German Language Insight, Useful in Austria, German and Switzerland -Schubert and other names

 

Flag of Germany

Names starting with Sch

Schubert, the family name of composer Franz Schubert, means shoemaker or cobbler. Schubert was German speaking, as you might guess from the spelling of his name. He was actually Austrian. German is spoken in Germany, Austria, and parts of Switzerland. 

Schneberger

I started researched names starting with Sch because I have a blouse with the label Schneberger Gruppe. 

Schneberger Gruppe Classic Clothes

 It is vintage and I found blouses, jackets, long jackets or coats, dresses and skirt suits, with this label on ebay at prices from affordable seven pounds to twenty pounds and upwards. 

Berger - Meaning Mountain

The name berger means person from a berg or mountain. This ending comes from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 

Schnee - Snow

Schne could be a variation on or shortened form of schnee which means snow. That might help you to remember or recognize the company name and to type it correctly. 

Bürger - Citizen

Not to be confused with burger with the unlaut or double dot over the u. That spelling is a word which means a citizen or city dweller. It can also mean freeman, or free man.

Think of two brothers. One lives on a snowy mountain. The other lives in a city. You meet their two grandsons. The family names indicates where their ancestors used to live.

These translations help you to remember the names of new friends or business contacts or shopkeepers or travel guides you meet on your travels, as well and shop names and street names.

German SCH

When typing, also remember that in English we use the letter combinations sh and ch, but in German they use sch. 

I looked up names starting with Sch and found several more, some of which were famous people.

Schwarzkopf - black head

Schwarzkopf meaning black head, was a name often given to people with black hair, and was the family name of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, who was an opera singer. 

Schmidt - Smith

The family name smith is derived from the German word for smith which was given to a blacksmith.

Schneider - sewer

A schneider was a sewer, a seamstress, a tailor. 

Learning And Speaking German

I learned German on Duolingo.  A quick guide to everyday phrases is in wikivoyage under phrasebook. You can copy it and print it off, or bookmark it on your laptop.

Useful Websites for learning German

Duolingo.com

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

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How to learn both Spanish and Italian on Duolingo

 I learned Italian on Duolingo, the online language learning system, which has a large number of languages for those with English as a first language. Then I started learning Spanish. 

I looked at my notebook which had pages of Italian and pages of Spanish. I thought, a pity I don't have the Spanish and Italian side by side. I ought to go back to Italian and revive it.

I thought about Spanish speakers learning Italian. They can do it on Duolingo. Then I thought, why don't I learn either Italian for Spanish speakers, or Spanish for Italian speakers. 

I decided to learn Italian for Spanish speakers.

I found several useful things.

Words which are identical

Spanish - Italian - English

o - o - or

Words which are the same except for the accent

te te - tea

Spanish té

Italian tè 

If you are familiar with any Italian coffee shop chain, such as Caffè Nero, you will be able to see that the accent on the letter e is sloping backwards, the opposite of the French word for café.

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

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Affordable Indian meal at Suruchi Indian restaurant

 

Welcome sign. Double doors to stop draughts. White tablecloths and napkins.

Naan or peshwari naan or rice included in the set meal.

Chicken dish in sauce.

A foil wrapped chocolate for each diner sweetened the presentation of the bill. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

A friend of mine lives near his favourite, regular Indian restaurant, Suruchi, which he visits most months. He recommends it every year to our wine and dine group. We look for a different BYO restaurant for a group meal every month.

We took the 73 bus from Euston station. The stop was across the road, only a couple of minutes from the restaurant.

On a Tuesday night we had a special deal. Just under twenty pounds for a starter, main course, rice or bread and a side dish. 

No Corkage

Bring your own bottle of wine, no corkage. If one of the group forgets to contribute a bottle, a convenience store is nearby offering a bottle of French or New Zealand wine.

No service charge. So you might leave ten per cent or more.

Suruchi Restaurant

Newington Green Road

You can order from Uber Eats if you live within 3 to 5 miles. The limit for delivery services is 10 miles because food takes long to arrive, will arrive cold, charges per mile are too high, and bikers won't go so far. Alternatively you can order an Indian meal from nearer home and go to Suruchi when you have time to travel there.

Suruchi Indian Restaurant Websites

https://www.suruchi.uk.com/

https://order.suruchi.uk.com/

-ends-

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How To Find your way around London - and out of London!

From left to right, tourists walking around London, an open top guided tour bus, the National Express coaches which go inter city. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Walking Around London

A London loop for walkers offers you a short or longer route.

London Loop signpost. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

If you want to stay in the city and want a guide there are several groups offering tours starting from landmarks, usually underground station. You can do tours of historical places, and Jack the Ripper, Shakespeare's London.

Bike Hire

You can hire bikes from the banks of bikes and leave them elsewhere.

Bus to Heathrow

London has buses on a loop going to Heathrow airport. The loop bus goes via Hendon and Harrow.

Night buses run along the most popular routes.

Trains in, round and out of London

Check the times of last trains.

Heathrow airport is on the wonderful new Elizabeth line.  

Driving Off  Around the UK

Get to know your own car's Satnav. If you don't have one, or can't use, use your phone for directions. 

If you are lost, you can use the google maps app on your mobile phone and listen to the voice giving you directions. This works whether you are walking or driving.

You can drive on the M4 to Wales. Be prepared to pay a toll on the Severn Bridge in at least one direction. Check the amount and if you need to pay cash or credit card.

Flights From London's City Airport

London City Airport has flights to Europe and the USA.

To leave London, you can take trains from Paddington west to Wales, and then a ferry over to Ireland.

Hotels near London City Airport

Lots of hotels from Under £100 to over £300. I noted Holiday Inn Express was in the cheaper section.

Driving Out of London

Drive north from London up the M1 to the midlands, Derby, the north, and on to Scotland. (Turning off the motorway on the M6 - check the AA or RAC for routes, or Google Maps or Michelin.)

The AIM goes to Stevenage and Welwyn, the old road predating the MI, which was Motorway one. 

Citymapper

This tells you when the next bus is coming. 

Also how long an uber (hire car) takes and how much money it costs. 

Citymapper is available for London and other cities, such as those in Europe. For example, Dublin, Ireland, which is in the EU (European Union).

 An alternative to TFL

Google Maps

You can ask for a cafe near me. A garage/petrol station (called gas station by Americans) near me.

Skyscanner 

https://www.skyscanner.net/flights-from/lcy/cheap-flights-from-london-city-airport.

Streetview

When I am driving and worried about getting lost, or whether my destination has a driveway or place to park, I use Streetview. This is good for the local area. We can discuss alternative routes, and remember where to turn off into side streets to avoid traffic jams. It is a visual video of streets which you can rewind, and change direction, even check the car park behind a pub, park, cemetery, wedding venue, conference centre or shopping mall, railway station or airport.

TFL and Tube Trains

London's underground is called the tube, because of the underground tunnels. The circle line is easy to identify, going around in a circle. The Northern line goes north. Of course returning you will be coming south back into London. 

You can specify travel times tomorrow or later, get prices of journeys, cheapest option such as walking and bike versus bus, taxi, train, quickest option, and step-free station, or least walking.

Useful Websites For Travel & Route Planning (alphabetically)

AA route planner

https://www.theaa.com/route-planner/route

Citymapper

https://citymapper.com/?lang=en

Google maps

https://www.google.com/maps/

Street View

https://www.instantstreetview.com/

TFL

https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/

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Amy Winehouse Film And The Mildmay Club

 

Laurence Fryer, Vice President of the Mildmay Club.

Laurence told us all about it. 

The ballroom also used for zumba classes, one of the events often open to the public, who are neither members nor guests of members.

Wine on tap in the ballroom of the Mildmay club, 33 to34 Newington Green, N16 9PR,  which has 3,600 members.

The Amy Winehouse film scene was in this snooker room

Lots of films have hired this venue.

The building was a radical club a working mens club. Outside London.

Also a smaller pool room.

View

Www.mildmay.club

For more history.

Superdry Coat With Pockets - For Winter Warmth And Travelling

 

Multi-Pocket Coats

On a bus in London this coat caught my eye. I liked the pocket on the sleeve. The wearer told me she liked the two pockets at above waist level. They keep your hands warm and comfy.

Two more pockets below waist level are huge, ipad size, and protectively padded.

Two pockets are on the sleeve outside. Two more pockets inside.

The company has lots of variations, with hoods, in camel colour, black, red and more. 

Prices of |Superdry Coats

The new coats in February 2026 cost around £100 and up. But in their winter sale I found a coat reduced from over a hundred pounds to 76. Also ten per cent off your first order on signing up. You might also get free or discounted postage. 

|In addition to coats, they sell jeans, jumpers and rucksacks.

Useful website on Superdry coats

Superdry.com

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Learning Italian when you speak Spanish - and vice versa

 I learned Italian last year. This year I am learning Spanish.

Today I decided to speed up both languages by learning Italian for Spanish speakers. That way I learn one language whilst reviving the other. I also am less likely to confuse them because each time I can see the word in both languages.

Spanish - Italian  

Spanish - English

correcto - correct

Useful trilingual books

If you go to a bookshop, look for multi-language books.

I like to buy books with large clear print.

Some books print one of the languages in another colour, paler, which is hard to read if you don't have good lighting and study late at night at home.

The more languages you have in a book, sometimes the smaller the print.

Books aimed at children tend to have larger print.

A book with very large print might have fewer words.

Useful Website For Learning Spanish & Italian

Duolingo.com