient.

(Failing all else, remove wrapping which says Easter, offer the part of the gift which is not an egg, or simply offer a piece of halal or kosher chocolate.)

What makes the item kosher or halal? Amongst other factors to consider: 

For halal, no pork, gelatine from wrong animal, alcohol, possible contamination in factory. Factory checked by approved person.

For kosher - no pork products, gelatine, shellfish, mix of milk and meat, possible contamination in factory; factory checked by approved person and product labelled as approved. 

My supermarket Tesco hunt produced more ideas (from the UK): in alphabetical order:

(NB Milk chocolate is not white chocolate.)

Aero bubble peppermint chocolate

Bounty

Celebrations

Divine

Ferrero Kinder Surprise

Galaxy

Green & Blacks's

Kit Kat

Lindt (gold bunny milk chocolate)

Malteser White chocolate; white chocolate with white truffles

Mars

M&M

Milkybar small Easter Egg

Nestle / Nestle Smarties large orange egg (orange flavour) 

Nomo

Nomo Vegan

Quality Street

Reece's (peanut butter)

Rolo

Smarties (Milk Chocolate)

Terries

Twix

Malteser vegetarian and kosher:

Useful Websites

https://www.littletigergifts.co.uk/pro/maileg-metal-tin-easter-pink/

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/shop/food-cupboard/easter-chocolate-and-eggs/easter-eggs

About the Author

To practise your English, come to Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters on learncool.sg, first Wednesday evening of the month, Singapore time, 7-10pm.  Next meeting Wednesday March 7th 2021.

To add a clock to the time and date page and see when the meetings are your time go to this website.

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/personal.html

Angela Lansbury is a British author who has lived in the USA.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Angela Lansbury teacher of English (advanced and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, aspiring polyglot.

Angela Lansbury, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 

She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Please share links to your favourite posts.

How to start a new chat group in what's ap for your travelling friends

In what's app you need to get into your menu which is accessed by the three dots on the top right of the screen. I tried that from where I was and the options were status and settings. That is because you have to be in the chats group.
Then the dots come up again.

This time the options are start a new chat group.

You can do this if you are planning a group trip, such as a group holiday for a club, any kind of club, a Toastmasters speakers club, a tennis club or gardening club.

Now just invite everybody.

Who Would Say No?
Not every contact wants to be on whats app. One of my associates told me that he works in high security buildings. If you work in the police, government or military you might be banned from the social media. that is strange since Trump and HM Queen Elizabeth seem to be on social media. But I am sure they have the funds to have people vetting every move.

You can move people off the list after they accept if they ask to be removed.

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

How To Learn Any Language

Flag of Singapore, where four languages are official.

Problem
I want to be a polyglot. Poly, as in polytechnic, means many. Glot, as in glottal stop, is connected with language. A polyglot means a person who speaks many languages.  When I was at school I wanted to learn German and Spanish, but the way the timetable was arranged, I could learn only French.

Czech Linguist
I was impressed by people who spoke many languages. The father of a relative of mine spoke eight languages. He came from the Czech Republic. I assumed he was a very bright person. If you look at the map, you will see the Czech Republic is surrounded by countries where other languages are spoken. Czech is not a language taught widely so when Czechs meeting others, have to be the ones making more effort.

Bilingual Canadians
Some people are forced to learn to speak two languages proficiently. When lived in the USA we travelled across the border to Canada, and learned that in the capital, Ottawa, government officials have to speak French and English and documents must be in the two languages.

Romania
When I went to Romania on a hiking holiday with a group of hiking ex-pats from Indonesia, I discovered that Romanian is similar to Italian. The name Romania comes from Roman, because Romania is near to Italy and they were influenced by the Italian language, in the same way that many English words have Latin roots.

This reinforced the new idea that learning languages was not difficult. You could not help doing it. Starting is the hardest part. Once you have got over the fear that another language is too difficult, it becomes easy and fun.

My big breakthrough came when I discovered Duolingo, the online course which offers free language lessons. You can opt for as little as five minutes a day. The system sends you a reminder every day. When I want a break from work, I do five minutes of learning a language.

It is now my policy to learn a few words of the language of every country I visit. Every time I speak to a taxi driver, a waiter in a restaurant, or anybody else, I ask them their native language and ask them to say a couple of words, such as goodbye and thank you, or count from one to three.

I worked out that if I learn only one word of another language every day, by the end of the year I will know more than 300 words. Three hundred words is get by level, enough to read a map, a menu, and signs in a street or hotel.

If I learned a new language every year for the next ten years, I would have a smattering of ten languages.

Some people have a head start. They have parents from different cultures, or live in countries with another language across a nearby border, with street signs in two languges. Learning a new language impresses others, helps you start conversations with other people, and gives you confidence when travelling and a sense of achievement. Those hours spent sitting on a plane or train or waiting at bus stops need not be wasted.

Useful Websites For Travellers and Language Learners
LANGUAGES
Earworms 
earwormslearning.com
(This is a shortened version of Berlitz where you hear the words, provided on a disc or download, but the addition of music in the background makes it relaxing when you listen and they claim improves the speed and ease of learning). I bought the German and Spanish, then added other languages when I saw the discs available at low prices second hand on ebay. The booklet is amll and easy to carry. The print is small and hard to read in a poor light at night but much better in daylight, outdoors, such as when waiting at a bus stop.
It is written with the traveller in mind, starting with words you need on a flight.

Duolingo - my absolute favourite system. It's free.
duolingo.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages. Workshops and speeches for students and businesses. 
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Handy Portuguese Words For Restaurants When Ordering

Problem
How to order?

ORDERING
Do you have a menu?
We’d like some drinks.
We’d like some food.
I am ready to order.
Is it fresh? It is fresh fruit?

Do you have fresh fruit?
Do you have freshly squeezed juice?
I am allergic to shellfish.
Do you have sugar-free - somebody is diabetic
Can you ask, please?

No, thank you.
May we pay?
How much is the bill?
Do you have an address card?
The food was terrific.

Yes, please.
I’ll have this.
for my wife, husband, //friend, guest,// the lady, the gentleman - the child, the boss
Do you take credit cards?
Is service included?

Keep the change.
Are you open for lunch /dinner?

ENCOMENDA
Você tem um menu?
Nós gostaríamos de algumas bebidas.
Gostaríamos de algum alimento.
Estou pronto para encomendar.
Está fresco? É fruta fresca?

Você tem frutas frescas?
Você tem suco recém-espremido?
Eu sou alérgico ao marisco.
Você não tem açúcar - alguém é diabético
Você pode perguntar, por favor?

Não, obrigado.
Podemos pagar?
Quanto é a conta?
Você tem um cartão de endereço?
A comida foi fantástica.

Sim, por favor. (Sim, like si, means yes.)
Vou querer isto.
para minha esposa, marido, // amigo, convidado, // a senhora, o cavalheiro - a criança, o chefe
Vocês aceitam cartões de crédito?
O serviço está incluído?

Fique com o troco.
Você está aberto para almoço / jantar?

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

Learn another set of ten easy Portuguese words at the restaurant table

Portuguese - English
carne - meat
começar - commence / start
ementa - menu (both words have the letters MEN in the middle)
entrada - starter
mesa - table
sim - yes (like the Spanish si but with an extra M, like so many Portuguese words)
solteira - single (female not married)
solteiro - single (male not married)
tinto - red (wine - like tinted)
tipo - type
truta - trout

English - Portuguese
meat - carne (like carnivore or carnivorous)
menu - ementa
single (female) - solteira
single (male) - solteiro
start / commence - commeçar (the Portuguese ends not A but AR like the middle letters of stARt
starter - entrada
table - mesa
trout - truta
type - tipo
yes - sim

Useful Websites
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 photographer, author and speaker, learner and teacher of languages.

Caffe Nero, Eton and Windsor, England, for coffee and cake

Problem
Where to get coffee and cake in Windsor and Eton?

Answer
We dashed along the pedestrian street where Windsor and Eton meet - very confusingly one side of the river is called Windsor, the other Eton, but the whole area is Windsor - I spent ages on the internet trying to work out which branch I had been in.

We opted for Caffe Nero because it's a big chain we know and other places looked like restaurants and we were' sure they would serve only coffee and cake.

We managed to spot chairs which suited us, as somebody was leaving, so I parked myself in the chair whilst my husband went to line up for the order. I had told him I wanted a cake and no coffee. It's awkward that you cannot see a menu at the table, because if one of you sits down first to bag a table, through tiredness, or so as not to clutter the queue, the one left sitting down can't see the menu and food choices, as there's a barrier between you and the cake counter window.

I found afterwards you can see their menu on line. I have now registered for their system, which you need to see details and opt in for the wifi. It takes several minutes, creating passwords, choosing your birthday from spinning numbers and so on.

So I grabbed my bag, leaving my husband's unguarded and rushed to the counter to point at what I wanted, whilst looking over my shoulder to be sure nobody pinched his stuff on their way to the staircase.

I made a quick decision of the mincemeat tart which looked smaller and cheaper than the larger carrot cake, which in retrospect would have been a better choice.

My husband ordered the same for himself and was quite happy with it, and also had a coffee with cream. We added some of the cream from the coffee to the tart, which was still too sweet. Now I'm a lover of sweets. I drink sweet wines. However, I felt the tart was like a jam tart, rather than a filling mince pie, poor value, not nutritious. (I prefer the almond slice at Costa which at least give you protein in the nuts.)

If I were to go back, I would have the cake. A larger cake, divided into two so I got half, would be better value and more sustaining than one of two little tarts.

Afterwards I wondered what you can do to choose cakes when you are sitting down. If the queue is short, you can run up to the counter, in relays, so as not to lose your seat.

Order First?

In Singapore when there are long queues and a shortage of seats signs often tell you to get your food and then find a table. Because you can find lots of tables occupied by people who don't have food, whilst people with food are standing with a tray and nowhere to put it.

Coffee First, Cake later?

Even if you both order coffee and sit down, and later go back for cake, the same dilemma applies. You have to leave the seat with your half drunk coffee and your bags and coat. You have to phone each other or shout.

Online Menu?

I thought, well, I should have logged in earlier and seen the online menu. However, the mincemeat tart was not on the online menu. 

Send A Photo?

The alternative is for the person in the line for the food to take a picture and send it back to the person who is sitting down. Assuming you both have working phones.

Restarantants With Display Menus - Please Copy!

The Japanese and Chinese restaurants are better organised. They have either huge pictures of the food in panels around the room or over the counter, or a menu on every table, like at a Wetherspoons pub, so you can sit and choose and discuss and then send one person with everybody's order.

Where is the Caffè Nero which I visited? I found two branches in the area. The other branch is in the Windsor station.

 Caffe Nero

42 Peascod Street

Windsor SL4 IDE

Tel:+44 1753 620092

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
See my other blog :
www.luxurytravelforless.co.uk

Fulham Wine Rooms for dinner, wine tasting, clubs, Christmas wine tasting

Enter a large room with a bar at the left and Enomatic machines for choosing tastes of wine on the right.

Here's a menu. Notice the symbol of the wine glass at the top.

Here's the wine glass symbol on the window.

Plenty to look at.

Lots of food and drinks.

Interesting pictures and wine bottles everywhere.

Candles and water in heavy bottles.

Ah - the food. Poultry breast and potatoes, my favourite. Red cabbage - makes a change. Plus a nice sprig of green.

Ah - thick cut chips. With the skins on - that'a modern idea. Quicker for the cook. Probably healthier, too.

A third dish. A third wine. White or red.

Wine class on wines for Christmas. £30 per person.

The back room for a private wine party. One of the wine groups I belong to had a tasting here.

Our club wine tasting before we ate in the restaurant. Ah, yes, I can see the difference in the colours!

Another room for dining, to the right.

A private room you can hire for Christmas parties at the back.

A steep flight of stairs down to a spacious cloakroom.

Pricey food but good food. Choices included poultry breast (my choice). Good thick chips with skin on them.
 Wines by the glass - lots of choice, plus the Enomatic machines.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer
Please see my other travel blog:€

How To Get by Translating With Photos When Travelling

POINT TO THESE PICTURES IN A RESTAURANT. STORIES AND INSTRUCTIONS BELOW

(Pictures in this post: Menu; coffee; olives; fruit/pineapple; red wine; baed beans; baked beans on toast; white wine; four pâtés; sandwich with crisps and green garnish; mustard orange juice; bottled water; white wine, glass of water, rosé wine; petits fours; chicken soup with noodles and ravioli; fat pancake or thin hot scone with butter; breakfast or Sunday brunch grill with sausage and egg and chips (Americans call them French fries); fancy carrot cake with icing and nuts on top;  Chinese  moon cake for autumn festival (very sweet, filling, to eat at party, as gift or souvenir).

Problem
How do you translate what you want to somebody who doesn't speak your language?
Most Chinese and Japanese Restaurants have photos outside or on a menu. What if they don't?

Story
When I first went to China I started off in a grand conference hotel with my husband. All the restaurants had English menus. However, you had to ask, because a Chinese person who speaks no English does not know whether you don't understand staff or the menu because you are English speaking.

The first time I struggled, letting the head of a group order for everybody. I ended up faced with lobsters and similar shellfish which I can't eat because I am allergic to them. I then had to get chicken, which came up later so I was out of sync with everybody else.

On our day off, my husband insisted that we did not eat in another international restaurant in a hotel, but tried a 'local' restaurant. The trouble was, only locals ate there, they had no English menu and we had trouble making ourselves understood.

I tried drawing a chicken. I soon had three members of staff and guests from other tables surrounding me, all arguing with each other. I had drawn what could have been anything from a pheasant to a cow. Even if they understood chicken, they didn't know whether I wanted soup, a sandwich, lemon chicken, or chicken with cashew nuts.

You could be Russian, as most visitors to Shanghai who look Western will be Russian. You could be French or German.

Would you be able to tell apart somebody who spoke Chinese (mandarin), Cantonese, Korean, Thai. Even if the restaurant manager is ultra smart and has initiative, the waiter may be timid and rushed off their feet. They have no idea whether you speak other languages. They don't know whether you speak French or Mandarin. Their guests may speak other 'dialects' but understand the Chinese writing which is common to Chinese and Japanese, a bit like a non smoking sign.

Given the speed with which restaurants change hands, and waiters change jobs, the waiter may well not know where the other menus are kept and will have to ask.

Answers
1 Choose a restaurant with English translations or photos.
2 If recommended a restaurant with no translations or photos, or taken into one by your Asian host who assures you the food is wonderful you have several options.

1 Put a dictionary in your pocket.
2 Photograph a menu with translations from another restaurant or hotel.
a) Copy that photo the menu to the end of your photo list each day so so it is quick to find.
b) Email yourself a copy of the translated menu before leaving for the restaurant so your email is most recent and easy to find.
c) Print a copy of your photo of the translated menu.

You may have to ask for the English menu. Just because Remember the waiter is not trying to be difficult.

Make a collection of pictures of your favourite foods. Photograph what you like from one restaurant to how the next. Or photograph what you like in your hotel restaurant to order the same, or photograph it and draw a black felt tip cross through it and shake your head to ensure you are trying something different the next day.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, teacher of English and languages. Please bookmark this post for yourself and come back to this page or share links to your favourite posts with family, friends and colleagues.