German Language Insight, Useful in Austria, German and Switzerland -Schubert and other names

 

Flag of Germany

Names starting with Sch

Schubert, the family name of composer Franz Schubert, means shoemaker or cobbler. Schubert was German speaking, as you might guess from the spelling of his name. He was actually Austrian. German is spoken in Germany, Austria, and parts of Switzerland. 

Schneberger

I started researched names starting with Sch because I have a blouse with the label Schneberger Gruppe. 

Schneberger Gruppe Classic Clothes

 It is vintage and I found blouses, jackets, long jackets or coats, dresses and skirt suits, with this label on ebay at prices from affordable seven pounds to twenty pounds and upwards. 

Berger - Meaning Mountain

The name berger means person from a berg or mountain. This ending comes from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 

Schnee - Snow

Schne could be a variation on or shortened form of schnee which means snow. That might help you to remember or recognize the company name and to type it correctly. 

Bürger - Citizen

Not to be confused with burger with the unlaut or double dot over the u. That spelling is a word which means a citizen or city dweller. It can also mean freeman, or free man.

Think of two brothers. One lives on a snowy mountain. The other lives in a city. You meet their two grandsons. The family names indicates where their ancestors used to live.

These translations help you to remember the names of new friends or business contacts or shopkeepers or travel guides you meet on your travels, as well and shop names and street names.

German SCH

When typing, also remember that in English we use the letter combinations sh and ch, but in German they use sch. 

I looked up names starting with Sch and found several more, some of which were famous people.

Schwarzkopf - black head

Schwarzkopf meaning black head, was a name often given to people with black hair, and was the family name of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, who was an opera singer. 

Schmidt - Smith

The family name smith is derived from the German word for smith which was given to a blacksmith.

Schneider - sewer

A schneider was a sewer, a seamstress, a tailor. 

Learning And Speaking German

I learned German on Duolingo.  A quick guide to everyday phrases is in wikivoyage under phrasebook. You can copy it and print it off, or bookmark it on your laptop.

Useful Websites for learning German

Duolingo.com

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

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Italian Placenames and Events Which Are Easy To Recall - Ponte Vecchio

I buy books on languages and do exercises on Duolingo every day. I've been studying Italian since June 2024 and like to look for easy to remember words.

 Italian Map words

baia - bay

barca - boat

costa - coast\

discoteca - disco

Frecce Tricolore - Arrows in three colours (Italian equivalent of the British Red Arrows planes which create colours in the sky. Tricolore is the three colours of the flag you can see above at the start of several of my posts.)

collina - hill

Lago - lake

mare - sea

monte - mountain

Monte Bianco - white mountain ((French Mont Blanc). In English the adjective is first, but in both Italian and French the noun is first.

ostello - hostel

pensione - guest house

Peschiera - fish pond

Ponte - bridge

Ponte Vecchio - old bridge, landmark in Florence, Italy

Ponte Vecchio. Picture from Wikipedia.

porta - door

pull - tiro

push - spingere

fiume - river

torre - tower

tricolore - three colours, as shown in the Italian flag

ufficio postale - post office

valle - valley (simply drop the y)

Vecchio - old

vietato fumare - no smoking

via d'uschita - way out

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Safest Seats On A Plane?

 View from a Singapore Airlines plane window. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

You can sit by the window for a view and photos. But you can ask the window seat passenger to take a photo for you. 

You can sit in an aisle seat to get into your seat fast on boarding, and out fast on departure. And out to the toilet easily during the flight.  And no disturbance from anybody else wanting to get out to the toilet. 

But which is the safest seat? Most experts, as well as passengers commenting, say sit at the back. They argue,  humorously or seriously, planes don't back into mountains. 

The rich sit in the front. Or take private planes and small planes which crash more. They also take off in bad weather. They are risk takers.

Serious and Sad Answers

Most planes from high have no survivors. You would lose consciousness before you had time to brace. The plane which splits in two gives you no better chance at the back. At the back you would be doused in gasoline.

Humorous Answers

Sit on the black box. Sit on the wing. Sit in the airport lounge. Sit at home. You could avoid travel and take a boat, so long as no planes fly into your boat. The worst seat is next to a two year old. If a plane crashes the safest place is not in it Nor underneath it.

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11718755/Seat-seat-scientists-reveal-risk-dying-airplane-crashes.html#comments

Learning Albanian - the alphabet, and a few easy, useful words

 

The post below is repeated from last year.
 

Learning the Albanian language never crossed my mind. Until the last meeting of last year's European hiking group when somebody suggested visiting Albania. Why? Because it was a new destination for us keen travellers - and not too expensive.

Then I started writing a speech, and a blog post to remind myself what to say in my speech, about how you should learn the language of any country you hope to visit on holiday. 

My trip might not be to Albania on my next trip, one after that, but why not plan ahead. I thought I would have a quick look at Albanian. Would it be easy?

Duolingo did not offer Albanian. That was a blow. I have signed up for a dozen languages on Duolingo. 

I have included Korean, Greek, Chinese, Russian and other languages which are a bit of a challenge and to be left until later, on my second or third list of languages to learn. 

Wikipedia

However, Wikipedia gives a useful, long, overview of the Albanian language. It is a bit tiring and tedious. But you can pick out the parts you prefer.

For a start, it tells you how many people speak the language and where. About 7 million, in Albania and a few other places.

Official language in	Albania  Kosovo  North Macedonia[a]  Montenegro[3]
Recognised minority language in	Italy[4]  Serbia[5]  Croatia[6]  Romania[7]

Map portraying countries where Albanian holds official status:

  official language;

  recognised minority language.

The definite article is placed after the noun as in many other Balkan languages, like in Romanian, Macedonian and Bulgarian.

• The definite article can be in the form of noun suffixes, which vary with gender and case.
  • For example, in singular nominative, masculine nouns add -i, or those ending in -g/-k/-h take -u (to avoid palatalization):
    • mal (mountain) / mali (the mountain);
    • libër (book) / libri (the book);
    • zog (bird) / zogu (the bird).
  • Feminine nouns take the suffix -(i/j)a:
    • veturë (car) / vetura (the car);
    • shtëpi (house) / shtëpia (the house);
    • lule (flower) / lulja (the flower).

    • The Albanian alphabet (Albanian: alfabeti shqip) is a variant of the Latin alphabet used to write the Albanian language. It consists of 36 letters:^[1]

      Capital letters

      A

      B

      C

      Ç

      D

      Dh

      E

      Ë

      F

      G

      Gj

      H

      I

      J

      K

      L

      Ll

      M

      N

      Nj

      O

      P

      Q

      R

      Rr

      S

      Sh

      T

      Th

      U

      V

      X

      Xh

      Y

      Z

      Zh

      Lower case letters

      a

      b

      c

      ç

      d

      dh

      e

      ë

      f

      g

      gj

      h

      i

      j

      k

      l

      ll

      m

      n

      nj

      o

      p

      q

      r

      rr

      s

      sh

      t

      th

      u

      v

      x

      xh

      y

      z

      zh

      IPA value

      a

      b

      t͡s

      t͡ʃ

      d

      ð

      ɛ

      ə

      f

      ɡ

      ɟ͡ʝ

      h

      i

      j

      k

      l

      ɫ

      m

      n

      ɲ

      ɔ

      p

      c͡ç

      ɹ

      r

      s

      ʃ

      t

      θ

      u

      v

      d͡z

      d͡ʒ

      y

      z

      ʒ

      Note: The vowels are shown in bold.

      The letters are named simply by their sounds, followed by ë for consonants (e.g. fë). Listen (help·info) to the pronunciation of the 36 letters.

Translate Google

Next comes translate google. I wanted to find hello, goodbye, welcome and good evening to add to my speech. 

Where to start?

On Ling, beginner lessons are free.

Let's organize the words I have found in Ling into an alphabetical list.

Pronunciation

C with a tail is not s as in French but Ch.

Good luck sounds like patch fat. 

J is pronounced like y as in year.

So jo, no is yo.

YES AND NO

The Albanians, like the Bulgarians, nod for no and shake their heads for yes. I did not find this a problem in Bulgaria. You just have to listen to what they say, and rely less on body language.

THE

English - Albanian

bird/the bird - zog/zogu (not just a bird, zog - ooh! this one)

flower - lule

the flower - lulja (the suffix or addition adds the word the - think of it as a flower - that one! Ya, yes, that one)

mountain/the mountain - mal/mali (another suffix or addition for the, a mountain ee! this one, the one)

Albanian - English

lule - flower

lulja - the flower

mal/mali - mountain/the mountain

zog/zogu - bird/the bird

How do you remember these words. I say the "a /an" version by looking upwards. Zog,is bird, a bird, one of many. Then I point and say zogu, meaning the bird.

Negatives

Numbers

Numerals

një—one tetëmbëdhjetë—eighteen dy—two nëntëmbëdhjetë—nineteen tri/tre—three njëzet—twenty katër—four njëzet e një—twenty-one pesë—five njëzet e dy—twenty-two gjashtë—six tridhjetë—thirty shtatë—seven dyzet/katërdhjetë—forty tetë—eight pesëdhjetë—fifty nëntë—nine gjashtëdhjetë/trezet—sixty dhjetë—ten shtatëdhjetë—seventy njëmbëdhjetë—eleven tetëdhjetë/katërzet—eighty dymbëdhjetë—twelve nëntëdhjetë—ninety trembëdhjetë—thirteen njëqind—one hundred katërmbëdhjetë—fourteen pesëqind—five hundred pesëmbëdhjetë—fifteen një mijë—one thousand gjashtëmbëdhjetë—sixteen një milion—one million shtatëmbëdhjetë—seventeen një miliard—one billion

My memory aids:

the word for one has an n in it nje, only one

the number two starts with d like duo

the word for three is shortened to tre or tri

the word for four also ends with an r, a bit like quarter kater

the word for nine begins with n and ends with e

thank you - faleminderit

Useful Websites

Hear it here

https://play.ling-app.com/learn/tutorial

https://ling-app.com/sq/greetings-in-albanian/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanian_language

https://ling-app.com/sq/words-and-phrases-in-albanian/

https://www.facebook.com/simya.learn.languages/

Handy Hebrew words, some of which you will recognize or know already from place names and blessings

 

English - Hebrew

 one - echud

flag - degel

Hebrew - English

Adjectives come after the nouns as in mazel tov and Yom tov

Adam - earth

Aviv - Spring(time)

baruch - blessed

Baruch - blessed (boy's name)

bat - daughter

ben - son

beth (as in Bethlehem) building/house

boker - morning 

boker tov - good morning (literally morning good)

degel - flag

echud - one

ha - the

ha har - the mountain

har - mountain

kadosh - holy

lailah - night

lailah tov - good night

lehem - bread

ma - what/why

ma ze - what's this? (literally what this)

mazel tov - good luck/congratulations (literally luck good)

shalom - peace/hello/goodbye

tel/Tel - hill

Tel Aviv - hill of spring

tov - good

utuh - you/you(are)/are you

yeled - boy

yulduh -girl

Yom - day

yom tov - festival (literally day good)

Useful Websites

duolongo.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Hebrew_origin

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Terms_derived_from_Hebrew

From Angela Lansbury, aspiring polyglot, author, English tutor and trainer, travel writer. Read my blog for tips on languages, travel, shopping worldwide.

Chinese New Year & Lunar New Year, food and festivities worldwide

Mandarin oranges for Chinese New Year. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The Lunar New Year is followed by traditional Chinese festivals as well as Muslim and Jewish festivals. this year Chinese New Year started on Feb 1st. Many people took off the rest of the week as a holiday. On Feb 6th all the good luck signs are up. What are the features celebrated? At my online Toastmasters club on Friday I was Topics Master, in charge of the questions for impromptu speeches of two minutes. I asked each person to tell us what they knew about Chinese New Year.

People were celebrating in China, especially in Beijing, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, cities in the USA, and in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Beijing celebrated with the traditional, noisy, lion dance. But in Singapore the lion dances were banned, as is singing. Even talking on the underground trains is discouraged.

1 Chinese New Year is designed to fall on the New Moon, the solstice, the start of spring. 

2 This is the year of the tiger, in the traditional Chinese zodiac. You don't have to be traditional, or Chinese, in a Chinese speaking country, or even in a Chinatown, to see Chinese seasonal celebrations.

The old traditions meet modern technology worldwide. In Switzerland they projected the image of a tiger onto a mountain top. The Tiger on the Eiger. A Swiss artist designed it.

Yes, tiger, not lion. Tigers have stripes.

3 Red packets

Containing money for children and the unmarried of any age. Gold lettering.

4 Lanterns

Made of red paper

5 Wall hangings with messages for the front door

6 In Singapore, Lo Hei, the Chinese new year dish, raw pink fish and all colours of vegetables. You toss the food in the air with chopsticks before you start eating.

5 Family Reunions

The biggest travel event in the world. Chinese people go home to their families for a reunion dinner. Like Christmas for Christians, and the Seder Night for Jews and Thanksgiving for Americans. Biggest exodus to China and parental homes.Until Covid.

6 Greetings

Not just health, but wealth!

 About the author of this blog post

Angela Lansbury

About the Author Angela Lansbury

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time 

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

Books by Angela Lansbury
How to be the best man. (Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Wedding Speeches and Toasts.(Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Unforgettable British Weekends.
Poetry Workshop Workbook.
The Tailor and the Spy. (Lulu.)
Larry The Talking Labrador. (Lulu.)
Writing Poetry for fun.

Quick Quotations

Who Said What When

 

Handy Spanish words for tea, coffee, many, mountain and more

 

Bar la escueva

Escueva means school

 A few words of Spanish

English - Spanish

and - y

another - otro

bar - bar

beautiful - hermosa

big - grande

certificate/diploma - diploma

city - ciudad

flag - bandera  (like the word band)

Hello - hola

here - aquí

is - es

mountain - montaña (like the US state)

in - en

language - lengua (looks like language and linguistics)

mi - my

nothing - nada

of - de

or -o

please - por favor

restaurant - restaurante

river - rio

royal - real

thank you - gracias

that - esa/eso

the angels - Los Angeles (the US city)

the (masculine singular, feminine singular/masculine plural/feminine plural) - el/la/los/las 

very - muy (spelled like much)

wine vino

where is - donde esta

yes si

one - uno

two - dos

three - tres

four - cuatro

five - cinco (memory aid - think of five sinks)

six - seis

seven - siete (think of seven settees)

Spanish - English

uno - one

dos - two

tres - three

cuatro - four (note the c not a q)

cinco - five

seis - six

siete - seven

...

angeles - angels

aquí  here

bandera - flag 

bar - bar

café - coffee
con - with
de - of
dia - day
en - in
esa/eso - that
hermosa - beautiful
ciudad - city

dónde está - where is

el - the

es - is

gracias - thank you
grande - big
Hola - hello

instituto - institute

la - the

los - the plural

leche - milk

lenga - language

mi - my 

montaña - mountain

mucho - much, many

muy - very

nada - nothing (it's nothing, in reply to thank you)

no - no

o - or

otro - another, other 
por favor - please

real - royal

rio - river

si - yes
restaurante - restaurant

té - tea
vino - wine

y - and

Useful Websites

Berlitz

https://www.berlitz.co.uk

Earworms

https://www.earwormslearning.com//

duolingo

https://www.duolingo.com/

memrise

https://www.memrise.com/languages/learn-spanish

translate google

MONDLY

https://www.mondly.com/blog/2019/03/27/spanish-accents-how-to-type-pronounce-and-master-them-all/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language

WIKI WORDS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_common_words_in_Spanish

About the AUTHOR

Angela Lansbury is an aspiring polyglot. She learned French (O level and A level) and Latin (O level) in school.