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10 Amazing facts about Romania

Romania has always been a unique country, starting with the fact that, even though surrounded by Slavic countries, people here speak a Romance language, quite similar to French or Portuguese. In addition, there are so many other peculiar yet fascinating aspects of Romania and its culture, that make this country worth a long visit if not a lifetime commitment.

Today’s blog entry celebrates Romania and its uniqueness. Let’s discover together 10 facts that will make you want to dig for more:

  1. Romanian is the only Romance language that prevailed in Eastern Europe.It’s still unclear how the Romanian language and most of its Latin roots survived in a territory invaded and occupied by Slavic and Uralic populations like the Hungarians, Turks and Bulgarians. However, Roman and Latin influences were so strong that Slavic populations managed only to affect, not transform the language.
  2. Timisoara, one of the biggest cities in Romania is the first city in the world to be illuminated using electricity.
  3. Nadia Comaneci, a Romanian gymnast, was the first in the world to get a perfect score – 10 – at the Olympics. This happened in 1976, in Montreal.
  4. Insulin was invented by a Romanian, Nicolae Păulescu. However, he failed to get a Nobel Prize for this massive discovery – instead, two Canadians got it for their studies of the hormone.
  5. Romania is the home of the so called “Merry Cemetery” in Săpânța, a tiny village in Northern Romania. All the tombstones there are colorful (as opposed to the somber ones that are traditional to Romanian cemeteries) and many also feature funny poems written about the deceased.
  6. The Danube Delta is Europe’s best preserved delta, but also the second largest on the continent, after the Volga Delta.
  7. Romania is the home of the tallest rock sculpture in Europe: King’s Decebal sculpted portrait near Orșova city, which is visible from the Danube river. It is 55 meters tall and 25 meters wide.
  8. Tarzan is Romanian! Well, not really, but the actor who played the original Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller, was born in Romania.
  9. The national coin is called Leu (Lion), which is curious because there was never a lion or anything related to a lion on the face of the coin (nor is the animal part of Romania’s fauna).
  10. Let’s end our list with a rather amusing fact. There is one city in Romania that will make most people – except for those living there – smile. This city is called Caracal and is (in)famous for a lot of funny things, as well as an endless source of jokes. Below are some of the funny things about Caracal, Romania:
  • The fire lookout tower in the city burnt down.
  • The main door of the police station was stolen.
  • The cemetery is on the Resurrection street.
  • The prison was located on Freedom Street (officially named “Iancu Jianu Street”, but referred to as “Freedom” or “Liberty” Street by the locals).
  • They have only one school, named School no. 2.

I hope you enjoyed these fun facts about Romania. Don’t forget to add this beautiful country to your travel wish list!

Article by Lavinia Marcu

Source.

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Talking about Love like an Italian

Italians’ love of life is legendary. You can feel it by tasting their amazing food, listening to their music, and, most importantly, by listening to their beautiful and expressive language, always supported by the world’s most famous body language.

Today’s blog entry tackles the way Italians see love, by having a look at the language they use to talk about it. So let’s explore love through the eyes of the Italian people:

Flirting

Italians have a reputation for being flirty, so these Italian idioms and phrases could well come in handy if you’re navigating or observing the Italian dating scene.

There are a few different terms for flirting: the reflexive verb ‘provarci‘ (roughly ‘to try it on with’), the phrasal verb ‘fare il filo a‘ or ‘corteggiare‘ (literally ‘to court’) are more formal alternatives, or you can use the Anglicism ‘flirtare‘, or ‘civettare‘, though the latter is generally restricted to women.

‘Una civetta‘, in literal translation, owl, is used to describe a flirty woman, whereas the masculine is ‘un donnaiolo‘, or its more dramatic term ‘un cascamorto‘, which comes from the term ‘cascare morto‘ (to fall down dead), describing a man who is flirting, usually in an over-the-top way, with someone.

However, if the object of one’s affections is not convinced or enjoys the chase, what they do is ‘fare il prezioso/la preziosa‘ (literally ‘being precious’ or  ‘playing hard to get’).

Dating

A date is generally ‘un appuntamento‘, but this is a rather general term, it does not necessarily mean a romantic date. If you’re having a first date, use  ‘ho un (primo) appuntamento con un ragazzo/una ragazza‘. However, if this person proves to be right for you, you’ll move on to steady dating: ‘sto uscendo con qualcuno‘ or ‘mi sto vedendo qualcuno‘ (I’m going out with/seeing someone). A blind date is  ‘un appuntamento al buio‘( date in the dark).

Falling in love

The early stages of love can be easily described by saying‘mi piace qualcuno‘ (I like someone). If you want to make sure you express having a romantic interest in somebody, you can say ‘mi sono presa una cotta per qualcuno‘ (I have a crush on someone) or, even stronger, ‘mi sono innamorarto/a in qualcuno‘ (I have fallen in love with someone). Be a bit more dramatic with ‘sono pazzo/a per lui/lei‘ means ‘I’m crazy about him/her’.

‘Ti amo‘ or ‘ti adoro‘ are more emphatically ‘I love/adore you’, while if you’re letting someone down gently, you might say ‘ti voglio bene‘ (I like you a lot), which is generally reserved for platonic love.

While talking about your loved one, feel free to say ‘amore‘ (love) and ‘tesoro‘ (treasure), but there are plenty of more evocative alternatives, from ‘patatina‘ (little potato) to ‘cucciolotto‘ (little puppy).  Add a suffix to the name of your loved one to show affection, so a ‘Antonio’ could become ‘Antonino’.

Armed with all this love vocabulary, always keep in mind that for Italians: ‘L’amore domina senza regole’ (Love rules without rules)! However, learning Italian involves learning its rules, so book your first course!

Article by Lavinia Marcu

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Dicționare de expresii în limba engleză

Dicționarul de expresii în limba engleză (sau altă limbă studiată) este un ghid foarte util pentru studiul limbii. Expresiile englezești sunt prezentate în ordine alfabetică, împreună cu traducerea lor în română. Unele au ediție bilingvă și au, în a doua jumătate a cărții, expresii românești (în ordine alfabetică) și traducerea lor în engleză.

Unele expresii sunt ușor de înțeles chiar fără să le fi auzit anterior („above-board” înseamnă deschis, sincer, cu cărțile pe față). Multe redau exprimări foarte asemănătoare unor expresii românești (add fuel to the fire = a pune paie sau gaz pe foc). Aproape că am găsi singuri traducerea potrivită sau un proverb românesc cu care să echivalăm expresia din engleză.

Alte expresii din aceste liste au o semnificație neașteptată, imposibil de ghicit, iar acestea pot fi doar învățate pe de rost. De exemplu, „according to Cocker” înseamnă „după toate regulile artei, ca la carte”.

Pe parcursul atâtor pagini apar, desigur, foarte multe expresii. Este imposibil să le memorăm pe toate. Însă a achiziționa și a avea la îndemână un dicționar cu expresii este important pentru fiecare student sau cursant. Un asemenea ghid accelerează procesul de învățare și, desigur, ne ajută să înțelegem ce auzim sau citim. Aceste expresii cu formă fixă, odată învățate, pot fi folosite într-o multitudine de situații.

A studia cuvintele noi într-un anumit context este indicat – astfel sunt reținute mai ușor. Iar când cuvintele sunt cunoscute, atenția poate fi îndreptată spre prepoziția folosită, care de multe ori diferă în română (work towards something = a ținti să realizeze ceva). Pe de altă parte, un cuvânt cunoscut (weigh, a cântări), poate fi ușor înțeles în unele expresii (weigh one’s words = a-și cântări cuvintele, a-și cântări bine cuvintele) sau deloc în altele (weigh anchor = a ridica ancora sau a pleca, a o lua din loc). Unele cuvinte au foarte multe expresii în care pot fi folosite: wear, a purta, apare într-o sumedenie de contexte (wear the stripes/dungi = a sta la închisoare, la răcoare; wear well = a fi durabil; wear oneself to a shadow = a slăbi, a ajunge ca o umbră).

Când dorim să exprimăm ceva anume, ne trebuie neapărat expresia din limba țintă (cu chiu cu vai = with moil and turmoil). Există, de asemenea, expresii „culturale”, care se referă la cultura ce ține de limba pe care o studiem (within the four seas = în Anglia). „When Queen Ann was alive”… Poate nici nu știm când a trăit regina Ann, însă putem adapta: „pe vremea lui Pazvante”.

Unele expresii englezești sunt mai elegante sau mai puțin violente/vulgare decât în română (why in thunder? = de ce naiba?). Alteori apar comparații diferite de cele din limba română (weak as a kitten = fără putere).

Într-un context educațional profesional, cum sunt cursurile oferite de Lektor, aceste expresii utile sunt învățate gradual, la fiecare nivel de studiu adăugându-se unele noi. Este important a le înțelege în context, unele fiind informale, dar și din punct de vedere cultural. Expresiile folosite frecvent ne ajută să vorbit natural cu vorbitorii nativi. Pe cont propriu, se poate învăța de exemplu o expresie pe zi, ceea ce îmbogățește suficient de repede vocabularul.

Spor la studiu!

Article by Nadia Esslim

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Stories Behind Words

Etymology traces the origin of words. It is a fascinating field of linguistics, which can assist in the comprehension of language. Some people are passionate about it, and there is even a word for a “lover of words” (logophile). Martin Heidegger (a 20th-century German philosopher) was one. He considered etymology a very important field, a vital one for communication and understanding skills.

Languages evolve, and in time new words are incorporated into our vocabulary. Some old words become obsolete and are even forgotten, or they get new meanings as time passes by.

Here are a few examples of words with an interesting initial meaning.

Palace comes from “Palatium” (the Palatine Hill) in Latin, where the emperor used to have his residence. In time, this word was used to refer to the residence rather than the hill as such.

Avocado is a highly popular fruit nowadays, mainly due to its excellent nutrition facts. The word comes from an Aztec word (ahuacatl), which means testicle.

Sarcasm comes from the Greek word “sarkazein” (literally “to cut or tear flesh”). Its origin reveals the pain caused when using sarcasm in a conversation, so we could all avoid it when talking to the others. Even “disaster” comes from a Greek word. We can spot the word “aster”/star and the negative “dis”, which leads to its definition: “unfavourable conditions of the stars”/ill-starred or ill-fated. Ostrich comes from Late Latin (struthio), from Old Greek “strouthion” (from “strouthos megale” = big sparrow). The Greeks also called it “strouthokamelos” (camel-sparrow), for its long neck.

Jumbo was an elephant in the 1880s, and its name came from the Swahili word for “hello” (jambo). That’s why jumbo means “very large”. The word “penguin” comes from Welsh (pen/head and gwyn/white).

“Robota” is a Czech word, and it means “forced labour” – a sort of slavery. Hence the word “robot”. “Clud” meant “rock” in Old English, hence the word “cloud”. Some clouds do look like heavy stones in the sky.

Whiskey is a short form of the Old English “usquebae”, made of two Gaelic words (uisce/water and bethu/life). So it literally means “water of life”. Salad (= “salted”) comes from “herba salata”, which means “salted herbs” in Latin.

John Montagu was an Earl of Sandwich, who was passionate about playing cards and used to have some food between two slices of bread. Thus, he could keep playing and eat without getting his hands (and cards) dirty. The others would order “the same as Sandwich”. Hence the word “sandwich”.

You can read about the etymology of a few words on this page: https://factsc.com/origins-of-words/ 

Number 10 on the link above explains the word “nice”, which comes the Latin word “nescius” and used to mean ignorant or stupid. “It was in the 14th century that it began being used to define clothing or conduct that was very luxurious.”

Sahara means desert in Arabic, so “Sahara desert” means “desert desert”. Quite pleonastic, we should say. Gobi means “waterless place”/desert in Mongolian. So “Gobi desert” means, literally, “desert desert”. Again, a pleonasm.  

Translation is so important when it comes to official documents and literature. Did you know? “Translation” originally referred to the practice of exhuming a saint and moving their body elsewhere. The way we do with texts now.

There are plenty of dictionaries that explain the origin and meaning of words (The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, for example, or the Online Etymology Dictionary). Have fun with them! Words are definitely worth-exploring. Ordinary words can have extraordinary meanings to them.

Article by Nadia Esslim

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Study Passionately (Japanese Style)

There is a profound concept in Japanese, and its Kanji reveals valuable connotations for us learners. “Passion” (nesshin) is written in Kanji as 熱心.This word means zeal, enthusiasm, fervour, ardour, openness and availability, determination (in the sense of being firm), and seriousness. All of these mental attitudes surface easily when we are passionate about a field, in our case the study of foreign languages. And so we could approach our study passionately, with everything else that this Japanese word implies: enthusiasm, seriousness, determination, openness, zeal.

On the other hand, apart from the beautiful and profound connotations of this concept, its writing in Kanji contains two parts, 熱 and 心. The first part, 熱 (netsu), means heat and (high) temperature. The latter, 心 (kokoro), means both heart and mind. In Japanese, all the inner activity (cognitive, emotional and spiritual) is defined by one single word, whereas in Romanian we have several words: inimă/heart, minte/mind, suflet/soul, spirit.

This interpretation of the word “nesshin” is nowhere to find, yet by placing the two Kanji next to each other we do obtain a sort of definition for “passion”: being passionate means having some intense heat in the heart and/or mind. This word can really inspire and bring us much joy to study passionately.

In Romanian (and English), the word “pasiune”/passion comes from Latin, from the verb “patior” (to suffer, to endure). The Cartesian notion of passion motivates us to a lesser extent to study passionately. Whereas the Japanese word and especially the way it is written can change our perspective and offer us an impulse to study more eagerly and, at the same time, with determination and seriousness.  

Continuous practice is important for progress, and the time invested in studying foreign languages nears us to fluency. Apart from the professional benefits, knowing other languages enriches us. “Learning a language does not mean to learn different words for the same things, but to learn another way of thinking about thinks”, as Flora Lewis said.

Placing two or more Kanji next to each other is common in Japanese, and the “etymological” understanding of the meaning of the Kanji used offers added meaning to the final word. “To study”, for instance, is 勉強する (benkyoo suru, “to do + study”). The noun “study” (benkyoo) is formed by using two Kanji. The latter (強 tsuyo) means power. And study makes us more powerful, indeed. Mentally, with better memory, academic and financial satisfaction, and even an improvement of the vocabulary in the mother tongue.

All these benefits motivate us to study foreign languages passionately (= with “heat/love in the heart”), with pleasure and enthusiasm. I wish you to find much inspiration in these two Japanese words. They do study much, and that helps them become even more efficient and creative. Do your best! (Ganbatte ne!)

Article and photo by Nadia Esslim

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Informații interesante despre limba portugheză

Limba portugheză este pe locul 6 în topul celor mai vorbite limbi din lume, fiind folosită în 9 țări din diferite continente (Portugalia și insulele portugheze Madeira și Azore, Brazilia, Mozambic, Angola, Guineea-Bissau, Timorul de Est, Guineea Ecuatorială, Republica Capului Verde, Republica Democrată São Tomé și Príncipe). În plus, este limba oficială în Macao. Portugheză se vorbește și în Goa (India), precum și în Sri Lanka. Există comunități mari de vorbitori de portugheză și în unele state din SUA.

De fapt, doar 5% dintre vorbitori locuiesc în Portugalia, ceea ce este un record între limbile cu vorbitori mai numeroși în afara țării de origine. Fiind vorbită pe patru continente, UNESCO consideră că limba portugheză are potențial pentru a fi o „limbă de comunicare internațională”.

Portugheza vorbită în Brazilia este puțin diferită. De exemplu, pentru pronumele „tu” și „voi” folosesc tu și vós în Portugalia, în timp ce în Brazilia sunt folosite você and vocês. În portugheza vorbită în Brazilia există termeni din portugheza secolelor al XVIII-lea și al XIX-lea. Você, de exemplu, cu toate că este un termen mai puțin formal, vine din salutul vossa mercê (domnia ta/voastră). În plus, pronunția este diferită în cele două țări.

Portugheza este asemănătoare limbii spaniole. Însă rădăcinile sale sunt în Galicia (după Gallaecia Romana), o regiune în nordul Portugaliei și nord-vestul Spaniei cu o comunitate autonomă. Aici se vorbește galego sau galiciană. Vorbitorii de portugheză și galiciană se înțeleg bine între ei.

Până în anul 2009, existau doar 23 de litere în alfabetul portughez. Apoi au fost introduse literele K, W și Y pentru cuvinte împrumutate din limbi străine, mai ales din engleză. Până recent aceste litere au fost inutile: „kilogram”, de exemplu, se scrie quilograma.

În secolul al VIII-lea, Portugalia și Spania au fost cucerite de mauri din nordul Africii și Orientul Mijlociu (până la Reconquista din secolul al XIII-lea), astfel încât limba arabă a influențat puternic limba portugheză. Multe cuvinte uzuale sunt de origine arabă: garrafa/sticlă, almofada/pernă, azeitona/măslină. În afară de limba arabă, portugheza a mai împrumutat cuvinte din italiană, franceză și engleză.

Unele cuvinte portugheze au intrat, la rândul lor, în limba română și/sau engleză: cobra, flamingo, peștele piranha, fetiș (feitiço = farmece, vrăjitorie), embarrass (embaraçar = a lega noduri), cocteilul caipirinha.  

La fel ca în limba spaniolă, în portugheză există două verbe care înseamnă „a fi”: ser (permanent) și estar (situații temporare precum stările sufletești sau vremea). Pentru „a fi căsătorit” ei folosesc ser casado, considerând căsătoria ceva permanent, neschimbător. În alte cazuri expresiile trebuie reținute pe de rost. De exemplu, estar morto (a fi mort) și ser morto (a fi ucis).

A cunoaște limba portugheză poate fi util și interesant. Este predată obligatoriu în Uruguay și opțional în diferite țări din America și Africa.  Alte informații puteți găsi în cartea Portuguese for Dummies scrisă de Karen Keller.

Article and photo by Nadia Esslim

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How to Survive Online School-A Parent’s Guide

The switch from brick and mortar classrooms to online instruction has proved a challenge for teachers, students and parents as well. On one hand, the teachers faced a situation they have never prepared for: having to adjust almost overnight to a system that has a totally different set of rules than face-to-face teaching, an overwhelming amount of new technologies each with its own requirements and a huge responsibility to provide quality instruction in a totally new environment. On the other hand, the students were left without one of their greatest joys: socializing with their peers and found themselves alone in front of a screen, with little adult supervision and plenty of distractions. However, not a lot of thought was put into the struggles parents have to face during this challenging time.

Today’s blog entry aims to provide some tips for parents on how to survive (and succeed at) virtual learning.

  1. Make sure your child has everything they need, in terms of technology. This does not mean a top-of-the range laptop or sophisticated gadgets. However, it is worth investing in a good quality head set, which would help your child hear well and be well heard during online classes. This will provide both your child and their teacher with a good communication channel, thus avoiding frustration from any part. You might as well consider upgrading your internet package, even if for a limited period of time.
  2. Get rid of distractors, unless you want to supervise your child throughout the whole online school day. Even though we love and trust our children, we should be aware that at no time online school is more appealing than video games or their favourite book or toy. So get rid of all the things that could grab their attentions and ruin their focus.
  3. Make sure they have all the materials they need readily available. This mostly means pen and paper, but also other things required by their teachers.
  4. Foster technological independence. Spend a few minutes showing your child how to access the technology needed to attend the online classes and to solve minor issues that might occur. This is more effective than having to intervene every time they are unable to unmute their microphone or access a file. However, be close by in case of emergencies.
  5. Maintain a schedule. Probably one of the hardest part of switching to distance learning is going to be the schedule. Kids no longer have to get up early for a commute to school. They’re at home which means they can get up and leave the room at any time. A lunch break may drag on for over an hour. At school, children are stuck with a very strict schedule. It’s up to you, as their parent, to make sure their virtual learning schedule is just as strict. While they don’t need to wake up super early for a commute, they still need to get up on time and ready for their first class. Any and all breaks should be timed for between classes, not during.
  6. Encourage social interaction. Without a physical classroom, your child is having less social interaction with their peers. One way to do this is through “playdates” online. Speak with the parents of your child’s friends and work out a time for them to all meet on a video chat, or give your teen an extra hour to chat with their friends. While they may not be able to actually meet up, they can still communicate with one another and stay connected.
  7. Stay involved. Keep constant contact with your children’s teachers and don’t hesitate to ask questions about your child’s progress or behavior. Remember that this is a challenging time for educators as well, so try to help by making sure your child has the best learning conditions, is punctual and does their assignments.

Article by Lavinia Marcu

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Amusing Expressions in Romanian

There are many hilarious expressions in Romanian that make little sense when translated literally. And some of them are hard to translate. So here are a few of them.

For instance, “i-a picat fața” (her/his face has fallen off). When something is surprising or shocking, that situation could be, at the very most, jaw-dropping. “Face-dropping” is a tall story.

“A scoate din pepeni” (literally “take someone out of their melons or watermelons”) means “to drive them nuts”. A variation to this phrase is “a scoate din sărite”.

“A i se lua o piatră de pe inimă” (have a stone taken away from the top of one’s heart) means “to take a load from one’s mind”.

“To feel guilty” can be expressed with the phrase “a se simți cu musca pe căciulă” – “to feel the fly on one’s cap or hat”. While difficult to track back the origins of such expressions, they are funny and come handy in certain circumstances. They are quite used in daily conversations.

When you want to tell someone “leave me alone”, you can use the illogical expression “plimbă ursul” (walk the bear). But then, the bear is the national animal and so a common word to use, probably… Just joking. Which, by the way, can be translated as “a vorbi în doi peri”. Literally, “to talk in two pear trees” or “to talk in two hairs” (= talk nonsense).

This nonsense reminds me of “a avea pitici pe creier” (have dwarfs on one’s brain). It means “to be crazy”. The Romanian phrase for it is a crazy thing to say in itself.

When you scold someone, you “make them with egg and vinegar” (a face cu ou și cu oțet). It can get weirder than that: “to make a calendar out of someone’s head” (a face capul calendar) means to confuse them.

To step on a lightbulb (a călca pe bec) means to break a rule. Or “a o face de oaie” (to do it… sheep-like), to make a mistake.

A avea ac de cojocul cuiva (to have a needle for someone’s coat) means to know what to do to take revenge and get back at somebody.

“To sell donuts” (a vinde gogoși) sounds nice. Yet, it means to lie.

Languages have funny ways of expressing certain ideas and feelings, especially when translated word by word. And beyond fully understanding some expressions, maybe we can only learn them by heart. Peoples’ imagination is always rich. 

You can find plenty of other expressions here:

https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%C4%83_de_expresii_rom%C3%A2ne%C8%99ti
https://vorbeste-romaneste.ro/expresie/a-plange-cu-lacrimi-de-crocodil

Article and photo by Nadia Esslim

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Vocabular culinar japonez de toamnă

Japonezii marchează trecerea anotimpurilor prin folosirea altor culori și obiecte. De asemenea, felurile de mâncare se schimbă mult în fiecare anotimp. Chiar și în poeziile lor scurte, haiku, trebuie să apară și un cuvânt care se referă la anotimp (kigo, „cuvânt de sezon”).

Toamna este „un anotimp pentru apetit mare”, spune un proverb japonez. Mâncărurile de sezon sunt delicioase și multe persoane vizitează Japonia pentru turism culinar autumnal.

Un simbol al toamnei și mai ales al lunii noiembrie este un fruct portocaliu care seamănă cu roșia și se găsește la noi cu numele Sharon. În japoneză, acest fruct se numește kaki. Se consumă în context elegant cu lingurița. Se face și dulceață din acest fruct. Este foarte popular să fie uscat și consumat spre începutul primăverii cu ceai, în loc de desert, pentru că prin uscare devine foarte dulce. Kaki apare imprimate de fețe de masă și șervețele de toamnă.

Ca și la noi, apar ciuperci de toamnă. Cele mai cunoscute sunt matsutake, ciuperci care cresc pe pini. Se consumă cu orez sau în supă, de exemplu.

Cartofii dulci (yakiimo) sunt preparați în aburi sau la cuptor. Uneori se servesc cu sare și piper. Sunt folosiți în prăjituri, plăcințele în formă de pește (taiyaki) și băuturi răcoritoare.

Castanele (kuri) sunt foarte iubite în Japonia. Când apar în deserturi, japonezii folosesc adesea cuvântul francez pentru castană, marron. Castanele se consumă cu orez sau într-un fel de plăcinte care se numesc kuri-manju.

Dovleacul (kabocha) este consumat în diferite rețete, la micul dejun sau făcut pane (kabocha korokke). Se prepară și budincă de dovleac.

Pentru că începe sezonul rece, încep să apară supele numite „nabe”, populare și iarna. Se pun diferite ingrediente la fiert (ciuperci, varză, ridiche).

Orezul este proaspăt recoltat și în perioada septembrie-decembrie se numește shinmai (orez nou/proaspăt). Se consumă cu plăcere în serile reci, împreună cu sâmburi de ginkgo biloba, castane sau ciuperci – acestea fiind arome considerate subtile și savurate toamna.

Sâmburii de ginkgo biloba (ginnan) sunt foarte apreciați toamna, ca gustare pentru sake sau în diferite rețete. Băutura japoneză sake (sau nihonshu) are două variante cunoscute de toamnă: hiyaoroshi și akiagari (pasteurizat a doua oară).

Ghimbirul japonez este diferit ca formă, gust și culoare. Se numește myoga și este mai puțin condimentat, puțin mai dulce decât ghimbirul pe care îl știm noi. Toamna este recoltată o varietate numită aki-myoga (aki = toamnă). Se servește cu tofu (hiyayakko) în felii subțiri, crude. De asemenea, se pune în supa miso, se consumă murat sau în salate. Se pune și în deserturi (în myoga-mochi sau myoga manju).

Yamaimo este un cartof foarte lung (yama = munte, imo = cartof) recoltat și consumat toamna în Japonia. Când este dat pe răzătoare se obține o pastă lipicioasă care se consumă crudă (tororo) pe orez sau tăiței. Tăiat în felii, se poate găti pane sau la cuptor.

Toamna este un sezon ideal de vizitat Japonia, pentru mâncare de sezon și peisajele colorate de frunzele roșii (momiji). Este la fel de popular ca sakura (flori de cireș) primăvara, având avantajul aromelor de toamnă.

Ne putem bucura și noi de peisajele și ingredientele locale specifice toamnei. Iar în zilele răcoroase, când stăm acasă, ne putem distra învățând limbi străine.

Article and photo by Nadia Esslim

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Interesting Facts about the Romanian Language

Romania is surrounded by Slavic-speaking countries. Yet, Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Slavic roots represent only about 10% of the vocabulary. Other influences in the language come from Turkish, German and Bulgarian.

Romanian is spoken in the Republic of Moldova, too. That is because the Moldovan territory (Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina), Romanian territory, became part of the Soviet Union in 1940 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldova). It gained its independence in 1991. Still, Romanian has remained the national language.

About 24 million people speak it as a native language, and 4 million people speak it as a second language. (https://www.silverbaytrans.com/post/5-interesting-facts-about-the-romanian-language)

Romanian is easy to read or pronounce, since it is a phonetic language. The words are pronounced exactly as they are spelt. There are only five “special” letters, two consonants (ș pronounced “sh” and ț pronounced “ts”) and three vowels: ă (pronounced as the indefinite article “a” in English), as well as “â and î” (both pronounced as the vowel in the last syllable of the English word “modern”).

Romanian also has a dialect called Aromanian (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromanian_language).

Among the very few Romanian words in English there is hora (a circle dance in the Balkans). Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Romanian_origin

You can find interesting facts about Romania here: https://www.romaniatourism.net/culture-history/36-interesting-facts-romania For instance, the name of the country (Romania) and the language (Romanian) comes from the Latin word “Romanus”, which means “citizen of the Roman Empire”. Since it has the same root as Rome, the capital city of Italy, you will find it easy to study Romanian especially when you speak Italian.

In the 10th-12th century, Slavic alphabet replaced the Latin one (https://www.historia.ro/sectiune/general/articol/cat-de-vechi-este-scrisul-in-limba-romana), and the oldest writing in Romanian is considered to be a letter in 1521 (https://radioromaniacultural.ro/cele-mai-vechi-scrieri-in-limba-romana/).

More than 100,000 foreigners live in Romania, and studying the language is increasingly encouraged and promoted. You may want to give it a try, too.

Article by Nadia Esslim