German for Soup and soap and supper

German is a handy language to learn. You can use it in Europe in Germany, Austria and  parts of Switzerland.

Many words look similar. But beware of misleading appearances, what the French call false friends. 

The first pair I had trouble with was soap. 

SOAP

Who would have guessed it was Seife in German. Who can remember it? I couldn't. I am now up to 33% fluent in Duolingo and I've already forgotten soap. So let me re-visit the word. 

Let's start with the first letter and what is easy to remember. 

 How is it pronounced? You pronounce the second letter in German. Sigh - fur like cipher. So I shall remember sigh for soap. 

 English - German soap - die Seife 

The next word which confused me was soup.

SOUP

soup - Suppe 

SUPPER

The Last Supper, painted by Leonardo da Vinci. 

The last evening meal of Jesus and his disciples.

supper - abendessen 

Abendessen - essen=to eat; Abend is evening. I think of it as after six pm and end of the day. or ab=from; + end, + eat (delicatessen is delicate eating or delicate stuff to eat). 

 

Flag of Germany.

German - English

abend - evening

abendessen - supper (evening meal)

seife - soap

suppe - soup

vorabend - Eve (night before as in Christmas eve)

English - German

Eve (night before as in Christmas Eve) vorabend

evening - abend

soap - seife

soup - suppe

supper - abendessen

About the Author

 Angela Lansbury, author and English teacher and languages tutor. Please share links to your favourite posts and websites. 

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

Pictures of Angela in different dresses and poses with props and advice on where to buy vintage clothes and co-ordinate and convert clothes, large to small, small to large, short to long, shorts to skirts, pillowcases to tops and bolsters to dresses.

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

 l Free Language Learning sites 

duolingo.com 

PortableGerman.com 

Wiktionary.com

 

USEFUL WEBSITES

Polyglot page on Facebook for asking friends for advice.

 Free Language Learning sites 

duolingo.com 

PortableGerman.com 

Wiktionary.com 

Americanisms and Britishisms - from candy to trunk

I notice queries about American and British English in the comments of the Daily Mail online. If you read any American newspaper or news report, you will see Americanisms. w

I was in a hotel in California, trying to check out before the deadline of mid-day. I phoned down and asked, "Could you please send up a porter."

I waited and waited. Nobody arrived.

I phoned again and said, "Please send a porter. I asked for a porter ten minutes ago. If you want me out of this room by mid-day, you must send me a porter. You must have a porter. I've seen three or four of them."

After a pause, the lady on reception replied, "Ma-am, I will gladly send you a porter, if you tell me what it is."

I replied, "It's a person help  carry your suitcases, your luggage, baggage. On a trolley."

"Ah! I know what you mean. You call that a porter?"

'What do you say?"

"The bell-hop."

(Other terms you might come across in hotels are concierge and doorman.)

Now let's have a look at some other words I came across in the USA, and have read in the newspapers since then.

 UK - USA squash - cordial, drink which consists of diluted fruit juice and added sugar. (Check ingredients on bottle.) 

Giving a present - gifting a gift.

American English - British English

candy (candies) - sweet(s)

cookie - biscuit

bellhop - porter 

diaper - nappy

eraser - rubber

gift - give

hack - tip

hood (of car) bonnet

make a right - turn right

rubber - contraceptive (Durex)

squash - cordial

trunk (of car) - boot

British English - American English

biscuit - cookie

bonnet (of car) - hood 

boot (of car) - trunk

cordial - squash

contraceptive (Durex) - rubber

give /donate (verb) - gift

nappy - diaper

porter - bellhop

rubber - eraser

sweet(s) - candy /candies

tip - hack

Useful Websites and books

see amazon 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English very technical

About the Author

 Angela Lansbury, author, teacher and  workshop lteader. Speciality subjects include English and business English.

Please share links to your favourite posts.

You can practise your accent by attending or listening to past speeches from clubs and contests of Toastmasters International. 

My club is Braddell Heights International. It is on Facebook and the Toastmasters International website.

To find a club go to

https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club

Easy German look like English words

So many words in German look almost the same and sound almost the same. 

 A-D als - all besser - better E-K Eis - ice or ice cream Fische - fish (remember capital letters for nouns in German, but not in English) Ich - I ist - is garten - garden Haus - house Hund - hound/dog kann - can katze - cat Klub - club 

 L-R leichter - lighter (pronounce the second vowel, ignoring the e, like George) mein/ meine - mine Muss - a must (the capital letter tells you it's a noun and not a verb) nasen - nose p f e f f e r - pepper 

 S-Z s a l z - salt as in S a l z burg t o c h t e r - daughter Zoo - zoo

 I stop for a coffee break and review a few German words with a family member of colleague. What is a snack? i m b i s s . 

German - English

als - all

besser - better

Eis - ice

Fische - fish

ich - I

ist - is

Garten - garden

Haus - house

Hund - hound/dog

Imbiss - snack

mein/meine - mine

muss - must

Nasen - nose

Pfeffer - pepper

Salz - salt

Tochter - daughter

Zoo - zoo

English - German

all - als

better - besser

daughter - Tochter

dog/hound - Hund

fish - Fische

garden - Garten

house - Haus

I - ich

ice - eis

is - ist

mine - mein/meine

must - muss

pepper - Pfeffer

salt - Salz

snack - Imbiss

zoo - Zoo

 Angela Lansbury, English tutor and language teacher.

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Americanisms and Britishisms - from autumn, biscuit and boot to sidewalk and trunk

"America and Britain are two countries divided by a common language." 

 American - British 

a bunch of people - a group of people 

a la mode - with cream/custard 

a quarter after - a quarter past 

at this moment in time - now 

busy (phone line / toilet cubicle) - engaged 

cookies - biscuits 

coach - intercity bus 

coach class - economy class (planes), second class (trains) 

diaper - nappy 

done - finished eraser - rubber 

express - non-stop (bus) 

French fries - chips 

guys (male and female) - folk/s 

 hood - bonnet (of car) ; 

the hood - neighbourhood ; 

the hood - neighbourhood gang 

fall - autumn 

jelly - jam Jello - brand name of a jelly, used to describe any jelly

 judgement call - decision 

Kleenex (brand name) - 

paper hanky / tissues line, 

line-up - queue 

main street - high street 

make a left/right - turn left/right 

momentarily (landing or stopping a monorail - in a moment, shortly - soon, imminently) 

no brainer - obvious 

over easy - (egg) turned over and cooked both sides 

pavement - tarmac, road 

potato chips - crisps 

rest room - toilet/loo 

sidewalk - pavement 

stand in line - wait in a queue 

sucks - awful 

sunny side up - fried egg - usually left runny because Americans would turn it over 

take a right - go right 

trunk - boot 

vacuum cleaner - Hoover (brand name) 

y'all (Deep South) - you all 

 British - American 

autumn - fall 

awful - sucks 

biscuits - cookies 

bus - double decker (in the city, stopping at bus stops) 

bonnet - hood (of car) 

boot-trunk (of car) 

coach (single decker, inter city or private hire, not making stops at bus stops) 

crisps - potato chips chips (as in fish and chips) - French fries 

decision - judgement call 

economy class - coach class (on planes) 

engaged (phone line / toilet cubicle) - busy / occupied 

finished - done 

fried egg - sunny side up (specify if you want it well cooked) 

go right - take a right 

guys (male only) - boys / men high street - main street 

Hoover (brand name) - vacuum (cleaner) 

jelly - Jello (brand name) 

momentarily (stopping briefly, not for long, a brief stop, just a few seconds)  

motorway - freeway (also highway, express way?) 

nappy - diaper 

now - at this moment in time 

obvious - no brainer 

paper hanky / tissues - Kleenex 

pavement - sidewalk 

queue - line / line-up 

rubber - eraser 

second class - coach class (on trains)

toilet - rest room 

you all - y'all (Deep South or southern accent)

The Author

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Useful Websites

Language learning - the first step - in Italian

First steps to learning a language? Let's take Italian 

 1 Going on holiday in the country 

2 Going to a restaurant 

3 Looking at an Italian film - La Strada - the street 

4 Reading an Italian website 

5 Buying an Italian dictionary 

6 Subscribing to an Italian newspaper - such as .... 

7 Hearing Italian songs 

8 Translating a restaurant name - Tia Teresa (Aunt Teresa); Tia Maria (aunt Maria drink); tia is aunt 

 Today's Italian words, found in English, for example in newspapers or conversation: 

1 aficionado - follower, devotee 

2 piano - adjective (soft or) quiet 

3 forte - strong or loud 

4 la dolce vita - the sweet life 

5 virtuoso - expert 

6 maestro - master 

7 mio / mia - my 

8 tia - aunt 

9 ponte vecchio - old bridge 

10 casa - house 

 Words which sound similar: 

bank - banca 

bar - bar 

beefsteak - bistecca 

beer - birra 

bottle - bottiglia 

cafe - caffe 

centre - centro 

cinema - cinema 

city - citta 

coffee - caffè 

cold - freddo (like freezing) 

costa - cost 

credit card - carta di credito 

data - date 

dessert - dessert 

difficult - difficile excellent - eccellente 

excuse me - scusi 

flask - fiasco (i is elongated to become an l in English) 

fruits - frutti (but frutti del mare is seafood, fruits of the sea) 

good / OK / fine / all right - bene (as in beneficial, benefit), buon 

hotel - hotel 

name - nome 

numero - number 

olive - olive(s) 

order - ordinare 

passport - passaporto 

perfect - perfetto 

pizzeria - pizzeria 

problem - problema 

restaurant - ristorante 

risotto - risotto 

salad - insalata 

speciality - specialità 

taxi - taxi tea - tè 

theatre - teatro train - treno 

 Goodbye - Ciao. See you again soon. 

Useful Resources and Websites

 Earwormslearning.com 

Earworms from Berlitz is in: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek; Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish 

About the Author

 Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, speaker and author, teacher of English for foreigners, and foreign languages. Lessons on Skype available.

Translate For Fun - Hotel de Ville in France

After WW2 French was once of the most popular languages. In earlier times is it was German.

GERMAN

My father learned basic German at school. 

FRANCE

 I earnestly learned to sing Frere Jacques in primary school but that was not much help to us when we wanted to find a hotel in France. Frustration In France My first experience of misunderstanding languages, nowadays called Lost In Translation, was when my parents took a trip from England to Northern France by car. We drove around looking for a hotel. 

 The Word Hotel The word hotel is the same in English and French, and most of the world. Even in Japanese it is h o t e r u. (The Asians have difficulty saying the letter L.) So, in France, where the letters for hotel are identical (never mind the added accent in French) what could possibly go wrong? 

 Hotel De Ville In the centre of the town was a big sign on a large building: Hotel de Ville. it was a large place, and we feared it might be expensive, but first chance to ask somebody for help. The lights in the building were blazing but the light in the sky was fading, time to stop for dinner and find a bedroom. 

So we drove around hoping to find an entrance, with all the innocent expectation of British tourists abroad. The Hotel De Ville Had Shut Unfortunately, by the time we found the entrance, the lights had all turned off. The sign was lit but the gates were locked. Why? Was there another entrance? Had the place gone out of business? Were the lights simply to deter burglars? 

 Eventually we found a passer-by who spoke some English. They directed us around the corner to a nearby hotel. When we reached our small hotel, we asked why the Hotel de Ville was closed. 

The receptionist burst out laughing. Why? 

The Town Hall 

Hotel de Ville means town hall. 

Eventually we unpacked, found our dictionary and looked up hotel de ville. Then we started laughing. Hotel de Ville is town hall. I now watch out for words which sound similar. Are they really the same? 

If so, that's easy. I love translating: - The ingredients on chocolate bars, wine labels. - On the coach or bus or car or train, sign posts on motorways in foreign cities, graffiti. - Speeches of thanks, and toasts, at a wedding. - Newspaper headlines in supermarkets and airport lounges.

 I love stories of disasters from misunderstandings. In the last year I have been learning or learning about (alphabetically): American English Australian and New Zealand English Arabic Chinese (Mandarin) French German Greek Hebrew Indonesian Italian Romanian Russian S i n g l i s h (spaced to correct the autocorrect which inserted signalise) South African English Spanish Swedish Tamil Welsh Yiddish Borrowed Words In English I also list words in English which are derived from other languages. 

For example, yacht is Dutch. Safari is Swahili. 

 Translating French I have translated French into English at conferences and press trips in France and India. I start with fluent French, French A level. I have translated English into French for packaging - then got asked to translate the same material into Spanish and German when mockups were needed in a hurry for a presentation and no other translator could be found quickly. 

 Teaching English 

I have taught English language and literature, first in a Grammar School in England, later English language and literature as a home tutor, then to foreign parents and schoolchildren, singles and groups, ages ranging from five year old Japanese children sitting beside mother or on her lap, Sri Lankans, and intermediate English in four schools in Singapore, plus volunteering in a Singapore state secondary school coaching pupils to pass English O Level. 

 Speeches 

I visit Toastmasters International speakers' groups in Europe and Asia, speaking, training speakers, and judging speech contests. Singapore has several bilingual clubs.

Duolingo

I have been learning other languages on Duolingo, by watching foreign language films with subtitles, translating. I hope you will enjoy my posts and find them a help in learning languages and adding new words to your vocabulary, just for fun. 

 Every restaurant outing is a language trip. I pick up the takeaway menu and business card to translate. I listen to the waiters calling to each other.

 I sit in the sauna at a gym or club and ask other people about their language, their second language and what they find difficult or easy about pronouncing and speaking and learning English. Learning languages is a daily joy for me and I hope you will find my posts on language a daily amusement.

 Helpful Websites 

TRANSLATION

google translate 

translate Google

duolingo.com (free) 

 CDs Earworms: I have French, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish. You can buy one disc or two, new or secondhand from Ebay. If buying secondhand, make sure your disc comes with the booklet. 

About the Author

 Angela Lansbury, language teacher.

Please share links to your favourite blogs and individual posts.