top of page
Search
Writer's pictureNeringa Jagelavičiūtė

No boring Christmas: visual learning

Have you ever thought why Facebook or Instagram posts are so compelling? Why can not we stop scrolling down the screen? Well, that owes a lot to visuals. What if you find a learning system based on pictures? Does it mean learning could be appealing as well?


Let's see. Pažiūrėkim.





First, what do you see in the picture? Can you say anything about it in Lithuanian? That could be the colour of the background (1) (blue / light blue), (2) Santa, the colour of his beard (3) (white), (4) he is sleeping, (5) beard, (6) hat, the colour of the hat (7) (red), (8) boring. No ideas? Find the words below :)


Pirma, ką tu čia matai? Ar gali pasakyti kokių nors žodžių lietuviškai? Tai gali būti fono spalva (1) (mėlyna / žydra), (2) Kalėdų senelis, barzdos spalva (3) (balta), (4) jis miega, (5) barzda, (6) kepurė, kepurės spalva (7) (raudona), (8) nuobodu.


Are you bored right now? Ar tau dabar nuobodu? It's game time! Pažaiskim!




Game #1


How do you say these in Lithuanian? Kaip pasakyti lietuviškai?

a) hat (#6) = ....................

b he is sleeping (#4) = ....................

c) boring (#8) = ....................

d) beard (#5) = ....................

e) Santa (#2) = ....................

f) red (#7) = .....................


We can take one more step further then! Do you know what is the favourite word of Hamlet? Still remember his famous existentialist speech, To be or not to be? I bet you understand it might be useful to know how we say 'to be' in Lithuanian.



Okay, that's not an Xmas card. That could be Hamlet's Xmas card, though. By the way, Xmas card = kalėdų atvirutė / kalėdų atvirukas / kalėdinis atvirukas (choose your favourite and never look back:)


Do you see the word 'aš' on the postcard? That is apparently 'I'. You could remember it by 'ash' (but you pronounce it a hard 'a', like in a word 'hug'). How do we say 'I am' in Lithuanian? That's right, 'aš esu' [ash esoo]


Game #2


Let's imagine you get a Santa costume and you're standing in front of a mirror (veidrodis, we call it the shower of a face! veidas = face, rodyti = to show). Then you can obviously say: 'I am a Santa'. How would that be? ..............................................


On the other hand, if you argue with me and say: 'No, I'm not a Santa, I'm .... (your name)', it would be: ..............................................................


Negation is a simple thing in the Lithuanian language. One of those rare cases!

Let's see:

  • turiu (I have) versus aš neturiu (I don't have)

  • noriu (I want) versus aš nenoriu (I don't want)

  • myliu (I love) versus aš ............. (I don't love)


Ok now when the verb starts with a wovel (a, e, i, o, u), ne becomes n'. Even more simple than that - you don't need an apostrophe.

e.g. aš einu (I go) versus aš neinu (n'einu, neinu, I don't go)


So how do you say 'I am not'? Aš ............. .

I'm not a Santa = ...............................................


Now if you see your friend dressed up like Santa, you may say, 'You are a Santa!'

Tu................................................. .


But if you see his beard is fake and you don't believe in Santa, you might as well say, 'No, you are not a Santa.' Watch out, there is this vowel in front of the verb (esi).

Tu n.................. Kalėdų senelis.


Game #3


Some remarks about the verb 'to be'. As you may have noticed, there are the green verbs (esu, esi, esame, esate) and then the red verbs (yra, yra, yra, yra). The good knews is, the third person is always conjugated the same, either it is singular or plural.


Over to you.

What are the pronouns of the third person in Lithuanian?

a) he =

b) she =

c) they (masculine) =

d) they (feminine) =


If you want to say 'he is a Santa', how would you do that?

Jis .................. Kalėdų senelis.

How would you say 'He is in Lithuania (Lietuvoje)'?

............................... Lietuvoje


Ok right. The same applies to other pronouns: ji yra Lietuvoje, jis yra Lietuvoje, jie yra Lietuvoje, jos yra Lietuvoje.

!!! The negative form of yra: NĖRA.



Game #4


Now once again, the green forms of the verb 'to be' are: 'esu, esi, esame, esate.'

Let's match them to the right pronouns:


a) mes ................

b) jūs ..................

c) tu ....................

d) aš ...................


barzda = beard

How would you say 'the beard is white'?

................................................................


I'm not going to freak you out with all the endings. So let's simply learn "his". In lithuanian, we say "jo".

So how do you say, 'His beard is white'?

.................................................................

Now let's remember the word 'hat' (k...............ė).

How will you say, 'His hat is red?

................................................................

Eventually, how would you say, 'His hat is red, his beard is white and he is sleeping'?

.................................................................


Game #5

Now we need to introduce someone once in a while.



You could tell: Let me introduce you to Karl. (Lithuanians will add the ending to your name, usually. Sorry in advance.) The following sentence says, 'He's a Crhistmas cat'.


How do you say, 'Let me introduce you to Santa Claus'?

................................................................

Once again, how was the beard (b.............a) and the hat (k.............ė)?

How will you say, 'Let me introduce you to Santa. His hat is red and his beard is white.'?

................................................................


Coming down to earth now. Even though you may never need to introduce Santa to your friends, there are lots of other people that you will be introducing. It could be your significant other, a friend or a colleague. How do you say these words in Lithuanian?




What will you say to introduce your:

a) boyfriend? Susipažinkite. Čia yra mano .......................

b) girlfriend? S...................... . Čia yra ...............................

c) husband .................... ............................................

d) wife .................. .............................................


Again, how will you introduce your:

e) male friend? Susipažinkite. Čia yra mano .......................

f) female friend? S...................... . Čia yra ..........................




Let's nail it. How do you introduce your:

g) male colleague? Susipažinkite. Čia yra mano .......................

h) female colleague? S...................... . Čia yra ...............................


That's it for now. Kol kas viskas.




Answer key


Game #1

a) hat (#6) = kepurė

b he is sleeping (#4) = jis miega

c) boring (#8) = .nuobodu

d) beard (#5) = barzda

e) Santa (#2) = Kalėdų senelis

f) red (#7) = raudona


Game #2

I am a Santa = Aš esu Kalėdų senelis.

No, I'm not a Santa, I'm .... (your name) = Ne, aš nesu Kalėdų senelis, aš esu Neringa.


Negation

myliu (I love) versus aš nemyliu (I don't love)

I am not = Aš nesu

I'm not a Santa = Aš nesu Kalėdų senelis


You are a Santa = Tu esi Kalėdų senelis


No, you are not a Santa = Tu nesi Kalėdų senelis.


Game #3

a) he = jis

b) she = ji

c) they (masculine) = jie

d) they (feminine) = jos


He is a Santa = Jis yra Kalėdų senelis.

He is in Lithuania = Jis yra Lietuvoje

Jis .................. Kalėdų senelis.


Game #4

a) mes esame

b) jūs esate

c) tu esi

d) aš esu


The beard is white = Barzda yra balta

His beard is white = Jo barzda yra balta


'hat' (kepurė).

His hat is red = Jo kepurė yra raudona

His hat is red, his beard is white and he is sleeping = Jo kepurė yra raudona, jo barzda yra balta ir jis miega


Game #5

Let me introduce you to Santa Claus = Susipažinkite, čia yra Kalėdų senelis.

the beard (barzda) and the hat (kepurė)

Let me introduce you to Santa. His hat is red and his beard is white = Susipažinkite, čia yra Kalėdų senelis. Jo kepurė yra raudona ir jo barzda yra balta.


Introducing your

a) boyfriend = Susipažinkite. Čia yra mano vaikinas

b) girlfriend = Susipažinkite. Čia yra mano mergina

c) husband = Susipažinkite. Čia yra mano vyras

d) wife = Susipažinkite. Čia yra mano žmona

e) male friend = Susipažinkite. Čia yra mano draugas

f) female friend = Susipažinkite. Čia yra mano draugė

g) male colleague = Susipažinkite. Čia yra mano kolega

h) female colleague = Susipažinkite. Čia yra mano kolegė


Well done! Puikiai padirbėta!



19 views0 comments

Comments


Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page