Extra, Extra! New Friday Feature! Foreign Language Cards!

I have acquired over the years a couple of sets of foreign language cards, and as Fridays have become a tough spot for a feature article here at Social Zymurgy, I'm going to put new wrinkles in your brain as we both learn some new languages together.

(I'm the editor, and if I have to learn something new, so do you. My rules. I make 'em up.)

I thought that since this was a new outing for SZ, I would try to make things simple and start with Russian and Chinese. After all, one out of every five people in the world are Chinese, so it makes a little sence to pick up a few words here and there. The Russian is just because it was handy.

Sources: The Chinese is provided by the Tuttle Publishing Company who printed a HUGE STACK of cards for our benefit, and was a Christmas gift from my loving wife. (We were going to learn Chinese together, and teach it to the kids. That was the plan. You know that China is the "new superpower" right?) The Russian is provided by the United States Army, in the form of 54 playing cards, jokers included, that my brother acquired while serving a hitch in the Army during the Cold War. The accuracy of any of the words provided can only be bolstered by the reputation of the parties responsible for their creation.

Without further Ado, the words of the week:*

Chinese; su: meaning custom.

Russian; pah-rah-hohd: meaning steamship.

If you ever spoke to a Chinese ship builder, I suppose you could ask for a custom steamship.

Doc

* all words are presented in the English pro-noun-see-ated form, as this author is unable to find the correct keys to write them in their native characters. Ed.