Re: USAGE: hate = jealous (was: Re: YAPT: Dutch ij and ui)

On Sun, 25 Jul 2004 13:00:28 -0400, Roger Mills <rfmilly@...> wrote:

>
> It's amazing that languages are still taught that way.  It's how I learned
> Spanish back in the 50s. Although I was #1 in my Spanish classes, when I
> stepped off the plane in Madrid I was utterly tongue-tied, and couldn't
> understand a word of what people were saying. Spanish speakers have often
> said that my spoken Span. is "bookish". (Though at the height of my fluency,
> I was immensely flattered when someone asked what country I came from!?)

My university makes use of facilitators who help you work on your
speaking ability. However, we don't all have the time to go to them
when they're available. I remember when I got to Mexico, it took me
about two weeks to get into the Spanish speaking mode. I literally
couldn't think in Spanish yet. But after the end of the third week i
began to think in it and was able to discuss things with the people I
was staying with, and even say humorous things that carried over.

It's funny though, i remember being in Mexico and when i'd recall
conversations, my mind for some reason began to think that they were
said at least partially in English. Also it's funny how the accent
there became common like hearing the English i hear where I live.

I also had issues with my work partner for the class project not
getting it through his thick skull that he needed to talk slower and
without a lot of slang to me when he spoke. But being an idiot he
didn't get it and didn't do that. One of the people we had made
friends with was a Spanish teacher and also tried to explain this to
him. One of our conversations was about how I speak Spanish and i
mentioned that I know I speak very bookish as we are taught the
standard, not the colloquial variety in Mexico. So i sound very
formal, i'm sure, and devoid of sayings, idioms, and slang.

However the one slang word i'll NEVER use is "guey" /wej/, which seems
to come at the end of nearly every sentence for young Mexican guys.
Elisa, the Spanish teacher remarked that the kids who use it tend to
reduce their sentences down to simplistic incomplete sentences, ended
with "guey". I find its use as annoying as people here in the US who
use "dude" or "like" far too much (of course i do use those words when
with my friends, just not all the time as in:  "Like, Becky like went
to the store, and like she like bought this like dress that like was
like that wrong color." or "Dude, you are like totally awesome dude!"




--
Something gets lost when you translate,
It's hard to keep straight, perspective is everything

- Invisible ink - Aimee Mann -