Instant Translator? Bulgarian, Hebrew, Tagalog and many more languages

Update on Google Translate

Google translate has many languages. Duolingo is helpful for learning a language. I have bought big multi-language dictionaries, which might be handy for a translator working from home with a magnifying glass nearby, but these handback dictionaries have small print and too heavy to carry. 

The most useful for travellers are the small multi-language phrasebooks by Berlitz, Lonely Planet and others, in two versions for European languages.,  

I looked today at an ad for an instant traslator. A promotion came up for Muama Enence. 40 languages including Bulgarian and I am planning a trip to Bulgaria.

Years ago I bought a translator. I did only 6 languages, one being English for translating back from the other languages.

There were three problems.

It did not cover the countries I needed next in those days, Greek for Greece, Mandarin and Cantonese and Hokkien and Singlish for Singapore, Romanian.

I forgot to put it in my suitcase, forgot where I had stored it and went without it.

It was too bulky to carry on a day trip.

That was back then. What about now?

We have Google translate. However, that requires you to type. Unless you can use Siri or a language device on your phone.

So, what of the instant translator? It has numerous languages and the battery lasts four days. I could keep it in my bag or carry it in my pocket.

The current model is around 80 dollars which is more than I want to pay. However, if you need Tagalog or any other device, read reviews, take a look and compare prices.

On Amazon I found a range of prices. Presumably if you are constantly on business and really need it, it counts as a business expense or you can pay for it out of petty cash.

In a family or group, one would be enough, dividing the cost between several of you, to stop your minibus and ask the way, order for everybody in a restaurant.

I asked my friends on Facebook:
Does it really work?
Can I get it cheaper?

The reviews I read were good. Several users pointed out that you could use it to learn a langage. Even if you know the local language, or you are travelling in your home country or one where English is wifdely spoken, you can also use it to chat to anybody, such as the person beside you on a bus.

In Singapore on buses I often want to ask, "Is this the right stop for ...?"

On Amazon the cheapest was about 60 dollars plus about 17 dollars delivery to the UK. I wasn't in the UK when I looked online but my system was set to a UK address.

Useful Websites
https://enence.com/translator/product/
https://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Foreign-Language-Translators/b?ie=UTF8&node=290461
https://translate.google.co.uk/

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

Please share links to your favourite posts.

How To Set The Timer To Time Events On Your Phone

Problem
I go to a meeting and I am asked to time speeches and events to help the Toastmaster. How do I do it? I learned it years ago but had forgotten. Therefore I am making a note which I shall email myself.

Answer
Go to the clockface symbol amongst the symbols for apps and click on it. Up comes a selection of icon choices on the bottom of the screen. Choose stopwatch.

You should see one button on the middle left and one button on the middle right. The left one is marked start and stop. You also have the symbols re-set.

If somebody is allowed to speak for one minute or ten minutes, you do not have to set that time and count down. You can set the start, watch the clock, and switch off when the rotating and rising visual numbers move from zero to the limit of the time they are allowed to speak.

When the clock hits the number of minutes you require, press stop and re-set and wave at the speaker with your hand or the red card. If they don't look at you and nod slightly, wait until they pause at the end of a sentence and call out, "Thank you!"

The Toastmaster of the Day or Evening will get the hint and move forwards to shake the hand of the speaker and usher them off the stage.

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

Why You Should Learn Languages to live longer, and how to ask for help in Czech, French, Malay, Russian, Spanish

Problem:

It takes ages to learn a new language. Doesn't everybody speak English, as a first or second language?

Answer

No they don't. Times when I found people didn't speak English:

1 Russian railway station - I lost my group switching trains.

2 France - I lost my group - they turned into a nearby restaurant.

3 Spain - we wanted hotel breakfast.

4 Czech Republic - I want to buy a museum ticket, cheaply, and leave for lunch.

5 China - I lost my coach party.

6 Singapore - we've hit a pedestrian who's bleeding in the road - need ambulance+police urgently

7 London, England Euton Station bomb scare evacuation announcements only in English - Spaniards running into station - stop!

A second reason

On several occasions, I needed to speak a foreign language because I'd lost my group. On one occasion Euston station was being evacuated, but the announcements were in English. A group of Spanish girls, laughing and talking, came down the escalator towards the station.

The sentences I needed were:
Russian
I have lost my group
They speak English.
Where is my train?
Where is the restaurant?
Can you phone for me?
Can you make an announcement that I'm lost?
Russkiy - Angliyskiy
YA poteryal svoyu gruppu
Oni govoryat po-angliyski.
Gde moy poyezd?
Gde nakhoditsya restoran?
Mozhete li vy pozvonit' mne?
Mozhete li vy sdelat' ob"yavleniye, chto ya poteryalsya?

Русский - Английский
Я потерял свою группу
Они говорят по-английски.
Где мой поезд?
Где находится ресторан?
Можете ли вы позвонить мне?
Можете ли вы сделать объявление, что я потерялся?

If all else fails, say, gruppu, Anglisky, restauran.

French
I have lost my group.
I think my friends are in a restaurant.
Where is the nearest restaurant?
Please show me the entrance.
Thank you very much.
So kind of you.

J'ai perdu ma groupe.
Je croix que mes amis sont dans un restaurant.
Ou est le restaurant le plus proche?
S'il vous plait, montrez-moi comment entrer.
Merci beaucoup.
Vous êtes très gentil.

Czech - English
Where is the toilet?
How much is a ticket for the museum?
Any reductions?
Is there a cheaper group for several museums?
What time will it close?
Can we eat lunch here?
Can we buy a ticket, go for lunch and come back?
Toilet
ticket
museum
restaurant
thanks

Česky - anglicky
Kde je toaleta?
Kolik je vstupenka do muzea?
Jakékoli snížení?
Existuje levnější skupina pro několik muzeí?
Kdy bude čas zavírat?
Můžeme sem jíst oběd?
Můžeme si koupit jízdenku, jít na oběd a vrátit se?
Toaleta
lístek
muzeum
restaurace
Děkuji

Chinese and Malay
Phone for an ambulance.
Call the police.
I need a phone urgently.
Somebody's injured in the road.
Quick.
It's an emergency.
Does somebody speak English?

Chinese (see next post)
I have lost my coach - English speaking people.
Show me the way, please.

Malay
(Rusia is Russian) - Bahasa Inggeris (Language English ie English language)
Saya telah kehilangan kumpulan saya
Mereka bertutur dalam bahasa Inggeris.
Di mana kereta saya?
Di manakah restoran?
Bolehkah anda telefon saya?
Bolehkah anda membuat pengumuman bahawa saya hilang?
>>>
Malay - from  Bahasa Inggeris
Dimanakah tandas?
Berapa tiket untuk muzium?
Mana-mana pengurangan?
Adakah terdapat kumpulan yang lebih murah untuk beberapa muzium?
Apa masa ia akan ditutup?
Bolehkah kita makan tengahari di sini?
Bolehkah kita membeli tiket, pergi makan tengah hari dan kembali?
Tandas - toilet
tiket - ticket
muzium - museum
restoran - restaurant
terima kasih - thanks

Terjemah ke Bahasa Sepanyol - Bahasa Inggeris
Anda mesti meninggalkan stesen sekarang. Ia adalah kecemasan.
Tunjukkan saya di mana.
Ikut saya.
Dengar.
Terima kasih.
cuti
kecemasan
bersembunyi
berlari
beritahu
membantu
tunggu
Ia ok
Anda boleh pergi.
....

Cina (Chinese) dan (and)  Melayu (Malay language)
Telefon untuk ambulans. (telephone ambulance)
Panggil polis. (polis is police)
Saya memerlukan telefon dengan segera.
Seseorang cedera di jalan raya.
Cepat.
Ia adalah kecemasan.
Adakah seseorang berbahasa Inggeris?

Melayu

Cina (Chinese)

Saya telah kehilangan jurulatih saya - orang berbahasa Inggeris.

Tunjukkan saya cara, sila.

Orang is person, as in orang utan. 

..............................................
Translate into Spanish - English
You must leave the station now. It's an emergency.
Show me where.
Follow me.
Listen.
Thank you.
leave
emergency
hide
run
tell
help
wait
It's ok
You can go.
......
Traducir al Español - Inglés
Debes salir de la estación ahora. Es una emergencia.
Muéstrame donde.
Sígueme.
Escucha.
Gracias.
salir
emergencia
esconder
correr
contar
ayuda
Espere
Está bien
Se puede ir.

Previous items in Spanish:
Español - inglés
He perdido mi grupo
Ellos hablan inglés.
¿Dónde está mi tren?
¿Donde está el restaurante?
¿Puedes llamar por mí?
¿Puedes hacer un anuncio de que estoy perdido?
>>>
Español - inglés
¿Donde esta el inodoro?
¿Cuánto cuesta un boleto para el museo?
Cualquier reducción?
¿Hay un grupo más barato para varios museos?
¿A qué hora se cerrará?
¿Podemos almorzar aquí?
¿Podemos comprar un boleto, ir a almorzar y regresar?
Baño - toilet
boleto - ticket
museo - museum
restaurante - restaurant
gracias - thanks

Losing your group, having an accident on the road, reacting to a bomb scare and directing others,

these are the short-term reasons for needing to speak foreign languages.

Long-term, learning languages is supposed to grow your brain and prevent it from shrinking and disintegrating.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/why-learn-second-language-everyone-speaks-english/
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/sep/04/what-happens-to-the-brain-language-learning
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24537-learn-another-language-to-delay-three-dementias/

From the website mimicmethod I found links to German songs you can use to learn English, by singing along with the German subtitles.
In short, reduce stress and live a long, healthy and happy life. I always think of the road safety motto, the life you save may be your own.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have many more posts on languages and destinations. Please share links to your favourite posts.

How to remember 23 Portuguese words - or any foreign language

Flag of Portugal. From Wikimedia Commons.

Problem
I am learning Portuguese. I need a working vocabulary of about 300 words, which I can do in a month if I learn ten a day. I need to practise every day or I will forget the words.

Answer
The simple solution is to keep the word list on a page in my diary. I write the foreign word first, then the English translation.

Alphabet Letters
I list the letters of the alphabet down the left hand side. How many lines do I have? I have 26, enough for one line per letter of the alphabet. (In theory if I know there are few words, an few I need to know, starting with x, y, z, or any letter that language does not use, I could drop that letter or put two on one line, leaving space for a each use letter, such as c in French or S in English.

I started with the letters of the alphabet at the beginning of the line, but I was short of space. So I wrote over the letters, making the initial letter in the margin. When I started the next page, for German, I had the system more condensed.

Margin
Now the initial letters are in the margin. I write as close as I can get to the edge of the page.

Saving Space
I started by repeating the letters, leaving the initial letter separate. However, now I use it to start the first word.  So instead of
A agua - water
b boa / bom - good
c carta - letter

I write
agua - water
boa / bom - good
carta - letter

Save Space With Dots
The hyphens between the Portuguese and the English were taking up too much space. I changed the line for a dot.

agua.water
boa.good
carta.letter

In this blog post I am not so short of space. I also want to make the words easier to read. Therefore here I am sticking to the hyphens.

If the word is the same in English I write the letter s in brackets.
pizza (s) 

Why Not Capitalise Initial Letters?
I could write
Agua
Boa
Carta

However, I have been trained as a sub-editor to use small letters to start words in dictionaries. That way the reader knows when a word always starts with a capital letter.

Folding
The page is narrow and I need all the space I can get. I fold the page in half vertically and then in half again. So I now have four columns.

Four across by 25 down makes space for 100 words on a page.

Here are my first 23 Portuguese words with my memory aids:
(Only 20 are listed in this blog post under labels because the limit is 20 labels)

agua - water (like aquaduct)
abacaxi - pineapple (P and B sound and look almost the same. AP - pineAPple - apple pine, pine apple, cut it down with an axe - ee! I might not remember translating from English to Portuguese, but I am well on the way to remembering it when I see it written on a menu in Portugal or Madeira)
boa / bom - good (As in Bombay. Good bay. How do I remember it's good and not beautiful. If it's beautiful it's good.)
carta - letter, a carta or uma carta is a letter. (How do I remember 'a carta', feminine? I visualise a lady writing a letter.)
com - with / to / by
de - of
é - is
ele - he / him / it
eles - they
eu - I
falamos - we speak
gosto - (I) like
jornal - newspaper (o / um jornal) (like the French journal but drop the u, just as the Americans drop the u from British English c o l o u r and make it c o l o r.)
lê - you read
leio - I read (I remember: Add i for I, + O for I as in Latin Amo amas amat meaning I read, you etc)
livro - book
menino - boy (I remember men, but little ones, o as in boy for masculine)
mulheres - women
nós - us / we
um - a / one / some
você - you (I remember vous with v in French. V looks like Y.) 

Other useful posts:
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/port-and-portuguese-wine-labels-and.
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/how-to-ask-for-food-and-drink-in.
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/learn-your-first-ten-words-in.
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/how-do-you-say-please-in-portuguese-is.

visitportugal.com

visitbrasil.com

http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/homepage

duolingo.com

earwormslearning.com

http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/polyglot-poem-by-angela-lansbury.html

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, learner and speaker of many languages (a polyglot). Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts. I have several more on Portuguese, Spanish, German, Chinese, Hebrew and other languages and countries.

Colours in Welsh to see and recognize, hear and repeat | Beginner Welsh Lessons

More posts on colour and other Welsh words and learning Welsh. Please link to your favourite posts.

English - Welsh
orange - o r e n
blue - glas (think of blue glass)
pink - pinc
brown - brown (yes, the same word)

This simple video shows you each word three times, and makes it larger. and repeats sounds slowly three times. At the end are links to other videos for learning Welsh and about Wales.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I teach languages.