Archive for April, 2007

How to Say Thank you in Many Different Languages
You can never say Thank you enough my grandmother used to teach me. So what better way than to say it in different languages? It’s by far the most important and first word you should learn in any language, especially if you’re traveling in a foreign country and you don’t speak the language! Thank you is a word that makes everyone feel good.
Arabic: Shoukran
Cambodian: Orkun
Chinese (Cantonese): Doh je
Chinese (Mandarin): Xie-xie
Czech:Dekuju
Danish:Tak
Dutch:Dank je wel
Farsi: Motshakayram
Finnish:Kiitos paljo
French: Merci beaucoups
Gaelic: Go raibh maith agat
German:Danke schön
Greek:Evkaristo
Gujarati:Abhar
Hawaiian:Mahalo
Hebrew:Toda raba
Hindi: Shoukriah
Icelandic:Takk
Italian:Grazie
Japanese:Domo arigato
Korean: Kamsu hamnida
Laotian:Kob chie
Latvian:Paldies
Lithuanian:Attyu
Malay:Terima kasih
Mongolian:Vayarla
Norwegian:Tak
Pilipino (Tagalog):Salamat
Polish:Dziekuje bardzo
Portuguese:Obrigado
Romanian:Multimesk
Russian:Spasibo
Somali:Mahadsanid
Spanish:Muchas gracias
Swahili:Asante sana
Swedish:Tack
Thai:Kabkoon krup (man), Kabkoon ka (woman)
Turkish:tesekkurler ederim
Vietnamese:Cam ôn
Welsh:Diolch yn fawr
THANK YOU for reading this article!!
About the Author
K Mac lives and drives in southern california and is obsessed with traffic and traffic shortcuts – sharing them at
http://www.MYTRAFFICSHORTCUTS.com


Expand Your Career – Learn Russian!
50 Years ago you could tell your parents: “I want to learn Russian” and they would have cheered, “Our young’un is going to have an impressive career!” In those days, world politics were tense and speaking Russian was a sure fire way to land yourself a good job.
Then the Iron Curtain came down, and for years it seemed Russia was off the map, reduced to the backwaters of international politics. Business opportunities seemed less than marginal.
Nowadays, Russia is on the rise in many ways, most notably in the way business is picking up quite nicely there.
A Huge Economy – And Growing
Sure enough, Russia is still catching up with the western world. There are still symptoms of Communism that will take time to disappear. At the same time, the very same disappearance of Communism means that it is now a place where people are more than eager to take part in modern economic life.
Everybody with a bit of sense in them will realize that there are unlimited opportunities for investing in Russia and recent trends confirm this. Labor costs are low, so countless US corporations are off shoring production to the new Russian Federation. That means contracts have to be drawn up, export documents have to be made, and lots of board meetings have to take place. Everybody with a good brain for business and some rolling Ruski R’s can join in and do very well for themselves.
The only way for you to have a slice of that pie though, is if you first learn Russian.
You don’t want to live in Russia? Then you might still want to learn Russian. You can be sure that a US company with a branch in Russia can’t live without a fluent Russian speaker in their home office.
But if the idea of living in Russia does appeal to you, the number of career opportunities are endless, from being an English teacher all the way up to top rank lawyer or consultant.
It’s Not That Hard
I know it looks weird when you see Russian writing. But it also looks kind of similar, doesn’t it? In fact, Cyrillic script is only different from ours in a few ways. Most people learn to read it within two weeks, and some manage in three days with strong coffee and determination.
“Yeah, but it sounds so weird.” Sure does. The funny thing is, Russian pronunciation works pretty much the same way as Spanish pronunciation. So if half of the Southern States can speak Spanish, do you really think you couldn’t learn Russian? Of course you can.
There are numerous software programs on the market that make it easy for you, and with programs such as the ones offered by Language101.com, you can say hello in Russian within three minutes.
A New Universal Language?
Who knows, time will tell. But at this moment, there are over 170 MILLION people who speak Russian, and they all benefit from foreign business and investment. What’s more, Russian is one of the six official languages of the UN (United Nations).
What does this mean? It means very simply that you cannot go wrong if you learn Russian. Just think about it: You have endless opportunities in scoring a job in a wide array of fields if you learn Russian:
- Medicine
- Social Sciences
- Research
- Politics
- Journalism
- Military
- Relief agencies and NGO’s (Unicef, UN, Red Cross, CWS etc)
- Etc
One of the Richest Cultures in the World
For centuries, Russia has been a breeding ground for art and culture: Literature, classical music, ballet, painters… I promise: If you learn Russian, and entire world will open up to you. You can literally be reading for years.
The Internet Loves Russia
The sheer amount of books and audio you can find on the internet is stunning. As I said before: It’s a vast culture and its cultural and literary output is huge. All you need to do to access that and appreciate it in its original beauty, is learn Russian.
About the Author
Martin Stellar is a copywriter and marketing consultant. Martin’s patron will pay him to write a free custom article for your site. To request your free article click here.




Which is a better school in Japan?
I called the Geos Montreal and the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre of Montreal, asking for information for their courses Japanese. Both are very interesting, prices are good and I live near Montreal (Quebec). I basically do not know which to choose! Please help! Do not forget that I live in Canada, Montreal, Quebec. Peterson Is this in Canada too? Are the prices are as good as the other two I found? Oh does not matter Peterson thought it was a school! -_-
www.petersons.com addition, imagine there. Imagine the situation and their classes. If your still confused, make a real or virtual tour!


Are there any websites that can teach me to speak Danish fluently?
I have been longing to learn Danish. However, there aren’t any institutions around my area that can teach me Danish. Are there any websites than can do it for free? (I don’t feel comfortable paying online)
If they don’t have audio lessons and can only teach me to write in Danish that’s good as well.
Thanks,
Mary Anne.
Reply 1: I have somebody that I can speak to, once I pick up the basics. He’ll be willing to help. I’m asking for a website that teaches the basics. I have already been on Google and found no decent results.
Reply 2: I mentioned I wouldn’t like to buy things online due to my discomfort with using my Credit Cards online.
Thank you for the answers.
No, to attain fluency you will have to have long oral conversations with native speakers of Danish. However, you can get a good start on idioms, vocabulary, reading, writing and grammar from a website. If you google “learn Danish for free” you will find many choices.

Choosing The Most Ideal Russian Language Education Program For Your Style
Learning a new language is never easy. It does not matter how good a program you are using. Learning the language is going to take a great deal of time and dedication. If you learn Russian, doors will open to you that would have never opened to you before.
Knowing how to speak and read Russian will benefit your life in ways that you never imagined. This is especially true if you are involved in international business. Being able to speak Russian can actually increase the odds of you getting hired.
If you are serious about learning how to speak Russian you should check with your local community college and find out if they are offering a course in Russian. The advantage of learning the language this way is that you will also learn a bit about the Russian culture at the same time.
You will have an instructor who will teach about the correct use of grammar and the various parts of speech. Your grade in the class will help you determine how well you have learned the language.
Hiring the services of a private Russian tutor is an excellent way to learn everything there is to know about the Russian language. Private tutors not only know the language but they also very accomplished in it. The private tutor will be able to adjust their teaching style to suit your personal learning style. The biggest problem with the private tutor is usually the cost.
Some people find that they have the best results when they hire a private tutor to teach them Russian. The great thing about this is that the tutor is usually extremely adept at speaking Russian. The other perk is that they can create a program that best suits your personal learning style. The downside is cost as private language tutors can be very expensive, especially when compared to the cost of the language tapes. If you do choose a private tutor you will want to choose one that has a Russian accent and who is also very patient.
Your attitude plays a huge role in your ability to gain fluency in the Russian language. You need to approach the project with a “can do” attitude. The other thing that you have to remember is that it takes a great deal of time to really learn a language like Russian. Do not get discouraged when you aren’t fluid after just a few weeks of instruction.
About the Author
You’ll find that the decision to
learn Russian
is a great idea, but it is not going to be easy. If you are serious about learning Russian, you are going to have to prepare yourself to stick to your
languages course
, even when things get tough. When things get difficult, you need to take a deep breath, remind yourself to relax, and remind yourself that eventually you will be able to speak Russian fluently.