Wednesday 26 February 2014

Writing the non-verbals

I tried, honestly I tried. I made excuses: I'm not a natural linguist, I don't have the time, that sort of garbage. But if I'm being honest, I just didn't work hard enough. My Spanish is worse than rudimentary - and somehow I was able to delude myself that it was good enough to get by in Cuba.

It wasn't.

There were words I had to learn very quickly (like beer, and breakfast). And my dictionary was soon well-thumbed and a little tatty.

But often I had to fall back on sign language and 'acting'. Now I'm home, with an ebook to think about, I'm  trying find a way to write about that. The problem: I begin with the words I wanted to say but couldn't, and now must find a way to describe my acting-efforts using words in such a way that the original meaning becomes clear.

I'll give you some examples. How would you 'act':

  • Do I need to go to the bus station to organise a ticket to Santa Clara, or will it be fine if I just turn up tomorrow?
  • Thank you for organising horse-riding. Please tell me they're not going to gallop because I might fall off if they do?
  • I'm sorry I'm late for breakfast, but I was out drinking mojitos and listening to music last night.
  • How kind of you to get me a birthday cake. How do I cut it?


(The answer to the last question - the woman in the casa just plunged plunged a knife in, scattering icing, and giving me a look that said, 'You might be able to travel round the world, but what sort of woman doesn't know how to cut a cake!)

Just out of interest, how would you mime the horse-riding query?

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8 comments:

  1. Anne Mackle26 February 2014 at 22:40

    Oh Jo I bet you had a real laugh. They'll be talking about you in Cuba for year. I would pretend to ride a horse and smile,then I would pretend to go faster and look horrified . Yes,I see now how hard it is,ha,ha.

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    1. JO27 February 2014 at 23:19

      Must admit a lot of laughing was involved, and I was apparently so entertaining my 'riding' had to be repeated for visitors!

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  2. Carol Hedges27 February 2014 at 03:00

    hahahaha ... reminds me of that essential phrase for travellers included in most phrase books in the 17th-19th centuries: ''the postilion has been struck by lightening and requires immediate attention''.

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    1. JO27 February 2014 at 23:20

      Was that polite-speak for needing the loo?

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  3. A Cuban In London27 February 2014 at 06:05

    I was going to answer your question about horse-riding but then I looked at myself in the mirror and... let's just say that it wasn't appropriate! :-)

    Re the cake, you brought back memories. Lots. :-)

    Greetings from London.

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    1. JO27 February 2014 at 23:22

      Greetings - from safely home in Wiltshire. And the cakes - it took me a while to work out why people were walking through the streets with them (or riding bikes, over bumps and potholes - I never saw one fall!)

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    2. A Cuban In London2 March 2014 at 00:15

      By the way, I meant to write the other day, but forgot, that you shouldn't worry too much about understanding the norm of Spanish we speak in Cuba. Most Spanish speakers don't, either. You were only there for a month after all. In Havana we tend to chop off the end of sentences. The "s" and "r" sounds in Cuban Spanish are usually dropped at the end of words, or "breathed in". This is a legacy of southern Spain and its Andalusian culture.

      Thanks. Have great Sunday and week ahead.

      Greetings from London.

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  4. Jenny Woolf11 March 2014 at 12:06

    How charming to get you a cake! As for the horse riding, I don't know. I think I might have resorted to drawing a picture of a horse. I used to be quite good at drawing them when I was 10 ! :)

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