New phrases: What have I learnt and what was the best

This part of the challenge was the one area where I didn’t know what to expect, or how long it would take me. With films, books and recipes you know where to find them. But with phrases it’s a more open option. Do I ask strangers in a foreign country for a phrase? Do I start learning a foreign language to get some phrases down?

How they came to me on the most part was from my friends and family and their travels and nationalities. Fabiana and my Auntie Benita gave me phrases from their mother tongue. Hayley gave me a phrase from when she went on holiday and Lizi, Emma and Tom gave me phrases they learnt on their travels which were all quite varied. Fran and Kayleigh gave me phrases at the food gathering as well.

My favourite part of getting new phrases was when I was on the National Trust holiday. The people on the holiday were really enthusiastic about the challenge and wanted to help with it. With the variety of nationalities in the group, the phrases were the best way to help. So one day after the work element of the holiday we headed to a pub, armed with a notebook the others took it in turn to write phrases they knew. If you look at the list of languages used, they extend longer then what the group knew in their mother tongue. The phrases were also the most random list.

For some reason the best phrases were the insults that were given. I guess what I should do with my phrases learnt is use them in public, but I’m not sure I’m brave enough to use the insults!

New phrases #24-29: Insulting finish

For my food gathering some people brought a phrase with them, and my friend Fran did just that. She told me in German how to say my sister is sometimes annoying, which is; 'Meine schwester est manchmal argelich.' And I’m sure my sisters will use that one on me in the future!

My friend Kayleigh couldn't make the gathering but she text me a Spanish phrase that she had learnt on holiday. A very useful one in ‘Can I have the bill’ which is; 'La cuenta, por favour.'

In the book I’m reading at the moment a trip around Europe is the main focus and in one of the flashback scenes one of the characters says; Ton coeur brise se reparera rapidement in French and for some reason I liked the sound of the phrase.

The last few phrases are courtesy of my friend Rachel, a regular contributor to the challenge. She gave me a book of insults in a foreign language and when I started reading through them I couldn't stop laughing. It was a really tough choice to decide which ones to put in the challenge, and so I've decided on the following phrases:

Vorrei rompere qualcosa. Posso prendere in prestito il vostro naso? This is Spanish for 'I would like to break something. Can I borrow your nose?

Avete il cervello di un panino del formaggio. This is Italian for 'You have the brain of a cheese sandwich.'

Votre pay est comme une toilette. Il n'a pas besoin d'un président, il le besoin justes quelqu'un de vider toute la merde.' This is French for; 'Your country is like a toilet. It doesn't need a President, it just needs someone to flush all the shit away.'

So an insulting finish I think you’ll agree.

New Phrases #22-23: International events

At work I try to find a funny news story every day for me and my colleague Austin to talk over as it’s a way of breaking up the day. Yesterday however Austin randomly said to me on the subject of funny stories that it’s international talk like a pirate day at the weekend. And would you believe it google confirmed this was true!

There’s a whole website dedicated to the day and yes you’ve guessed it there were some pirate phrases to learn! I opted for a pirate phrase in German so ‘death and evil’ is Tod und Teufel in German.

With the rugby world cup starting yesterday, and New Zealand always having a big impact I learnt what welcome is in New Zealand is from my mate Tom who is living there at the moment. It’s ‘Haeri Mae’

So Happy talk like a pirate day!!! Arrrgghh!

New Phrase #20-21: It’s all relative

My Auntie Benita is great with languages. She’s from Chile and came over to the UK when she married my Uncle Chris when I was around 3. She is not only fluent in Spanish and English but she has also learnt welsh since living in Lampeter in Wales. It wouldn’t surprise me if she knows more languages!

I remember I went to stay with my Auntie Benita and Uncle Chris when I was around 8 for a week when they lived in Coventry. We went to a festival and I remember Auntie Benita taught me the Taiwanese for Velcro was chick chicci!

She taught me two phrases in welsh and spanish, so for the challenge I’ve picked one of the phrases in each language. The spanish for very good is ‘Muy bien’ and the welsh for I like learning new things is; ‘Dw I’n hoffi dysgu pethau newydd’

Considering I’ve been to Wales twice this summer it was about time I learnt some welsh! 

New Phrases #10-19 and New Food #27: After a hard day’s work

The people in my National Trust holiday were from a range of nationalities; Mel was German, Ulrich was Italian, and Jill was a New Zealander. And a few members of the group were really enthusiastic about my 29 challenge and wanted to contribute to it.

We regularly went to the pub after a day of working and one evening I asked a few members of the group for some phrases. So over a couple of drinks I managed to get 10.

Earlier in the day Ed who was 18 knew the German for ‘My submarine is full of eels’. Ed’s German was pretty good but he wanted Mel who is German to double check. So the first German phrase of the challenge is; ‘Hein unterseeboot ist voller Aale.’

Mel gave me two phrases; Giib ihm den kleinen Finger und er nimmt die ganze Hand, which means; give him your small finger and he will take the whole hand. And if you ever wanted to know how to say my mum fell down the steps with some potatoes in Swabian, it’s; Mai Muadar isch mit de Grombiara die Schtiaga nagahaglt.’

Ulrich was an Italian liver doctor who has lived in the UK for the past 11 years. The phrases he gave are very random and in different languages. Some are insulting and some make no sense at all. So here are the phrases he gave me. (Apologies if some of the spelling is incorrect, Ulrich’s handwriting was a typical doctors one):

‘I hau din & Watschm owe, dass den fur vienzelm Tag den Schaskl waggelt.’ This is Viennese for I am going to give you a slap to make your skull tremble for 14 days.

‘Ti strepps una gamba e bi piglio & cdci mel culo.’ This is Italian for I rip a leg off you and then kick you in the bum with it.

‘Des is a fenche Henn’ is south Tyrolean for that is a fit bird!

Not sure if some women would use this phrase as a rule for life but; ‘Si an magin sspientesque nuit nescio, homines mon sunt’ is Latin for ‘I don’t know if they are great and wise, men they are not.’

‘να μου πείτε o μούσα του ανθρώπου και ο οποίος είχε πολύ ρίχνονται γύρω και πολύ προκλήθηκε αφού κατέστρεψαν την ιερή πόλη της Τροίας’ is ancient Greek for ; ‘Tell me, o Muse, of the man and who was much thrown around, and much suffered, often he destroyed the holy city of Troy.’

‘Sant’ Peri, Sant Peri, fil de put a quin non se alavi’ is Cetalan for Saint Hilery, Saint Hilery, son of a bitch whoever doesn’t drink up.

Lastly Rob another member of the group who is a hospital inspector and along with me were the DD’s which stood for the designated drivers with dazzling personalities gave me this French phrase; Honi soit qui mal y pense, which means ‘evil to him who thinks evil.’

Mel and I also tried pork scratchings. During the trip the others got Mel to try different British things. We both agree though that pork scratchings is not a delicacy we want to try again, they smelt like dog food and didn’t taste too great either. 

So all in all a very productive educational session at the pub!

New Recipe #19, New Food #23 and New Phrase #9: Classy Cricket

As I ‘ve said before my dad Bobby and I like cricket and he’d been camping with my sister for a week while The Ashes was on. So this afternoon he came round to watch some of the test highlights.

I’m in full challenge mode so I also took the opportunity to cook a new recipe as well. I cooked Crème Brûlée, which is something I hadn't tried before either. I planned to cook it this weekend for a while, but as luck would have it they were cooking it on Bake Off this week, so I got some tips from there.

It was pretty straight forward to make, however I was worried it would turn watery or like scrambled eggs. Timing wise I had to leave it in the oven for 10 minutes more than the recipe said and they came out well. They tasted great, and I’m surprised at how filling they are.

What would have been better was if I used a blowtorch to caramelise the top. I do have one, but I didn’t realise that you need fuel in it, and I didn’t have any. So I did the Mary Berry way and grilled the top, which worked just as well.

While Bobby was here he also told me a phrase in a different language. He’s always been into history and we watched Time Team every Sunday growing up. So he taught me the Latin for ‘The Senate and People of Rome’ which is Senatus Populus Que Romanus!

So a fun afternoon and the cricket weren’t bad either.

Learn a phrase in a different language #5-8: Travelling Friends

As I said in my previous post my old housemates Emma and Lizi went travelling together. Since then Lizi has gone on to live and teach in Hong Kong and will be doing the same in Spain in a few weeks. And Emma has taught in Kenya. They are well travelled talented teachers!

Emma taught me Oi-Choi-Oi (spellings are phonetic) and that is Vietnamese for oh my goodness. Lizi taught me 2 phrases in Chinese; Ligo-Sam-Sau which means roll your sleeves up and moham which is don’t cry.

Also during the weekend I got a random text from my friend Tom and he taught me Korb Koon Kaab which is Thai for thank you very much.

Kind of ironic that I spent the weekend in Wales and learnt no welsh, but did learn some Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai! 

Learn a phrase in a different language #4: Sounding wise

My colleague Fabiana is Brazilian and can not only speak English, she can also speak Portuguese and German. How talented she is!

One lunchtime this week she got round to giving me a phrase in Portuguese. The phrase roughly translates into English as ‘May it not be immortal, since it’s flame; but may it be eternal while it lasts. Pretty deep for a lunch time! And Fabiana said I did very well with the pronunciation. As I said before she also speaks German, so I need another phrase from her soon!

New activities and places #15, and new phrase #3: Excuse the selfie stick

I’m not the greatest at taking selfies. A couple of years ago I went to New York on holiday and met Jake Gyllenhaal and had a picture with him. But I didn’t even chance taking a selfie in case I cut off his head!

Now when we my friend Linsey and I were in Rome there were lots of street sellers who were selling selfie sticks. Linsey jokingly said a much lower price than what one of them said, and he said yes. And after a bit of haggling, she bought one for half the price he said.

After that we seemed to only take pictures with the selfie stick. It took a few attempts so the stick wasn’t in the photo, but we mastered it by the end. The shots actually captured a lot more of the surroundings then normal pictures.

The day Linsey got the selfie stick was also the day we learnt the phrase; Excusee my umbrello, which translated is excuse me my umbrella. A useless phrase, but when said is a flashback to Rome for me.

Learn a new phrase in a different language #2: Actions speak louder than words

What I’m liking about this challenge is the fact it’s full of surprises. I did not think I’d learn this phrase. A randomer taught me this on a night out last weekend, in a bar 15 seconds away from my flat.

Now I'm going to be polite and just say the acronym of this phrase….BS. Its either in sign language or Makaton. And because I learnt it from a stranger, who said his mum taught special needs so would know, I'm still not entirely convinced. But it is a phrase in a different language, so on to the next one wherever it comes from!

And why the sunglasses in the picture….why not?!

Learn a phrase in a different language #1: It’s all Greek to me

As I've said previously in this blog I did journalism at uni. So it only seems fitting that one of my course mates would teach me the first phrase in a different language.

I’d like to introduce to you my friend Hayley; she’s the one on the left in the picture. At uni we gave each other the nickname of ‘journo rock’, as we’d send each other our articles for proof reading, and to see if we were making sense or rambling rubbish. She also got engaged recently to Jonathan, so this phrase seems fitting.

So the phrase is 'I love you' in Greek, which  is Σ 'αγαπώ and Hayley learnt it from a lovely lady when she was in Greece. You need to think sack of poo when you say it. And for a bonus part of the phrase if you want to say I love you very much, it’s sag a po poli.

Phrase one done and dusted, and with my auntie being from Chile and work colleagues from Singapore, Bulgaria, Brazil and Greece, there’s going to be a lot of variety!