Dutch in Motion

European or Brazilian Portuguese?

2013-12-03T13:27:00.000+01:00

Portuguese is the official language in 8 countries which makes 210 million of people. Portuguese which is used in Portugal and seven other countries (former colonies) and those in Brazil are quite different. In todays article I would like to take a look at these differencies.

Brazilian and European portuguese are varietes of the same language. To be able to understand people from both countries we should know both languages, not only one. Although, the grammar is more or less the same, the pronunciation, vocabulary and spelling are totally different.

The biggest difference in pronunciation is that European portuguese shorten sentences everywhere they can. On the contrary, Brazilian portuguese lengthen them.

Be careful and never use European vocabulary in Brazil, because it can have a totally different meaning and it can sound hillarious. Some brazil words are exotic for Portuguese because Brazil portuguese is influenced by indogenous languages in Brazil, and by immigrants from France and Italy.

Both of them use the verbs and pronouns in a totally different ways. They do not consider the other grammar as the wrong one, however, they both consider the other texts as weird or hard to understand.

Although, there are much more brazilian speakers than european and Brazil`s importance is growing rapidly, it is up to you which portuguese you choose to learn.

Boa sorte! :)

Sranan Tongo/Taki Taki language

2013-11-26T13:32:00.000+01:00

Do you want to learn a new language and do not have a time for it?

I bet you can find a time to learn Taki taki language which has only 340 words! Doesnt it look so easy?

Taki Taki is the language with the less vocabulary in the world. It is also known as Sranan, Sranantongo or Surinamese language. In the past it was known as nengre ("Negro English").

Taki Taki is the lingua franca in Suriname by approximately 300000 people. It is influenced by Dutch a lot as Suriname used to be a Dutch colony. That is why Taki Taki is also spoken in Dutch-, Hindustani-, Chinese- speaking colonies.

Taki Taki has existed since the late 19th century and it is officialy used under the resolution 4501 by the Suriname government in 1986.

Small vocabulary:

What's up?- Fe waka?

How are you?- Fa i go?

I am sorry- Mi sorri!

I love that!- Mi lobi dati!

Help- Yepi

How much?- Omany?

The worst translations in Asia .. (very funny!) part 2

2013-11-15T13:56:00.000+01:00

As the previous article has been very popular, I would like to present another examples of bad translation in Asia.

Have fun! :)

Please only pee here or you will be punished

Translate server error

This will never happen in traduccion Barcelona

If you are stolen, call the police at once

english,english,english and do not forget english,english,english

Would you like to have grilled sexual harassment for lunch? :)

Do not miss your foot!

I think this is the funniest translation :)

The worst English translations in Asia.. (very funny!)

2013-11-14T13:29:00.001+01:00

It happens sometimes. However, by looking at these photos you will shake your head in disbelief but with a smile on your face.

(This blog belongs to the people who forgot to smile today ;) )

"Carefully fall to the river"

"Traffic lan for defromed man"

Another example of a bad translation- "Home grenade"

"Take the child and fall into water carefully"

"Dying right here is strictly prohibited"

"Hot family photo"

"Urinating into the pool, you are the best"

"Foot care, body care, head care, horny care"

"Welcom go home"

"Fow, five, six, seven, eito, nine, ten, teen, teeen"

:) Have a nice day!

Languages you may do not know

2013-11-14T10:53:00.003+01:00

(But after this article you will :) )

1. Punjabi language

Punjabi is Indo-Aryan language that is spoken by 102 million people. It is the native language of people living in India and mostly in Punjabi-region in Pakistan, well know as Punjabi people.

It is also the 9th most spoken language, 11th most spoken in India, 4th most spoken in England and Wales and 3rd most spoken in Canada. We cannot forget to mention its significance in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and the United States. You can know this language from many Bollywoos films and songs.

Punjabi language

2. Urdu language

Urdu is strongly connected with the muslim region of Hindustan. It is the national language in Pakistan and also its lingua franca (working language, used between people who do not share their mother tongue). It is spoken by 65 million people and it one of the most spread language in England.

Hello is آداب (عَرض ہے)۔ -ādāb (arz hai)
Goodbye خُدا حافِظ، الله حافِظ۔ Khuda Hāfiz, Allah Hāfiz.

Punjabi language

3. Wu language

Wu language belongs to the chinese language family and it is spoken by 80 million people mostly in Zhejiang, Shangai and Jiangsu. Be careful and do not mixed Wu language with Shanghainese. It happens very often by introducing Wu language to non-specialist.

4. Pashto

Also known from the history as Afghani or Pathani. It is spoken by 40 million people. It belongs to the Eastern Iranian languages group. It is the second official language in Afghanistan and in western and northwestern Pakistan. Some estimates show that Pashto is the mother tongue of 35-60% of the total population in Afghanistan.

5. Swahili

Swahili or also known as Kishwahili is the mother tongue of Swahili citizens. It is used in various regions in Africa, such as Kongo, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda Mozambique and the Democratic republic of Congo. There is another very similar language, Comorian language which is often considered as a Swahili dialect.

Swahili language

10 most widely spread languages

2013-11-07T13:24:00.002+01:00

Here is the list of 10 most widely spoken languages

1. I know which language you expect to be n.1. It was also a surprise for me. Many people consider English as the most spread language but the truth is that Mandarin is the number 1!

Mandarin is spoken by 1 billion people as it is based in the most populated country. Mandarin is very tough to learn because each word can be pronounced in four different ways! For instance, "hello" is "ni hao" and the pronunciation is "Nee haow". Crazy, isnt it? :)

2. Here is your English. English is spoken by 508 billion people. It is the language that is the official language of many states than any other language. We can mention the US, Canada, England, Australia, New Zeland, South Africa, Honk Kong and the Caribbean. I bet I do not have to highlight any word or frase in English ;)

Madrid

London

India

3. On the third place is Hindurin with the number of 497 million speakers. It is the main language of India which consists of many dialects (the most spread is Hindi). The best way to learn Hindurin is to watch thousands of movies produced by Bollywood.

"Hello" in Hindurin is "Namaste" (Nah-mah-stay)

Bollywood

Madrid

4. Si, si, the fourth place belongs to Spanish! Is is spoken by 392 million speakers. It is the official language of Spain and Baleares islands, plus Cuba, South American and Central American countries. In the US there is a big interest in Spanish and many words are transforming into English, such as bonanza, patio, quesadilla, ... "Hello" is "Hola" (oh-la). In Barcelona, for example is catalan used more than castillan spanish. (traductor Barcelona)

5. Da, ja gavarim pa rusky. That can say 277 million of people for whom is Russian their mother tongue. Russian is thus the official language not only in Russia, but also in Kayachstan or Belarus.

"Hello" is "Zdravstvuite" (zdravst-vet-yah).

Russian alphabet

Saudi Arabia

6. Arabic is the next language spoken by 246 millions in the Middle East (countries Kuwajt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. Arabic is also the language of the Koran, so millions of Moslems use and speak Arabic as well.

"Hello" is "Al salaam a alaykum" (Ahl sah-lahm ah ah-lay-koom)

Arabic

7. Another language that has its respective place in this chart is Bengali. Number of speakers is 211 million and it is the official language in Bangladesh. As Banglades is very close to Inida, Bengali is more spread and used that we could expect.

"Hello" is "Ei Je" (eye-jay)

Bengali language

8. is Portuguese! Portuguese is a very special case as in the history acheived something spectacular. Portugal used to be a part of Spain and after their establishment of independence and thanks to Vasco de Gama and many other explorers it became the official language in other countries, such as Brazil, Venezuela, Angola, Macau or Mozambique. Nowadays it has 1914 million speakers.

"Hello" is "Bom dia".

Lisboa

9. Malay-Indonesian is the number nine and used and spoken in Malaysia and

Indonesia

. Malay has many dialects and the famoust one is Indonesian.

"Hello" is "Selamat pagi"

Malay-Indonesian

10. The last language in this chart is French that is considered as the most romantic language in the world. French is not the language only in France but also in Belgium, Canada, Rwanda, Haiti and Cameron.

"Hello" is "Bonjour"

Paris

Why Slovak and Czech can understand each other?

2013-10-29T13:31:00.002+01:00

The more I travel the more often I get the confused glance from foreigners when I say that I can understand czech people without saying any word in czech (and it works vice-versa as well). I can understand their doubts. Try to imagine: two people from different countries are speaking in two different languages and they understand everything. How is that possible?

Well, it is not that true that slovak and czech are different. They are very close and similar. I am going to provinde some examples:

Hello- Ahoj (both in czech and slovak)

How are you?- Ako sa mas? (slovak) Jak se mas? (czech)

See you!- vidime sa (slovak) vidime se (czech)

However, some words are really different and they have nothing in common:

Goodbye!- dovidenia (slovak) nashledanou (czech)

turtle- korytnacka (slovak) zelva (czech)

boots- cizmy (slovak) kozacky (czech)

So how is possible when we use the words from the second group that we STILL can understand?

I would like to explain it to you.

First of all, let me show you where Slovakia and Czech republik are.

As you can see we are neighbors and share the 252 long border. However, that is not all. More that 10 years ago we used to be one country. I do not want to border you with some boring history but Czechoslovakia was a sovereign state from 1918 till 1993. Czechoslovakia was a democratic state, but from 1969 it was federal state consisting of two states: Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republik.

People who lived there were czechoslovakian. We had 2 official languages: slovak and czech and those languages are very similar. Some words are exactly the same, some can differ.

In 1993, we split up in two independent states: Slovak Republik and Czech Republic. The generation of our parents and grandparents lived in a time when everything Czech or Slovak was common. They neved had a problem to understand both languages and never will.

My generation does not have a problem to understand either. Although we did not live in Czechoslovakia (or were just born 2-3 years before segregation) our childhood was still influenced by the era after Czechoslovakia.

I used to watch a lot of czech fairytales as a child. Plus movies were not doubted into slovak. I used to study from the czech academic books or just read a book in czech. Also at the university, where I studied in Slovakia, were a lot of czech profesors. Now I am studying in Prague and although, I am studying in english, everywhere I go in Prague, I use only slovak without any problem.

Of course, you can study in Czech republik and use your slovak also!

The sad thing is that nowadays children in Slovakia are not able to understand czech that good. A lot of movies are doubted so they do not have a contact with Czech.

In my point of view, we should protect our special and unique relationship we have. I would be very happy if we can continue in this and won`t not let anything to destroy this!

Best smart phone apps for translating languages

2013-10-17T13:42:00.000+02:00

I bet each of you own a smart phone. If you like it or not, smart phones are a common part of our lives and their influence on us is unstoppable.

Nowadays, you can use your smart phone not only for texting or listening to the music. Are you in the big city and totally lost? Just grab you phone and it shows you the direction. Don’t you know where to go for a dinner? With your phone it is not that difficult. It can offer you the best restaurants, bars, pubs or discos anywhere you want! You can also have a pet and take care of him; you can browse what is new in your favourite brand and immediately buy the one you want! Yes, smart phones make our live easier.

Don’t worry; this is not the advertisement for smart phones. It has a lot of bad sides and cons as well. However, this article is not about smart phones as such. What I would like to announce is that smart phones can help you also in studying language or even reading a book! How?

Do you like reading a book in foreign languages? In my point of view, reading a book in a foreign language is the best way how to improve your foreign language and help in learning of it. Now try to imagine that you are reading this book in a train or metro and you don’t have a dictionary to translate some words you don’t understand. The inventors of smart phones have thought about that and invented the applications that can translate everything from any language. It is like you have your own dictionary in your pocket.

Now I would like to mention some of the best translating application for your smart phones.

1. Google Translate: All of you know Google translate and I am certain you use google translate every day. But this one is much more fun. It has a lot of funny features and it is totally for free! There are around 60 languages. You can use also a voice commander.

2. Languages: It contains of 12 fully dictionaries and you can use the offline mode that means you don’t need to have a Wifi for using it.

3. TranslateProfesional: It includes over 50 languages; there is also a speech recognition, phrasebook or translated phrases spoken in the native language.

4. SpeakText: It allows you to translate highlighted text from the document you read. It can also read the sentences you need to hear so you can improve your pronunciation.

5.VoiceTranslationPro: This is impressive voice translation application. It is constantly updating and improving so almost everyday you can be surprised what new it will bring you.

With any of these applications you will never be lost in any country you will travel to. You also can built up your language skills and achieve results you want very soon.

The mystery of translating of the titles of the international movies

2013-10-04T13:34:00.002+02:00

Although I haven’t been living in Slovakia for a while but I am still following news and the movie scene there.

I have meet with very strange translating of the title of movies many times but the more people from Slovakia I meet abroad; the more confused I am when we are talking about movies. They mention some movies and I have no idea what they are talking about.

I am often thinking about who is translating the titles of the movies.

The titles of the movies should reflect the essential idea the movie is about but not to say the whole story. It should be catchy and should make you to want to watch it. Sometimes they put also some sub-titles which are more pointless that should have some important significance.

I would like to provide some examples that can make you confused. “96 hours” (“96 hodin” in Slovak) is the title of a very famous movie and I bet you do not have an idea what is it. When I say “Taken” you certainly know which movie I am mentioning.

Here you have more examples: (the first one is the original title, the second one is translated Slovak version into English)

“Ocean’s eleven”- “Danny’s eleven” (“Dannyho jedenastka”)

“Die hard”- “Lethal trap” (“Smrtonosna pasca”)

“Ratatuille”- “Ratatuille- Bon Apetite” (“Ratatuille- Dobru chut”)

“There will be blood”- “Black Blood” (“Cierna krv”)

“Step up”- “Let’s dance”

“Taxi 2”- “Taxi, Taxi”

“Men of War”- “Swedish” (“Sved”)

“Basic”- “Green Hell” (“Zelene peklo”)

“Richie Rich”- “Home Alone and Rich” (“Sam doma a bohaty”)

“Metro”- “The Cap from San Francisco” (“Policajt zo San Francisca”)

“The Omen”- “Satan is coming” (Satan prichadza)

We can just guess why these translations are confusing. Maybe distributors do not want to waste a lot of money for the advertising and promotion of a new movies and they save money anywhere it is possible.

However, the wrong translation of the movie can make you confused and maybe influence the feeling of the whole movie.

How to become a translator?

2013-10-02T12:06:00.006+02:00

How to become a translator?

What did you used to dream as a child? Work as a lawyer, a doctor or a teacher? Many of us have always wanted to work as a translator.

However, what does this job contain of?

First of all, you have to be confident in one of foreign languages. Maybe you started to learn foreign languages in your kindergarten, maybe your family is multinational and you did not have a choice. If you were growing up in an environment where using other languages, except your mother tongue, was absolutely usual, then your steps were lead to study translating.

One can argue that studying translating can be pretty tough. You have to translate plenty of documents in a short time or you have to work with material written in a very high level of the language. All these things can give you very good basis to be able to translate simultaneously and to handle with all different tasks you can get in the future as a translator.

Nowadays, plenty of people announce that they can speak English, for instance. We should differentiate if somebody is able to get along a regular communication with a native speaker or if somebody is translating hundreds of documents daily.

Translator must be good enough in the language he or she works with to be able to translate documents of any character. Some documents are about stuff you have never heard even in your mother tongue.

The job as a translator is about constantly receiving new vocabulary, practicing and improving skills in the language. Translator has to learn everyday, he or she has to prepare for the simultaneous translating in advance and know all vocabulary which can be mentioned on the conference. It means that you can improve your skills and expand horizons in any field of study.

The last but not the least thing is that translating is more than needed today in any agency, company or organisation. You can be sure that you will have many opportunities to find a job and work on yourself to be the best translator.

Key words: languages, translator, translating.

Juvenes translators- a competition for young translators

2013-10-01T10:27:00.003+02:00

Juvenes translatores

Have you ever heard about international competition in translating? Keep on reading and you will know more!

One of the essential motto of the European Union is to be “united in diversity”. That is why all European should be able to know as many foreign languages as possible.

“Juvenes translatores” has been the international competition in translating since 2007 to support those who are interested in studying and learning international languages.

From the long-run aspects one can say that learning foreign languages brings people together and gives us the opportunity to know other cultures and mentality of people from all around the world.

On the other side, we can study, live and travel within Europe easily. It is said that the demand for translators and translations is increasingly higher. Thus, students have a unique opportunity thanks to this competition.

The competition “Juvenes translators” tries to emphasize how much are translating skills important.

The competition “Juvenes translators” has become very popular among students and schools. 99% of schools which participated last year are planning to compete again.

It also gave raise to many other language initiatives because many schools used that for international exchange of students.

The main aim is to support all schools and students to promote multilingualism and translating skills. It raises the importance of learning foreign languages which is extremely important nowadays.

It consists of three parts. The first one is preparations that mean to prepare all documents and register for the competition. The second one is the translation test when school gets all documents to be translated and it has to be sent at the day back.

Young translators work only with written text and they have to translate the documents from the foreign language to their mother tongue as fluent and understandable as possible.

If you have ever dreamt about job as a translator this is your chance and you should not miss it!

¿Te puedes imaginar el mundo con un sólo idioma común?

2013-09-18T14:29:00.002+02:00

¿Te puedes imaginar el mundo con un sólo idioma común? No habría inglés, español ni francés. ¿No sería aburrido?

El idioma es algo que crea nuestra propia identidad. Es algo que llevamos dentro desde nuestra infancia. Esta basado en nuestra propia cultura, costumbres e historia, y representa la característica más importante de nuestro país.

Cuánto más fuerte y poderosa es la globalización, más necesidad hay de traducir. Ya podemos disfrutar de las ventajas de la globalización como la reducción de las barreras que facilitan la libre circulación de la gente, bienes, servicios y capital. La reducción de las barreras entre los idiomas es otro buen ejemplo de la implementación de la globalización en nuestras vidas.

Hoy en día podemos viajar, vivir y estudiar en todo el mundo. Para facilitar nuestras vidas en el extranjero y adaptarse a los demás hace falta estudiar idiomas y por consiguiente, apoyar a los traductores y la traducción de por sí.

La traducción es crucial para nosotros para poder convivir en los tiempos de la globalización. Promueve la base esencial del lema de la Unión Europea, es decir establecer la libre circulación de la gente, servicios, capital y bienes. Por lo tanto, podemos decir que necesitamos traductores globales. Traductores globales son más que necesarios en muchas compañías internacionales y organizaciones.

También hay numerosas organizaciones internacionales, tanto gubernamentales como no gubernamentales dónde es necesario establecer un buen canal de comunicación entre los trabajadores y asegurar una buena colaboración entre ellos.

Actualmente, muchas compañías necesitan que los traductores cumplan numerosas tareas. Necesitan comunicarse con sus clientes, especialmente en los casos de las organizaciones con la dimensión internacional.

¿Has usado un traductor electrónico mientras leías este artículo? ¿Sí? Entonces ¡ya sabes lo importante que es la traducción!

2013-09-18T14:25:00.000+02:00

¿Te puedes imaginar el mundo con un sólo idioma común? No habría inglés, español ni francés. ¿No sería aburrido?

¿Has usado un traductor electrónico mientras leías este artículo? ¿Sí? Entonces ¡ya sabes lo importante que es la traducción!

Moeite met het ontbijt

2013-07-01T11:05:00.002+02:00

Hebben jullie ook zo'n moeite met het ontbijt vanmorgen? Ik krijg geen hap door mijn keel, terwijl ik normaal gesproken geen genoeg kan krijgen van cornflakes.. Zal het te maken hebben met het feit dat het maandag is en ik weer aan het werk moet? Zal het te maken hebben met het zware weekend dat ik achter de rug heb? Spanje heeft de finale van de Confederations Cup verloren tegen Brazilië.. Heeft het daarmee te maken?

Ik had Spanje graag zien winnen, helemaal na de fluitconcerten dat het Spaanse elftal het gehele toernooi aan heeft moeten horen.. Brazilianen schijnen een passievol volk te zijn, maar ik beschrijf ze liever als misgunners.. Spanje heeft het wereldvoetbal de afgelopen 5 jaar gedomineerd, en zit momenteel in de transitieperiode. De oudjes zullen plaats moeten gaan maken voor een nieuwe selectie vol goudhaantjes (Isco, Thiago, Jese, Deulofeu , De Gea etc.), dus ik maak me totaal geen zorgen over de toekomst. Maar genoeg met deze smoesjes..

Want tijdens het schrijven van deze post ben ik ben erachter gekomen.. het verlies zit me hoog. Hoger dan ik dacht. Brazilië heeft verdiend gewonnen en vandaar dat ik graag mijn felicitaties wil 'doorgeven' aan alle Brazilianen die dit blog lezen.. Ik geef de felicitaties door die ik in de nacht van 11 op 12 juli 2010 in ontvangst heb mogen nemen van tegen tranen vechtende volwassen Nederlanders. Want dat hoor je te doen als sportieve verliezer.

Maar ja, wat stelt de Confederations Cup eigenlijk voor? De winnaar van deze cup wordt vaak juist geen wereldkampioen het jaar erop! Spanje heeft dus nog alle kans!

Ik ben er nu dus achter waarom mijn lichaam de cornflakes vanochtend weigerde.. gelukkig ben ik niet de enige die af en toe niets van cornflakes moet weten (zie video)..

Een fijne dag allemaal!

Dat ik je mis

2013-06-11T11:55:00.000+02:00

Zoals jullie misschien weten, spendeer ik veel tijd in Barcelona. Ik krijg daarom niet alles wat er gaande is in ons kikkerlandje mee. Gelukkig kreeg ik vannacht rond een mailtje van een van mijn beste vrienden: YouTube. Ik realiseer me dat de hype in Nederland misschien al tot bedaren is gekomen, toch wil ik dit graag met jullie delen. De afgelopen twee weken is er geen Nederlandse YouTube video vaker bekeken dan deze..

Met meer dan 2.500.000 views weet Maaike Ouboter onze harten te doorboren met zorgvuldig gekozen woorden. Elk woord, stuk voor stuk, doet je stil staan bij de mensen die er het meest toe doen in je leven. Een lied dat me angstgevoelens geeft, maar op hetzelfde moment ook troost biedt. Die momenten dat je stil staat bij het tijdelijke karakter van het leven zijn vertaald in een lied. Zie hieronder de clip..

Nog een kleine tip als afsluiting van dit bericht, kan jij geen genoeg krijgen van dit lied, of welk ander liedje dan ook op youtube, typ dan in de YouTube URL direct achter het woord 'youtube' het woord 'repeat'. Hierdoor kan je het liedje beluisteren op herhaling.

Voorbeeld bij dit liedje: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObGlgJPCZj4 wordt dan http://www.youtuberepeat.com/watch?v=ObGlgJPCZj4

Starbucks hit: Koffie op basis van toiletwater!?

2013-06-04T13:58:00.000+02:00

Goeiemiddag wereld!

Deze ochtend stuitte ik, onder het genot van een heerlijke, verse, thuis-bereidde kop koffie, op een opvallend bericht in de krant. Een Starbucks vestiging in Hong Kong zou gedurende een lange tijd koffie hebben bereidt op basis van toiletwater. Geschrokken doch geïnteresseerd las ik verder..

Na de misleidende titel kwam ik er al snel achter dat men in de desbetreffende Starbucks gebruik maakte van een kraantje dat was aangesloten op hetzelfde waternetwerk als waar de toiletten op waren aangesloten. Men had een simpel filtertje ertussen geplaatst om het water nog enigszins te zuiveren, echter was dit niet genoeg. Uiteindelijk werd de koffie dus helemaal niet bereidt op basis van toiletwater. Dit weerhoudt de media er niet van een ware strontvloed over de tot noch toe bijna goddelijke reputatie van Starbucks te storten.

Ik zelf ga niet mee in de hele 'Starbucks' hype. Noem me saai, ouderwets, onwetend of wat dan ook, maar ik vind het een overprijsde koffietent die de gehele westers georiënteerde samenleving zonder pardon weet in te pakken. Ze pretenderen koffie te verkopen, maar het overgrote deel van het aangeboden product bestaat uit suikerbommen, zoals taartjes, koekjes en enorme bekers gevuld met karamel en slagroom die verkocht worden als 'koffie' (zie tabel hieronder).

Ik schaar Starbucks daarom ook in hetzelfde rijtje met andere multinationals als Coca Cola en McDonalds. Deze bedrijven excelleren op het gebied van promotie van hun producten, waardoor ze een soort van onaantastbare status in de maatschappij verwerven.

Ergens ben ik dus blij met enige kritiek richting de bijna onaantastbare keten, anderzijds vind ik ook dat wij, consumenten, zo vrij moeten zijn onze eigen keuze te maken. En blijkbaar consumeert een groot deel van ons graag dure, ongezonde en dik makende producten, zolang ze maar populair zijn...

Donderdagmiddag, lachspiertraining!

2013-05-30T13:48:00.002+02:00

Het internet is gevuld met grappige katten, honden, luiaarden enzovoorts.. Maar graag intoduceer ik hier een ander hilarisch diersoort dat jullie lachspieren zeker zal testen. Het dier, ook wel bekend onder haar latijnse naam 'adfero affero', heeft de uitzonderlijke eigenschap om nieuws te brengen. Het is een van de weinige diersoorten die in vrijwel alle landen van de wereld leven. Ik heb het natuurlijk over de nieuwsverslaggevers! Want ja, de verslaggevers zijn net als wij niet perfect, echter staat de camera altijd op hen gericht tijdens hun gestuntel en geblunder. Zie hieronder een heerlijke lange compilatie die goed bekeken kan worden tijdens het nuttigen van de lunch!

Red Bull geeft je vleugels!

2013-05-14T12:42:00.000+02:00

Zolang als we bestaan, wouden we het. Velen hebben het geprobeerd en velen hebben gefaald. Uiteindelijk waren het twee Amerikaanse broers die het geflikt hebben. Waar ik het over heb? Vliegen natuurlijk! Het waren de Wright gebroeders die de basis voor de moderne vliegtuigen hebben ontwikkeld. Na een verdere ontwikkeling van het vliegtuig, voelt een vliegreis nu bijna zo veilig als een fietstocht..

Maar om eerlijk te zijn, vliegen in een dichte kist geeft je nog steeds niet het volgel vrije gevoel waar we zo naar verlangen. Gister heb ik een berg beklommen, om eenmaal aangekomen op de top, te genieten van een geweldig uitzicht. Daar voelde ik het weer. Die oerwens, dat eeuwige gevoel dat er iets mist. God heeft duidelijk iets vergeten tijdens het creëren van de mens. Ik wil vleugels en vliegen met de wind door mijn haren! Ik wil vliegen en de wereld even vergeten! IK HEB EEN WINGSUIT NODIG!

Ik weet zeker dat jullie ook zo'n cool gevleugeld Red Bull trainingspakkie willen na het zien van dit filmpje!

Duimen voor een orgasme!

2013-04-23T12:21:00.004+02:00

Dit wordt uiterst opmerkelijke post. Toch kon ik het niet laten om hem met jullie te delen. Here we go...

Het moge bekend zijn dat we mensen in een rolstoel doorgaans als 'zielig' bestempelen. Ze hebben niet de kansen in het leven die wij, functionerende twee-voeters, wel hebben... DUS zijn ze zielig. Stel je voor dat je vanaf je buik tot aan je benen verland raakt... Niet alleen zou je niet meer kunnen werken en sporten, maar ook op seksueel gebied functioneer je niet meer zo als het hoort.

Een tekenent voorbeeld is die van Rafe Biggs. Meneer Biggs brak vorig jaar zijn nek en raaktedaardoor verlamd in de onderste helft van zijn lichaam. Deze lucky bastard kwam er echter bij toeval achter dat het gevoel van zijn, ooit zo geliefde, pielemans was verplaatst naar zijn duim! En ja, door het likken en masseren van zijn duim kon hij zelfs weer tot een orgasme komen.. "Ik voelde energie opbouwen en het leek alsof ik dichter en dichter bij een orgasme kwam", aldus Biggs.

Rafe Biggs hield, zoals het een echte Amerikaans betaamt, deze vreugde niet voor zichzelf. Hij richtte de stichting Sexability op, om zijn seksuele ervaringen te delen met mede gehandicapten. Seks schijnt namelijk therapeutisch te werken en kan op die manier mensen met een handicap echt helpen.

Ik vind het initiatief een applaus waard en tevens een hele dikke duim / like!

Art on a plate

2013-04-17T11:40:00.003+02:00

When I was little, my parents used to tell me that I can't play with my food on a plate and I have to eat everything on the plate. At that time I still didn't know that there are people who can create art from food. One of such artist is from Malaysia. During one month she has made photos with food every single day. She created by this way 31 beautiful photos of the food on the plate and it can be defenitely considered as art.

I think these pictures are really beautiful and it is not so easy to create them. The artist was inspired by famous paintings and other objects. In my opinion, tiger created from carrots is one of the most beautiful images. See the gallery below this short article and you will be certainly impressed.

Een beetje van mij… en een beetje van Ikea?

2013-04-16T14:29:00.000+02:00

Tegenwoordig lijkt alles ingericht te worden voor ons gemak. Alles wat we willen is binnen handbereik. Zonder dat we het weten, zijn er momenten waarop we niet op onze wenken bediend willen worden. Dit lijkt misschien op het eerste gezicht een rare veronderstelling, maar toch is het waar. We willen vaak een beetje van onszelf geven, om uiteindelijk een grotere gelukzalige climax te beleven. Het klassieke voorbeeld is het beklimmen van een berg. In boeken van bergbeklimmers staan verhalen beschreven vol afschuw en pijn tijdens de beklimmingen, toch blijven deze mensen bergen beklimmen. Het lijkt ze een soort voldoening te geven om te kunnen zeggen dat ze een berg beklommen hebben. En dat terwijl de kabelbaan hen precies op hetzelfde punt af had kunnen zetten.

Laten we een voorbeeld nemen dat dichter bij ons, niet bergbeklimmers, staat. Het zal je misschien verassen, maar het in elkaar zetten van een Ikea meubelstuk is zo’n voorbeeld. Het is voor de meeste van ons geen hobby om een Billy in elkaar te zetten, echter geeft het ons voldoening. De handleiding lijkt vaak stappen te missen, en altijd mist er wel een onderdeel of twee. Na het vele malen vervloeken van de kast en van Ikea, vindt de Billy uiteindelijk wel zijn plekje in de woonkamer. Uit eigen ervaring kan ik zeggen dat ik met uitzonderlijk veel plezier en liefde naar die kast kijk. Ik heb toch mooi die kast in elkaar gezet (lees die berg beklommen)!

Dit geeft je uiteindelijk een positieve associatie met het merk ‘Ikea’. Dit effect wordt ook wel het Ikea effect genoemd. Wij mensen willen het er blijkbaar soms niet gemakkelijk vanaf brengen. Zo is er het oude verhaal van de kant en klare taartmix. Alles wat je hoefde te doen is water toevoegen bij de mix, goed roeren en de oven in. Viola een taart! Deze taartmixen verkochten echter zo slecht, dat de producenten ervoor kozen om het Ikea effect uit te testen. De taartmix bleef in basis hetzelfde alleen moest er boter en ei door de mix geroerd worden. Deze extra stappen maakten de taartmix WEL tot een succes.

Zo zie je maar weer, zo gemakzuchtig zijn we ook weer niet!

Plants or clothes?

2013-04-15T11:49:00.001+02:00

If you want to feel like in a different world, between the people who wear the plants instead of the clothes, you certainly will. I really don't know how anyone can wear plants, but it's interesting. What are these people thinking about? Look at the gallery below :)

....the last one and the best! :)

Rain frog Namaqua

2013-04-11T11:19:00.001+02:00

Rain frog, which in his native country Namibia, is called Namaqua (Breviceps namaquensis), is very small creatures inhabiting Southern Africa. Her homeland are mainly sandy shores and the drier places with plenty of food in tropical and subtropical areas. Froggie Namaqua exceeds in appearance as it is a small frog with a round, slightly flattened shape. Round body has a small head with very large eyes and a small mouth. Feet are also small and don't have such features as many other frogs. Coloration can vary, but it is mostly a light shade of brown, white, all the different shades of cream. The body may appear smaller and the ball tends to stain lighter.

An interesting feature of this frog is its way of life. Most of the time it survive underground. It is searching for insects or resting there. This frog climbs to the surface only in the rainy season, or high humidity. Under such conditions it is going for hunting. Another factor is the unique ability to inflate, to increase its capacity and to frighten enemies in case of emergency. This little frog is also using a warning whistle, or 'battle scream', which apparently can scare smaller predators.. People may find it funny. I think it's nice, isn't it? :)

Crazy fountains

2013-04-10T12:29:00.000+02:00

Every traveler on his road is interested in something else. Someone is interested in castles, someone in nature, others in monuments. I'll show you something that you should definitely check it out. On the way across the Europe, you should keep your camera ready, because crazy fountains are coming! Each of these fountains is a artwork. Some of them are controversial, but they are certainly worth your noting.

First fountain was constructed by the artist Klaus Weber. It is called The Big Giving and we can described it as controversial. The stone sculptures are spouting the water from different parts of the body, for example from the mouth, ears and even from the armpit. For the construction of these sculptures was used only recycled material. And where can you find these sculptures? In London in the Southbank Centre.

Second attraction must be loved by each child. It is a modern Stravinsky Fountain from 1983 along the Centre Pompidou in Paris, which should commemorate the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. Sixteen different sizes, colors and textured characters brightens the gray corners of the city. When you are on a family holiday in France you should't miss a stop at this modern Paris rejoicing.

Other attraction can be found in the garden adjacent to the museum Swarovski in Wattens, Austria. It's a giant green head, which of the half-closed mouth wide strip quietly flowing water. Fountain blend into the background grassy hill and the pond adjacent to the fountain is bounded by rocks and pavement.

The last fountain is called Fountain of Neptune and it's located in Piazza Nettuno, Italy. You will be fascinated by the four statues of naked women that are carved in the stone. Each of them are gushing drops of water from the nipples and from other parts of the body.

Beautiful channel cities

2013-04-03T11:40:00.000+02:00

If you don't suffer from dizziness while sailing on a boat, then you can have a unique way to explore the city with an established network of channels. You can enjoy beautiful panoramas and is also exceedingly romantic choice for swing wavelets, among historic buildings and their illuminated walls during warm evening.

Bruges, Belgium

Character of the city is created by a network of channels of Reie River. Sailing on the boat is a popular attraction for tourists. Beautiful city in Belgium, with a hint of medieval architecture should be proud of itself. It is the historic center of the region of West Flanders and since 2000 it's center is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. You can admire a number of buildings in the Gothic style. In Bruges, certainly don't miss the chocolate museum!

Annecy, France

Attractive fragrant atmosphere at a cafe near the channel says it all. When the sun shines on the waves in a sleek river Thio Annecy, the reflections will remind you paint the sea. The town is located near the lake of the same name. Since 1960, the Festival of animated film takes place here regularly. In the middle of the river stands the medieval Palais de l'Ile, which creates its unique skyline. It is also a museum of architectural and cultural center of the city.

Kerala, India

Visit of scenic water world in southern India captivates every traveler. During the ride through the canals, you can enjoy and learn about the diversity of the surrounding life of local people. Colorful clothes women, cormorants looking out of the water and shimmering rice fields assume all your attention. Channels were created here about a hundred years ago to support transport coconut fibers.