Getting around in Georgian
25 words
ქალაქიkalaki— city
car, LA, key: Drive your CAR into LA, and the mayor hands you the KEY to the CITY: KA-LA-KI.
მაღაზიაmaghazia— shop
magazine: A MAGAZINE was first a storehouse (Arabic makhzan); Georgian took the same word as SHOP. Say it with a throaty gh: ma-GHA-zia.
ფულიpuli— money
pool: A cartoon millionaire dives into a swimming POOL full of MONEY: POO-li! Breathe a little puff on the p.
ქუჩაkucha— street
coo + cha-cha: Pigeons on the STREET COO, then dance a CHA-cha across the crossing: KU-CHA, street!
სასტუმროsast'umro— hotel
stumble: Tired GUESTS STUMBLE into the lobby at midnight: sa-ST'UM-ro. Inside hides სტუმარი, guest: a hotel is literally “the guest place”.
გზაgza— road, way
geezer: An old GEEZER on a tractor hogs the whole ROAD. Squeeze “geezer” into one quick breath: G-ZA, road.
ბილეთიbileti— ticket
Billy lets: The conductor, BILLY, LETs you aboard only after he punches your TICKET: BI-LE-ti. (It's the French billet, travelled east.)
ტუალეტიt'ualet'i— toilet
toilet: The most useful word on any trip, and you already know it: T'UALET'-i, from French “toilette”. Both t' are sharp clicks.
მანქანაmankana— car
mannequin: A shop MANNEQUIN sits stiffly behind the wheel of a CAR, driving through town: MAN-KA-na. (Any machine, too: a washing machine is a მანქანა.)
ბაზარიbazari— market
bazaar: You know this one: BAZAAR, both from Persian. Georgian keeps a single a and adds -i: BAZAR-i.
ქვეყანაkveq'ana— country
Quick, Ana!: Your friend Ana dawdles at the border: “QUICK, ANA, or we'll never leave the COUNTRY!” — kve-Q'A-na.
საქართველოsakartvelo— Georgia
cart: Georgians call themselves Kartveli. Wrap that in sa-…-o, “land of”, and you get SA-KARTVEL-O. Picture a wine CART rolling across it.
ტაქსიt'aksi— taxi
taxi: You already know this one: TAXI. Note the spelling: ტ is a clipped t', and the x is two letters, ქ + ს.
სოფელიsopeli— village
soap, Ellie: Bath day in a tiny VILLAGE: everyone shares one bar of SOAP, passed hand to hand. “SOAP, ELLIE!” — SO-PE-li.
რესტორანიrest'orani— restaurant
restaurant: You already know this one: REST'ORAN-i. Note the Georgian take: the final -t is gone, a clipped t' sits in the middle, and the noun ending -i is added.
მარჯვნივmarjvniv— to the right
margin: Teachers scribble their comments in the right-hand MARGIN: MARJ-vniv, to the right.
ეკლესიაek'lesia— church
ecclesiastical: The same Greek word as in ECCLESIastical: ek'-LESIA, “assembly”, which came to mean church. Just clip the k' (კ) short.
მარცხნივmartskhniv— to the left
march: “Left, left, left-right-left!” You MARCH off to the left: MARTSKH-niv — to the left. Not მარჯვნივ (marjvniv), to the right.
სკოლაsk'ola— school
school: You know this one: SCHOOL, said the old Latin way, SK'OLA. Just clip the k' (კ) short.
პირდაპირp'irdap'ir— straight ahead
pier: Walk off the end of one PIER, onto the next PIER, straight out to sea: P'IR-da-P'IR — straight ahead.
ახლოსakhlos— near
a close one: It's almost English: aKH-LOS, “a CLOSE one” — something right NEAR you. Just make the kh harsh, like in Scottish “loch”.
აფთიაქიaptiaki— pharmacy
apothecary: You know this one from old books: an APOTHECARY. Same Greek root, squeezed down to AP-TI-A-KI.
შორსshors— far
shores: You squint at distant SHORES across the sea, so FAR away: SHORS.
სამსახურიsamsakhuri— job, workplace
ავტობუსიavt'obusi— bus
autobus: You already know this one: the full old “autobus” (auto + omnibus), plus the Georgian -i ending. AV-T'O-BUS-i.
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.