25 Ways to Say “Hello”
Afrikaans Goeiedag
Armenian Barev
Bengali Sunchhen
Burmese Mingalar Pa
Esperanto Saluton
Greek Kalimera
Haitian Creole Bonjou
Hindi Namaste
Japanese Konnichiwa
Kurdish Silav
Latvian Labdien
Lithuanian Laba Diena
Luxembourgeois Moien
Mongolian Sain Baina Uu
Norwegian God Dag
Serbian Zdravo
Swahili Jambo
Tagalog Magandang Araw
Tahitian Ia Orana
Tamil Vanakam
Turkish Merhaba
Ukrainian Pryvit
Urdu As Salaamo Alaikum
Welsh Hylo
Zulu Sawubona
Quiz on Saying “Hello”
1. In Afrikaans, hello is
a) Hylo c) Sawubona
b) Goeiedag d) Magandang Araw
2. In Haitian Creole, hello is
a) Sunchhen c) Bonjou
b) Jambo d) Moien
3. In Serbian, hello is
a) Labdien c) Zdravo
b) Laba Diena d) Barev
4. In Tahitian, hello is
a) Ia Orana c) Mingalar Pa
b) Vanakam d) Sain Baina Uu
5. Saluton is hello in
a) Esperanto c) Luxembourgeois
b) Kurdish d) Welsh
6. As Salaamo Alaikum is hello in
a) Armenian c) Hindi
b) Bengali d) Urdu
7. Pryvit is hello in
a) Burmese c) Lithuanian
b) Latvian d) Ukrainian
8. Konnichiwa is hello in
a) Japanese c) Tamil
b) Mongolian d) Zulu
9. Kalimera is the word for hello in this language: __________________
10. The word for hello in Norwegian is: __________________
25 Ways to Say “Thank You”
Afrikaans Dankie
Armenian Chnorakaloutioun
Bengali Dhanyabaad
Burmese Kyay Tzu Tin Pa Te
Esperanto Dankon
Greek Efharisto
Haitian Creole Mèsi
Hindi Dhanyavad
Japanese Arigato
Kurdish Spas
Latvian Paldies
Lithuanian Aciu
Luxembourgeois Merci
Mongolian Bayarlalaa
Norwegian Takk
Serbian Hvala
Swahili Asante
Tagalog Salamat Po
Tahitian Mauruuru
Tamil Nanedri
Turkish Tesekkur Ederim
Ukrainian Diakuiu
Urdu Shukriya
Welsh Diolch
Zulu Ngiyabonga
Quiz on Saying “Thank You”
1. In Armenian, thank you is
a) Chnorakaloutioun c) Spas
b) Nanedri d) Aciu
2. In Burmese, thank you is
a) Salamat Po c) Kyay Tzu Tin Pa Te
b) Paldies d) Efharisto
3. In Hindi, thank you is
a) Arigato c) Shukriya
b) Dhanyavad d) Mauruuru
4. In Zulu, thank you is
a) Dankie c) Dankon
b) Ngiyabonga d) Diakuiu
5. Mèsi is thank you in
a) Haitian Creole c) Tagalog
b) Luxembourgeois d) Turkish
6. Hvala is thank you in
a) Afrikaans c) Greek
b) Esperanto d) Serbian
7. Takk is thank you in
a) Bengali c) Norwegian
b) Japanese d) Ukrainian
8. Bayarlalaa is thank you in
a) Latvian c) Mongolian
b) Lithuanian d) Urdu
9. Diolch is the word for thank you in this language: __________________
10. The word for thank you in Swahili is: __________________
Learning Long Sequences of Numbers
Numbers can be remembered by learning a simple phonetic alphabet, consisting of just
ten pairs of digits and sounds. Each digit has an assigned letter (or letters) based on a
sound. The key is to pay attention to the sound, not the letter.
We use the following phonetic alphabet, based on “The Memory Book” by Harry
Lorayne and Jerry Lucas.
1: t or d
2: n
3: m
4: r
5: l
6: j or sh or ch
7: k or hard c or hard g
8: f or v or ph
9: b or p
0: s or z or soft c
For example, suppose your phone number is 941-3570. In the phonetic alphabet, this
translates to b r d – m l k s.
Now think of a word (or a combination of words) that makes these seven phonetic
sounds. A silly example is “Brad Milks”. You can picture the famous actor Brad Pitt
furiously milking a big white cow, where the cow’s face is replaced by a picture of you
speaking on the phone! Now when you think, “what’s my phone number?”, you’ll
immediately think of Brad Pitt and his cow, come up with “Brad Milks”, which them
transposes to 941-3570. So that’s your phone number!!
While this is admittedly contrived, this method illustrates the theory that it is always
easier to remember a tangible picture (or series of pictures), rather than an abstract
sequence of digits. So when we remember numbers, we use the phonetic system to
convert the digits into words. Here is a simple way to remember the sounds.
1 = t, d. A typewritten small t has one downstroke
2 = n. A typewritten small n has two downstrokes
3 = m. A typewritten small m has three downstrokes
4 = r. The word four ends with an r
5 = l. The five fingers, thumb out, form an l
6 = j, sh, ch. A 6 and a capital j are almost mirror images of one another
7 = k, hard c, hard g. You can make a capital k with two 7’s
8 = f, v, ph. An 8 and a handwritten f look similar
9 = p, b. A 9 and a p are mirror images of one another
0 = s, z, soft c. The first sound in the word zero is z
A few rules:
The vowels a, e, i, o, u have no value whatsoever in the phonetic alphabet; they
are disregarded. So are the letters w, h, and y.
Silent letters are disregarded. So the word knee transposes to 2, not 72.
Remember, we are interested in the sound, not the letter. Similarly, the word
bomb transposes to 93, not 939; the last b is silent.
Double letters count as one. For example, the word matter transposes to 314, not
3114. There are two t’s in the word, but they are pronounced as one t.
As a test, you can verify the following:
Conservative is 7204818
Liberal is 5945
New Democrat is 213741
Bloc Quebecois is 957797 (the last s is silent)
Green is 742
Prime Minister is 94332014
Governor General is 784246245 (the “G” in “General” sounds like a j)
How do you remember a long number like 94114049427586?
Separate the number into several smaller blocks, such as 941 140 494 275 86.
Determine any word that phonetically fits 941. Examples of words include parrot,
bread, proud, apart, berate, pirate, brat, board, bored, brad, bart.
Now look at the next group of three digits, 140. What word phonetically fits 140?
Examples include tears, throws, dress, duress.
Now start forming a Link, where you associate 941 with 140. An example could
be a giant parrot wearing a dress. Or it could be Bart Simpson crying big tears.
Continue on with 494. Examples include robber, rubber, or arbour. For example,
now your image could be Bart Simpson crying big balloon-shaped tears, running
down the street because he’s being chased by a big angry robber.
Continue on with 275. Examples include nickel, angle, or knuckle. You can
think of a robber cracking his knuckle, and making a really large sound.
Finish with 86. For example, fish satisfies this word. Now when the robber
cracks his knuckle, a giant fish comes out of his head.
You’ve just formed a short Link with five words. This will tell you the number you’ve
just learned! The first word is Bart, then tears, then robber, then knuckle, then fish.
The only number this could possibly be is 94114049427586.
Use the same system to memorize this 20-digit number: 47912734851973608378.
The Smart Border Action Plan
Here are the 32 elements of the Smart Border Action Plan, which was signed by John
Manley and Tom Ridge in December 2001.
1) Biometric Identifiers 2) Permanent Resident Cards 3) Single Alternative Inspection System 4) Refugee/Asylum Processing 5) Managing of Refugee/Asylum Claims 6) Visa Policy Coordination 7) Air Preclearance 8) Advance Passenger Information / Passenger Name Record 9) Joint Passenger Analysis Units 10) Ferry Terminals 11) Compatible Immigration Databases 12) Immigration Officers Overseas 13) International Cooperation 14) Harmonized Commercial Processing 15) Clearance Away from the Border 16) Joint Facilities 17) Customs Data 18) Intransit Container Targeting at Seaports 19) Infrastructure Improvements 20) Intelligent Transportation Systems 21) Critical Infrastructure Protection 22) Aviation Security 23) Integrated Border and Marine Enforcement Teams 24) Joint Enforcement Coordination 25) Integrated Intelligence 26) Fingerprints 27) Removal of Deportees 28) Counter-Terrorism Legislation 29) Freezing of Terrorist Assets 30) Joint Training and Exercises 31) Biosecurity 32) Science and Technology Cooperation
Learning A Sequence of 100 Items!
In the presentation, you memorized a sequence of 10 items, using the Peg System.
Instead of ten pegs, you can have any number of pegs. For example, here is a list of 100
new Pegs, which are all based on the phonetic system. You can use these pegs to
remember any sequence of 100 items!
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
00 SOS SAT Sun Sam Sir Sole Sash Sack Save Soap
10 Toes Tot Tan Time Tire Tail Taj Tack TV Tape
20 Nose Nut Num Nemo Nair Nail Nash Neck Knife Knob
30 Mouse Mott Man Mime Mayor Mail Mash Mic Movie Mop
40 Race Rat Rain Ram Roar Roll Rash Rake Roof Rope
50 Less Lid Lion Lime Liar Lily Lash Lock Love Lab
60 Cheese Jet Gin Jam Jar Gel Josh Jock Jeff JP
70 Kiss Cat Cone Comb Car Coal Cash Kick Coffee Cab
80 Face Fat Fan Fame Fore File Fish Vick FIFA Fob
90 Base Bat Bone Bum Beer Ball Bash Book Beef Gretzky
These are the 100 pegs I use. You will definitely want to replace some of my numbers
with ones that are more meaningful to you. For example, my 26 is “Nash”, which refers
to the Nobel-Prize winning mathematician from the movie “A Beautiful Mind”.
However, you might find it easier to replace 26 with something more meaningful to you,
such as “notch” or “hinge”. The same is true with many of my other numbers.