Some easy useful Spanish words for breakfast

 Words which are handy for breakfast.

desayuno - breakfast (I think of break fast, destroy, say, you, know, say uno)

Fruitas - fruit(s)

Agua - watet

Apel - apple

Cafe - coffee

Confitura - conserve / jam / preserve

De - of

Dos - Two

Gracias - thank you

Limones - lemons

Miel - honey

Naranja - orange

Peras - pears

Pizza - pizza

Platanos - bananas

Platos - plates

Por favor - please

Te (with an accent) - tea

Tostado - toast

Uno - one

Vino - wine

Y - and

Why do you need to know Chinese?

 

Why do you need to recognize Chinese signs even if you cannot speak a word? So you can identify the correct sex of toilets in China, Hong, Kong, Taiwan, China (same writing symbols), or a rest room in a restaurant in Chinatown anywhere in the world.

I went into the Gents in China.

Chinese writing is easier than you might think. Do you know Roman numbers? One, two, and three. Uprights. Like holding up your fingers? What about Chinese?

Chinese is not the same as Roman writing. The exact opposite. The Roman numbers one to three  are vertical. The Chinese numbers one to three are horizontal.

Useful Websites

About the Author

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, travel writer and photographer, 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.

Second set of Portuguese words - learn 15 easy to remember words

 Flag of Portugal

 Flag of Brazil

I can't stop learning Portuguese and Spanish.

English - Portuguese

taxi - taxi
hotel- hotel
bank - banco
port - puerto
blue - azul - (like azure which is a bright blue)

name - nome
first name - primeiro nome (like primary school)
family name/surname - sobrenome
table - mesa
room - quarto (like living quarters)

one - um (like French un and English one - remember: How many? Um - one.)
two - dois (like two dice)
three - três (tr as in triple, tricycle, trio; think of three trespassers)
four - quatro (like quadrangle in English and quarter and quatre in French)
ten - dez (sounds a bit like decimal)

Useful Websites
Languages
translate google
duolingo
duolingo.com

https://www.visitbrasil.com/key-information/language.html
memrise
memrise.com
https://www.mezzoguild.com/portuguese-and-brazilian/

Travel
https://www.visitportugal.com/en
https://www.visitbrasil.com/

About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, speaker, author, and teacher of languages.
Latest book: An ebook  Improve Your English. Several books by different authors have that title. Make sure to add the name Angela Lansbury.
I have written a post about the Spanish restaurant in Melaka, called Salud which means cheers.
Please share links to your favourite pages.
Update
Contact Angela Lansbury by attending Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Club online.

Finding Chinese Symbols Matching English Station Names on the Singapore MRT map

Chineasy teaches you the symbols with pictures. See it on the internet. You can see king third along top row. Mountain or hill is far left of the lower row. Moon is below king.

Problem
What do the Chinese symbols on the Singapore stations mean?

NUMBERS 6 and 10
I learned the numbers first and identified six on the sign for Sixth Avenue station on the downtown line.
Later I found Ten Mile Junction station. then one-north.

Then I found the sign for mountain or hill in Hillview on the downtown line, station DT3.

The sign for king was in Downtown  station DT6, King Albert Park.

The sign for park or garden or enclosed space appears on the station signs and the MRT (mass transit) railway map.

The signs for sun and moon are not on the MRT map, but on signs about the dates and times of early closing of stations for maintenance work. The sun means day of the month, and the moon means month.



Next I was into the compass signs. One north.

I identified the sign for little in Little India.

Chinese was no longer something I shunned. I keenly scanned my map on every journey.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages

Learn To Read Chinese - First steps - one, two, three and ten

Problem
I ran around bookshops in Singapore, adult sections, children's sections, language sections, trying to find a children's book which would teach me a few signs in Chinese.

Solutions
The four solutions were
the internet
placemats
Chineasy
Duolingo and similar language course - harder.

Simplest signs - numbers
The numbers one, two, three, are like Roman numerals turned sideways. Roman numerals for one and two and three are parallel vertical lines.
I
II
III
Chinese signs for one, two and three are horizontal lines.

Look closely at the Chinese sign for two and you'll see the lowest line is wider, which is the same in many Chinese characters. the Chinese think a wide base line gives a pleasing sense of balance, like a building which won't fall over.

Look closely at the three and you'll see the middle line is slightly smaller, like the filling of a sandwich is hidden by the larger pieces above and below. But to recognize the signs, it's eough to remember the Roman numerals hint.

The Chinese make the sign for ten by placing their right index finger (fingernail showing) over  their left index finger (fingernail underneath).

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

More Bulgarian Basic Words: yes, no, thanks, toilet, coffee, milk, hotel, room and police

Photo of the Friendship Bridge between Bulgaria and Romania. Photo by ArjecD in Wikipedia.


Problem
How to keep up the momentum in language learning when you tend to learn twenty words one day and none the next?

Answer
Set yourself an email to be delivered the next day with the second half.

English - Bulgarian














Cat photo by Gryffindor in Wikipedia.



cat - kotka
coffee - kaf(y)e

eyes - oko - (The Bulgarian word looks like a pair of spectacles or eyes, two letters e in English word eyes, two letters o in the Bulgarian word.)
hotel - khotyel
milk - milko
one - (y)edno (letters o n e in both the English and Bulgarian, 'add another? 'no, just one' ed-no)
police - politz-ya (police yes)
room - staya (Where do you stay -uh? In my room. Why do you stay in your room?

7 seven - sedem (Looks similar to - seven sitting, sedem)

toilet - toalyetna (My memory aid : "Want the toilet yet?" "Naah."

Toilet Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Bulgarian - English

kaf(y)e - coffee
edno - one
khotyel - hotel
Kotka - cat (letters c/k and T and a)
milko - milk (milk - oh!)
oko - eyes
politzya- police
7 sedem - seven
staya - room
toalyetna - toilet (Want the toilet yet? Na!

Toilet. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.  

(Since the Bulgarians shake their heads for yes and nod for no, you'll have clearer communication if you learn to say yes and no and understand the Bulgarian words when you hear them.)

WHAT IS THIS?
yes - da
no - ne
What is this/that? - Kakvo e tova?
This one, please - Tozi, molya
please - molya
thanks - blagodarya

да - da
не - ne
какво е това? - kakyo e tova?
този, моля - tozi, molya
моля - molya
Благодаря - blagodarya

da (yes+please, da is like ta)
ne (same starting letter as no)
Kakvo e tova
Tozi, molya
Blagodarya (I think of: "blessings on you, darling - thanks." That way, every time I hear somebody say, teh Bulgarian word blagodarya, it reminds me that the English word is thanks.

e is not and but is (like it's est in French

A question word in many languages starts with either Q or K.

I find it very difficult to say yes and shake my head, or say no and nod. It;s like reading the word blue written in the colour red. Your brain is getting to controdictory messages. 
I might need to made a flashcard, or set of flashcards.

Useful Websites
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2018/07/easy-bulgarian-words-similar-to-english.html

bulgariantouristboard.com (List of 120 words)
http://ilanguages.org/bulgarian.php
http://www.translitteration.com/transliteration/en/bulgarian/streamlined/
https://free.mytransitplanner.com/index.jhtml?partner=%5ECAO%5Exdm229&s1=1064973256&pkw=bulgaria
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Easy Bulgarian Words Similar to English, German, Spanish, or Russian

Problem
How to remember Bulgarian words? It is depressing when you read a lot and can't remember a thing.

Answer
You aim to learn 1 -10 words a day in a foreign language. At the end of the 365 days of the year, allowing for a few days off for sickness or holidays, you should have learned a minimum of 300 words to get by, maybe as many as 3000! That means quite a conversation.

Pick out a few words which are easy. That maintains achieving your daily target of five minutes a day. You keep up the confidence which gives you momentum.

Here are mine for today, at least ten:

English - Bulgarian

"Fir0002/Flagstaffotos". in Wikipedia under bananas.

bananas - banani

bus - autobus
nose - nos
passport - pasport
pullover / sweater (US) - poolovyer
son - sin (Sin also means blue. My son, for my sin, also makes me blue.)
student - stoodent
3 three - dri/tri 3
trousers - pantaloni (US pants)
taxi - taksi

Bulgarian-English

autobus - bus

"Fir0002/Flagstaffotos". in Wikipedia under bananas.

banani - bananas

3 dri/tri - three 3
nos - nose
pantaloni - trousers (US pants)
pasport - passport
poolover - pullover / sweater
sin - son / blue
stoodent - student
taksi - taxi

Words like German
English - Bulgarian
potatoes - kartofiWikipedia Photo by Renee Comet for Cancer Soc.

Words like Spanish
English - Bulgarian
table - masa (like mesa)

Words like Russian
brother - brat
sister - syestra

Useful Websites
http://ilanguages.org/bulgarian_grammar.php

Author
Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my other posts on learning Bulgarian, Russian, Spanish, German and other languages.

Portuguese words to learn fast

Problem
I am using Duolingo but sometimes get confused.

Answer
In Duolingo, if you have time, read the forums. Click on Discussion - even if you get the right answer.

Portuguese - English
diario - diary
(o) jornal - (The) newspaper (like the word journal which is a daily record)
(a) maçã - the apple (not an apple)
na verdade - in fact /that's true
nos falamos - we speak (same word origin as tell a fable)

English - Portuguese
(the) apple - a maçã
diary - diario
in fact - na verdade
(the) newspaper - o jornal
magazine - revista, periodico

Brazilian Portuguese
gente - one (we) unlike one in English which is formal, gente is used in conversation in Brazil.

Also see Tinycards by Duolingo.

Buy a course in Portuguese

TRAVEL

Brazil (Portuguese)
visitbrasil.com
Note that the website spells the country the way it is spelled in their language with an s.

Cuba (Spanish)
visitcuba.com

VISIT France
http://us.france.fr
https://en.parisinfo.com

Study Italian in Italy
Perugia in Umbria has language courses and a university.

Useful Websites and Links
http://umbriatourism.it
https://twitter.com/UmbriaTourism
@UmbriaTourism  
#loveUmbria
Many websites offer courses, eg:
https://www.studytravel.com/learn-italian-in-perugia.html

Visit Portugal
www.visitportugal.com

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and teacher of English, public speaking and foreign languages. Please share links to your favourite posts.

How To Read Your Own Handwriting From Your Last Trip - and reach today's destination

Problem
Nothing more annoying than coming home from holiday with indecipherable notes. What was the name of the restaurant? How do you spell it? What did I say about it at the time?

Answers
Take self-captioning photos as soon as you reach a destination:
The welcome signpost of the city.
The hotel name on the door.
The menu in the restaurant.
Your new friend's business card.
Their name surreptitiously written on the corner of the paper table napkin.
If you can't spell their name, ask them to write it and keep the paper.
Label photos with names at the time or the same evening.

On the plane or the way home, go through hand-written notes and write any unclear words and proper names in capitals above the lower case handwriting.

As soon as possible, type up your handwritten notes.

Reading Handwriting
Join up the writing. Dot the 'i's and cross the 't's.

Keep a record of your own handwriting common confusions. For example, here are mine in alphabetical order:
First is what the letter looks like, then what I actually meant to write

h=k
i=t
l (looped) = u
l (short) = r
l = uncrossed t
m=n or ni or in with the dot missing
n=o
n=m
r=t
u=o
v=i
w=rs (yourself looks like yoivself)
backslash is r
forward slash is r or t

Able label used to have a guide to how you should write letters when ordering address labels. A common mistake was ambiguous letters and number, failure to distinguish 6 from L and so on.

1 I cross a seven, European style, to distinguish it from one.

2 I trained as a sub-editor, and in proof-reading, so I am used to underlining capital letters.

3 I write the surname in capitals. This is helpful in Asia where the surname comes first. I also write the surname in capitals. LEE Kuan Yew tells me that his surname is Lee. Lee is not his first name.

I often accidentally write phone numbers with the zero with a gap in the top so it could be a six. To avoid confusion, I go back over a number and check with the original and then make the number clearer.

4 I make a point of joining up a zero at the top.

5 I join up the six with a small circle at the bottom and a large semi-circle on top.

6 You could alternatively write a dot under a six and a line above a zero.

7 Nowadays I often find email addresses won't operate because you have typed in an elongated zero 0 instead of a wider capital O or vice versa. If website addresses don't link up, check your typing.

8 Writing slowly helps. I often write fast when I am not in a hurry and when it is more important to get the number right.

9 If you are rushing to get off the train and say goodbye, say the number out loud, keep repeating it to yourself, then check your writing after you have waved goodbye.

10 Copy handwritten notes on names, addresses and phone number into your phone immediately. Don't rely on hand-written notes in your pocket, often lost amidst other bits of paper. List the day's contacts from the agenda in your mobile phone.

I do this, mainly so that if I get lost en route, I have the name of the club president to phone and check directions.

Ring Tom
I once spent hours wondering who I meant by an instruction ring tom. Who was Tom? I did not know any Tom. Maybe it was Tim? I solved the mystery when I wrote the same thing again later in the day. Ring tom was an abbreviation for ring Ring tomorrow.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Author of How To Get Out Of The Mess You're In.

Learning Afghan Languages: Pashto; Persian Dari; Numbers 1,2,3

Problem
How do you recognize another language? How do you understand what people are saying - at last the general subject matter?

The ladies in the gym's sauna are chatting away. I cannot understand a word they say. I cannot even tell which language they are speaking. Yesterday a pair of ladies from Morocco and Egypt were conversing in Arabic.

Today a pair born in Afghanistan were speaking in another language. I learned that Afghanistan has two major languages.

They speak enough English to speak to me. (I was speaking to one of them earlier in the swimming pool.)

My first question is:
How can I tell I identify a language from Afghanistant? Is it more sing-song than English, like Welsh and Italian? Is it more guttural like German?

Answers
They said, more gutteral, like German.

I was not convinced.

I asked which country's language are you speaking?

They are speaking the language of Afghanistan, the main language, officially called Dari (also commonly called by the old name, called Farsi or Persian), although they can get by in both, the other language being Pashtu (also spelled as Pushtu or Pushto).

Which of the two languages you are speaking?

I decide that they only way for me to identify which language is which, if not by pronunciation, is by vocabulary. That may reveal the different letters. So I start by asking for the numbers one to three in both languages.

English - official language one pashtu/ pashto - official language two dari (also called Dari Persian or Afghan Persian)
one - yak - yo
two - dua - du
three - dree - sree?

What is hallo and goodbye?
Salaam aleikum. (As in Arabic.)

Thank you

Translation Tips
Duolingo does not yet have Arabic or any of the Middle Eastern languages. I am learning the Hebrew, Russian and Greek alphabets on Duolingo. (The Japanese and Hindi are both being prepared but have not yet reached the draft or beta stage allowing you to try out and debate translations on the first version before it is finalised.

Google translate gives Pashto and Persian but translates both into cursive scripts which I cannot read. Dari language is not in their long list.
However, if you type into Google translate Pashto you are offered the link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gkapps.translate.psen

The Reverso dictionary gives Arabic and several European languages and Hebrew but not Pashto nor Persian.

Tips
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Languages_of_Afghanistan
http://wikitravel.org/en/Dari_phrasebook

Dari is written with a version of the Perso-Arabic script.

Dari alphabet and pronunciation (الفباى دري)

ح (he) is also known as ی جیمی (ye-jimi), and ﻩ (he) is also known as ی دوچش (ye-docešma)

http://www.17-minute-world-languages.com/en/dari/
http://wikitravel.org/en/Dari_phrasebook

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See later post on Afghan foods. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Albanian - learn ten more words, please, from one to three, thank you

Problem
How do you learn Albanian?

Answer
Just keep adding ten more words.

English - Albanian
one - n j ë
two - d y
three - t r e
petrol (UK); gas (USA) - b e n z i n ë
please - j u l u t e m
tea - ç a j (to type the letter c with the comma underneath, hold down the letter, tap the number 1) looks like a cup of cha
thanks / thank you - f a l e n d e r i m / f a l e m i n d e r i t
lake - l i q e n (like the Scottish word loch)
beer - b i r r ë
coffee - k a f e

Albanian - English
b e n z i n ë - gasoline (USA) petrol (UK)
b i r r ë - beer
ç a j - tea
d y - two
f a l e n d e r i m - thanks
j u l u t e m - please
k a f e - coffee
l i q e n - lake
n j ë - one
t r e - three


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

Learn Chinese with Duolingu Flashcards

Problem
How do you learn Chinese?
Answers
At last Duolingo, from which I have been learning German and Italian, has started Chinese. I just discovered the Duolingo flashcards.

Story
I've been living in Singapore on and off for twenty years but still can't put together a sentence. I really want to start.
What do I know? The easy first three numbers which I learned from a children's placemat. The numbers start like the Roman numerals but horizontal. One is a horizontal line. Two is two parallel hormonal lines. Three is three parallel horizontal lines.

Chinese Numbers
Chinese is similar to Roman numerals which have one as an upright line, two as two parallel upright lines, three as three parallel upright lines. Just imagine the Roman numerals are bowing to the East.

The number ten is also like the Roman ten. The Chinese ten is a cross with a horizontal and a vertical. (The Roman ten has turned the cross slightly clockwise into an X.)

Tips
https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/
https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/237da03b-f290-4d86-80ac-f50f5d37842d (the page with the Chinese numbers)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker, teacher of English and languages.

Instant Indonesian and Malay - numbers one to five

Problem
How do you remember the numbers in Malay and Indonesian languages?

Answer
Look for similarities to the English words.


English

1 One - Satu (S for Single on a Saturday night and Satu)
2 Dua - Two (DU for dual and duo and dua)
3 Tiga - Three (T for Three and Tiga)
4 Empat - empathy EMPAT a foursome with empathy, like the US TV series Friends
5 Lima - five l-I-m-a - second letter is I and first letter is an upright

Now look at the words again
Malay /Indonesian - English
satu
dua
tiga
e m p a t
lima

Read the reminders again

1 One - Satu (S for Single on a Saturday night and Satu)
2 Dua - Two (DU for dual and duo and dua)
3 Tiga - Three (T for Three and Tiga)
4 Empat - empathy EMPAT a foursome with empathy, like the US TV series Friends
5 Lima - five l-I-m-a - second letter is I and first letter is an upright

If you are in either Indonesia or Malaysia whenever you see or hear the numbers one to five you should be able to remember or work out what they mean.

0 - nol (Indonesian)
The Indonesian word for zero is easier to remember than Malay. The Indonesia number for one is NOL, looks like nul - nul and void, or nil (for example scoring in a tennis match 'another number-nil'). N O L starts with the letters NO - no number, nobody on the grassy knoll.

0 -

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, teacher of English and other languages, author and speaker.
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