Word for the Travel Wise (09/12/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Some tour packages make me chuckle. Like who combines these things? Was there some poll asking whether visitors to Italy would be interested in fierce, high-speed, hot-red Ferrari rides through Rome to their mineral bath? There had to have been because they’ve got this thing called the Red Wellness Tour. On this two day, one night tour you’re given the opportunity to drive up to three different Ferrari’s and to receive spa treatments. I could see somebody’s red-hot mama stepping out of one of the rides (you know the Devil Wears Prada type) tossing her furs from her shoulders and soaking herself in a nice warm bath. When she’s through off into her Ferrari at the speed of light! Too cute.

Today’s word is an Italian word used in Italy:

un riccone / una riccona – A rich man/woman. Usually used in a derogatory way, giving the idea of rich and arrogant.

Seeing how popular the language is there isn’t much difficulty finding learning resources on the web. I’m a little unsure about what’s going on with this June29 site, but they have three very simple lessons to get your learning motors going. You might find the BBC your one stop shop in handling your needs. Dictionaries, lessons, audio, and slang are all included. Distance learning is always recommended in my book. Check out some of these programs abroad where you can study in various cities across the country and even Lugano, Switzerland. A few links to study abroad are as follows: Amerispan, World Link Education, and ILUSS. Head over to this Italian Book Store for suggested text.

Past Italian words: qualcosa, dov’é, congratulazioni

Word for the Travel Wise (09/10/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Okay, everyone – big sigh of relief this week. I’m departing from languages of the Silk Road to return to some you may actually try to learn further than my everyday Gadling feature. Today I point your attention to Uruguay’s thermal waters as featured on the front page of their tourism site. Perfect place to head if you’re planning an early escape from North American winters. Go check it out.

Today’s word is a Spanish word from Uruguay:

nadar – swim

Amerispan, Cactus Language and IMAC are all good starting points to learning abroad. A free membership at Spanish Unlimited gives you the opportunity to learn a new word everyday by email, gain pen pals and hear audio of the words. Their website is actually a good resource tool for many different Spanish related topics. I won’t even begin to list some of the texts out there that could further your studies because there are entirely too many. If you know of some language books that would be useful please feel free to list them.

Past Spanish words: escalar, cercano, realidad, enfermo, jalar

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

by Adrienne Wilson on

Before we took off on our trip most of the group had planned on flying through Moscow into Dushanbe so they could get the right flights with Tajik Air and that is what they ended up doing. I decided to bypass all that because Tajik air tends to be a little fickle and didn’t want to chance getting in late. I went through Turkish Air which also meant I didn’t have to apply for a Russian visa. Thank goodness! I’ve heard some horror stories about getting visas for Russia, especially from our European team members. Just thought to share a piece of the tale for anyone going through the process right now.

Today’s word is a Russian word used in Russia:

tuhmohzhnyah – customs

Ready to learn Russian? Check out Master Russian first. They have numerous excellent sound files and the text is clear and easy to read. Learning also goes beyond your Russian A, B, C’s at their site as they have crosswords, literature, proverbs, folk music, and homework help. Other good sites include Learning Russian and this Ectaco Translation Dictionary. Click here for two language book rec’s on Amazon. BBC has the basics to download and hear audio, while Wiki provides the in depth Russian lang back history.

Past Russian words: , shakzochniy, paka, spasiba

Word for the Travel Wise (09/07/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Since I can probably take a good guess at how many people will travel to Afghanistan or least think about going sometime during their life span and seeing that number isn’t high I’m going to point everyone to this small online Kabul Museum. In March of 2001 the Taliban destroyed all pre-Islamic statues and objects in Afghanistan. The Kabul online museum is in place to allow people to enjoy the museums contents before the destruction. Although there isn’t much inside the three galleries by virtually traveling there we can all say we’ve seen a small part of history aside from the news we get on CNN.

Today’s word is a Pashto word used in Afghanistan:

mujasemy – statues

Pashto is spoken by 40-50 million speakers in Afghanistan, western Pakistan and northern India. It became an official language of Afghanistan in 1936. Persian or Dari is also an official language. Good example sentences, historical information and links are all found at Wikipedia. Pashto.org has video, music, downloadable dictionaries, software and book lists. Yorku.ca has a long list of words to start along your Pashto learning path for at least a few weeks. Visit the BBCPashto page if you already have some understanding of the language under your belt.

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

by Adrienne Wilson on

One of these days when I stash away enough money to travel and do it BIG I’m going to do a tour of countries that have some of my favorite gem stones and jewelry. While I don’t own a large collection of stones or jewelry, I do try to pick up at least one piece every time I travel abroad. My future list includes the Baltics for Amber, Dominican Republic for Larimar and Hotan, a city in southern Xinjiang, China, for Jade. Hotan was once the major transport center of the southern route of the Silk Road.

Today’s word is a Uyghur word used in China:

känt – village

Uyghur (pronounced ooygOOr) is spoken in China and Kazakhstan, but is the official language of China’s Xinjiang province. It is a language spoken by some 10 million people in all of Central Asia. China’s Uyghur people are one of the 56 official nationalities in the country. Start at the Wikipedia first and work your way to this Uyghur music and dance songs online page. New Uyghur films are also available for purchase if you like to learn by listening and watching. Try linking up with Uyghur speakers through MyLanguageExchange online. Lonely Planet’s Central Asia phrasebook has a decent Uyghur section worth purchasing the book for if going to this area of the Silk Road.

Past Mandarin / Cantonese words: zhu ni hao yun, guo nian ha, mu di di, hao, xiang zi, zai jian, léui yàu