This is destined to be an entry about odds and end that I haven't thought to write about before. I wish I was better about jotting down notes about what I want to write about. Sigh.
Last night, the son in my house (who is 24) insisted that the other student in the house and I both tell a joke. Of course, I don't know any jokes in Spanish. (Okay, that's not entirely true. I know a dirty joke or two, and one really silly one.) So we both translated jokes from English, which is a somewhat painful process. Z's joke was about an oso (bear) and a raton (mouse). Except he kept forgetting the word for oso every 30 seconds, which was itself entertaining. I told a joke with which many of you are likely familiar – the duck joke. With the voice. Except I was unable to do the voice and talk in Spanish at the same time (guess I need to work on that!). But hey, now I know the word for nail (clavo) and duck (pato). I managed to translate all of it except the part where he says “flat feet”--I cheated and just said “feet.”
Oh, by the way, for my mother—to tell a joke is “contar un chieste.”
Another completely unrelated story. I was talking to my Guatemalan friend this past weekend, and at some point I mentioned that my roof (of my apartment) has an amazing view, but I'm not actually allowed up there. He asked why, and I thought about chicken buses, and riding in the back of pickups, and running across streets in front of cars, etc. . . . and I realized that this concept would make no sense to him. Because the answer is 'it's dangerous,' except it's not—you're not really going to fall off the roof. But it's dangerous in the uber-cautious, always-worried-about-being-sued culture in the US. So I tried to explain the concept of worrying about liability, which was the closest I could get to an explanation that made any sense.
In spansh, “tiene sentido”--have sense. I think that's probably the hardest thing about learning Spanish. Trying to remember crap like that. Similar to all the prepositions, which bear little resemblance to English. I now have so much more sympathy for non-native speakers struggling with prepositions in English. They're hard because they're situation-specific, and I can't think of any good way to turn them into flash cards. Another example: instead of making someone understand, you would give them understanding. Prepositions are even worse. When you think about something, you “pensar en (in),” and when you dream about something you “sonar con (with).” Leaving a place requires a “de” (of) and almost anything you can think to do to a person (talk to them, look for them, etc.) requires an “a.”
Of course, one of the funny parts about learning another language is realizing curiosities about your own. My friend pointed out that in English you get on a bus, but you get in a car. I objected that the same was true in Spanish, since you 'subir' a bus, and not a car – only to have it pointed out that you actually can 'subir' a car, too.
And the verbs drive and ride make no sense in English, either. If you ride a motorcycle, you're driving, but if you're riding in a car, you're definitely NOT driving.
The one thing that is close to impossible for me right now is trying to figure out which to use between estar/ser and imperfecto/preterito. I usually know which is correct between estar/ser and which is correct between imperfecto/preterito, but when I have to make a decision about both at one time, my brain is just overwhelmed. I just made a chart so that I could visualize the four choices better, but it's still really hard. (For those who have never taken Spanish, ser and estar both mean 'to be', but they're used in different situations. Preterito is simple past tense – like “I walked.” Imperfecto is a different type of past tense which I think translates sort of like “I had walked” or “I used to walk.” Effectively, this means that there are four different ways of saying that something “was”--and each is correct in different situations.)
As I wind up my time here, I wish I spoke better Spanish, BUT if I think about it, I know I've learned sooo much in 6 weeks. Grammar-wise, I've learned more in 6 weeks than I did in more than a year in school. While there's still about 5 trillion tenses I don't know, I know all that I need to know to communicate sufficiently. My hope is that I've learned enough to allow me to practice on my own with comprehension. I.e., now it's time for me to start watching telenovelas in Spanish, but I have some chance of understanding some of it. I also am worried that when confronted with a Cuban or Dominican accent, I won't understand a thing.
One of my friends told me she hopes I'm able to take a little bit of my Guatemalan self back with me to NYC. I liked that. I've been collecting Guatemalan and other Latin music to aid in that endeavor. (There aren't a ton of Guatemalan bands, actually, but there are a few.) My teacher is very useful for things like this. He recommends music and rum. Although I swear all the guys here, if not romantics in life, are romantics in music. They sing all the words to the song, con gusto! It's cute. And they like these beautiful, romantic songs.
Guatemalans take their music seriously. One funny thing is that the chicken buses, which are pieces of crap, with seats and windows, etc., that are falling apart, are often equipped with nice(ish) stereo systems to blare latin music during the trips.
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