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

Romanian Language your first ten easy words

Romanian Flag.

The name Romania comes from the word Roman.  Wikivoyage phrasebook romanian says that the language is more like Italian than French. I recognize plurals formed by adding the letter i as used in the Italian language. 

But I speak French so I recognize lots of Romanian words as being similar to French. For example, the Romanian word for thank you is mersi, like the French word merci. So to me, the Romanian language is more like French than Italian.

Where can you start to learn? It's easy to start for free on Duolingo. The system has several features which I like. Pictures are matched with everyday words. A simple grammar guide and list of phrases starts each set of exercises. 

Two words for you, several of which sound similar to French. 

English (alphabetically) - Romanian

are (they are) - sunt (like the french nous sommes in we are and elles sont in they are) 

cocoa - cacao (proounced cack - ow as in howl or owl. The English word has the letter o twice, but the Romanian has the letter a twice)

honey - miere (me air ay or me air er, like the French word miel)

I - eu (pronounced yo)

thanks -  mersi (like the French merci)

the - la (as in French)

two - doi (notice the letters d and o like the English word duo)

unt - butter (notice the letters u and t in the Romanian and the English)

You - tu, voi (the same as the French tu, and similar to the French vous, which also has the letters v and o)

we - noi (similar to the French nous which has the letters n and o)

Romanian (alphabetically) - English

butter - unt

cacao - cocoa

doil - two (like the English word duo)

eu (pronounced yo) - I

la - the

mersi - thanks

miere - honey

noi - we (like the French word nous)

sunt - are

tu - you

voi - you

Numbers[edit]

1

unu (OO-noo)

2

doi (doy)

3

trei (tray)

4

patru (PAH-troo)

5

cinci (cheench)

6

șase (SHAH-seh)

7

șapte (SHAHP-teh)

8

opt (ohpt)

9

nouă (NOH-uh)

10

zece (ZEH-cheh)

Useful Websites

Duolingo

https://www.duolingo.com/

Wikivoyage Romania phrasebook

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Romanian_phrasebook

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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.

Why and where to learn Malay and Indonesian - thirteen easy words to remember

Flag of Malaysia.

Bahasa means language. Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Indonesia means language of the country, as opposed to the people of the country. When I went into a bookshop in Malaysia and asked for a book about 'Malaysian', the assistant queried, 'Bahasa Malaysia?'. Not only that, the dictionary cover used the phrase 'Bahasa Malaysia'.

If you are looking for a phrasebook or dictionary, it helps to be familiar with the national flags.

Flag of Indonesia

The white does not show against a white background so I have added another picture.

Why would you want to learn the language, when you are there or plan to go there? Or even if you just what to know about about it for general knowledge?

Wikipedia explains (with my additions): 
Indonesian (bahasa Indonesia, [baˈha.sa in.doˈne.sja]) is the official language of Indonesia. It is a standardised variety of Malay, a language that has been used as the lingua franca (everyday spoken language) in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago (group of islands) for centuries. Indonesia is the fourth most populous (biggest population) nation in the world. Of its large population, the majority speak Indonesian, making it one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.

Flag of Singapore

Malay is one of the four languages of Singapore, so government leaflets have English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil. The tube (underground railway) station maps are also in four languages. So are the notices on the stations. So are the recorded announcements.

Malay and Indonesian are the same languages with variations in vocabulary, like British English and American English. Near enough for you to be understood in the capital cities of either.

This week, August 2020, my family in Singapore was posted seeds from the Singapore National Parks, seeds which I requested in June. The seeds were so popular that the numbers available to be sent out had to be increased, hence the delay.
The seeds arrived with four languages and I looked at the English and the Malay translations below.

Some words were immediately obvious. Others I had to look up. Here's a handy set of translations:

English - Malay (and Indonesian)
active - aktif
and - dan
bag - beg
centimetre - sentimeter
cm - sm
food - makanan
germination - germinasi
organic - organik
plastic - plastik
plastic bag - beg plastik
therapeutic - terapeutik
three - tiga
two - dua

Malay - English
aktif - active
beg - bag
beg plastik - plastic bag
dan - and
dua - two (looks like dual or duo)
germinasi - germination
makanan -food
matahari -
organic - organik
plastik - plastic
sm - cm (centimetres)
sentimeter - centimetre
terapeutik - therapeutic
tiga - three

You can get a good overview for free from Wikipedia including word endings, common phrases, numbers.

Incidentally, the Singapore national anthem is sung in Malay. Singapore National Day is every year August 9th.

Indonesian Independence day is August 17th.
Malaysian independence day is August 31st.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_language

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

Italian words easily learned from art Works and Art Museums; house, museum and more

Italian flag

It is easy to learn Italian words for foods from menus in restaurants or online and from recipes and good sold in supermarkets.
Another fun way to learn Italian is by looking at list of works by your favourite Italian artists. I just looked at works by de Chirico.

Some Italian words translated

Italian - English

A
amore - love

anatomico - anatomical

anniversario - anniversary

autoritratto - self-portrait

B
bagno - bath

bagni - baths

biscotti - biscuits

busto - bust

C
casa - house
cavalli - horses

con - with

D
del - of the

di - of

donna - woman

due - two

F
frutta - fruit

I
interno - interior

L
le - the

M
mare - sea

maschere - mask

metafisico - metaphysical
museo - museum

mysteriosi - mysterious

N
nudo - nude

P
principe - prince

R
rimorso - remorse
riposa - rest

ritratto - portrait

T
test - head

triangolo - triangle

English - Italian

Some Italian words translated

love - amore

A
anatomical - anatomico

anniversary - anniversario

B

bath - bagno 

Baths - bagni 

biscuits - biscotti 

bust - busto 

F
fruit - frutta

H
horses - cavalli
house - casa

I
interior - interno 
L
love - amore

le - the

M 
mask - maschere 

metaphysical - metafisico 
museum - museo

mysterious -  mysteriosi
N

nude - nudo 
O
of - di
of the - del
P
portrait - ritratto

prince - principe 
R
remorse - rimorso 

rest - riposa 

S
sea - mare
self-portrait - autoritratto

T
the - le
test - head

triangolo - triangle

two -due

W

with - con

woman - donna

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

wikipedia

wikivoyage


Author
Author, Author! About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.)
Author of twenty books including: Quick Quotations; Who Said What When.
See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts. Also watch videos on YouTube.
See other posts on singers and statues and languages and destinations.

LANGUAGE TEACHER/TRAINER
If you want to learn to speak the Queen's English, or Received Pronunciation. join me at my online toastmasters club,
Braddell Heights Advanced. Wednesdays, 7-9 Singapore time which is seven hours ahead of London, England.
I am also a member of
Singapore Online.9-12 pm, Singapore time, Fridays. I am also a member of
Tampines Changkat Advanced.
Harrovians, London.
Toastmasters International Find a Club
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=upSEBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=quick+quotations
lulu.com/shop/angela-lansbury/who-said-what-when/paperback/product-21713991
drink
Other posts about Italian food, drink, restaurants and artists and museums and destinations.
Previous post on de Chirico.
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Chinese conundrums - er and ma

Chinese flag.

How do you teach a child Chinese, up pops the question on the internet. I am hoping for some suggestions to help myself learn, so I click on.

The links lead back to a school in Singapore, Eton House, whose website tells me
something handy.


Singapore flag

In Chinese er can mean two, ear or child, depending on the pronunciation, as well as the context.

I already knew er is two.
yi er san shi = Japanese or Chinese for one, two, three four?
1 2 3 4

Let me check.

Facebook Polyglots
Onto the facebook 'Polyglot the community' page for instant answers.

Duolingo
Duolingo, teaching languages, basics for free, online, includes pronunciation.

Google Translate
Do does google translate. If you lose the translation from the Chinese into your own alphabet scroll down the screen. If you type in several words the whole lot appear in the Chinese writing and the pinyin which is readable translation into English alphabet is all at the end.

Useful Websites
https://parenting.etonhouse.com.sg/is-your-child-learning-chinese-the-right-way
Singaporeair.com
duolingo.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages.
Please share links to your favourite posts.

How to remember Mandarin Days of the week and month

Flag of China

Flag of Singapore

The days of the week and month are easier to remember than you think.

Let's start with the numbers.

One to three are easy. One, two and three horizontal lines.

Look at a multi-lingual calendar. At the end of the word Monday is one horizontal line.
At the end of the word Tuesday you see two horizontal lines.
Wednesday is three.

Four is like a square or a window with curtains.

Useful Websites

Chineasy



Duolingo
Free on the internet and for your mobile phone

duolingo.com




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

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.

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.

Learn a few words of Indonesian-Malay

Problem
How do I remember the Indonesian words?

Answer
No problem. Just look for the connections between the words in English and Indonesian-Malay.












Indonesian / Malay - English
goreng - fried (I think of the g in greasy and that reminds me of fried in oil or butter.)
kereta api - train (Malay)
maaf! - sorry! (My awful toe AAH! What the f. happened? It got trodden on but because I'm British I'll say sorry MAAF.)
silakan - please / please come in (letters 's l a' in silakan and 'l a s' in please. Silakan ends kan - sounds like can I come in - yes you can.
tidak - no (Concentrate on the d in the centre of the word as a reminder: you don't say, no - don't even think it)

English - Indonesian / Malay
fried - goreng
no - tidak
please (come in) - silakan
train - kereta api

REVISION
Words from pervious posts and earlier lessons in Duolingo:
Malay / Indonesian - English
apel - apple
ayam - chicken
bukit - hill
dia - he/she
dua - two (as in dual)
es - ice
foto - photo
merah - red (As in the place name in Singapore, Bukit Merah, meaning red hill, literally hill red.)
pintu - door
saya - I myself (s and y in both words)
selamat pagi - good morning (start a new page)
wanita - woman (Both words have the letter w, a n. Yes, it is a woman. Wan-it-a.)
Ya - Yes

English - Malay
apple - apple
chicken - ayam
door - pintu
good morning - selamat pagi
he/she - dia
hill - bukit
I - saya
ice - es
photo - foto
two - dua
woman - wanita
Yes! - Ya!

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Standard_Malay_and_Indonesian
duolingo.com

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

Romanian words you will recognize

Flag of Romania

Problem
On a video about a bear attack in northern Romania and the relocation of the bear, I saw a sentence which I half understood. I translated it and could recognize half or more of the words. To instantly forget them was a wasted opportunity. So I have collect them here to look at again and again later.

I saw a video on learning languages which said you learn quicker if you read about subjects which interest you. I've been hiking in Romania and was alarmed by all the signs warning about bears and not feeding them, nor leaving litter such as food or food wrappers lying around because that could attract bears.

Two sentences read in translation:

Aggressive bear will be carried to the reserve.
Bear from Tusnad which attacked two men will be relocated to Zarnesti.

The adjectives come after the nouns. In English we would say aggressive bear. In Romanian they say ursoaica  agresivă
(The bowl shape diacritic (accent) should be over the a. I don't have it on my keyboard so I have copied it.)

Answer
I find Romanian very easy, similar to Italian.

Romanian - English
agresivă - aggressive (matching female word)
barbati - men
care - which
de - of
din - from
doi  /două - two
dusa - carried
fi - be
în - in
la - to
mutat - moved
relocata - relocated
reservati - reserve / reservation
ursoaica - bear
va / voi - will

English - Romanian
aggressive - agresiv (masculine) / agresivă (feminine)
attacked - atacat
be - fi
bear - urs
carried - dusa, transportate
from - in
in - in
in the
men - bărbați (I could not get the cedilla under the t and had to copy the whole word)
moved - mutat
of - de
relocated - relocata
reserve / reservation - reservă / reservare
to (the) la
two - doi
which - care
will - va

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Remembering Chinese Names: Chen, Chua, Keong, Lee, Liu, Min, Ng, Ong, Toh, Tu, Wei

Problem
I have trouble registering, pronouncing and remembering Chinese names.

Answers

Chen - Chenai is the official name for Madras on the East coast of India; chendol is a Chinese dessert, looks like chin, or Chinese, rhymes with when (when shall we three meet with Chen - to misquote the opening line by the witches in Macbeth, the play by Shakespeare). Chain.

Chue - chew it over, haven't a clue

Keong - A klong is a Thai word for a canal, Mr Keong was on the Klong; we won't wait long for Keong; Keong - he has the key, we'll carry on

Lee - rhymes with be (oh to be with Susan Lee) see Miss Lee, Lee on Sea, like the British place name Leigh on Sea

Liu - in lieu, in the loo, do it with Liu

Lixiang - the x is pronounced SH, lee - she - ang (Leigh - is she anxious?)

Min - just a minute, he is minute (short)

NG - Ng is like the ng in sing, song, long, ring

Ong - rhymes with song, bong, dong, long, wrong, on

See-Toh (see a toe)

Tu - too, two

Wai - way, good way, why, why not, we, weeze, weasel, weaving.


Many Chinese people use initials, especially if doubled, so that they will be called KK or YY for short.

Once you have a way of connecting the syllables, when you hear the names said at a meeting, you can then connect them with written name and the person's face. The repetition by others of the name will help drill it into your memory.

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

TRANSLATING Dutch - how to start even if you don't know one word!

Problem
A Dutch sentence is on the screen in front of me. I do not know Dutch but I know about 100-200 common words of German. What does the sentence mean in English? Let's have a go, a try.

Een kind vraagt niet om het leven,en een kind kan zijn vader of moeder ook niet uitkiezen.
dat is ook de reden dat ik twee kinderen geadopteerd heb als mijn eigen kinderen.

At first glance it means nothing. Then I took it word by word looking for one word to see if I could identify the subject.

Een kind vraagt niet om het leven,en een kind kan zijn vader of moeder ook niet uitkiezen.
dat is ook de reden dat ik twee kinderen geadopteerd heb als mijn eigen kinderen.

The first two words are 'Een kind' . Ah! Kindergarten. Kind is German for child. German and Dutch are very similar. What is een? Either one child or a child. Now I know the general subject matter. It's about a child or children, or mankind.

As I read on the next word which makes any sense is kinderen. 

Een kind vraagt niet om het leven,en een kind kan zijn vader of moeder ook niet uitkiezen.
dat is ook de reden dat ik twee kinderen geadopteerd heb als mijn eigen kinderen.

That must be plural for kind, children. Twee kinderen. Twee sounds like twins and three. Either two children or three children. If the sense had been one, two, three, that would have been logical. My guess is that the logical jump is from one child to two children.

At this point, even that doesn't matter. I am gaining confidence. I have the subject of the first sentence and the subject of the second sentence.

Een kind vraagt niet om het leven,en een kind kan zijn vader of moeder ook niet uitkiezen.
dat is ook de reden dat ik twee kinderen geadopteerd heb als mijn eigen kinderen.

What is niet? It appears twice!

Een kind vraagt niet om het leven,en een kind kan zijn vader of moeder ook niet uitkiezen.
dat is ook de reden dat ik twee kinderen geadopteerd heb als mijn eigen kinderen.

Niet is Russian for no. Long ago I saw a film featuring Goldie Hawn with the song containing the phrase: "NIET. NIET. NIET - not any more!" Niet means no. "No, no, no - not any more." The German is nicht. The common element is the letter N starting: Negative, Null, Never, No, Niet, Nicht, Neither, Nor, Nil, None, Naught.

So sentence one is a child ... not

Sentence two is about two children ... not

Look again. The word kinderen is repeated at the end!

Een kind vraagt niet om het leven, en een kind kan zijn vader of moeder ook niet uitkiezen.
dat is ook de reden dat ik twee kinderen geadopteerd heb als mijn eigen kinderen.

A child is also repeated.

Een kind vraagt niet om het leven, en een kind kan zijn vader of moeder ook niet uitkiezen.
dat is ook de reden dat ik twee kinderen geadopteerd heb als mijn eigen kinderen.

I can't work out the start, a child vraagt, but een kind kan - sounds like a child can!

That's very common in many laguages from Europe, K for c. C is S.

Een kind vraagt niet om het leven, en een kind kan zijn vader of moeder ook niet uitkiezen.
dat is ook de reden dat ik twee kinderen geadopteerd heb als mijn eigen kinderen.

After the first comma, I see 'en'.  And or but? My guess is and.

We still don't have any idea what it's all about, but we are building up the sentence word by word, learning Dutch, growing in confidence.

If kan is can, and en is and, I guess that dat, which appears twice means that.

Een kind vraagt niet om het leven, en een kind kan zijn vader of moeder ook niet uitkiezen.
dat is ook de reden dat ik twee kinderen geadopteerd heb als mijn eigen kinderen.

What else sound familiar, related to family life and the world of a child and its father and mother?

vader of moeder ? Either murder or mother? My guess is mother.

Vader of moeder? Further of murder or father of/off/or mother?

Vader of moeder - obviously father or mother!

Een kind vraagt niet om het leven, en een kind kan zijn vader of moeder ook niet uitkiezen.
dat is ook de reden dat ik twee kinderen geadopteerd heb als mijn eigen kinderen.

Still no nearer the sense, but we are gathering a word with every re-reading.

Back to the start:

Een kind vraagt niet om het leven,

A child doesn't eat its leavened bread or a child doesn't live its life?

Leven - a noun, must be life.

Het must be his or its. Het leven, his life.

Om must be on or of.

two children 'geadopteerd' looks like adopted. 

Ge in German is the prefix, fixed ahead of the word, for the past tense. Ge-adopteerd means adopted.

Een kind vraagt niet om het leven, en een kind kan zijn vader of moeder ook niet uitkiezen.
dat is ook de reden dat ik twee kinderen geadopteerd heb als mijn eigen kinderen.

Mijn eigen kindered - my / mine own children, my / mine eye children?

I don't know eigen but I'm pretty sure mijn is mine.

Now I know that in Dutch ij is simply an i sound, so that confusing j can be ignored. IJ is simply their way of spelling i pronounced eye.

I have had enough. I am now willing to go to Google translate. Next time I see Dutch I will be able to recognize that it is Dutch, and will make an attempt at trying to get the gist of it before translating.

I'm taking a short break. Later I shall add the whole translation.

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, teacher of English and other languages.Take a look at my other travel blog:
http://luxurytravelforless.co.uk

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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