Learn Ten Easy Words and Names In Spanish From Place Names

Spanish is useful in Spain, South America, Mexico and in the USA where many places names in the south are Spanish and many signs in cities are in both Spanish and English to help communicate with Spanish speaking immigrants. I am going to look at the names Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Cerro Gordo and Buena Vista.


The flag of Spain.
Horizongal stripes of red and yellow, a Spanish sandwich of red and yellow, with a cymbol in the middle containing a crown.


The flag of Mexico.
Green, white and red, vertical stripes, with a symbol in the middle containing an eagle.

Spanish is the most popular language learned on Duolingo. It is also one of the easiest if you speak or know English.

A quick way to start learning Spanish is to pick place names you already know or can easily recognize and list their translations. Here are two examples.

Los Angeles
Los Angeles means the angels. Whilst you will not often need to use the words together except in the place name, los, meaning the (plural) is very handy. You could also use Los Angeles to describe people who have been generous or to thank them.

For example, two kind Spanish speaking people walk back the opposite direction to the way they were going when you asked the way to the train station, the bank, your hotel, the toilets.  You wave goodbye and bow slightly and point to them and address them as "Los Angeles".

San Francisco
San Francisco means Saint Francis. Other cities with names: San Antonio.

Santa Cruz means holy cross. Santa Cruz is a city in California.

Cerro Gordo
I read an online newspaper story about Cerro Gordo which means fat hill. The words taken separately, I checked in Google translate, taking each one separately, typing Cerro first, then Gordo below it, read hill fat.

So now we know two words and a grammar rule. Cerro is hill. Gordo is fat. The adjective comes after the noun in Spanish, the same as the French who say Moulin Rouge for red mill (windmill).  You can remember Moulin Rouge to remind yourself to put adjectives after the noun in French. Remember Cerro Gordo to remind yourself to put the adjective after the noun in Spanish.

I find it easier to remember Gordo is Fat than to remember cerro is hill. So let's start with gordo. I recognize gordo as fat from hearing a talk by a Spanish member of a Toastmasters Club in Harrow, England. At Christmas time she gave a speech in which she told us about how the Spaniards spend Christmas. One feature is the lottery. The one at Christmas time has a big prize and is known as the Gordo, El Gordo, the fat one (or big one). El is the.

So now we can remember that the adjective is second, after the noun, and that the word gordo means big or fat.

If you like to learn by sounds: Cerro is hill. Cerro Gordo rhymes. The last adjective is the same. Cerro Gordo.  (The letter c sounds like s. The cerro, hill, has a summit. We row past the hill.

If you like to learn visually: The initial letters C and G look similar. The letter r is in the middle of both words, the third letter. Cerro Gordo.

If you like to learn by repetition, we shall repeat it three times:
cerro - hill
cerro - hill
cerro - hill

Spanish - English
angeles - angels
cerro - hill
cruz - cross
gordo - fat (big)
lo - the (singular)
los - the (plural)
San - Saint
Santa - holy

English - Spanish
angels - angeles
cross - cruz
fat - gordo
hill - cerro
holy - santa
the - los
Saint - san

Names
Spanish - English
Francisco - Francis

What would you find at the top of a hill? Preseumably Buena Vista, good view in Spanish. Many places are called Buena Vista in countries including the USA.

Not to be confused with the Italian Buona Vista, a railway station (MRT-mass rapid transit) in Singapore. The Spanish word for good has an e, is buEna - yes.

Useful Websites For Travellers
MEXICO
https://www.visitmexico.com/en/
SPAIN
www.spain.info
https://www.spain.info/en/
https://info.info/newsroom/spotlight/spain-tourism-board
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Christmas_Lottery
LEARN SPANISH
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language
To learn Spanish for free on the internet
duolingo.com


About the Author
Angela Lansbury, the author, is not related to the actress of the same name, nor another 13 people with the same name on LinkedIn.
Angela Lansbury, the author, is a speaker and a teacher of English and other languages to schools, colleges, Toastmasters International speakers clubs, and businesses.

Translating, understanding and learning from German tourist information

Problem
I have been going through my house trying to throw away old papers and objects which are out of date and creating such a clutter that I cannot find the recent stuff. But before throwing anything out, I have to take a look at it. I have a pile of souvenir CDs from travel shows and I am going through them one by one, one a day. Here's is what I found:

I have an old CD-ROM from Sachsen 2000.  I have the text here and a list of German-English and English-German words at the end. I looked at the paragraph and it was a mystery and hard going and I nearly shut my CD and threw away the disc, then I thought, just a minute, put this into Google translate. Here's what I saw. Glance at it and then read on.

Mit dem Leipziger Umland beginnt das “Sächsische Burgen- und Heideland” – eine reizvolle, hügelig schwingende Landschaft, die sich im Norden bis zur Dübener Heide, im Westen bis zur Dahlener Heide und den Elbauenlandschaften erstreckt und im Süden bis in das Erzgebirgsvorland im Chemnitzer Raum reicht. Handwerk und Landwirtschaft haben diese geschichtsträchtige landschaftlich reizvolle Region mit kleinen Städtchen, verschlafenen Dörfern und malerischen alten Schlössern, Burgen und Herrensitzen über Jahrhunderte geprägt.

Dem Besucher bieten sich vielfältige Möglichkeiten – sei es ein zünftiges Rittermahl oder ein kurfürstliches Gelage mit typisch mittelalterlichen Speisen und Flair auf einem der alten Adelssitze im “Tal der Burgen” am Muldenfluß, eine waschechte Floßtour auf der Zschopau, eine Fahrt mit der Schmalspurbahn “Wilder Robert”, Radwandertouren entlang gut markierter Radwanderstrecken an der Mulde und Zschopau, Wanderungen durch ausgedehnte Auenwälder oder entlang wildromantischer Flüsse oder eine Einfahrt in einen ehemaligen Silberstollen…

Zahlreiche alte Städte, wie Colditz, Rochlitz und Waldenburg, laden mit Geschichte und Geschichten zum Erleben in historische und originelle Museen ein. Stimmungsvolle Kloster- und Parkanlagen, z.B. in Altzella bei Nossen oder in Klosterbuch bei Leisnig, lassen eindrucksvoll das Leben der einstigen Zisterzienser-Mönche nachempfinden.

Gotische Dome, typisch sächsische Hallenkirchen mit reicher Innenausstattung und interessante Dorfkirchen markieren Höhepunkte der Baukunst der Region. Musikfreunde erwarten hier Konzerte, bei denen sie sich dem Klangwunder alter und kostbarer Orgeln, u.a. von Gottfried Silbermann, hingeben können. Es ist eine Region der feinen Töne, die ihren Reiz beim genauen Beobachten offenbart.

I have blown up the print size to normal so I and you can refer back to it.

I put it into Google translate and looked at the English. In Google I had the texts side by side   so I could read through each sentence. I read the English first, getting the general gist. Then took each sentence. Finally, I went back and read both again, and noted down the easy, instantly recognized, and the new words.

Mit dem Leipziger Umland beginnt das “Sächsische Burgen- und Heideland” – eine reizvolle, hügelig schwingende Landschaft, die sich im Norden bis zur Dübener Heide, im Westen bis zur Dahlener Heide und den Elbauenlandschaften erstreckt und im Süden bis in das Erzgebirgsvorland im Chemnitzer Raum reicht. Handwerk und Landwirtschaft haben diese geschichtsträchtige landschaftlich reizvolle Region mit kleinen Städtchen, verschlafenen Dörfern und malerischen alten Schlössern, Burgen und Herrensitzen über Jahrhunderte geprägt.

Dem Besucher bieten sich vielfältige Möglichkeiten – sei es ein zünftiges Rittermahl oder ein kurfürstliches Gelage mit typisch mittelalterlichen Speisen und Flair auf einem der alten Adelssitze im “Tal der Burgen” am Muldenfluß, eine waschechte Floßtour auf der Zschopau, eine Fahrt mit der Schmalspurbahn “Wilder Robert”, Radwandertouren entlang gut markierter Radwanderstrecken an der Mulde und Zschopau, Wanderungen durch ausgedehnte Auenwälder oder entlang wildromantischer Flüsse oder eine Einfahrt in einen ehemaligen Silberstollen…

Zahlreiche alte Städte, wie Colditz, Rochlitz und Waldenburg, laden mit Geschichte und Geschichten zum Erleben in historische und originelle Museen ein. Stimmungsvolle Kloster- und Parkanlagen, z.B. in Altzella bei Nossen oder in Klosterbuch bei Leisnig, lassen eindrucksvoll das Leben der einstigen Zisterzienser-Mönche nachempfinden.

Gotische Dome, typisch sächsische Hallenkirchen mit reicher Innenausstattung und interessante Dorfkirchen markieren Höhepunkte der Baukunst der Region. Musikfreunde erwarten hier Konzerte, bei denen sie sich dem Klangwunder alter und kostbarer Orgeln, u.a. von Gottfried Silbermann, hingeben können. Es ist eine Region der feinen Töne, die ihren Reiz beim genauen Beobachten offenbart.

English translation:

The "Saxon Castle and Heideland", a Saxon castle and Heideland, begins with the Leipzig region, which stretches to the Dübener Heide in the north, the west to the Dahlener Heide and the Elbaulandschaften and in the south to the Erzgebirgsvorland in the Chemnitz area enough. Handicrafts and agriculture have characterized this historical landscape with its small towns, sleepy villages and picturesque old castles, castles and manor houses for centuries.

The visitor is offered a wide range of possibilities - be it a real knightly meal or a Kurfürstliches banquet with typical medieval food and flair on one of the old nobility seats in the "valley of the castles" at the Mulden river, a washed rafting tour on the Zschopau, a ride with the Schmalspurbahn "Wilder Robert ", cycle tours along well-marked bike trails along the Mulde and Zschopau, hiking through extensive floodplain forests or along wild-romantic rivers or a drive into a former silver tunnel ...

Numerous old towns, such as Colditz, Rochlitz and Waldenburg, invite you to experience historical and original museums with history and stories. Moody monastery and park facilities, e.g. in Altzella near Nossen or in Klosterbuch near Leisnig, impressively reflect the life of the former Cistercian monks.

Gothic domes, typical Saxon Hallenkirchen with rich interior equipment and interesting village churches highlight the architecture of the region. Music lovers can expect concerts here, where they can listen to the sound wonder of old and precious organs, among others. by Gottfried Silbermann. It is a region of fine tones, which reveals its charm when closely observed.

Here are my ten easy words:

ENGLISH - GERMAN

(Spaces inserted where a spell checker changes spellings after a time lapse to be sure it doesn't occur again even though I have checked it.)

and - und

by or near - bei

dome - Dome - (Same word except that nouns in German start with capital letters which makes it easy to spot them.) 

Gothic - Gotische

monks - Mönche

music - Muzik

silver - Silber

typical - typische

with - mit

wonder -wunder (as in the old song, 'Wunderbar, Wunderbar (wonderful, wonderful) I wonder what you are ...')

GERMAN - ENGLISH

bei - by or near

Dome - dome

Gotische - Gothic  

mit - with

Mönche - monks

Muzik - music

S i l b e r - silver 

typische - typical

und - and

wonder - wunder (as in the old song, Wunderbar, Wunderbar (wonderful, wonderful) I wonder what you are)

Here are ten words you might know and recognize:

ENGLISH - GERMAN

concert - k o n z e r t e

old - alte (plural)

or - oder

organs - Orgeln

life - Leben

rich - reicher

Saxon - Sächsische

sound - klang

towns - Städtle / Städtlen (think of little city states abbreviated, state-little)

west - Westen

That's ten words. But I've got one more, so I'll add a bonus:

fine - feinen (plural)- fine

GERMAN -ENGLISH ten words you might know and recognize

(Notice than in German you add an n for the plural)

k o n z e r t e - concert

alte (plural) - old

oder - or

Orgeln - organs

Leben - life

reicher - rich

Sächsische - Saxon

klang - sound

Städtle / Städtlen (think of little city states abbreviated, state-little) - town(s) 

Westen - west

That's ten words. But I've got one more, so I'll add a bonus:

fine - feinen (plural)- fine

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Blogger. Teacher of English and other languages. Please see my other posts on destinations and German and other languages. If you need a language teacher, translation or any other business help, contact me through Facebook messenger.

French words of the day: entente cordiale - and some French and English grammar

Every day I note the French words which are used in English. Today's first phrase is entente cordiale. In English you might translate that as cordial understanding. Notice that the adjective comes before the noun in English but after the noun in French.

For the benefit of English language purists and those learning English as a foreign language, a reminder about English grammar (although I have a separate blog dealing with grammar to which I add posts sporadically).

Glossary (list of technical or foreign words used in a text or book with explanations of meanings, like a mini dictionary)

Noun - naming word, general term for objects, people, animals - for example table, chair, house, man, woman, dog, cat, boy, girl, town, city
Proper noun - individual name of things you can see and point to and visit such as John, Jean, Joan, Julius Caesar, Elizabeth, a real person such as John Smith, Angela Lansbury, London, New York
Adjective - additional word describing a noun such as small animal, tall man

If you find the terms adverb and adjective confusing, the easy way to remember which is which is to remember that an adverb is added to a verb and adjective is the other word, describing a noun
Verb - doing word such as to walk, walking, we walked
Adverb - addition to a verb describing it such as (walked) slowly, fast, quickly, rapidly - often ending in -ly

Angela Lansbury teaches English O level, A level, English as a second or foreign language and creative writing and conversation, and French conversation, O level and A level, website translation.