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 | |
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Recognised minority
language in | |
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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]
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
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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
