Word for the Travel Wise (06/16/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Great news all – After a week or two of extensive search efforts by my incredible travel agent Andy, I managed to score and purchase my tickets into Dushanbe for late summer. As you can tell I’m pretty excited and considering some of the leaps and bounds taken to get this ticket I’m hoping you’re equally excited if not more.

Today’s word is a Tajik word used in Tajikistan:

mailesh – okay

Tajik is the official language of the country and is closely related to the Persian (Farsi) language spoken in Iran. According to Wiki the most important Tajik-speaking cities of Central Asia are Samarkand and Bukhara which are located in present-day Uzbekistan. In addition to giving interested language learners a taste at some commonly used words and phrases, the Great Game Travel Company has excellent info and short trips for touring the city of Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Be sure to check out the list of words first. If you’re near the University of Washington look into their Near Eastern Language Programs. Lonely Planet has a pocket-sized phrasebook on Central Asian lingos worth packing along and several other book picks can be found by clicking here.

Past Tajik words: rohi safed

Travel with TalkMan for PSP

by Adrienne Wilson on

Here’s a cool little bit from the folks at Cool Hunting looking out for all their soccer pals globally who ran off to the World Cup games with few language skills other than their mother tongue. According to their quick write-up Sony PSP has recently released portable translation software where you’re led through the learning process by a blue cartoon bird named Max. Along with the software comes a microphone so that you can throw out some English and get the translation back in return.

This is pretty neat if you already own a Sony PSP and maybe even a reason to go out and get one now. I did a promotion with the equipment just last year and found that the regular video games (not to mention the many other features) would come in handy on a long flight abroad. As far as the TalkMan software is concerned, you can nab them in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Japanese in stores now.

Armenia Dispatches List

by Erik Olsen on

A gadling reader sent me a note recently asking what happened to all the Armenia dispatches I did while visiting that country last year. Well, seems our search is a little funky and they are hard to find, and since we added country listings a few months ago, we haven’t been able (yet) to go back and add lots and lots of old posts to the country lists.

So what I’m going to do is post a URL right here that should bring up Gadling search results featuring those dispatches. At least we’ll have a result here in the Armenia section.

Read all ARMENIA DISPATCHES

Word for the Travel Wise (06/14/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Festival alert: On July 5th the Buddhist population of Laos will celebrate Khao Phansa day (Buddhist Lent). The tourism site doesn’t list any activities going on for the day, but if you don’t plan on honoring the holiday just prepare and check for common business closures throughout the country or know what the event is about. The tradition dates back to the time of early Buddhism in ancient India where all holy men, mendicants and sages spent three months of the annual rainy season in permanent dwellings. For more go, here.

Today’s word is a Lao word used in Laos:

pathet – country

The Lao language is closely related to the Isan language used in the northeast region of Thailand and the alphabet resembles the Thai writing system, but has some differences. Wikitravel has an excellent online Lao phrasebook and probably one of the best free web sources you’ll find. Lao Connection also has some of the basics listed in addition to links to language products, fonts, CD’s, and software. Laos Language and Culture Learning Resources out of Northern Illinois University is an extensive guide on folklore, history, arts, literature and of course the lingo!

Past Lao word: nyang, men

The Da Vinci, um, Dress Code

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s a story that many of us who have traveled a fair amount can relate to. The travelers dress code. Now, the one thing about this article that I don’t agree with is the tone that somehow Americans who go abroad are somehow worse dressers than people from other countries. I mean, have you ever seen the Israelis? A few years in the army with all that intense regimentation, and all the kids want to do is let loose and see the world in tattered sandals, ripped t-shirts and greasy dreadlocks.

But Americans, especially young ones, do commit their share of Dress Code Fouls. And the idea behind this article originally from the Chicago Trib is that, given where America’s image lies these days (i.e. somewhere behind Morocco and just ahead of Botswana) we ought to be doing a better job presenting ourselves when over seas. I couldn’t agree more. It aggravates me to no end to see Americans traveling abroad wearing old, crappy clothing and smelling like they’re homeless.

I’m not one to advocate any particular style of dress, but the piece here offers some suggestions. To wit: “Clean khakis or jeans, a nice shirt and Rockports will do for men. So will capris or slacks, a blouse and comfortable shoes for women.” Rockports? OK, nevermind that. But for the sake of our global image, folks, let’s start dressing up, if just a little.