Word for the Travel Wise (05/25/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Tonight I’m passing up the breathy intro to dive right into our lesson. Sound good? Great! It’s an easy word.

Today’s word is a Finnish word used in Finland:

kiitos – thanks

Finnish is a member of the Finno-Ugric language family and classified as an agglutinative language. This particular Finnish language site provides some examples of easy words and phrases, an intro to the lingo, pronunciation guide and a list of additional Finnish material elsewhere. Another excellent way to advance your skills and engage your senses is to listen to the local music. Try the Finnish Music Information Center for audio and background information on the country’s favorite sounds. Online Finnish Lessons is another site offering lists of links to check out and if you’re in the city of Helinski stop by one of the schools to enroll in Finnish courses.

Past Finnish words: väsynyt, löyly

Word for the Travel Wise (05/24/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Last week during dinner, a few friends of mine decided to play a game of questions and one of them started with a question I ask myself everyday, “What three countries are the top three on your travel list?” If you’ve paid close attention to some of my darkest wishes over the last year, you’d be shouting out “Iran,” and I’m also sure there are several of you who have rolled your eyes, hoping I’d give up the dream, but my desire to go stays with me. Despite all the negative media attention Iran receives on a daily basis I always seem to get reports back from an occasional adventurous soul who dared find out for themselves. Until my day comes I’ll stick to practicing the language.

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

tazeh – new

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

Word for the Travel Wise (05/23/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Unlike some great travel deals that come and go, Qantas seems to be having the never ending fare sale to Australia. Can’t say that I’ve really priced out a ticket to the land down under, over, and out, but $999 smack-a-roos doesn’t sound too bad considering the distance. In fact you can even discover the country through one of their pretty awesome Aussie vacation packages in partner with National Geographic. Don’t bother sticking around for much more of my babble – head over and check em’ out with your own two and then promise you’ll back to scope out the word. You may or may not need it.

Today’s word is an Aboriginal word used in Australia:

yabber – to talk

Hiroyuki Yokose does a great job outlining Aboriginal words used in Australian English like our vocab word today from which I plucked this piece of information. For additional words you may wish to check out his findings. The Bangerang Cultural Centre is one of the first Aboriginal museums in the country and has a list of words online from this particular tribe. Wiki lists a large number of tribes and languages found in Australia which if you already haven’t set your mind on one in particular you can try picking one off their list. Try Lonely Planet’s Outback Australia guide for additional offline reading and trip planning.

Past Aboriginal words: cooee

Word for the Travel Wise (05/21/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Normally, I do my best to construct the word of the day lesson around a current event, holiday, or something I just had to get off my bird and I suppose you could say I’m doing it all the same today with some added shameless promotion for my very own birthday. So what I’m really trying to say is, excuse me while I toot my own horn. Last year I spent my birthday weekend in the Bahamas and this year I blog from Salem, Illinois in America’s glorious Mid-West where there is little to do it seems. I could spout out about which foreign land I’d love to be parading around at the moment, but I sort of do that everyday so I’ll carry on no further. Here are a few ways to wish someone Happy Birthday across the globe:

  • Afrikaans – Veels geluk met jou verjaarsdag!
  • Albanian – Urime ditelindjen!
  • Arabic – Eid milaad saeed! or Kul sana wa inta/itayeb/a (mas/fem)
  • Benagli (Bangladesh/India) – Shuvo Jonmodin!
  • Bicol (Philippines) – Maogmang Pagkamundag!
  • Bulgarian – Chestit Rojden Den!
  • Chinese (Cantonese) – Sun Yat Fai Lok!
  • Danish – Tillykke med fodselsdagen!
  • Esperanto – Felichan Naskightagon!
  • Farsi – Tavalodet Mobarak!
  • French – Joyeux Anniversaire!
  • Georgian – Gilotcav dabadebis dges!
  • Greek – Chronia Pola!
  • Maori – Kia huritau ki a koe!
  • Romanian – La Multi Ani!
  • Sudanese – Wilujeng Tepang Taun!
  • Surinamese – Mi fresteri ju!
  • Welsh – Penblwydd Hapus i Chi!

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Click here to go to this page that lists Happy Birthday in 161 languages. While you’re searching for another one not found on my list here to send my way (coughs), I mean to tell your younger sibling or pet dog, I’ll be hanging out at Wal-Mart with some cerveza. Seems to be the thing to do out yonder.

Cheers!

Word for the Travel Wise (05/20/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

For animal lovers, especially those who love watching monkey’s and aren’t intimidated by feces being flung their way, a trip to the area of Bossou in Guinea is a must. This is said to be one of the best places in West Africa to spot chimpanzees. According to Lonely Planet’s guide book information online, the guides in the Bossou area see the chimps on a day-to-day basis which almost guarantees a first hand encounter of your very own. But even if you never saw a chimpanzee, the hike alone is supposed to be quite scenic and simply amazing.

Today’s phrase is a Pular Fuuta phrase spoken in Guinea:

Enee, Porto! A majju! – Hey, white boy, you lost?

When I came across this online manual for learning the language of Fuuta Jallon which we know most of which as Guinea, the first phrase in the travel section was the one listed above. That being said, something tells me it may just come in handy when wandering around with your map all up in the air on your chimpanzee hunt.

French is the official language of Guinea so anyone with even a little French under their belt should be able to make it around fine, but there are several ethnic dialects still used in the country, with the Pular Fuuta being one of the more popular. This Mido Waawi Pular guide was developed to help Peace Corp volunteers learning with an instructor, but can be a great tool for anyone seriously wanting to learn. In Adobe format and 128 pages, it is probably one of the best resources you’ll be able to use from the web. Scope out the Wiki on Fula in addition to the guide above, however the family breakdown of the language may be slightly difficult to follow.