"Tempura" 天ぷら /天麩羅 is of course, a Japanese dish.
"Tempura no" in Japanese means "of Tempura."
"Tempura na" in Japanese sounds like "Tempra-ish" though grammatically not correct.
Every time I hear "temprano/temprana" in Spanish, which means "early,"
I cannot help thinking of Tempura 天ぷら
As you may know, "temprano" is for a masculine noun and
"temprana" is for a feminine noun in Spanish.
A noun that ends with "o" is almost masculine in Spanish.
A noun that ends with "a" is almost feminine in Spanish.
Isn't it easy to understand ?
You cannot spot Dutch "de" words (masculine/feminine nouns) and
"het" words (neuter nouns) so easily.
What I do is to treat every unknown words as masculine.
This page is for those who are thrilled when picking up a new language book, for those who like to relax in a cafe, reading a book in a foreign language, for those who like to chit chat with friends having different backgrounds, and for those who like to learn various languages.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
My Kindle was broken
My Kindle was broken... by a traffic accident. Sad.
I am OK, partly thanks to my Kindle, which was in a bag that is hit by a car directly.
Actually, lower half of the screen is OK.
But you can not scroll a page with a Kindle, can you??
When I bought the kindle, My son was immersed in Harry Potter.
And so did I.
And I thought it might be fun reading Harry Potter in English.
And with a Kindle, I might enjoy reading Harry Potter in a commuter train.
So I bought the Kindle.
Then I realized that they do not sell a Harry Potter e-book.
Pity.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading Steve Jobs and other books in a commuter train.
And now I am sure I need another one.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
How about these characters?
There exist no "f" sound in Korean.
For imported words, "f" is represented by "p"
For example, "waffle" becomes "wapple."
For example, "waffle" becomes "wapple."
I think this sounds cute.
However, sometimes it is inconvenient.
Korean characters consist of a consonant part(s) and a vowel part.
For example, like this.
카 [ka], 키 [ki], 쿠 [ku], 캐 [ke], 코 [ko]
If you reverse left and right of the consonant "ㅋ",
It look like "F", isn't it?
Then [fa, fi, fu, fe, fo] sounds can be written like this.
In Japanese, a character ヴ [v] is used only for imported words.
In Italian, letters j, k, w, x, y are used only for imported words.
May be it is high time to introduce a new character representing "f" in Korean.
--To read this post in Japanese, click here.
However, sometimes it is inconvenient.
Korean characters consist of a consonant part(s) and a vowel part.
For example, like this.
카 [ka], 키 [ki], 쿠 [ku], 캐 [ke], 코 [ko]
If you reverse left and right of the consonant "ㅋ",
It look like "F", isn't it?
Then [fa, fi, fu, fe, fo] sounds can be written like this.
In Italian, letters j, k, w, x, y are used only for imported words.
May be it is high time to introduce a new character representing "f" in Korean.
--To read this post in Japanese, click here.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Doing dishes may be dangerous
From a bus heading to a jungle for a tour when I visited the Borneo island,
I noticed traffic signs saying "afwas" from time to time.
The signal was red and it was obvious that it meant "dangerous."
Still, every time I saw the sign, I was not able to stop thinking of doing dishes
like Pavlof'v dogs.
"afwas" in dutch means doing washes.
--To read this post in Japanese, click here.
I noticed traffic signs saying "afwas" from time to time.
The signal was red and it was obvious that it meant "dangerous."
Still, every time I saw the sign, I was not able to stop thinking of doing dishes
like Pavlof'v dogs.
"afwas" in dutch means doing washes.
--To read this post in Japanese, click here.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
I don't want to say I am busy
--To read this post in Japanese, click here.
Tons of work to do.
Actually, I feel like I cannot afford to spend my time writing a blog entry.
Japanese : 忙しい [isogashii]
I don't like this Kanji character, which means "no spirit".
Chinese : 忙碌 [mánglù]
Korean: 바빠 [pappa] Sounds cute.
Dutch: druk
English: busy
Afrikaans : busy
This does not sounds like Dutch but sounds like English.
French: occupé
Spanish and Portuguese : ocupado
Italian : occupato
Vietnamese:bận rộn
This one really sounds like busy.
Tons of work to do.
Actually, I feel like I cannot afford to spend my time writing a blog entry.
Japanese : 忙しい [isogashii]
I don't like this Kanji character, which means "no spirit".
Chinese : 忙碌 [mánglù]
Korean: 바빠 [pappa] Sounds cute.
Dutch: druk
English: busy
Afrikaans : busy
This does not sounds like Dutch but sounds like English.
French: occupé
Spanish and Portuguese : ocupado
Italian : occupato
Vietnamese:bận rộn
This one really sounds like busy.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
cha cha cha cha
The Cha-cha-cha is of course the name of a cheerful dance.
In Japanese, チャチャチャ [cha cha cha] sometimes represents
sound of hand claps for example when encouraging a favorite player.
In Korean, 자자 자자 [ cha cha, cha cha ] means
"Let's go to bed, Let's go to bed."
If you pronounce it more plosively,
찾자 찾자 [ cha cha, cha cha ] means
"Let's make a search, Let's make a search."
(J120326)
--To read this post in Japanese, click here.
In Japanese, チャチャチャ [cha cha cha] sometimes represents
sound of hand claps for example when encouraging a favorite player.
In Korean, 자자 자자 [ cha cha, cha cha ] means
"Let's go to bed, Let's go to bed."
If you pronounce it more plosively,
찾자 찾자 [ cha cha, cha cha ] means
"Let's make a search, Let's make a search."
(J120326)
--To read this post in Japanese, click here.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Pierre de Fermat
--To read this post in Japanese, click here.
Fermat's Last Theorem is so simple.
There exist no X, Y, Z satisfying
X^n+Y^n=Z^n
for natural number n more than 2.
But the proof had not been provided for almost 360 years.
Mathematics was his hobby.
He made his living by working as a lawyer.
He also enjoyed literature and languages in his spare time.
He was proficient especially in French, Greece, Latin,
Spanish, and Italian.
--ref
PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS J. Tabak
Fermat's Last Theorem is so simple.
There exist no X, Y, Z satisfying
X^n+Y^n=Z^n
for natural number n more than 2.
But the proof had not been provided for almost 360 years.
Mathematics was his hobby.
He made his living by working as a lawyer.
He also enjoyed literature and languages in his spare time.
He was proficient especially in French, Greece, Latin,
Spanish, and Italian.
--ref
PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS J. Tabak
Monday, June 18, 2012
pastel
--To read this post in Japanese, click here.
Of course, pastel is a stick or crayon with soft gentle color.
In English, French, Dutch, Vietnamese, ... it is pastel.
And also in other languages,
Italian: pastello
Japanese: パステル [Pasuteru]
Korean: 파스텔 [pastel]
However, in Spanish, "pastel" means a cake.
In Brazil, "pastel" means a deep fried pastry with filling in it.
Yum-yum.
Of course, pastel is a stick or crayon with soft gentle color.
In English, French, Dutch, Vietnamese, ... it is pastel.
And also in other languages,
Italian: pastello
Japanese: パステル [Pasuteru]
Korean: 파스텔 [pastel]
However, in Spanish, "pastel" means a cake.
In Brazil, "pastel" means a deep fried pastry with filling in it.
Yum-yum.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Yes/No
--To read this post in Japanese, click here.
In Korean, "네" [ne] means Yes.
In Dutch, "Nee" [nei] means No.
When I first started learning Korean
after having lived in the NL for a while,
saying "네" [ne] when I meant yes was extremely difficult.
In Korean, "예" [je] also means Yes.
This may be easier for English speakers
since it sounds like English "Yes."
English: yes/no
Japanese: はい (hai) /いいえ (iie)
Korean: 네 (ne)/아니오 (anyo)
Chinese: 是 (shi)/不是 (bushi)
French: oui/non
Spanish: sí/no
Italian: sì/no
German: ja/nein
Dutch: ja/nee
In Korean, "네" [ne] means Yes.
In Dutch, "Nee" [nei] means No.
When I first started learning Korean
after having lived in the NL for a while,
saying "네" [ne] when I meant yes was extremely difficult.
In Korean, "예" [je] also means Yes.
This may be easier for English speakers
since it sounds like English "Yes."
English: yes/no
Japanese: はい (hai) /いいえ (iie)
Korean: 네 (ne)/아니오 (anyo)
Chinese: 是 (shi)/不是 (bushi)
French: oui/non
Spanish: sí/no
Italian: sì/no
German: ja/nein
Dutch: ja/nee
Russion: да/нет
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