Shanghai Destination Guide

by Erik Olsen on

One of the most intensely interesting places in the world
right now is China, and in that country the most energetic, rapidly changing place is its main industrial city
Shanghai. I have long wanted to head to Shanghai, but have not been able to muster the time, but if I went, I would
likely check out  this speical series and guide from
Concierge.com. I spent some time clicking through this and found it very in-depth, very useful.

More on Ugly Americans

by Erik Olsen on

Lots of folks are
atwitter over the release of the "World Citizens
Guide" – which we posted about – that
seeks to help reduce the amount of ugliness Americans export within themselves when they head abroad. Only you can know
xactly what your "AUE" (American Ugliness Export) quotient is, but my guess, esp. if you like fast food and
Hawaiian shirts, is that it’s pretty high.

The guide was underwritten/assembled by the Business for
Diplomatic Action (BDA), a non-profit group funded by big American companies, who are saying the anti-Americanism is
bad for business. It features some 16 etiquette tips on how Americans can help the country by not fulfilling
stereotypes of themselves as brash, loud, annoying, fat, stupid, bossy philistines. Ed Gomez over at SF Gate
examines the subject and finds many of these stereotypes sadly accurate. While, over at the UK Telegraph, Philip Sherwell
probably has the best take on the subject, as he makes the point that it’s not really American tourists who are the
problem, it’s more often the perceptions of American policy…although loud fat Americans don’t help themselves much
either.

So let me put the question out there? Are we fat, loud, bossy, annoying, etc.? Or is it just that
people like to pick on the big guy? Or more, are people in general becoming more like us? I mean, have you ever seen
German travelers? Let’s get the debate started.

 

Word for the Travel Wise (04/21/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Earlier today I gave a brief mention to Rough Guides phrasebooks which I just
stumbled upon and still strikes me as odd when I’ve been to their site so many times in the past. Were my eyes not
open? Did I not care? In any event I decided to bring them up again for this evening’s travel word session. If you took
note I said the publishers offer a tasty piece of language audio to feast your ears upon in their online catalog. FREE
language learning audio is like finding treasure folks, so when you discover a resource to learn even one or two words
for FREE you must and I do mean must jump on the opportunity to enhance your multi-lingual dictionaries.

Today’s word is a Turkish phrase used in Turkey:

iyi yolculuklar – have a good
trip

Prepare ahead of time by visiting this Turkish
Class site. Membership is free and you’ll get a lot more than some of the basics they already have listed. Online Turkish is good too, but you’ll have to register and pay to get
anything more than hello, how are you and I love you. Stick to the first site and check out this Turkish vocabulary list of body parts. Wiki has an excellent
starters piece on background, history and a short list of words. Scope out phrasebooks from Rough Guides, Lonely Planet or grab both.

Past Turkish words: merhaba

Rough Guides Travel Phrasebooks

by Adrienne Wilson on

Thanks to Amazon.com updates I’m now in-the-know about Rough Guides Phrasebooks. They work much like the Lonely Planet
one’s I blog about almost all the time; small enough for your pockets, cheap enough for your budget, and filled with
thousands of words to practice on the locals. However, a quick glimpse at the Rough Guides language guides online shows
the publishers have a slight one up on my beloved LP books. Based on the language you are trying to learn you’ll find
awesome audio downloads of travel scenarios recorded by native speakers before you even make a purchase. They cover all
the widely spoken lingos in addition to some of the least spoken languages out there and have a pretty decent selection.
According to Amazon.com their latest edition of Hindi & Urdu is
scheduled for release on May 29, 2006. So if you’re eyeing a trip to India then you should probably be eyeing this book
just as much.

Why I wasn’t in-the-know before is beyond me, but I can guarantee I’ll be purchasing one to
test out for my next big adventure abroad.

Word for the Travel Wise (04/18/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Since I’m sitting here in the hotel lobby taking in all
the free Wi-Fi my laptop can handle I figured I’d go straight to some of the friendly quad-lingual staff to help me with
tonight’s word. At first I asked my kind participant to give me a good word for a person traveling abroad in his home
country and a word that could really come in handy over my two previous lessons, but like always this didn’t generate
the type of vocab I was looking for, so I had come up with words I personally think you should know. In addition to
drilling the staff for items from the native tongue I asked a couple questions concerning all the advertising done.

Today’s word is a Hindi word from India:

lajawab –
incredible

And what exactly makes India so incredible? I’m not debating or saying that it
isn’t incredible, but everywhere I go it seems I always see those Incredible India advertisements. You can’t
miss them, so I know I’m not alone here, but in his own words I wanted him to tell me the word for incredible
and what makes India just that. I’d love to recount all the vivid details from his tales, but let’s just say it was a
mouthful.

There are several awesome resources online to learn Hindi for free and a fee. Wikitravel Phrasebook provides many useful phrases to
remember for your journey. Let’s Learn Hindi is a colorful place to pick
up the basics and some additional tools. Those interested in reading
Sanskrit can click here and Pimsleur has
great audio books. To purchase a Lonely Planet phrasebook for the road, click here to head to Amazon.

Past Hindi words: pankhaa, Ravivar