Sunday 29 September 2013

I'm trying to learn Spanish

Well, the nights are drawing in, and, as some of you know, I'm looking towards my winter trip. To Cuba.

And this time I'm trying to do something about my linguistic ineptitude. I'm trying to teach myself Spanish. I have a book and a CD and have found websites to help with pronunciation.

It's a slow process. I'm not naturally good at languages (well, I like to think I'm good at English, but you know what I mean). I can, now ask someone how she is (though who know why I might want to do this before I buy my bus ticket, I'm not sure). I can tell them I have four daughters and four grandchildren (though words can never quite capture how wonderful they all are). I can ask the way to the bus station - though think it unlikely I'll ever understand the reply. And I can order a beer.

Yet there are many questions which aren't included in my basic Spanish - questions which, in my experience, are vital to know when you're a tourist. Such as:

There is no toilet paper in my room.

I think I am on the wrong bus.

Is that spider poisonous?

I shall happily play with your children but will not take them home with me.

No, I will not marry you just so you can get a visa.

Is there a collective noun for cockroaches?

I know I'm white-skinned, but the war in Iraq is not my fault.

Some years ago, when I was in Spain, I sent a text to a daughter, then teaching in Caracas, needing the Spanish for cake. (She understood cake emergencies). She now has three small children. Is it stretching her good will too far to contact her in the middle of the night to ask for the Spanish for, 'A rat has eaten my rucksack'?

When you're on  your travels, have you come across phrases you need translated, urgently, and cannot possibly mime?

17 comments:

  1. Jo, learning a new language is wonderful, isn't it? My problem is something you've touched on here. I can't understand what they say in reply! I can say things, but the rattled off replies leave me floundering. My favourite phrase in any language is 'could you speak a bit more slowly please?'

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    1. I really struggle with it, Val - languages don't come easily, so this feels a bit brave. (And admitting it possibly foolish - I've got the get further than 'what is your name' now!)

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  2. Agreed!!! I assiduously learned Czech from a friend in preparation for a trip to Prague to visit other friends. Thought I'd mastered a moderate ability (and it's a beast of a language because the nouns decline according the the use in the sentence) but was totally floored by the speed of convos.And I got terribly laughed at because the friend who taught be was Slovakian, so I had a Slovakian accent! And their teenage kids taught me a whole lot of rude words and then got me to say them to the church pastor!!!I take my Victorian bonnet off to you!!

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    1. Ah children! When I was in Malaysia a lovely guide rowed me up a little river, all very idyllic, and made me repeat the name of a tree over and over - I'm quite sure I was saying something rude, but I've no idea what it was!

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  3. In India, we heard Hebrew spoken by Indians who'd obviously been taught by young tourists having fun! But natives generally like to hear you trying to speak their language, even if it's only a few words.

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    1. Miriam, I always learn to say Please and Thank you, and often Hello - it feels the very least I can do. On the big trip I could do no more - all those different scripts in Asia, and the possibilities for confusion are endless. But I feel I ought to manage a little more in Spanish.

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  4. Good for you, learning Spanish for Cuba. First visit to Paris, I proudly and carefully asked a gendarme the location of the Ste Chappelle, only to, of course, understand not one word of his rapid response... so funny, and I tend to restrict myself to Bonjour and Merci these days.

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    1. When I was in Paris as a teenager, my father insisted my brother was 30, and not 13 ... it took a while before either of them saw the funny side, but my mother and I had a good laugh!

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  5. I suspect, as you and several commenters have said, that it can be even worse to know a little of the language because the reply sounds as rapid as shot from a cannon. Last week In France I asked for more toilet paper by pointing at the empty toilet roll and looking worried. What can I say other than it worked! *shrugs in a rather French way*

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  6. Maybe I should learn to shrug in Spanish, Ros ...

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  7. Good for you Jo, it will be so useful. I spoke more Turkish this year as our villa owner sought me out every morning and evening to teach me a little,greetings and suchlike. I did love it as I used it in restaurants and with taxi drivers ,they were all so delighted I was speaking their language .

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    1. I'm doing my best, Anne - but there will be plenty of tourists far more fluent than I, as many schools teach Spanish now. I've always learned please and thank you, but would like to be able to ask for a beer on this trip!

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  8. Good luck with it Jo. I am sure you will have mastered the Spanish for more of those questions before you leave! And like Anne I found people in Italy were so pleased to find me trying that it made the whole experience of making an effort to speak Italian huge fun. I came back full of good intentions to keep up the lessons!

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    1. Ah, those good intentions Sue - I can identify with those. Who know if I'll get further than please and thank you by January! But I'll do my best.

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  9. You are well and truly smitten with the wanderlust, aren't you? Good for you! Adventure should be your middle name, and I hope you're planning to write about your adventures in Cuba to give all us homebodies a vicarious thrill.

    Are you familiar with the blogger "A Cuban in London"? I bet he could give you some valuable tips...

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    1. Thanks for the lead to that blog, Susan - I'll definitely follow that up.

      And will I write about it ... we'll see ...

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