Use Personal names and family names to learn animals and other vocabulary

You can use first names and family names to learn vocabulary in foreign languages. You can also use the origin of the name to remind you of a person's name.

Remembering names is a handy trick. In England many Indians are called Patel. I once went to teach a girl whose family name was Patel. I found that several families in the same street in Wembley, North West London, were called Patel.

INDIAN NAMES IN THE UK

When I boarded to a plane to India, I got talking to a gentleman called Mr Patel. Several hours later, I said goodbye to him at the airport. I said, Goodbye Mr Patel. He was stunned and delighted that I remembered his name!

ENGLISH/JEWISH

In English and other languages many first names and surnames of family names indicate animals.
For example, from the animals of the twelve tribes of Israel amongst Jews certain animal names were handed down such as Hart, meaning deer.

Hogarth is a swineherd who looked after hogs or pigs. Shepherd was a man who looked after sheep.

CHINESE

Ma is Chinese for Horse. MA Chinese

From Chinese 马 (mǎ).

DANISH

Fisker is Danish for fisherman.

FRENCH

Chevalier, knight - who rode on horseback - from French cheval meaning horse. Lyon stands for lion.

GERMAN

In German the same applies. Adler is German for Eagle. Wolf.

Lowe (with two dots over the o) means lion in German.

Here are some more, which I have compiled, inspired by an enquiry on the Polyglot page in Facebook.

ICELAND

 In Icelandic and other Nordic languages, a common male name Björn means "bear".

INDIAN

Singh means lion.

RUSSIA

In Russian, Lev is a common male name and means "lion".

SERBO-CROAT

 in Serbo-Croatian, a common personal male name is Vuk, meaning "wolf". Very rare but still existing are male name Slavuj ("nightingale") and female name Srna ("female roe deer").

SPAIN

 In Spanish, a common female name Paloma means "dove".

SWEDEN

Falk means Falcon.

UKRAINE

The word for lion appears in many family names and city names. Lemberg in Ukraine, was originally the lion city.

Useful websites
https://surnames.behindthename.com/names/tag/animals

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_epithet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_words_having_different_meanings_in_American_and_British_English
https://context.reverso.net/translation/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/polyglotcommunity
https://translate.google.com/

About the author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

I and my family have lived in the UK, Spain, the USA and Singapore. I am a travel writer and photographer and teacher of English A level and English as a foreign language.

Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a language evaluator or grammarian.  We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and other language clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.

I am Immediate Past President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting on Zoom the first Wednesday of the month but  the third Saturday afternoon and occasionally on other Wednesdays our workshops are on app learncool.sg 

Incoming president Faith from July 1st 2020 could change dates and platforms so please contact the club.

learncool.sg

Or quicker to type and easier to remember: 

 tinyurl.com/BHACOOL

For language lovers:Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reduplicated_place_names

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reduplicated_Australian_place_names

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reduplicated_New_Zealand_place_names

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogs
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/04/how-to-say-thank-you-in-several.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/05/introducing-yourself-in-english-spanish.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/second-set-of-portuguese-words.html Please share links to your favourite posts
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
translate.google.c

Japanese and Jewish Connections: Language and The Lost Tribes Of Israel Found

Seven videos in this set attempt to show that some of all of the ten lost tribes of Israel ended up In Japan, following the Silk Road to get there.

Mystery
The format of the show, all about mysteries, was a bit annoying, with its noise and gasping. The rousing music also struck me as more related to fiction than fact.

I did like the fact that I learned the Japanese word for mystery which was repeated many times and sounds like the English:
mysterio

This was in contrast to the thorough research quality. The videos showed interviews with experts, remote temples, rabbis and researchers in Israel and Japan. So what were the similarities?

LANGUAGE
The similarities of many words of Hebrew with words of Japanese struck me as interesting but merely an oddity.

MASK
The mask from a Japanese temple showing a man with a big Western nose was interesting.

WRESTLING
The idea that Sumo wrestlers were related to the Bible hand to hand combat  was totally unexpected.  I thought of David and Goliath. Logically, I felt this was more part of a pattern of worldwide activity, not necessarily a direct connection between those two countries, to the exclusion of all others.

BLACK BOXES
The two factors which really impressed me were: firstly, the little boxes tied to the head. In orthodox synagogues and homes yuou see them. They are little black leather boxes containing words of the bible written on parchment.

Secondly, the paintings carried through the streets for a Japanese festival, showing bible stories.

Eventually, I got used to the all gasping format. Worth another look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqIiKVPdV1A&feature=share

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several posts on visiting Japan and Israel and the Japanese and Hebrew languages. Please bookmark and share links with your friends and family.