Word for the Travel Wise (07/04/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Since it’s a holiday here in America I figure we’d spend a moment strengthening our English vocabulary. Strangely it wasn’t hard picking a word today. My mind took me back to a conversation I had with a man a few weeks back in Tahlequah, OK about his two year old boy named Boom. Boom was named Boom because he was supposed to be born on the 4th of July (like a fire cracker you know), but he came a couple weeks earlier and was born on June 21st instead. I immediately took a fancy to the story and before I knew it I was adding extra details I’d imagined had taken place.

Today’s word is an English  word used in the U.S.A:

elope – to run away with a lover, especially with the intention of getting married

Shortly after my conversation with the man I spoke to a girlfriend of mine who is fixated on eloping to Tahiti. Who could blame her? I mean, if I were going to elope I’d go some place like Tahiti too. For me – I just like the word. It’s like the ultimate travelers word for love in flight, though I’m sure Boom’s parents didn’t elope to Tahlequah.

Anyhow, whatever you do today make sure you have an explosive time! Happy Fourth!

Past English words: agro

Word for the Travel Wise (07/03/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

One of the best sites to experience while in Azerbaijan is undoubtedly the Atesgah Fire Temple. I’ve never been, but from the sound of this Lonely Planet guide description it seems phenomenal. The temple is built over a natural gas vent and is so saturated with gas and oil that flames spontaneously erupt from the ground. Among other things to see at the temple is, the Sanskrit and Hindi inscriptions on the onion dome. I’m not certain what the small-print in fire worshipping is, but just checking it out during a trip could be very neat.

Today’s word is an Azeri word used in Azerbaijan:

babatdir – so-so (as in one’s mood or being)

Azeri, also known as Azerbaijani, Azari, Azeri and Azeri Turkish is he official language of the Republic of Azerbaijan. However, Iran is home for a majority of the Azeri speakers in the world. It is spoken in Russia’s Republic of Dagestan, south-eastern Georgia, northern Iraq, and eastern Turkey. I wanted to present you with a better word for the first lesson in Azeri, but there are several with that upside down e and for me to try to give you one of those without the right character would cause too much confusion. Wiki has the lang background info and Azeri.org has some online lessons.
I’ll be patrolling the web for more online sources.

Word for the Travel Wise (07/02/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Earlier I mentioned the cool film festival to check out in Korea if you so happen to be around. For the few with little to no interest in foreign films all because of the language barrier, get over it and read the subtitles! There are so many incredible movies to watch beyond our Hollywood summer blockbusters.

Today’s word is a Korean word used in Korea:

mol-lah-yo – I don’t know

My past lessons focused a little more on Korean dining which can be consumed about anywhere though finding a good restaurant might be tricky. For more vocab words found on the menu check out Korea infogate. Several more words in the Korean alphabet with excellent pronunciation guides can be found at Mr. Oh’s Learn Korean website. It’s a fun place to start to learn the basics. KBS World Radio has a three part, 30 chapter online learning guide all for free. I can’t get the hangul text to show up, but they’ve got sound clips of all the sample conversations available. Learn Korean dot net has most of the aforementioned along with a forum to meet other speakers both fluent natives and beginners. For a list of Korean language programs in the country click here.

Past Korean words: shik-sah, sollongtang, yuh heng

Word for the Travel Wise (07/01/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Just spent a short amount of time poking around the Czech Rep tourism site and came across some eye-popping photos used to suck tourists in like a vacuum. Places like Domazlice, Cheb, or the Kopic Estate weren’t on my mind before, but I’m sure they’ll somehow find themselves in my late night dreams.

Today’s word is a Czech word used in the Czech Republic:

panelák – apartment block

Hit up Wikipedia for the background details on the Czech language. It is consider one of the world’s most difficult languages to learn due to the extensive morphology and free word order. Bohemica is a great, extensive, online starting point for new students. Their site is free from what I can tell and includes additional sources to helpful books and offline learning. Also, check out Amazon to purchase the Lonely Planet phrasebook and other beginner’s guides.

Past Czech words: zmrzl

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

by Adrienne Wilson on

Another day, week and month has come to an end and I’m as tired as ever. No pointless chatter tonight.

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

zai jian – bye

Mandarin is the most widely spoken of the Chinese language and can be a bit difficult to learn, but there are many sites online that can help get you started. The best will probably cost a small amount of money and the links are many so for sources pointing to additional sources check out About and Mandarin Tools. Mandarin tools is good if you’d like to add pinyin tools and other Chinese text files to your computer. Zap Chinese is free and has small dictionaries of common words with audio. Mei Wah is an awesome and funny site on becoming more aware as an eater and learning Chinese by way of menus and restaurant signs. China Language online is another excellent site I recently stumbled upon providing info on Mandarin, Cantonese and Hakka. In addition to these past recommendations check out the Hong Kong Language Learning Center (HKLLC) for study abroad in Hong Kong or Beijing. Qi Journal has a section dedicated to Chinese culture and language study.

Past Mandarin words: zhu ni hao yun, guo nian ha, mu di di, hao, xiang zi