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Re: Understanding Spanish
Originally Posted by The Oddities
(Post 5901505)
I thought that people were allowed two plants for their personal use.
Rosemary |
Re: Understanding Spanish
Originally Posted by twyntub
(Post 5837935)
Although we've been here a few months now, our Spanish isn't great, especially when people talk really fast, or when you try to understand the real colloquial Spanish they talk around here where they knock the 's' off of the end of every plural and join it to the beginning of the next word...!
Today, there was a knock at the door. Or rather, it was more of a hammer than a knock. We peered out and were greeted with our next door neighbour and an old lady, both extremely flustered, both rattling off Spanish at 150 miles an hour. After about 30 seconds without pausing for breath, they both stopped dead and looked at us expecting an answer... There was a pause as Mrs Twyntub and I exchanged a horrified glance, both thinking "what the hell are they going on about?". :confused: Then our six year old daughter looked up and calmly said: "This lady has lost her dog. Its a puppy and it's name is ____, it's black - it's black all over, and it's quite small. They want to know if we've seen it. She lives in the village, opposite the medical centre. Please can we go and look for the dog? Can we? Please?" :blink::blink: |
Re: Understanding Spanish
its reassuring to know that a six year old has settled in so well out there. We are moving out to villa martin very soon and i am concerned about the schooling for my five year old daughter and my 13 year old son. International or state school? It would be nice to have some feedback off people who have made this decsion and the problems they have encountered.:)
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Re: Understanding Spanish
Originally Posted by twyntub
(Post 5837935)
both rattling off Spanish at 150 miles an hour. After about 30 seconds without pausing for breath, they both stopped dead and looked at us expecting an answer... is no different to the way a Spanish person speaks, sometimes i have to ask them to slow down, but foreigners also ask me to slow down when I speak, the fast speaking 150MPH you moan about is a myth, Ill quote the below from about.com but really I feel you are ignorant to the language and really rather than learn words its better to learn complete phrases and then the speed problem wont be there becuase you will pick up the whole sentance rather than the words your looking for, Its not the Spanish is fast it maybe that you are slow, I watch a lot of football on Spanish TV either in Spain or on a feed, and if anyone speaks muy rapido then its there, but I can most of the time understand it perfectly well, just missing out a few words here and there. Somewhere I read the results of a study that concluded Spanish is spoken more rapidly than English. The reason is the typical Spanish syllable is open (meaning consonant-vowel) while in English the typical syllable is closed (consonant-vowel-consonant). Words with more than one syllable in English tend to have two dissimilar consonants together requiring a slowing of speech to sound both of them. We natural English speakers get to be pretty adept at sounding two consonants together, but it is tough for a natural Spanish speaker to do. In Spanish when two consonants are together the natural speaker often inserts an extra (unwritten and soft) vowel sound between them. For example in the Spanish word AGRUPADO, you can hear it pronounced AGuRUPADO. The extra u is short and soft, but separates the consonants. Natural English speakers have no problem sounding "GR" without inserting an extra vowel, but we do it at a slightly slower rate. |
Re: Understanding Spanish
My word of the day, sent to me every day from a website .......tercio
How do the Spanish understand each other....... :confused: el tercio, s. third Solo se llenó un tercio del teatro. Only a third of the seats in the theater were filled. Derivatives: 1. el tercio, s. (Army) historical infantry regiment Los tercios de Flandes fueron el mejor ejército. The Spanish infantry regiments in Flanders were the best Army. 2. cambiar de tercio, frase. to move on to something else Ahora no me cambies de tercio. Don't move on to something else now. 3. un tercio, s. beer (a third of a litre bottle) Ponme un tercio. Can I have a beer bottle? I would be afraid to use the word in a bar....they could think I'm asking for Spanish regiment :blink::unsure::p |
Re: Understanding Spanish
No different really to any other language. All languages have multiple uses for some words. Look at live and read in English, or best of all 'Rose'. Context is all.
Emphasis is most important. Get that wrong and no matter how much of the language you know, you will be almost unintelligible. |
Re: Understanding Spanish
Originally Posted by bil
(Post 6075336)
No different really to any other language. All languages have multiple uses for some words. Look at live and read in English, or best of all 'Rose'. Context is all.
Emphasis is most important. Get that wrong and no matter how much of the language you know, you will be almost unintelligible. |
Re: Understanding Spanish
Yeah, pretty good thanks. Saturday I had to come in from the sun so that I didn't burn.
Hell of a difference to the crap weather we have in the UK, eh? Ooooppps. I forget. The UK has 'a perfect climate' according to some. :rofl: Pruned my orange trees, did the garden over and worked some more on the house. How's t'ings wit choo? |
Re: Understanding Spanish
Originally Posted by bil
(Post 6075679)
How's t'ings wit choo? |
Re: Understanding Spanish
keep it simple, eh?
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Re: Understanding Spanish
Originally Posted by bil
(Post 6076670)
keep it simple, eh?
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Re: Understanding Spanish
Another 6 weeks and I will be back out there for a bit. Little by little I am getting the place sorted. That trick of adding toilet paper to the water in the new cess pit has worked well, and it is now holding water. My dark nectarine tree is at last showing fruit, so I am looking forward to seeing if it is as good as the one that died. If it is, I will be grafting like crazy next January to try and guarantee myself a supply. Oh yes, you should see the passion fruit. In just a couple of years, the vine is damn near as thick as a child's waist.
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Re: Understanding Spanish
Originally Posted by Lionda
(Post 6052288)
My word of the day, sent to me every day from a website .......tercio
How do the Spanish understand each other....... :confused: el tercio, s. third Solo se llenó un tercio del teatro. Only a third of the seats in the theater were filled. Derivatives: 1. el tercio, s. (Army) historical infantry regiment Los tercios de Flandes fueron el mejor ejército. The Spanish infantry regiments in Flanders were the best Army. 2. cambiar de tercio, frase. to move on to something else Ahora no me cambies de tercio. Don't move on to something else now. 3. un tercio, s. beer (a third of a litre bottle) Ponme un tercio. Can I have a beer bottle? I would be afraid to use the word in a bar....they could think I'm asking for Spanish regiment :blink::unsure::p |
Re: Understanding Spanish
Same in English. I think it is the word rose that has the most meanings.
Also compare bough, cough, slough and so on. |
Re: Understanding Spanish
Originally Posted by bil
(Post 6094342)
Same in English. I think it is the word rose that has the most meanings.
estar borracho (drunk) estar bebido (drunk) estar cocido (boiled) tener una curda... estar pedo (to be fart) tener un pedo (o pedal) como un piano - to have a fart as a piano tener una merluza (to have a hake) estar tostado/tostadisimo (roasted-very roasted) estar mamado (to be sucked) estar colocado (to be put) estar puesto/puestisimo (put again) estar pasado/pasadisimo (to be passed/very passed) estar ebrio estar beodo estar alumbrado (lightened up) estar achispado (no drunk but merry) estar bolo (bowl) estar caneco, tener un caneco estar briago estar ajumado tener un buen melocoton (to have a good apricot) tener una moña..... And I suppose there will be much more regional variations I am not aware...and several more checking a thesaurus....but there is only one word for hungover that I know (hangover??) = resaca |
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