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Word for the Travel Wise (10/26/06)

by Adrienne Wilson (RSS feed) on Oct 26th 2006 at 8:00PM

Long ago, way, way back earlier this year I mentioned a travel piece found in VIBE on their 2006 hot spots. One of those spots was surprisingly the tiny South American country known as Suriname, but is it really all that surprising? If you're trying to escape tourist crowded Brazil or Venezuela, Suriname comes in as a close much quieter fit - tropical temps, Afro-Dutch culture and delicious food to be found all over the ~~island~~ country. I've never been, but I imagine the food to be mouth-watering. Anyhow, we don't talk much about Suriname here, but as I mentioned before check out the VIBE piece or this one by Erik on Suriname and neighboring country Guyana.

Today's word is a Dutch word used in Suriname:

mooi - beautiful

I used AltaVista's Babel Fish Translation service for this word, so I pray it is correct. In other words don't blame me if there is a glitch in their translation services.

Dutch is a Western Germanic language spoken by some 22 million people mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is also spoken in Suriname, eastern Guyana, Aruba, South Africa and Indonesia. Check out additional information on Wikipedia. To learn Dutch online start with BBC Quick Fix which gives you the travel basics with full clear audio. LearnDutch.org offers distance-learning classes which they note as being used by people in 115 countries. All Free Dictionaries has a generator much like Babel Fish where you can type in a word or two and have it translated instantly. If you're hitting the road soon and need a guide for the backpack Rough Guides offers a Dutch Phrasebook which can be purchased on Amazon for a decent price. Click here to find schools abroad to further your knowledge of the Dutch lingo. With this language there are many resources online, but you'll have to sift through many to find the best one for you.

Filed under: Learning, South America, Suriname

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Carmen Oct 26th 2006 9:09PM

I haven't heard so much about a place named Suriname, but if it's as beautiful as Brazil, then maybe it's a great vacation spot.

Blaine Zuver Oct 27th 2006 8:44AM

"and delicious food to be found all over the island"

Actually when you look at a map of the northern coast of South America you notice that Suriname is a country located on the continent, not an island.

Adrienne Oct 27th 2006 11:27AM

Thanks for the catch Blaine. I think I must have been thinking of the nearby Trinidad & Tobago (one of my favorite places to go) and accidentally said island... Please forgive me! :)

A

Blaine Zuver Oct 28th 2006 1:50PM

Suriname is so hard to get to from the States , it may as well be an island. From Amsterdam, home of Suriname's former colonial master there are flights on KLM several times a week. Air Suriname is banned by the FAA for safety reasons. The most direct way from Miami is to fly to Curacao and then connect on KLM or Air Suriname to Paramaribo. There's only two or three flights a week. ArcticTropic http://www.arctictropic.com has some good information on Suriname destinations and adventure travel providers. Click on the South America map and scroll down to Suriname. The links lead to the provider's website and exact visual location on Google Earth.