Home and things in Georgian
12 words
სახლიsakhli— house
sack: You carry your whole HOUSE on your back in a SACK, like a snail: SAKH-li.
ოთახიotakhi— room
oh, tacky: You open your hotel ROOM: leopard print, plastic flowers. “Oh, TACKY!” — o-TAKH-i.
კარიk'ari— door
carry: You CARRY a whole DOOR home from the market on your back: k'A-ri. A clipped k', no puff of air.
მაგიდაmagida— table
magician: A MAGIcian yanks the cloth off the TABLE and every plate stays put: ma-GI-da!
საწოლიsats'oli— bed
sat solo: A BED so huge you SAT SOLO in the middle of it like a tiny king, waving at the far-off pillows: SA-TS'O-li.
ფანჯარაpanjara— window
pan, jar: Grandma cools a hot PAN and a JAR of jam on the WINDOW sill: PAN-JAR-a.
სკამიsk'ami— chair
scam: A street seller sells you a chair that collapses the moment you sit. SCAM! SK'AM-i — chair.
წიგნიts'igni— book
sign: At the book fair, the author SIGNs your copy with a flourish: ts'-IGN-i — book.
ტელეფონიt'eleponi— phone
telephone: You know this one: TELEPHONE! But Georgian has no f: ფ is a breathy p, so it's t'ele-P-oni.
ჩანთაchanta— bag
chant: Football fans swing their BAGS over their heads and CHANT: “CHAN-ta! CHAN-ta!”
ბინაbina— apartment
bean: Your new APARTMENT is a giant BEAN pod: you sleep in one bean, cook in the next. BEAN-a, bi-na.
გასაღებიgasaghebi— key
gas: Literally “the thing for opening” (გაღება, to open). Picture the KEY to the GAS meter: GA-SA-ghebi.
Read them yourself
Learn the 33 letters first, in one or two evenings. Then the app teaches these words, each read letter by letter, and brings each one back just before you would forget it.