A Donkey’s Bridge to Remembering Language
You’ve just arrived in a brand new part of the world and it’s all incredibly exciting. You’ve remembered to get all your jabs, pack more than two pairs of underwear and your passport is somewhere safe (you can’t quite remember where that place is, but probably in that pouch thingy your mum gave you, stuffed down the front of your elephant pants). You’re ready to explore this new and exotic place all guns blazing – but when you try and find the bus stop you realize you’ve missed something.
Everyone is making these weird sounds, all the signs are in squiggly lines and you can’t for the life of you figure out where to get the bus to somewhere to sleep, let alone ask someone and understand what they are saying. To you, it’s all Chinese. Which it probably is if you’ve come to China (unless you already speak Mandarin, and it’s plain sailing).
Language barriers can be a bit of a struggle, but overcoming them is an amazing way of breaking the ice, especially when you make mistakes the locals are likely to find hilarious, and boom – you have yourself a new best friend for life. Whilst learning every language on the planet can be tempting to some and a living nightmare to others, there are certain little tricks you can use to help you along the way.
The German’s call the Eselsbrücken – or Donkey Bridges. Simple things that help the stubborn, donkey-like learning centre in your adult brain remember things it would have soaked up and stored in seconds for lifelong use when you were a kid. Back in the day, you read a word and it was stored automatically. Cat became gato, dog became inu, or vacuum cleaner pipe became stopsoucherslough, or whatever.
Now though, it helps to remember simple courtesies and random words by remembering what they sound like in your own language. With a little imagination, the Russian word for dog, ‘sabaka’, almost sounds something like the English phrase ‘It’s a barker’. Handy, huh?
You’ll be surprised what doors open, what new friends are made and how much a little bit of local lingo can smooth your path in this exciting world. So here you have it, dear reader, a non-extensive list of donkey’s bridges for useful words, the language they are in, and what they sound like in English. Enjoy!
German
Feel and dunk
Sounds a bit like: Vielen Dank
Meaning: Thank you very much
Goo 10 tag
Sounds a bit like: Guten Tag
Meaning: Good afternoon
Spanish
Grassy arse
Sounds a bit like: Gracias
Meaning: Thank you
Kettle (overpronounce the last e as an a)
Sounds a bit like: Que tal?
Meaning: How are you?/ How’s it going?
Portuguese
To do bong
Sounds a bit like: Todo bom?
Meaning: How are you?/ How’s it going?
Oi!
Sounds a bit like: Oi!
Meaning: Hello!
Russian
Ya table – loo blue
Sounds a bit like: Ya tebya lyublyu
Meaning: I love you
Horror show
Sounds a bit like: Harasho
Meaning: Good, fine, ok
River
Sounds a bit like: Riba
Meaning: Fish
Japanese
Don’t touch my moustache
Sounds a bit like: Doitashimashite
Meaning: You’re welcome (said in reply to ‘thank you’)
Eat a ducky, mass
Sounds a bit like: Itadakimas
Meaning: Something like ‘bon appetite’ (said before a meal)
Gucci sauce on my desktop
Sounds a bit like: Gochisosamadeshta
Meaning: Thanks for a great meal (said after a meal – this one will impress!)
Chinese (Mandarin)
War eye knee
Sounds a bit like: Wo Ai Ni
Meaning: I love you
Vietnamese
Come on!
Sounds a bit like: Kah moonh
Meaning: Thank you
Come car seat
Sounds a bit like: Com Kasi
Meaning: No problem
Indonesian Bahasa
Tear out my car seat
Sounds a bit like: Terimakasi
Meaning: Thank you
Summer Summer
Sounds a bit like: Sama sama
Meaning: You’re welcome (said in reply to ‘thank you’)
Hat-y Hat-y
Sounds a bit like: Hati-Hati
Meaning: Be careful/ caution