howz yer spanish? (1 Viewer)

[sammymvpknight]

LOL...hablo espanol un poquito...as they say. I understand it much better than speak it these days.

 

[J.T.]

Spanish is #4 for me, it can be ok on a good day. I understand much more than I speak, but with all of the apps available, I can get by. I have never taken a formal class, just picked it up from travelling. I have been to about half a dozen Spanish speaking countries. The different accents and dialects are something that I can pick up on. After the pandemic, I plan to go to a couple of South American countries for a couple of months and might take a course or two while there.

Your reaction was priceless. I had a few guys work on my roof after the most recent storm. They were impressed that I was able to understand about 75-80% of what they were saying and that I was able to make myself somewhat understood in Spanish. One guy spoke better English than my Spanish though. When two people have OK speaking abilities, but better comprehension, I find it is easier to communicate if each person speaks in their native language and the other person listens.

I probably would have responded in English, nah man, I will cut your keys.

 

[faceman]

Spanish is #4 for me, it can be ok on a good day. I understand much more than I speak, but with all of the apps available, I can get by. I have never taken a formal class, just picked it up from travelling. I have been to about half a dozen Spanish speaking countries. The different accents and dialects are something that I can pick up on. After the pandemic, I plan to go to a couple of South American countries for a couple of months and might take a course or two while there.

You reaction was priceless. I had a few guys work on my roof after the most recent storm. They were impressed that I was able to understand about 75-80% of what they were saying and that I was able to make myself somewhat understood in Spanish. One guy spoke better English than my Spanish though. When two people have OK speaking abilities, but better comprehension, I find it is easier to communicate if each person speaks in their native language and the other person listens.

I probably would have responded in English, nah man, I will cut your keys.

My wife is from Taiwan. I'll never forget what her neice told me years ago. I told her I'd like to learn Mandarin. She told me there
is no need. You can travel to any place on earth and there will be someone there who speaks english. She did a lot of traveling
through Europe and english was the language she used to communicate with locals

 

[zeetes]

i can count in french

 

[gboudx]

We typically go to Easter Vigil Mass and it's bilingual, English/Spanish. Some of the readings are in Spanish, some are in English, some of the songs are in Spanish, some are in English. The English speaking priest starts the homily, followed by the Spanish speaking priest. The Spanish speaking priest usually starts his homily with "Hermanos". I'm come to understand that "hermanos" translates to, "go to sleep if you only speak English".

 

[bigdaddysaints]

My mom says when she was growing up, her mom spoke fluent Spanish (obviously since she was from Puerto Rico), and she said her mom could understand most Italian. She said so many of the words are close enough that she could get the jest of a conversation in Italian. Not that i don't believe her, but is this true?

 

[zeetes]

when i moved to college station, thanks katrina, i remember being culture shocked by how much spanish is in texas.

today, i am not surprised by why. what P'Oed me off, was talking with a woman whom started talking to me in spanish. i told her i don't understand.

in english, she berated me for not knowing spanish living in texas, because according to her (paraphrasing), "living in texas, you should know spanish." . i'm sure it was a one-off, but it did leave a sour feeling. fork spanish. i have refused to learn it after that.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

My mom says when she was growing up, her mom spoke fluent Spanish (obviously since she was from Puerto Rico), and she said her mom could understand most Italian. She said so many of the words are close enough that she could get the jest of a conversation in Italian. Not that i don't believe her, but is this true?

when i was on tour we were mostly in Romance countries (mostly italian, then spain and a smattering of france) -basically i found that you could mostly get by with a 'romance pidgin' and the correct accent (except Madrid, couldn't understand or express caca there)

 

[nolaspe]

i can count in french

Yeah, but can you Jameson in French?

 

[nolaspe]

I know " uno mas cervesa, por favor"

'Una mas cerveza, por favor'

 

[zeetes]

Yeah, but can you Jameson in French?

actually yes. jameson.

 

[gboudx]

when i moved to college station, thanks katrina, i remember being culture shocked by how much spanish is in texas.

today, i am not surprised by why. what P'Oed me off, was talking with a woman whom started talking to me in spanish. i told her i don't understand.

in english, she berated me for not knowing spanish living in texas, because according to her (paraphrasing), "living in texas, you should know spanish." . i'm sure it was a one-off, but it did leave a sour feeling. fork spanish. i have refused to learn it after that.

Yes there appears to be some stigma in the Hispanic community towards other Hispanics who cannot speak spanish. I worked with some Hispanic guys who's parents never taught them spanish, and whenever other Hispanics tried to speak them in spanish, they told me if it was 1 or more they would speak spanish in front of them, smiling and laughing, likely making fun of them.

My son has received this too, because he looks Hispanic. My mother-in-law was from Honduras, so my wife is half Hispanic and our son got some of her Hispanic traits such as darker skin, and coarse, thick, dark hair. My m-in-l never taught her kids spanish, so no one knows how to speak it.

 

[nolaspe]

My mom says when she was growing up, her mom spoke fluent Spanish (obviously since she was from Puerto Rico), and she said her mom could understand most Italian. She said so many of the words are close enough that she could get the jest of a conversation in Italian. Not that i don't believe her, but is this true?

Spanish and Italian do share some similar sounding words. Now, Puerto Rican Spanish is its own animal in itself, it's as close to 'Spanglish' as you can get with, i.e. 'Tienes un highlighter que me puedes prestar?' (Do you have a highlighter that I can borrow?).

I went to medical school with several Puerto Ricans, and it took me a few months to become fluent in Puerto Rican.

 

[Zack Lee]

I know " uno mas cervesa, por favor"

this is apparently universally the first thing learned both ways. When I was engaged to a woman from Mexico and first went down to meet her parents, her father could not speak a lick of English but we drank a butt load of tequila together. He just kept telling this story of his military days when he stayed in some English speaking town and he learned to say “one beer”. He would just keep saying “one beer” and rolling with laughter. His antics were far more hysterical than his story

 

[buzd]

'Una mas cerveza, por favor'

Pfft.

Mas cervezas por favor.