Das Leben Ist So Hart Wie Eine Latte.

Life is as hard as a  ____*.

*Latte is German slang for boner.

das schmeckt wie mist* 

that tastes like mist**

or

that tastes like manure

**Mist is a softdrink in English.

*Mist means manure in German.

ella es mensa*

she is mensa**

**mensa in english = a club for people with high IQ

*mensa in spanish = dumb (feminine form)

elle est cher* (french)

she is cher 

or

she is expensive (english)

*cher means expensive in french, though technically for a woman one would spell it chère.

¿Campaña secreta contra los hispanos en Washington DC?

Secret campaign against Hispanics in Washington DC?

No dumping = No botar

No votar = ¡No voting!

Damn girl, that ice, she FINE!

En español…ice, she is masculino. “El hielo es fino.” This sign make her feminine. ¡Que fina que está!

Foto tomada en Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Mexican singer Yuri made the Spanish version famous, but versions of the song exist in at least 7 languages. Here are versions in Spanish, Finnish, Italian (the original), Dutch, German, Czech and Croatian.

The Monkees - Daydream Believer (Soñando Despierto)

Cheer up sleepy Jean! Alegrate “Juana Dormilona”!

The number of kisses given in greeting in Brazil differ from state to state. This map summarizes the variety in kissing customs in Brazil. Found on http://www.transparent.com/portuguese/brazilian-habits-kisses/

whatdutchsay:

Als de potvis in de pispot pist, heb je een pispot vol met potvis pis - When the whale pees in the potty, you have a potty full whale of piss. 

This is a fun tongue-twister in dutch. 

Chocolate in 14 languages.

1. Nahuatl, language of the Aztecs

2. English, Spanish, Portuguese

3. Hindi (pronounced “chaak-late”)

4. Swedish

5. Dutch

6. Catalan

7. Italian

8. French

9. German

10. Greek

11. Arabic (pronounced “shocolata”)

12. Hebrew

Raising a bilingual child can add some funny lines to rhymes. Our son, 21 months old toddler Surya is learning Tamil (a south Indian language and his mother tongue) and English. We were surprised when he substituted the English word for water with the Tamil word without any hesitation and gave us a mischievous grin.

So here goes the rhyme

Me: Jack and Jill went up a

Surya: Hill

Me: To fetch a pail of

Surya: Thanni (water in Tamil)

We laughed our heads off.

I think it is wonderful to have kids pick up as many different languages as they can (without forcing it on them of course). It opens their eyes to different languages and different cultures, enabling them to adjust better. I hope to help Surya learn many more languages.

*********

நன்றி - Nandri! Thank you for your submission.

Leningrad Cowboys - Those were the days

This popular Russian song is one of the most widely covered songs in the world, with versions in English, Finnish, Turkish, French, Spanish, Italian and many other languages on top of the original Russian.

This version is by Finnish band Leningrad Cowboys, in English, with some snippets of French and Russian.