Travel question for 2023: Can I learn the language?

As the end of the year approaches, and we think of Things We’ll Do (or not) in the new year. Travel is often on the list. That place we always wanted to see or want to revisit. Soon we remember that a new destination may mean new words to learn: How will we say Please, Thank You, I’m Lost? 
When selecting that next destination, you may want to consider the degree of difficulty you, if you are a native English speaker, may discover with trying to learn that new language.
 
In a 2019 AFAR magazine article writer Meredith Heil interviewed linguist Hannah McElgunn. She pointed out that languages that are related may be easier to group. How they are they related? Two ways: “One is through genealogical relation, when two languages descend from a common language historically. Another is through contact, or vocabulary borrowing.” Is the language similar to yours?

 Another major point to consider is how does the language sound? “It will be much harder to speak and understand a language with sounds that aren’t used in English because the distinctions between words won’t sound pronounced to learners McElgunn says. Lithuanian, for example, has a 32-letter alphabet and 52 different phonemes (distinguishing sounds)—many of which lie outside of English’s 26-letter span.” 

Check out all the ways that the language at your destination will be similar or different to your own. Take on the challenge of learning to say Please, Thank you, I’m Lost wherever travel takes you.

Is 10:00 am for Me Midnight for You?

Months ago, I wrote a blog post about how to find time for meetings that involve people in different time zones.    Today, I’m writing about that same subject because it presents a challenge for many people.

In the last two weeks I’ve had to schedule zoom meetings with colleagues in London, Berlin, Washington, DC, Tokyo and Los Angeles. As usual the question was what times would be practical for everyone? – making sure no one has to jump on a call at 6 am or midnight their time?    LA – easy, I’m in California too.  Same time zone.  For the other places there’s still the question – how to be sure that asking for a meeting at 10:00 am was a reasonable time for call someplace else. 

 

My answer is still the same:  go to the Meeting Planner page on the site Time and Date.   

 Meeting Planner link

Thanks to their pull-down list of cities around the world I can quickly find the ones where my colleagues are located, fill in the date and in a flash, it tells me that my 10 am is 1 pm in Washington, DC and 3 am in Tokyo.  Need compare the times (and days) 1 city, or many that’s easy too.  Just add more cities to your list.  

 

As we expand our reach beyond our local time zone, this site makes it easy to know what time to suggest for a meeting across the world.   People will appreciate that you pay attention to what works for them too. 

 

 

The Global Connectedness Index

 

DHL, is and American company that is a division of a German logistics company (we could call it a global enterprise)  that specializes in international shipping, courier services and transportation.  They deliver over a billion parcels a year.  As a resident of California when I think of DHL, I think of bright yellow trucks with a red logo zipping through traffic wherever I am.

 

Only recently did I discover the DHL Global Connectedness Index (GCI) is developed with the NYU/Stern School of Business. (GCI)  This report, although new to me, has been in existence for over ten years.  According to its introduction the GCI offers “a thorough examination of the state of globalization based on analysis of trade, capital, information, and people flows at the global, regional, and national levels. Each issue builds on the previous report as well as decades of globalization research.”

Interested in what they have to say in the 2021 update?   Find the information using this  link to their  Key Take Aways:  Ten Take Aways     Dive into the report and discover why they are optimistic about globalization overall even though they see vulnerabilities that need to be addressed.   I’m already looking forward to seeing what the 2022 report tells us.

Sweet or Savory, Round or Long – Food to Bring Luck to Your New Year.

 

 

A friend of mine reminded me that I should eat lucky foods to start the New Year.  Lucky food for a new year?  Really?  Turns out yes, there are many traditional foods thought to bring prosperity, good health, good luck to a new year.  When I saw donuts on the list, I was excited and decided to rethink my shopping plans.  Here’s the list she sent me:

 

 

 

1.  Black eye peas

2.  Cabbage - kimchi

3.  Cake  (something about round foods being especially lucky)

4.  Fish

5.  Grapes  (not just one, eat 12 of them)

6.  Greens: collard greens, kale, spinach, mesclun salad

7.  Lentils

8.  Noodles  (preferable long ones)

9.   Pomegranates (the Greeks smash them rather than eating them)

10. Pork (for prosperity)

11. Ring shaped foods – donuts  (the sweet unbroken circle of life)

 

To learn more about these lucky foods (and to find out about three more) read Katlyn Moncada’s article “14 Foods to eat for a Prosperous New Year”  https://www.bhg.com/holidays/new-years/recipes/new-years-lucky-foods

 

Wishing you a Happy, Prosperous, Lucky New Year.

 

 

Which Country is Most Innovative?

 

The Global Innovation Index 2021, the 14^th edition of the index ,was recently released by the World Intellectual Property Organization. (https://www.wipo.int).  It’s  unique because it covers the time when Covid-19 impacted all economies.  Daren Tang, the Director General, noted that in his introductory remarks:  This year’s edition is being released in the middle of a continuing COVID-19 pandemic, which has taken a grim toll on lives and livelihoods, but also given us many examples of human ingenuity, resilience and adaptability. Indeed, the GII 2021 finds that the innovative sectors of the global economy have remained strong, despite severe disruptions.

 

Global Innovation Index 2021:  

 https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2021

 

Check out the report to find out more about innovation in the countries where you do business, where you visit, where you live. There’s much to be discovered in this report – and here are three bits of information to get your started: 

 

Top 15, most innovative, of all 132 countries included in the index: 

1 Switzerland
2 Sweden
3 United States of America
4 United Kingdom
5 Republic of Korea
6 Netherlands
7 Finland
8 Singapore
9 Denmark
10 Germany
11 France
12 China
13 Japan
14 Hong Kong, China

15 Israel

 

#1 Country by Region:

North America – United States of America

Latin America & Caribbean – Chile

Sub Saharan Africa – South Africa

North Africa and Western Asia – Israel

SE Asia, East Asia & Oceana – Republic of Korea

Central & South Asia – India

 

#1 Where countries are grouped by income: 

High income group:   Switzerland

Upper middle income:  China

Lower middle income:  Vietnam

Lower income:  Rwanda

 

Calling Tokyo, San Jose, Phoenix, Atlanta

 

Four cities.  Four time zones. How to find a time to call that works for people in all four places??

It’s easy to figure out to call when considering just two cities.  A simple question to our friends at Google:  What time is it in Tokyo if it’s 10 am Monday in San Jose, California? will give you an idea if that’s a good time for a call.  The answer:  Probably not.10 am Monday in California is 3 am Tuesday in Tokyo.

However if you want a more complete answer, or if you are trying to set up a call between multiple cities in multiple time zones check out the Meeting Planner function at the site:  TimeandDate.com.  https://www.timeanddate.com.   

 

In an instant you discover that 2 pm  Monday in California will be 3 pm in Phoenix, 5 pm in Atlanta and 9 am Tuesday in Tokyo.  That might work.  

 Don’t miss a meeting because the day and time are too confusing to figure out. Or annoy someone by suggesting a time that is midnight where they are.  Meeting times made easy.

 

Dramatic Visions Can Become Realities

If you doubt that your special vision for your life, for a project, may be too big, too unusual, too challenging to come true – I ask you to look at the realization of the vision of the artist known simply as Christo.   His vision that began over 60 years ago was to wrap the Arc de Triomphe, one of the most important monuments in Paris in fabric.   Today, the Arc is wrapped.

 

“Now, a little over a year after Christo's death at the age of 84, “L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped” is a reality. Some 270,000 square feet of silvery blue fabric, shimmering in the changing light of Paris, hugs the monument commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 at the giddy height of his power. The polypropylene material, its tone reminiscent of the city’s distinctive zinc roofs, is secured but not held rigidly fast by almost 1.9 miles of red rope, in line with the artist’s meticulous instructions." (From the New York Times).

 

Standing at the Arc de Triomphe this week, President Macron said, “I think that what we believe is this: crazy dreams must be possible.”

 

May this dramatic achievement inspire you.  Personal visions can be achieved.  

 

To see the Wrapped Arc see the articles by Roger Cohen of the New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/arts/design/christo-wrap-arc-de-triomphe-paris.html) and Bill Chappel of NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/17/1038287275/arc-de-triomphe-christo-jeanne-claude-wrapped   (photo from NPR article).