Word for the Travel Wise (11/23/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on


Today marks the day of my all-time favorite holiday where year-long stories are exchanged with family and friends over warm plates of turkey, ham, stuffing, and veggies. As people from all corners of the country either relax in the comfort of their own homes or dine out at some fabulous restaurant there will be many toasts, cheers and wishes for good-health over their good meal. It is for this very occasion that I pass this small fruit of knowledge your way to whoever may be reading at this hour.

Today I leave you with various ways to say Bon appetit!

  • Croatian – Dobar tek!
  • German – Guten appetit!
  • Hebrew – Bete’avon!
  • Hungarian – Jó étvágyat!
  • Korean – Mani deuseyo!
  • Persian – Noosh-e jan!
  • Polish – Smacznego!

For a complete list as found on the New York Public Library site in their World Languages Collection follow the link found here. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Word for the Travel Wise (10/31/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Cue spooky eerie music now and crank the dry ice someone, because it’s Halloween! If you’re out trick-or-treating save some candy for me and be sure to watch out for witches, demons, goblins and ghosts. Happy Halloween everyone!

Today’s word is a German word used in Germany:

geist – ghost

You can find audio and German slang at BBC Languages, who continue to impress on the online scene. They probably have one of the BEST FREE German language guides on the net. Make no mistake in passing this one up! When it boils down to it there are several good sites to learn the Deutsch lingo. Deutsch Lernen and German for Travellers are two other good picks. First Step World offers study abroad courses in Munich and Berlin.

Past German words: vorglühen(s), krieger, bolzen, durchgeknallt, ankommen

Word for the Travel Wise (09/20/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Holiday Park in Germany is celebrating 35 years and has a horde of specials for the season running up until November 5, 2006. If your family is going on holiday in Europe put this one on the list for the kiddies, but only if they’re good.

Today’s word is a German word used in Germany:

ankommen – arrive

You can find audio and German slang at BBC Languages, who continue to impress on the online scene. They probably have one of the BEST FREE German language guides on the net. Make no mistake in passing this one up! When it boils down to it there are several good sites to learn the Deutsch lingo. Deutsch Lernen and German for Travellers are two other good picks. First Step World offers study abroad courses in Munich and Berlin.

Past German words: vorglühen(s), krieger, bolzen, durchgeknallt

Word for the Travel Wise (07/30/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

A close pal of mine just took off to Germany earlier this week and I’m going to guess she’s probably not reading Gadling, but for those of us who didn’t make it this time looking to brush up on our German before heading out and over, this word is for you…

Today’s word is a German word used in Germany:

durchgeknallt – when somebody just lost it, blown

You can find audio and German slang at BBC Languages, who continue to impress on the online scene. They probably have one of the BEST FREE German language guides on the net. Make no mistake in passing this one up! When it boils down to it there are several good sites to learn the Deutsch lingo. Deutsch Lernen and German for Travellers are two other good picks. First Step World offers study abroad courses in Munich and Berlin.

Past German words: vorglühen(s), krieger, bolzen

Wo Ist Der Bahnhof?

by Erik Olsen on

There you are, standing by yourself on the street in Berlin and for the life of you, you have no idea how to find the damn train station. You beg the many passers-by for help, but this is Germany. They look at you like you are a hund, eine schwein. If only you knew a few words of German, why, that would help so much. Oh, wait. Look over here at Google Video. There’s a whole bunch of helpful phrases for you to learn. “Wo is die bahnhof?” you ask. “Der bahnhof ist ja unter dein nase.” Comes the reply. See, so helpful.

But seriously, take a look at these vids. Who is that woman? And why couldn’t they find someone better looking to give online video German lessons? And why does she have to look off camera to come up with the translation? Are these tidy little phrases too long and she needs a teleprompter? But seriously, these are rather worthless little vidoes, but it is interesting to see what kind of stuff is emerging these days on Google video.