Spanish words - how to remember them

 Duolingo teaches Spanish as spoken in South America, but the Spanish of Mexico and Spain is very similar.

Let's look at some easy to recognize and remember words. I am learning on Duolingo. I have paid to get the version without advertising. I am learning for an hour or so every day, so it's worthwhile to be comfortable.

Spanish - English words

A

adios - goodbye.  archivo - file (in folders or archives). atletas - athletes.

B

barco - boat (embark on a boat)

C 

capital - capital. carro - car (remember to add o, not a but o, oh no, not my car). confortable - comfortable (change the m to n in Spanish)

Casada - married (a couple living in a casa or house together, casada con, married to/with)

D

 dias - days. diente - tooth (like the English word dentist, or dental floss, or dental work). dificil - difficult. durante - during.

E

 escuela - school. estadio - stadium.  excepto - except

F 

fotos - photos. fresco - fresh

frio - cold (like freezing)

G

 grupo - group

H

 helicoptero - helicopter. historia - history. hobby - hobby. hola - hello. horas - hours/time

I

 idea - idea invitadas - guests. invited people

J 

jirafa - giraffe. junio - June.

K 

(for borrowed words from other languages)

Karaoke - karaoke

kilo - kilo

kiwi - kiwi

L

 lago - lake. libro - book (think of library book)

M

 maestro - teacher. minutos - minutes. mojadas - wet (think of moist)

N

necessito - I need (think of it is necessary)

O

 opera - opera

P

 pasaporte - passport. pescado - fish (like pisces, the fish star sign in the zodiac). Plumas - feathers/plumes.

Q

quieto - still or calm

R

radio - radio.

rapido - fast.

reserva - reservation

rio - river.

roca - rock.

S

 sol - sun, like Costa del Sol, sunny south coast of Spain, soleado - sunny. |See the words beginning with e.)

T 

taxi - taxi. turista - tourist

U 

util - useful (like wartime WW2 utility furniture)

V 

vacio/vacias - empty (adjective similar to vacant, matching masculine or feminine and plural endings of nouns) . ventana - window (like the English words vent, ventilate)

visitar - to visit

W

 (for words borrowed from other languages)

web

whisky

X

 (For words borrowed from other languages) 

xilofono, accent on the first letter o to show the syllable to emphasize)

Y

 ya - already yo - I

Z

zona - zone. zoo - zoo.

Useful Websites on Spanish Letters and pronunciation

https://blog.duolingo.com/spanish-alphabet-pronunciation

https://quillbot.com/blog/word-finder/spanish-words-that-start-with-g/

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Easy Spanish words for travellers 20 words

 Spanish - English (memory aid)

carro - car (Double the r to remember to roll your r. Add an o because unlike ships traditionally she in English, cars are a man's or boy's toy.)

buena - good (una buena idea = a brilliant/beautiful idea)

buscando - (I am) looking for (busy scanning the surroundings or the horizon)

cielo - sky (like ceiling)

clase - class

costa - coast (as in Costa del Sol in southern Spain)

demasiado - too, too much (think of deluge)

ellas/ellos planean - they (each and every one, female or male, like los angeles meaning the angels is plural for the) plan 

equipage - luggage, (like equipment)

es - is (yes it is)

estatua - statue

gratis - free, no charge

idea - idea

isla - island just drop the last two letters, (it's a small island)

libre - free, unoccupied

los - the (plural, like Los angeles, city in the USA, meaning the angels)

sol - sun

solo - only/solo (both words have the letters o and l)

train - tren (you have to roll your r, or listen for the word said with a rolled r. To roll your r, pull the tip of your tongue backwards along the roof of your mouth whilst breathing out - say three whilst breathing out)

el turista - the tourist

If you know all these words you can now say, it is a car, it is luggage, it is an island, it is a tourist. Raise your voice and your eyebrows to turn a statement into a question in Spanish.

Useful Language Websites

duolingo.com

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Costa+del+Sol

See my other posts on Spanish.

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Third set of Albanian words - simple spelling. Five easy words for hotel, restaurant, museum, tourist, visitor

Post under construction. come back soon

THE SAME WORD!

1 The word hotel is the same in both languages. 

SMALL CHANGES In Spelling

Simplest Change  - S to Z

2 Museum, change the s to z and drop the um end. Muze.

3 Visitor, change the s to Z. Vizitor.

SLIGHTLY HARDER CHANGES in spelling

Change by dropping o or inserting o

4 Tourist - simplify the spelling by dropping the o, turist

5 Restaurant in Albanian is spelled similarly to the English, but with simplified spelling. Change the au to o. Restorant.

We can now read and recognize 5 words.

English - Albanian

boat/plane varkë/aeroplan

cheap/expensive e lire e shtrenjte

hotel/restaurant hotel/restorant

How much Sa shumë

museum/shop muze/dyqan

one, two, many një, dy, shumë

tourist/visitor turist/vizitor

Albanian - English

varkë/aeroplan boat/plane hotel/restorant hotel/restaurant muze/dyqan museum/shop turist/vizitor tourist/visitor një, dy, shumë one, two, many Sa shumë How much e lire e shtrenjte cheap/expensive

Short phrases paired

I want it/I don't want it

I like it/I don't like it

too hot/too cold

I am/You are

I am worried/tired

I am relieved/grateful

I am well/happy/fine/good

how are you?/that's good

let's go

let\s start

that's all

it's done/finished

is that okay?

is that enough?

How do I pay?/Here is the money/

Questions

are you

where is

shkojme

le të fillojmë

kjo eshte e gjitha

është bërë/mbaruar

A eshte ne rregull?

mjafton kaq?

Si të paguaj?/Këtu janë paratë/

Pyetje

jeni ju

ku është

e dua/nuk e dua

më pëlqen/nuk më pëlqen

shumë nxehtë/shumë ftohtë

Unë jam/Ti je

jam i shqetësuar/i lodhur

Unë jam i lehtësuar/mirënjohës

Unë jam mirë / i lumtur / mirë / mirë

si jeni?/kjo është mirë

e dua/nuk e dua

më pëlqen/nuk më pëlqen

shumë nxehtë/shumë ftohtë

Unë jam/Ti je

jam i shqetësuar/i lodhur

Unë jam i lehtësuar/mirënjohës

Unë jam mirë / i lumtur / mirë / mirë

si jeni?/kjo është mirë



shkojme

le të fillojmë

kjo eshte e gjitha

është bërë/mbaruar

A eshte ne rregull?

mjafton kaq?

Si të paguaj?/Këtu janë paratë/

Pyetje

jeni ju

ku është

Useful Websites

Translate Google

Wikipedia

Wikivoyage

Discounts In Arabic Speaking Countries and English and American Accents

Problems and answers
An American friend of mine called Peter, who I met when he was living in London as a student, told me had found prices in an Arabic speaking country were higher for Americans. So when he and another American friend went shopping on holiday they adopted English accents and claimed to be British, from a fictitious town outside London to avoid too much discussion.

After making successful, reasonably priced purchases they went into a café next door. They decided that in case some shop staff were eating in the cafe, or it was owned by the same family as the shop, they should keep up the accents. They got talking to some friendly expat Londoners.

My friends drove off and their car broke down. The real Londoners drove past later and stopped and invited the fake English couple to stay the night until the car could be fixed.

Whilst it was lovely to be given free accommodation by the generous new friends, the phoney Londoners found it a strain to remember to keep up the fake accents and invent new stories about the fake city near London.

Finally the car was fixed. They promised to keep in touch. Asked for their address, the moment of truth had come. Peter confessed that the two lads were not really Londoners. Fortunately, their hosts laughed and replied, "We knew that. Surely you didn't think those phoney accents fooled us!"

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker
Please bookmark and share links to your favourite stories.

French and English Mustard, Museum and Shops in England, France and the USA

Colman's Mustard jar. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
What's the difference between French and English mustard?

Answer
English mustard is stronger. That's a surprise isn't it? You would expect the French mustard to be stronger, the English mustard to be a poor watered down imitation. But no, that is not the case.

Who Hates Mustard?
If you hate mustard, think again. Don't only provide it for other people, members of your family, parents or grandparents, neighbours, friends, visitors, customers. You are missing out on the flavour enhancing properties of mustard.

If you are lucky, and visit England or an English restaurant, or even a hot dog stand, you may find that you are given a hot dog with a mean, small amount of mustard. This is good because it means you gradually learn you can tolerate a tiny amount of mustard and actually grow to like it.

Learning To Like Mustard
If you don't like mustard, you will be glad to know that the French mustard is less of a shock to your tongue and tastebuds. It enhances your perception of the flavour of your meat or food.

As a child I hated mustard. Growing up in England, we always had English mustard. As a child I was attracted by the colour. I took a large blob. I sucked it into my mouth. What a shock!

Years later I learned that French mustard was milder. I discovered from an aficionado that you don't use mustard liberally like a s a u c e. You can spread it thinly on the bread over hot dogs and sausage sandwiches and meats. Then it does not overwhelm. Like salt, a little is good, enough to add a piquant bite and enhance the flavour.

What a discovery. What a delight!

You would think that English mustard would be made in England and French mustard would be made in France. One day I looked at a mustard pot label and found that my assumption was wrong. I could only assume that a large mustard company had bought up in another country and expanded its big and successful business.

Mustard in England comes in little pots with yellow caps. It seems a shame to throw them away.

The Mustard Moral
The moral of the story is, too much mustard can be too much of a good thing. Many people take too much mustard and end up leaving lots not he plate. It is often said, quoting a mustard manufacturers, that th mustard makers make their money from the amount of mustard left on the plate!

To save money, and shopping trips, and persuade somebody new to mustard to like it, be sparing in the serving. It's not being mean, it's being sensible. You can add more later.

How long should you keep mustard? The back label of my English mustard pot tells me after opening to keep it in the fridge for up to 3 months. The label also reveals that what I think of as a family firm has been bought up by one of the big boys, Unilever.

Other mustards are made by own labels such as Marks and Spencer. Mustard and Dill sauce.

Saving Mustard Bottles
Americans are great at recycling. I subscribe to several recycling and craft sites. Every now and then I discover or re-discover a post showing what you can do with plastic caps from pots.

You can make traffic light signals for the house - showing that people are in or out. You can make a decorative patenred board for the wall of a restaurant or bathroom or kitchen or children's room or conservatory. You can used the tops embedded in a wipe clean table top for a conservatory or garden or sell it at a craft show as a novelty for sisters or pubs.

Bottle Vase
I use a small mustard bottle for a miniature vase when I have cut a rose stem short so that the rose is too small for a large vase. A small mustard bottle makes a container for a huge rose flower head in the centre of a table when you don't have space for a large vase.

You would want to keep the label if you imagined that your pot would eventually be in a museum of items from this century.

If not, you can move the label.






Recycling Caps
You can put plastic caps into a recycling bin but it seems such a shame not to use those perfectly formed circles. What can they make? Table tops. Magnets. String and cap curtains.

Home Made Mustard
I used to be shy about taking too much mustard in a restaurant. I did not want to waste it. I thought that a mustard pot is quite expensive if every customer takes a spoonful. Than I was in a gourmet restaurant and asked about the mustard. The waiter called the manger who told me that the restaurant made their own mustard.

Afterwards we diners discussed it. I asked, How to they do that? Do they grow their own mustard and cross in a window box and dry the mustard seeds and grind them up? Surely not!

My companion replied, "No. They probably buy mustard powder in bulk and mix it up themselves. That was it is fresh and doesn't dry up and go off and get congealed and contaminated by the customers' cutlery."

When you are in a gourmet restaurant you may be told that they make their own mustard.

Mustard Factory Tours
You can visit mustard factories and mustard factory shops in England and France.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186342-d318638-Reviews-Colman_s_Mustard_Shop_Museum-Norwich_Norfolk_East_Anglia_England.html
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g187109-d3376808-r233211898-
https://www.colmans.co.uk/our-history
La_Moutarderie_Fallot-Beaune_Cote_d_Or_Bourgogne_Franche_Comte.html
https://uk.pinterest.com/explore/plastic-bottle-caps/

Mustard Pots
You can buy mustard pots at the mustard museum shop in Norwich. Many department stores have sets of condiment contains, paper, slat and matching mustard pot in ceramic or silver. See and bid for a new or vintage sterling silver mustard pot with a hole in the side of the lid and a matching little silver spoon on ebay.

American Mustard Museum in Wisconsin
You can see many mustard pots and buy them on line from the Mustard Museum in Wisconsin, USA. If you are in the USA, the museum is free. Something different.
https://store.mustardmuseum.com/category/mustard-pots?display=list
Mustard day is August 5th, 2017!

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to posts.

How To Get Lost and Found In Cambodian Temples

Problem
"People get lost all the time in temples," the guides told us in Cambodia, several different guides, several times.

Answers
Before we drove off to Ankor Wat, our tuk-tuk driver showed us his name on the side of his tuk-tuk. He asked us two write it down. We photographed his name, his face, his tuk-tuk.

He asked if we had a local phone. "No, because we have roaming on our phones."

He gave us his number. We tested by trying to ring each other. No result.

After some delay he worked out the code for Cambodia. We needed the country code for our Singaporean or British mobile phones.

The advantage of a local phone is that a local person could afford to phone us. He or she would not have to wonder which foreign country's dialling code was needed.

He told us that any tuk-tuk driver would make a local call to another tuk-tuk driver to tell him where his lost passengers (foreign tourists ) were waiting.

I had taken the hotel's address cards and advertising leaflet so that if all else failed I could get back to the hotel. Naturally I needed local money in case I ever get lost and needed to take a tuk-tuk back.

Lost Tuk-Tuk In Ankor Wat
Ankor Wat (wat is temple) where many people start is a relatively straight forward route. You go into the area across a long bridge. You walk to the centre.

In the centre there's a tower to climb. If you don't all want to climb, the non-climbers wait at the base.

Afterwards you could walk around the outside looking at murals not he outside walls. If you keep to gather, that's all on the flat, no problem. Then you walk around and retrace your steps across the bridge.

Lost Tuk-Tuk
You do need to know whether your tok-tuk is waiting in the car park on the right or left or down the road ahead.When we returned the area had grown crowded. The landmarks had changed, more shops and kiosks selling clothes and food. More car parks had been opened. We phoned our tuk-tuk driver. He asked, "Where are you?"

We hadn't a clue. We were near the north, east, west or south gate, in one of three roads through fields converging on the bridge, near one of a dozen restaurants with names in Cambodian letters.

We called another tuk-tuk driver to explain to ours where we were. "We are near a French restaurant," we said.

Next day was more of a challenge. I was seriously lost.

Lost in Bayon in the centre of the Ankor Thom complex
The word Thom means big. Here is the wonderful complex with the heads overhead, half smiling down on you, like sphinxes.

Take a few photos. Walk through the first entrance. Then you come to a seriously steep staircase. Somewhere between twenty and fifty steps up. Very steep. Hard to hold onto the balustrade which is burning hot.

I was starting to feel panic-stricken. The previous day I had fallen in the street over the edge of the road which had a steep curve. At the top I need a rest. I step into a shady spot. My travelling companion says he will go on. I shout, "Come back here shortly!"

After half an hour, he has not returned. The whole place is a one way system. Lots of photo opportunities on a level (no level but many rounded stones and short flights of three steps through arches). However, at the far side, there's another steep staircase. You can't walk down forwards. You need to cling on and go down sideways or backwards. I don't know how many more of these staircases are ahead. I am going back.

Returning to the original staircase, I find it is one way. A sign says no entry and the staircase is filled with people coming up.

More later!

Artwork on Singapore City Stations - Hillview

Problem
You get out a stop early or late when travelling.

Solution
Enjoy the serendipity - random chance encounter with good fortune or joyful discoveries.

Story
I didn't overshoot my station. But I was studying Italian and German languages on my phone and was afraid of going past my stop that I jumped up in a panic and got off a station earlier. Up on the concourse area I immediately noticed the difference in style between one station and another. Hillview has brown terraced hills on the platform level and photos of green hills on the ticket concourse level.

I could probably have gone back to the ticket office and explained and asked for a refund for the extra journey created by separating my last stop. But I felt too foolish.

Meanwhile, I pretended it was not my mistake, but an Act of God, or twist of fate, or maybe the angels on somebody else's shoulder (when the angel on my shoulder wasn't looking) which had sent me to the wrong station in order for me to enjoy it.

In London, England, I went on a one day training course for London registered tour guides. The trainer taught them to write down fact on card index cards, in the order of the direction of the journey and the return journey. They needed another set o cards to fill in time if the coach was held in traffic for an hour. They also had to keep the tourists happy and entertained, if they had to wait an hour for the replacement bus to be sent after a breakdown.

Tips
Look at every station, at home or abroad, and pretend to be a travel guide, answering questions form a group of mixed nationality visitors.

See my other posts on stations in Singapore, Hong Kong and London, England.

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

Instant Indonesian and Malay Language

If you go to Indonesia the language you see is the same as the language in Malaysia. If you go to Malaysia the language is the same as in Indonesia. If you go to Singapore, the four languages are English, Mandarin (Chinese), Tamil, Malay. You will see the Malay words on your train carriage and bus and at the airport. Your Malay Muslim taxi driver will appreciate hearing a few words of Malay.

Even if you don't know enough to speak fluently, you can point to written words, understand answer, follow what staff are calling to each other in restaurants and hotels, or asking at reception. If you are doing business, when you don't speak enough to converse, it helps to know roughly what people are saying, whether you will reach an agreement, stop for coffee, whether you are being praised, ignored, or insulted whether the man who is angry and leaving the room in mid-meeting has just heard there is a bomb scare, or a pizza delivery, or his pen has run out of ink.

Problem
How do I learn Malay or Indonesian in a hurry or easily?

Answer
Start with these words:
1 Words you often see on signs. (1 Because they are needed. 2 Because the frequent repetition will help you remember.)
2 Words which are identical or so similar in both languages that they are easy to recognise and remember.
3 Words which are essential.

Tips - words which are similar in English and Malay / Indonesian
Bahasa Malay (Malay Language) - English
a m b u l a n s - ambulance
apel - apples
apotek - chemist
bank - bank
b i r - beer
b o t o l - bottle
cartu credit - credit card
d o k t e r - doctor
d u a - two (as in "a duo" or 'dual citizenship")
Halo - hello
j a k e t - jacket
k a m e r a - camera
k a r t u - card
k a r t u p o s - postcard
kilo - kilo
komisinya - commission
k o n s e r - concert
lift - lift
m a n g g a - mango
melon - melon
mobile - car (not a mobile phone but a vehicle which keeps you mobile or moving)
nama - name
orang - person (as in orang u t a n g )
p a s p o r -passport
p i l - pill
p o l i s i - police
Pon sterling - pound sterling
p o s - post
rekening - bill/reckoning
tomat - tomatoes
turis - tourist
W.C. - toilet
ya - yes

English - Malay
Ambulance - a m b u l a n s
apple - a p e l (spaces inserted to thwart auto spell check)
bank - bank
beer - b i r
bottle - b o t o l
camera - k a m e r a
card - K a r t u
concert - k o n s e r
bill/reckoning - rekening
car - mobil
chemist (UK) or pharmacy (USA) - apotek
commission - Komisinya
credit card - k a r t u k r e d i t
doctor - d o k t e r
hello - halo
jacket - j a k e t
kilo - kilo
lift
mango - m a n g g a
melon - melon
name - nama
passport - p a s p o r
pill - p i l
police - p o l i s i
post - p o s
postcard - k a r t u p o s
pound sterling - pon sterling
toilet - w.c.
tourist - turis
two - d u a (as in dual citizenship or a duo)
tomatoes - tomat
yes - ya

Tip - Spelling
As you may have noticed, in Malay and Indonesian the letter c or ck with a hard coughing sound are show by the letter K.



Angela Lansbury, author and speaker. Books on Amazon and Lulu.com . Please like my posts, follow and share.