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

by Adrienne Wilson on

After several very long hours of driving down the wide-open road, I am going to leave you with this Persian piece of vocabulary before retreating to bed. My apologies for the short blurb, but I am truly in a state of delirium.

Today’s word is a Farsi (Persian) word used in Iran:

khastam – I am tired

Excellent sites for learning Persian online include a personal favorite called Easy Persian and Farhangsara. Both sites have an excellent beginner’s guide into the language and use images, sound and music to assist you in the process. Check out Lonely Planet’s Farsi (Persian) Phrasebook for a shorthand guide at the ancient lingo.

Past Farsi words: be salamati, toot farangee, kheyli golabi, tazeh, dovidan

Word for the Travel Wise (10/05/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Looks like we’re a day late and a dollar short of visiting the Sinanggiyaw Festival held in Dumanju, Cebu (Philippines), but with careful planning you should be able to catch this annual event and celebration of planting, harvesting and thanksgiving next year. Sounds like a real colorful and exciting time for the both the natives and a wandering tourist.

Today’s word is a Cebuano word used in the Philippines:

sayaw – dance

Seeing how I normally point to Tagalog words when heading to the Philippines for the language feature I’m going to keep the information on Tagalog below. As for Cebuano, it is spoken by approximately 20,000,000 people, most of which are inhabitants of Cebu, Bohol, and Negros Oriental as noted in Wikipedia.

Tagalog is one of the major languages in Central Philippines and part of the Austronesian language family. For some reason I was surprised by the number of free GOOD resources available to prospective Tagalog student. Wikipedia has great background info on the lingo as well as related languages, Bikol, Hiligaynon, Waray-Waray, and Cebuano. Mongabay pretty much covers all the really good, up and running links to sites that help teach Tagalog, after checking out a few I’ll do the favor of pointing the best out. The first is an interactive language and Filipino culture resource site tools are provided for both teachers and students. A pretty intense breakdown on local slang and how it is derived can be found here. Travel Lang has word and phrase generator that spits out all the basic words you’d use while visiting.

Past Filipino/Tagalog words: taon, kalye, alak, masarap

Word for the Travel Wise (10/04/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

After checking out the Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center the other day it feels like a given to provide you with this nugget of Norwegian knowledge.

Today’s word is a Norwegian word used in Norway:

hjemkomst – ( pronounced yem-komst) homecoming

Norwegian is a Germanic language spoken by some 4.6 million people in Norway. It is closely related to Swedish and Danish. There are two form of Norwegian; book language or Bokmål and new-Norwegian or Nynorsk. To learn Norwegian online go to Wiki for background details; then head off to Omniglot for a brief look at the alphabet and pronunciation guide. The link here provides you with a number of web resources for learning the language of Norway. Their list includes, Web TV, audio, colleges, etc. BBC Quick Fix has some of the basics with audio. Pimsleur Language CD’s are great if you have the extra cash to spend, otherwise pick up the Lonely Planet phrasebook before you take off.

Past Norwegian words: hoytid / selskap

Word for the Travel Wise (10/03/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

It’s quite obvious Malta isn’t one of our most blogged about places, but I do my best with this word feature to make sure it gets some of the action. However, I have been providing with you baby talk. It’s time to rev up our language motors and really start talking Maltese. Now hit the gas and GO!

Today’s word is a Maltese word used in Malta:

Jien jisimni… – My name is…

BBC Languages Quick Fix allows one to download essential holiday phrases like this to store in your mp3 player for the big trip ahead. You can hear audio of some very basic words on their site as well. For a full run down on the history and a thorough section on survival Maltese head over to aboutmalta.com. I’m not too certain how much the survival Maltese will be needed considering the country’s other official lang happens to be English and they happen to have around 40 English learning language schools.

Past Maltese words: Fejn huma t-tojlezz?, sahha, xorb

Word for the Travel Wise (10/02/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

So here’s a confession: I’m a big wimp when it comes to cold weather. Yup, I’m the type that moans and groans during the acclimation process, but it’s my moaning that gets me by and my groaning along with several extra layers that allows me to stay warm. Having just arrived in Fargo, North Dakota today something about the place feels slightly different than Florida and it’s not just the temperature. I feel so far away. Almost as if I was in say, Greenland or some place.

Today’s word is a Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) word used in Greenland:

ilaasortaat – boat

Greenlandic also known as Kalaallisut language is spoken by 54,000 people and is closely related to Canadian Inukitut. In my own opinion I’d say most words are dizzying and longer than the length of the country itself, but that is just me. You can visit the Greenland Language Council online, but their site is in full Greendlandic so without any prior skill you won’t get too far. Wiki and Ethnologue report, both have great background info and lastly there is this Greendlandic for Travelers (silly Engleeshes) to check out. I didn’t get it, but maybe you will.

Past Greenlandic words: mattak