Pedro Picapiedra (aka Fred Flintstone)

One of the things I liked best about teaching English as a Second Language (besides the for-the-most-part-awesome- students) was learning new things about your own world.

Case in point. Spanish speaking countries repackaged The Flintstones cartoons and renamed them. This came up with some trivia I had given the students. If I remember correctly, it was that the first TV couple shown in bed together were Fred and Wilma Flintstone. And no, I was not that kind of teacher. It was a fact list of Americana.

Well, the students from Spain had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.

It went something like this:

Me: So Fred and Wilma Flintstone were the first couple shown in bed together.

Spanish Student (SS): Who are Fred and Wilma?

Me: What? They didn't have this cartoon in Spain? It's about the Stone Age and there are 2 couples who are neighbors. Fred and Barney work in a stone quarry (although to be fair, there's no reason they should know the English words for stone quarry).

SS: No, I don't know this program.

Me: C'mon! They had a baby dinosaur named Dino and Fred drove a car that was powered with his feet. You must know it. It's super famous.

SS: Ah, you mean Pedro Picapiedra (Peter Stonecutter) and Pablo Marmol!!!! (Paul Marble--there's apparently no Spanish equivalent of Barney)

Me: What? Who? What are you talking about?

That's when I learned that Spanish basically repackages most/all American movies and TV and gives them a Spanish name.

Another case in point--we were all talking about Die Hard with Bruce Willis (don't ask why. We often got off point and I just ran with it). Again, another SS was like what? I have no idea what this movie is.

That's when he finally realized, oh you mean "La selva de vidrio!". (aka The glass jungle). That's what they called the movie in Spain.

I'm not 100% sure of the logic that goes behind importing an American movie and then changing the name so that everybody outside of Spain has no idea what movie you're talking about, but then again the Spanish Department of Culture doesn't consult me on these matters so I'll just have to be content with not knowing.

However, the Flintstones example is one of my favorites. I love that I have a new way to think about a childhood favorite.

Now, I just need to find the Spanish version of Nick at Nite and catch up on my Pedro Picapiedra and Pablo Marmol!

Words that are better in Spanish and words that are better in English: Parte Dos

As I continue to meander along the road called "Learning Spanish", I often come upon words that are better in Spanish than they are in English but just as likely I realize that there are words that are much better in English.

Here's one of my ongoing lists:

Words that are better in Spanish:

Cicatriz (see-ca-treez) = scar. I love the romantic sound of cicatriz. It conjures up swashbuckling pirates (hello Johnny Depp) full of cicatrizes.

Ojo (oho) de Pescado = wart. This may be Mexican Spanish because my Puerto Rican/Cuban husband was like WTF is that (because it literally translates to "fish eye") and both he and my dictionary insist the word for wart is verruga. But I prefer the fish eye.

Entonces (en-ton-says) = then. I love this because it reminds me of Toonces the Driving Cat from those ancient Saturday Night Live skits.

Agua Muertes = jelly fish. I like this because it translates to "dead water". Pretty accurate I think.

Rompecabezas = (jigsaw) puzzle. This to me is hilarious because it translates literally to "head breaker". Rompe is the word "to break" and cabeza is "head".

However, there are several words that are much better in English.

The least not being The Pope. In Spanish, it's El Papa but you have to be careful because if you say La Papa you're talking about a potato. This is the same in Portuguese because the first time I heard anyone say it was a Brazilian student of mine and even though he was speaking in English, he kept saying Papa and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why he was talking about a potato.

Rustling. There's something about this word that just evokes what it means. If I say, "The wind is rustling in the trees" you can't help but thing about an autumn day. The Spanish is "Hacer susurrar" which means to make a whisper. This is beautiful in itself but doesn't quite match up to the English.

Tomorrow morning. In and of itself, this isn't so great but when you learn the Spanish equivalent is mañana por la mañana" you appreciate the English brevity.

That's about it for this list but I do want to point out that, despite everyone's claims, Spanish is not always phonetic.

If it was ciudad (see-u-dad) meaning city would be pronounced the same as cuidado (que-dado) meaning careful.

Hubs nearly wet himself when I made that mistake.

Cute Spanish expressions

In an effort to remember Spanish expressions or idioms, I'm going to post my favorites here.

The first two that come to mind are:

• Camarón que se duerme, se lo lleva la corriente"--which literally means, "

• The shrimp who falls asleep, gets carried away by the current"

• or in English, "You snooze, you lose."

The second, which I think might be more of a Spain Spanish idiom is,

• "Te conozco tu bacalao aunque vengas disfrazado" which translates to:

• I know you bacalao (codfish), even though you are disguised" or in English

• "I know what your little game is/I know your type"

Language School Rip-Offs

How I wish I had paid more attention in high school and college Spanish! But back then, I thought learning another language was a waste of time. And I think, for most Americans it's not necessarily a waste of time, but most of us don't have a language partner to practice with (and this is key to success in learning a foreign language).

America is so huge that unless you happen to live in a border town or Miami, pretty much everyone will speak English. We're not Europe where they have whole countries the size of Rhode Island (and if you've ever been in RI, you know it's pretty dang small).

Who knew then that I would grow up and marry a Puerto Rican and Cuban man whose first language is Spanish?

In my quest to learn his language, I've probably spent close to $10,000 on private lessons (hey, language lessons ain't cheap) and countless hours of frustration.

And I have to admit, my language skills aren't that great. Mostly I think it's a confidence issue and also the awareness that my teachers and Leo all know English. It's very easy to slip back into English when the going gets rough in Spanish.

So I decided that the next time the military moves us (which could be as early as this October--we find out our choices of cities/hellholes in January) instead of sitting around on the couch for the first couple of months looking for a good job, I would send out resumes in advance (something I didn't have the luxury of doing when we moved to San Diego) and then spend a month or so studying Spanish in another country.

I wanted to go somewhere where I couldn't fall into the easy trap of expressing myself in English when I couldn't in Spanish. I first looked at Puerto Rico but that's hella expensive.

Spain? No way, they talk funny and use weird verb forms over there :D

I tossed out Mexico since I spent last Christmas there in Guanajuato and Guadalajara and it's too close to where I live now.

Costa Rica, meh. Been to San Jose and trust me, it's nothing special. My mom lives in a little town called Boquete in Panama but I've already been there a few times.

I considered Chile and Peru but finally settled on Buenos Aires, Argentina since I also want this to be a vacation. A learning vacation, but a vacation.

A sabbatical if you will.

Next I started looking at prices. They're pretty comparable so I wasn't sure how to choose. But one school, which made me give them my contact info before they would send me anything which should have been my first clue, offered a free online "language testing ability" quiz.

I took it one time and got an Inicial level (this is the lowest level). Ok, I thought, maybe it's because I had had a glass or two of wine. I tried again the next day and got an Inicial level again.

Completely enraged at this point, I asked Leo to take it (again, hubs is a native Spanish speaker) and he got Elemental. (the next level up). They did have one question using the vosotros form and Leo did move from PR to Miami when he was 9, so I thought maybe his Spanish isn't all that either.

Then I had one of my Spanish teachers take it. This woman has taught Spanish for years and is very thorough and precise. She grew up in Venezuala and Spanish is her first language.

She scored an Intermediate 2. (not the highest level).

At this point, I'm like this test is absolutely ridiculous and designed to fail you and crush your spirit. After all, even though I got Inicial, to me an Inicial level is like "uno, dos, tres..." I could read everything the test was asking and that, to me, is certainly not Inicial.

Here's the link if you would like to try the test for yourself and see how you fare.

http://www.donquijote.org/spanishlanguage/test/

Having worked in a language school for awhile, I know that many are complete rip-offs and aren't in the best interests of the students.

At the school I worked at, our "training" consisted of us coming in to observe another teacher's class for 1 hour before we began our own classes. Did I mention, this training was unpaid and completely voluntary? So, many people didn't bother.

There was no grammar test given, nor were you asked to give a teaching demonstration or anything. Some of the people they hired there were so sad. But I digress.

I do know that for dollar ratio, language schools can be very expensive. For example, private lessons at our school were $60 per hour. That's $1 per minute! Needless to say, not many students availed themselves of this "privilege". (BTW they paid the teachers $16 per hour)

However, I want to visit Buenos Aires and I sure don't want to sit on my couch for 2 or 3 months driving myself and Leo crazy while I job hunt and try to get acclimated to another city.

Has anyone out there had good experiences with language schools? If so, any recommendations?

Words that are better in Spanish and words that are better in English

So, I've kind of been thinking about this post for awhile and I'm sure as soon as I post it (meaning tonight at 2 a.m.) I'll think of a ton more but an abridged list will have to do for now.

Here is my very unofficial and highly subjective list of words that are better in Spanish. And then my list of words that are better in English. As well as a list of words that are equally beautiful in both languages.

Better in Spanish

Leche meaning "milk". For some reason, I absolutely can not stand the sound of the word milk. It's those two consonants, the l and the k, somehow meshing that just sends the skin on the back of my neck crawling. Meh. This is the reason I refuse to see the Sean Penn movie, "Milk". I just couldn't bear hearing everyone keep saying that word.

Tiraste un pedo meaning "You farted". Ok, the secret's out. I'm over the age of 8 and yes, bathroom humor still cracks me up. I know it will until the day I die and I'm ok with that. Really.

However, the best part about the phrase tiraste un pedo, is that you're really not just saying you farted. Rather, you're saying, "You threw a fart." How awesome is that.

Todo el Mundo meaning "everyone". When I first leaned this particular turn of phrase, I was reading a dialogue about a 5 year old children's birthday party. And they said, "Todo el mundo came to the party". I remember going to Leo and being like, ok, this book is ridiculous. Obviously the whole world didn't go to this little kid's birthday party. Maybe his aunts and uncles, a few cousins possibly but certainly not the whole freaking world. And said spouse, was like, "Oh, that's just how we say everyone." Talk about an overstatement.

Better In English

Toes which in Spanish is "dedos de los pies" which translates to "fingers of the toes". This just sounds wrong (and quite scary, to be frank) on so many levels.

Peacock which, arguably, isn't the greatest word ever. Until you hear the Spanish. Which is pavo real which translates to royal turkey. Peacock's looking a bit nicer now, no?

Shorts in Spanish translates to pantalones cortos or "short pants". Now I didn't grow up in a British boys-only boarding school, but if I had I imagine I'd wear pantalones cortos and probably get my ass kicked 24/7.

Words that are Equally Beautiful (or Horrid) in Both

Butterfly= Mariposa

Pantano =Swamp (meh...)

Manteca= Lard (I found this one out the hard way halfway through a burrito at one of the more "traditional" burrito shops in town. I say gross in both languages!~

So, this is the inaugural blog entry. I'm not sure if it's the heat wave we're currently experiencing in San Diego, my ennui with work or the re-appearance of my dear friend Danielle in the States that made me want to start a blog, but somehow today it seemed like a feasible idea.

Let me clarify that the heat wave here would be no big deal in most parts of America because of air conditioning, but for those of us who live near the Pacific Ocean coast, we are out of luck and must suffer through a few days each summer. A small price to pay I suppose.

So, I imagine this blog is going to go in 2 directions: entries on my fascination and aggravation with the Spanish language/my love for the English language, as flawed as it may be and my travel plans. I'm uncovering a formerly dormant love of linguistics (again, thanks Danielle!) and a new found realization that I finally have a job where I can afford to travel.

Previously, I worked in one of two ways: I worked a crappy job (ie waitressing through college and grad school) where I could take the time off but wouldn't get paid or working a "career" job which paid shite but gave me 2 weeks off every year (which I really couldn't go anywhere because of said shite wages). Gotta love jobs in journalism and teaching.