Bulletin board by Nikola

Roman Time-Traveller

nikolafo — 2023-12-11 12:22:57 UTC

Roman Time-Traveller

nikolafo — 2023-12-11 12:24:04 UTC

Roman Time-Traveller

nikolafo — 2023-12-11 12:25:46 UTC

Roman Time-Traveller

nikolafo — 2023-12-11 12:26:48 UTC

oam

Roman Time-Traveller

nikolafo — 2023-12-11 12:27:34 UTC

Roman Time-Traveller

nikolafo — 2023-12-11 12:28:08 UTC

We have built a time machine and used it to bring Julius Caesar to Europe in the present. He is travelling across the places that the Romans reached with their troops (Italy, France, Spain, Britain, and parts of central Europe - including the areas around Mušov). Do you think he would recognize some expressions used in these territories? Would he understand anything in signs and directions?

Which words or parts of words do you think he would recognise? Why? Can you think of other examples of expressions in modern European languages which would be recognisable to a time-traveller who speaks Latin?

Resources

http://clt.brepolis.net/dld/Dictionaries/Search

https://www.etymologynerd.com/resources.html

https://www.twinkl.cz/teaching-wiki/etymology

Language Journey

nikolafo — 2023-12-11 12:28:59 UTC

You have found a travel diary written on an interrail trip through Europe. The traveller has made some notes of what they ate and drank in different countries on the trip. These are written in the languages of the different countries. Can you reconstruct the journey based only on your language knowledge (i.e. don’t use internet sources yet) Which countries were part of the trip and what did the traveller eat and drink?

Day 1

mela, vino, té

Day 2

poire, thé, courgette

Day 3

Melanzani, Zucchini, Wein

Day 4

manzana, pera, birra

Day 5

pivo, vino, kruska

Grammatical Connections

nikolafo — 2023-12-11 12:29:22 UTC

Examples (1) and (2) are Italian expressions. Without checking an online translator, what do you think they mean?

ho fatto
ho lavorato

What tense is it? Is it used in other Romance languages? In English? Why do you think there are similarities in usage between these languages? Is there any similar construction in Czech or not? If it is, what is the difference?

Some online resources to check (you can find additional resources yourself):

https://www.milujitalii.cz/minuly-cas-slozeny-il-passato-prossimo/

https://italiano-bello.com/en/italian-grammar/all-italian-tenses/

https://learnitalian.web.unc.edu/home/verbs/past-tenses/passato-prossimo/

https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/language-learners/learning-italian/understanding-italian-verb-tenses/

https://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/index.html (https://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/index.html)

https://www.spanelstina-zdarma.cz/gramatika

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Romance-languages/The-survival-of-verbal-inflection

At the Doctor’s

nikolafo — 2023-12-11 12:29:58 UTC

On a trip to the USA you are helping your French-speaking friend who has had an accident. There are some similarities and differences between English and French medial terms. Do you think he or she would understand some of these without speaking English? Why? What about a Czech-speaking person? What other similarities and differences can you discover between languages you know for medical or anatomical vocabulary?

Contusions

Lacerations

Sepsis

Dehydration

Cephalgia

These words are the technical medical terms - think about the “everyday” English for these. Are there technical vs. colloquial differences in other languages you know?

Some resources:

You can choose other terms, for example here

https://www.mayoclinic.org/

https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical

https://familydoctor.org/your-health-resources/health-tools/dictionary/

https://www.cun.es/diccionario-medico

https://www.clinicauandes.cl/medicos-y-especialidades/diccionario-medico

https://www.dictionnaire-medical.fr/