The Cyrillic Alphabet

Hello лангуаге нердс! Аманда here!

The Cyrillic alphabet is the alphabet used by many countries in Eastern Europe (and Asia). For a list of languages that use this alphabet and map of the countries, you can go here. I was first introduced to the Cyrillic alphabet by a friend who is from Bulgaria, who showed me how to convert my name. And because languages fascinate me, the Cyrillic alphabet caught my attention. It is fun and different. Which is why you can see me now using Аманда for my Blogger name (this is also good in avoiding confusion with other Amandas).

If you're interested in learning more about the Cyrillic alphabet, you can check out its Wikipedia page or to convert your name or other text check out this site.

Ok, now for something fun! What does your name look like in the Cyrillic alphabet? Convert your name (first name or nickname only), and post it here.

Word Buzz Friday: Hot For Words

Hey Everyone! Happy Friday, or maybe if you are reading this from Australia, it's already Saturday so you're one up on me.

Today for your weekly word buzz, I am posting two videos from the Youtube made famous Marina Orlova who appears scantily clad on her website and Youtube channel to teach people like us new vocab words. She even takes requests. Here are her definitions for swine flu and antidisestablishmentarianism.

Antidisestablishmentarianism:



Swine Flu:



Peace out language nerds!

The Foreigner Card: When to use a bad accent?

I was just browsing through some of my fellow gringo-in-Chile blogs and I read this post by Margaret. It's terrific. She brings up a good point. There are some people who will actually fake a bad accent, or horrible Spanish to get out of a tricky situation. I may have even done it on occasion when walking through a market place with a throng of annoying men pestering me to buy their fruits and vegetables. Generally their English is limited to "boo-ti-fuul gee-rul" so that's not a problem, or they just shout out all the random English words they know like "RabbitBatMonkeyApplePoop" (Thanks to Lydia for bringing that to my attention!)

Now, I take particular offense to people speaking to me in English. It's like they are insulting my Spanish (or German teehehehe). Hello, I didn't go for four years to a crazy liberal arts school and study abroad in three countries for this! So, I might be a tad arrogant, too.

Anyways, all bantering aside, when do you think it's best to fake a bad accent, or fake that you don't know what's going on when you really do?

I would maybe consider doing it to get out of a parking/speeding ticket or for some other such offense. I have once done it to avoid standing in the eternal line of bureaucracy hell that is otherwise known as where you have to go to return crap at a local department store. I simple smiled at the lady with my cutest, most convincing gringa smile, and said "NO.ENTENDER." She huffed off and returned my garment for me. Perfect.

But, is it fair to always play the foreigner card when traveling or living abroad? Have you ever done it in your own city? (I may have also done that once, but I'm not sure I want to brag about it here).

Word Buzz Friday: Learn A Language

Instead if the normal vocab today, I decided to try something new. I found these videos doing a simple search on YouTube. They are a bit slow, but the pronunciations are easy to follow. Here's you chance to try your tongue at a new language when you have nothing to do this Memorial Day Weekend!

German



Japanese



Italian



Portuguese





Spanish



Turkish

Bushisms

Whether you loved him or hated him, former President George W. Bush definitely had his own way of using the English language.




Are there any Bushisms that you remember that weren't in the video?

Word Buzz Friday

The language nerds, in words.

Tasha, for reasons that are probably obvious: wanderlust - a strong desire to wander or travel.

Miyaunna, for her film-making, website designing, and lovely songs posted on her blog: virtuoso - a person skilled in the techniques of an art, esp. playing a musical instrument; by extension, a person with a cultivated appreciation of artistry.

Kyle, because I know he does it: quaff - to drink a beverage, esp. an intoxicating one, copiously and with hearty enjoyment.

Sara, for being one of the few blonds in Chile: recherche - uncommon; exotic; rare.

And myself, because I once used this word to describe myself and in some ways it is still true: fastidious - hard to please; extremely refined or critical.

(all definitions were taken from dictionary.com)

Bit of a mishap...

So it seems my luck hasn't been the best lately - my laptop screen shattered in my carryon bag, so sadly I can't upload the comic I promised. I have a replacement monitor when I get home, but its days as a laptop are over. At least it's lasted this long!

So instead you'll have to humour me by reading yet another odd story from my recent travels.
Do you think you can generally predict a persons next "line" when you're in a routine situation? I arrived in Finland a few days ago for my last trip within Europe, but I speak not a word of Finnish. I went to the grocery store to buy food to eat at my hostel, pulling out a €20 note to pay for 12.10 in groceries. At this point the cashier asks me something, I dig in my pocket and shake my head.

So take your best guess! If this were you, what would you assume he asked? I'll leave my answer in the comments, I can only guess that it's the right one, but who knows!