Tag Archives: vocabulary

Arabic survival phrases

693px-Mekhnes_Place_El-Hedine_Mosaique2

Today’s blog post is taking us to the Middle East and Africa, namely to the Arabic-speaking world. If you live in Europe, chances are high that you will sooner or later come across some refugees from Syria, Iraq or other Arabic-speaking countries in the next few months with whom you might want to exchange some pleasantries. 🙂

Here are some basic phrases to get your conversation started:

Hello! = أهلا  Ahlan!

Thank you = شكرا shukran

Goodbye! = ma’a s-salaamah مع السلامة

Good morning! = sabah alkhair صباح الخير

Good afternoon/evening = masa-a alkhair مساء الخير

How are you? = Kayf halik (said to a man)/kayf halich (said to a woman)كيف حالك؟

I’m fine = Alhamdullilah (lit. ‘thanks to God’) الحمد لله

And you? = wa inta (said to a man)/ wa inti (said to a woman)  و أنت

Where are you from? = Inta min wain (said to a man)/ inti min wain  (said to a woman)  أنت من أين؟
I am from….. = ana min….. انا من

What’s your name? = ma ismak (said to a man)/ ma ismich (said to a woman) ما اسمك
My name is…. = Ismih…. اسمي

 

 
 
 

 

 

Vocabulary: some fruits in Persian and Tajiki

Today’s blog post will take us to Central Asia, namely to Iran and Tajikistan. Both Persian (or Farsi) and Tajiki are closely related, and can be considered dialects of the same language. Persian is written with the Arabic script from right to left, while Tajiki uses the Cyrillic alphabet and is written from left to right.

Here is the vocabulary for some fruits in both Persian and Tajiki:

farsi fruits

 

Icelandic: Different words for snow

800px-Eyjafjallajökull

Author: Andreas Tille via Wikipedia Commons Eyjafjallajökull

Since it is now winter in the Northern hemisphere, today’s blogpost will take us to the very North of Europe, namely to Iceland (or Ísland), and  I will share some Icelandic words for different types of snow. 🙂

snjór or snær = snow

hjarn = crust of snow, or snow that does not melt in summer

lausamjöll = powder snow

mjöll and ný snævi = new-fallen snow

krap = slush

fönn = drifted heap of snow, snow-wreath, or snow that does not melt in summer

Falling_snowflakes_in_England

Author: Sb2s3 via Wikipedia Commons

There are also different words for different types of snowfall in Icelandic:

snjókoma or fannkoma = snowfall

snjómugga = a small snowfall

hundslappadrífa = very heavy snowfall with large snowflakes in calm weather

kafald or kóf = thick fall of snow

ofanbylar = snowfall in a wind

skafrenningur = drifting snow

hraglandi = sleet, or cold drizzling shower

bylur or hríð = snowstorm

drífa = snow-drift

él = a sudden fall of snow or hail, or hailstorm

fjúk = drift, drifting snow-storm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to learn vocabulary without ‘studying’ it

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Today’s blog post is about learning methods, more precisely about how to learn vocabulary without ‘learning’  or studying it actively or consciously.

This can be done with audio courses, in particular with bilingual ones, and the method  belongs to an intuitive and immersive approach to language learning. So how can you do this?

Basically, what you do in order to learn vocabulary and phrases without studying them consciously is to listen to audio tapes repeatedly, quite literally *for hours* while doing something else (housework, cooking, waiting at the doctor’s or while commuting, etc.) and to repeat these sessions at regular intervals. Spaced repetition is absolutely essential for this approach: in the beginning when starting a new language, it is best to listen to the tapes every 2 or 3 days (or every day, if you are so inclined), and when you become more familiar with the language and start to pick up vocabulary and expressions quite naturally, you can increase the gap between sessions, but once a week or at least once every two weeks is best, in my experience (at least, so it works for me… 🙂 ), to reactivate the vocabulary and phrases you have learned.

Depending on how familiar with your target language you already are, the dialogues you listen to might sound quite like incomprehensible gibberish in the first few sessions, especially when it is a language that is unrelated to any you already know. But don’t worry – this is quite normal! Just keep listening to the tapes, and from about the 4th or 5th session onwards, you will notice that things are starting to fall into place, and that you have subconsciously learned (!) some of the vocabulary and phrases and that you can discern individual words and that is no longer just ‘gibberish’ 🙂 .

While this method or approach to language learning won’t (!) eliminate the need to also study grammar with a textbook to learn how the language ‘works’, this approach is suitable to get a basic intuitive grasp of your target language and to achieve basic fluency (A1 or even A2 according to the European framework for language proficiency, but here it depends very much on the course you are using and how much basic vocabulary and phrases are treated!). A nice side effect is also that this approach will boost your listening comprehension.

This method also works because all the vocabulary and all the phrases are absorbed in context, and in the context where they naturally occur and in which you will need these words. As I have written in a prior blog post, learning vocabulary in isolation almost never leads to good results and it is always best to learn the words as collocations (=words that appear frequently together as a set phrase, e.g. ‘to go by bus’, ‘to read a book’) and as expressions.

What audio tapes or courses are suitable for this method? Well, basically you can use any audio tape you might have, but bilingual tapes are best, since they will tell you the meanings of individual words or phrases and explain basic grammatical structures. If these special bilingual courses or tapes are not available for your target language, e.g. because it is a language that is only rarely studied and there is not much material on the market, you can also use a monolingual tape with dialogs (those that accompany textbooks), but then it is absolutely essential that you make yourself familiar with the content of the individual dialogs before listening to them – you will want to understand what the speakers are on about to be able to subconsciously absorb the vocabulary and phrases through repeated listening! Basically, this approach to language learning is like listening to your favourite songs or music on tapes – after a while you will know the lyrics and could sing along. Just here, you will know the words and expressions that make up dialogs. 🙂

Vocabulary: The colours in the Celtic languages

Today’s blog post is taking us to the British Isles and to the Celtic languages still spoken there. I am going to share the vocabulary for the colours in 4 different Celtic languages, namely the two Goidelic languages Irish Gaeilge and Scottish Gaelic Gàidhlig, and the two Brittonic languages Welsh Cymraeg and Cornish Kernewek, which is spoken in Cornwall.

colors welshcolors cornishcolors gaeliccolors irish

Vocabulary: The apartment in Bulgarian, Macedonian and Albanian

Today’s blogpost will, again, lead us to South-Eastern Europe, namely to two closely related languages, Bulgarian and Macedonian, and the neighbouring language Albanian, which is unrelated to the other two. The vocabulary is the words for the different rooms of the apartment.

maked apartmentbulg apartmentalban apartment

The vocabulary of Harry Potter – part 2

Author: Oxyman via Wikipedia Commons

Author: Oxyman via Wikipedia Commons

Today’s blog post takes up the topic of the last blog post, namely the vocabulary of the Harry Potter books in some further languages 🙂 .

Catalan

In Catalan, Harry goes to L’Escola Hogwarts de Màgia i Bruixeria and takes part in the Triwizard Tournament or el Torneig de Tres Bruixots in Book 4. Moaning Myrtle is known as Gemma Gemec, and Dumbledore’s Army is l’Exèrcit de Dumbledore. Horcruxes are horricreus and the Death Eaters are els cavallers de la mort. The Weasleys live in ‘El Cau‘ (The Burrow).

The Ministry of Magic is called la Conselleria d’Afers Màgics and the young Voldemort is called Tod Rodlel instead of Tom Riddle. (For those among you speaking German, Tod means death or ‘mort’ in German, so it is an interesting translation for his name in Catalan from a multilingual perspective!).

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, used with permission

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, used with permission

Croatian

In Croatian, Harry attends the Škola vještičarenja i čarobnjaštva Hogwarts and likes to play metloboj or Quidditch. The subject Herbology is Travarstvo and Čarolije is Charms. Diagon Alley in London is known as Zakutna Ulica and the Forbidden Forest is the Zabranjena šuma and the Shrieking Shack is the Vrištava daščara. Werewolves are vukodlaci and the Smrtonoše are the Death Eaters. Fluffy, the three-headed dog from Book 1, is called Bundi.

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, used with permission

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, used with permission

Turkish

In Turkish, Harry attends Hogwarts Cadılık ve Büyücülük Okulu where the seçmen şapka or the Sorting Hat puts him into Gryffindor. Nearly Headless Nick is Neredeyse Kafasız Nick. The Forbidden Forest is Yasak Orman. A hortkuluk is a horcrux. The Ministry of Magic is the Sihir Bakanlığı and Diagon Alley is Diagon Yolu. The Weasleys live in the Kovuk instead of in the Burrow.

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, used with permission

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, used with permission

Permission to use the photos of the paper castle was kindly granted by the people from Ecoturtleupcycling, and it is available in their Etsy-shop (https://www.etsy.com/shop/EcoTurtleUpcycling?ref=pr_shop_more)

The words of ‘Harry Potter’ in various languages

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, used with permission

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, used with permission

Today’s blog post is about the words of ‘Harry Potter’ in various languages and how the different characters and places in the books are called in translations of the books around the world. 🙂

French

Hogwarts castle is called Poudlard in French and Muggles are les Moldus. The 4 houses are: Gryffondor (Gryffindor), Serpentard (Slytherin), Poufsouffle (Hufflepuff), and Serdaigle (Ravenclaw). Severus Snape is called ‘Severus Rogue‘ and Draco Malfoy is ‘Drago Malefoy’. Hogwart’s caretaker Argus Filch is called Rusard and his cat Mrs Norris is ‘Miss Teigne‘. The Death Eaters are les Mangemorts and the Dementors are les Détraqueurs. Le Choixpeau magique is the Sorting Hat. House elves are les elfes de maison. The Whomping Willow is le saule cogneur.

Famous places: Le Chemin de Traverse (Diagon Alley), Le Chaudron Baveur (the Leaky Cauldron), la voie 9 3/4 (platform 9 3/4)

Afrikaans

Hogwarts is called Hogwarts Skool vir Heksery en Towerkuns, Hermione is called Hermien, Snape is Snerp, Dumbledore is Dompeldorius, the Burrow is die Konynenes, Quidditch is Kwiddiek and Diagon Alley is Diagonaalstraat. Moggels are Muggles and the 4 houses are: Griffindor, Hoesenproes (Hufflepuff), Rawenklou and Slibberin (Slytherin).

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, used with permission

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, used with permission

German

Hermione is called Hermine in the German version, Diagon Alley is Winkelgasse, the Death Eaters are die Todesser, the Pensieve is the Denkarium and the Burrow is der Fuchsbau and Honeydukes is der Honigtopf.

Dutch

In the Dutch version, most magic places and persons get a Dutch term that is different from the English original: thus, Hogwarts is called Zweinstein Hogeschool voor Hekserij en Hocus-Pocus and Harry’s friends are called Ron Wemel and Hermelien Griffel. Draco Malfoy is Draco Malfidus, Marcel Lubbermans is Neville Longbottom. The teachers: Albus Dumbledore is Albus Perkamentus, Professor McGonagall is Professor Anderling and Snape is Sneep. The Death Eaters are de Dooddoeners. Harry lives in Ligusterlaan nummer 4 with de Duffelingen (the Dursleys). Diagon Alley is de Wegisweg and the magic bank Gringotts is Goudgrijp. Muggels are Dreuzels. The 4 houses are Griffoendor, Zwadderich (Slytherin), Ravenklauw and Huffelpuf. Quidditch is Zwerkbal and the Sorting Hat is de sorteerhoed.

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, used with permission

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, used with permission

Italian

In the Italian translation, Harry goes to la Scuola di Magia e Stregoneria di Hogwarts where Albus Silente (Dumbledore) is the headmaster and where Severus Piton (Snape) and Miverva McGranitt (McGonagall) teach. Binario 9 e 3/4 is Platform 9 3/4 and il Paiolo Magico is the Leaky Cauldron and il Platano Picchiatore is the Whomping Willow.

I Babbani are the Muggles, i Mangiamorte the Death Eaters, i Dissenatori the Dementors and La Tana is the Burrow. Neville Paciock is Neville Longbottom, Horace Lumacorno is Horace Slughorn and Sibilla Cooman is Sibyll Trelawney (why she was given this pseudo-English name is a bit of a mystery though…?) . The 4 houses are: Tassorosso (Hufflepuff), Corvonero (Ravenclaw), Serpeverde (Slytherin) and Grifondoro (Gryffindor).

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, photo used with permission

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, photo used with permission

Czech
Also in the Czech version, just like in the Dutch translation, nearly all Hogwarts-related vocabulary gets a Czech term: Hogwarts is called Bradavice or with its full name Škola čar a kouzel v Bradavicích. The 4 houses are Nebelvír (Gryffindor), Mrzimor (Hufflepuff), Havraspár (Ravenclaw) a Zmijozel (Slytherin). Professor Dumbledore is called Albus Brumbál, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart is called Zlatoslav Lockhart, Professor Sprout is Professor Prýtová, Professor Flitwick is Filius Kratiknot and Professor Slughorn is Horácio Křiklan.

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, photo used with permission

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, photo used with permission

Spanish

Hogwarts is called Colegio Hogwarts de Magia y Hechicería and the Weasleys live in la Madriguera (the Burrow) and Diagon Alley is el Callejón Diagon. The Weasley twins work at Sortilegios Weasley (Weasleys Wizard Wheezes) and the Leaky Cauldron is el Caldero Chorreante. The Death Eaters are los Mortífagos, and Dobby is un elfo doméstico. The Marauders’ Map is el Mapa del Merodeador and the Sorting Hat is el Sombrero Seleccionador. Legilimency is known as legeremancia, a Pensieve is un pensadero and a Howler is una carta vociferadora.

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, photo used with permission

Author: Ecoturtleupcycling, photo used with permission

Bulgarian

In the Bulgarian version, the Hogwarts-related terms largely keep their English names, and are only transliterated. So the 4 houses are: Грифиндор (Gryffindor), Слидерин (Slytherin) , Хафълпаф (Hufflepuff) and Рейвънклоу (Ravenclaw). Lord Voldemort is Лорд Волдемор. The Marauders Map is the Хитроумна карта, the Shrieking Shack is the Къща на крясъците and Honeydukes is Меденото царство.

The great DIY paper castle in the photos is available from the friendly blog over at Ecoturtleupcycling https://www.etsy.com/shop/EcoTurtleUpcycling and permission to use the photos was granted.