That's probably about right.. If the law hasn't changed you are allowed small amounts of whatever for personal use.. Any amount that you could do business with would get you in trouble if you got caught..

It's a lovely story, but have you considered that your little girl doesn't speak Spanish, and only really wanted to get out of the house and down to the village where the sweet shop is, and the old couple were really saying, " If you don't turn that bloody TV down there will be trouble " -- Just a thought.

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.

ifIsay toyourightnow goandcutthemtrees andmovethemtilestothefrontofthevan

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.

My word of the day, sent to me every day from a website .......tercio

How do the Spanish understand each other.......


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

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.

Hiya Bil, enjoy your trip?

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.

Pruned my orange trees, did the garden over and worked some more on the house.

How's t'ings wit choo?

Mui bien ... no mas Expatica

keep it simple, eh?

very!

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.

Veeeeery well, Lionda. I don't know in English, but there are words in Spanish that the same word can mean several different things

Same in English. I think it is the word rose that has the most meanings.

Also compare bough, cough, slough and so on.

Bil, opposite direction now: there are several words and ways in Spanish to say "to be drunk"
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