Nothing particularly significant happened to me today. Law class was really interesting because we talked about evolution of a human rights perspective in the visual arts. Then I had an excellent piece of chocolate cake and walked around. Salsa got cancelled because of a karate tornament.Then I came home and wrote in spanish about how the Americas developed differently due to the way their institutions developed to exploit "endogenous factors". Pretty riveting day.
So, I'm dedicating today's post to words again, I've learned a bunch today.
Mala cueva- bad luck. Synonym to mala pata, mala racha, or the standard "Español 2" mala suerte
And probably a bunch more.
desquisiado- completely out of control, mad, crazy, unhinged
cancelar- often used to mean "pay for"
suspendido- cancelled. ie "La clase de salsa está suspendido hasta el martes."
Suspender can also mean adjourned, called off, withdraw, put off or to hung from, depending on context.
la calcomanía- sticker or decal
la dulce de membrillo- quince jam in a block shape. At least I think it's quince, not totally sure. Also, it totally tastes mostly the same and has the same consistency as guava jelly, so that's confusing too.
el murciélago- bat. rawr. Gettin’ ready for halloween.
la lechona- Argentine word meaning piglet. the food, not the pooh character.
escalofriante- shocking, incredible, horrifying.
los escalofríos- shivers
percatarse- to notice
las migas- layers of a sandwich ie pan de miga- doesn’t exactly translate.
There’s a sandwich shop near my house called “Entre Migas” which is punny: Between friends or between layers. JAJAJA.
Showing posts with label words. Show all posts
Showing posts with label words. Show all posts
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Spanish is Hard: Verbs Verbs Verbs.
So, here are some random phrases that I've picked up of late that are very useful for figuring out what's going on... I'm thinking commonly used in Chile, but some of them are probably universal.
animarse-I thought animarse meant to cheer up or well, animate, which it does. So I was confused when several friends told me about things to do over the weekend "para animarse." I was so confused! Have I been looking sad lately? I love it here, I swear! Finally, I realized it can be used in the sense of "if you'd be interested in coming"
ie ¿Te animas de venir?
Tengo algunas panoramas si te tinca... Also having to do with weekend plans. I still remember this phrase because it threw me for such a loop. Literally translated it sounds something like "I have several views for you if.... " What is this tinca business?? Are you trying to sell me an apartment????
Tinca is a very Chilean verb that can mean, depending on context:
Me tinca-I guess or I like him.
Te tinca- do you want to?
And panoramas- outlooks
So "Tengo algunas panoramas si te tinca..."= I have some ideas for tonight if you're interested...
Te salió? : This one came up in salsa. The professor would always say it after explaining horribly complicated steps. Literally, it means to leave but it can be used to mean "Do you get it?"
faltarse: I wish this verb existed in English, in a non-pompous way. Means I need or am lacking in. But can be used in more senses than in English, ie salsa class when there are not enough partners. ¡Faltamos hombres! We are lacking in men! (I think that's right at least)
¿te parece?- Renders as "How does it seem to you" but often used at the ends of sentences to mean "What do you think/does that work for you?"
¿Te cuesta mucho....? Literally can mean that something costs a lot but frequently used to express that something was difficult. I got really confused for a when people would ask "Cuesta mucho llegar?" which means did you have a hard time getting here? because I thought it meant, "Was it expensive to get here?" "No, I took the metro..."
animarse-I thought animarse meant to cheer up or well, animate, which it does. So I was confused when several friends told me about things to do over the weekend "para animarse." I was so confused! Have I been looking sad lately? I love it here, I swear! Finally, I realized it can be used in the sense of "if you'd be interested in coming"
ie ¿Te animas de venir?
Tengo algunas panoramas si te tinca... Also having to do with weekend plans. I still remember this phrase because it threw me for such a loop. Literally translated it sounds something like "I have several views for you if.... " What is this tinca business?? Are you trying to sell me an apartment????
Tinca is a very Chilean verb that can mean, depending on context:
Me tinca-I guess or I like him.
Te tinca- do you want to?
And panoramas- outlooks
So "Tengo algunas panoramas si te tinca..."= I have some ideas for tonight if you're interested...
Te salió? : This one came up in salsa. The professor would always say it after explaining horribly complicated steps. Literally, it means to leave but it can be used to mean "Do you get it?"
faltarse: I wish this verb existed in English, in a non-pompous way. Means I need or am lacking in. But can be used in more senses than in English, ie salsa class when there are not enough partners. ¡Faltamos hombres! We are lacking in men! (I think that's right at least)
¿te parece?- Renders as "How does it seem to you" but often used at the ends of sentences to mean "What do you think/does that work for you?"
¿Te cuesta mucho....? Literally can mean that something costs a lot but frequently used to express that something was difficult. I got really confused for a when people would ask "Cuesta mucho llegar?" which means did you have a hard time getting here? because I thought it meant, "Was it expensive to get here?" "No, I took the metro..."
Sunday, August 1, 2010
August 1: Spanish is hard.
Guess oversharing is now my new form of procrastination. I'm supposed to be translating my resumé into Spanish, but its not going so well...Instead, I'm using wordreference.com to look up all the words I've written down in the last week or so which is sort of productive, just not what I should be doing. It's interesting, Spanish never really gets easier. The more I learn, the more things I realize I don't know or the more similar it all seems.
For example:
-cartelera=listing
-carretera=highway
-carrete= party (Chilean slang)
-carterear= to pickpocket
Despite being in a Spanish speaking country, it's hard to keep from sliding into inglés on occasion. For instance, so much of the TV is in English, although it has Spanish subtitles, which still means it's "educational." Yesterday, I watched "Titanic" with the fam and learned some words I had forgotten about such as "hundir"= to sink. And today I learned "somníferos"=sleeping pills, from watching some show with Julia Louis Dreyfuss in it.
Other things I've been doing to learn Spanish:
-Reading poetry- I only brought books in Spanish with me
-I've changed all electrical appliances to English (phone, computer) but a lot of websites still come up in English, and I have to remember to do searches in Spanish
-Playing a game with myself where for 10 minutes I'll look around and see if I can name every object around me
-Listening to music in Spanish, and limiting myself to 1 hour daily of music in English
-Looking at maps constantly
At least understanding Chileans has gotten easier, a bit. A few of us went to a small carrete last night in a friend's host brother's friend's apartment last night and I understand the majority of what they were saying. Once you realize that "cachai" & "po" are essentially just filler words, that a lot of people are just really mumbly when they talk, and that much of what Chileans say is meant jokingly things start being a bit clearer. Before I left, I read a bunch of places that Chileans have a reputation for being really austere people. I don't know where this reputation came from- maybe the people I've met are just exceptions, but everyone has been so funny, warm and friendly. Or just that the US is such a cold culture by comparison. But I'm inclined to think that cultural stereotypes are generally "basura."
For example:
-cartelera=listing
-carretera=highway
-carrete= party (Chilean slang)
-carterear= to pickpocket
Despite being in a Spanish speaking country, it's hard to keep from sliding into inglés on occasion. For instance, so much of the TV is in English, although it has Spanish subtitles, which still means it's "educational." Yesterday, I watched "Titanic" with the fam and learned some words I had forgotten about such as "hundir"= to sink. And today I learned "somníferos"=sleeping pills, from watching some show with Julia Louis Dreyfuss in it.
Other things I've been doing to learn Spanish:
-Reading poetry- I only brought books in Spanish with me
-I've changed all electrical appliances to English (phone, computer) but a lot of websites still come up in English, and I have to remember to do searches in Spanish
-Playing a game with myself where for 10 minutes I'll look around and see if I can name every object around me
-Listening to music in Spanish, and limiting myself to 1 hour daily of music in English
-Looking at maps constantly
At least understanding Chileans has gotten easier, a bit. A few of us went to a small carrete last night in a friend's host brother's friend's apartment last night and I understand the majority of what they were saying. Once you realize that "cachai" & "po" are essentially just filler words, that a lot of people are just really mumbly when they talk, and that much of what Chileans say is meant jokingly things start being a bit clearer. Before I left, I read a bunch of places that Chileans have a reputation for being really austere people. I don't know where this reputation came from- maybe the people I've met are just exceptions, but everyone has been so funny, warm and friendly. Or just that the US is such a cold culture by comparison. But I'm inclined to think that cultural stereotypes are generally "basura."
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