At least once a year I try to go to Mexico (Baja California) for a little R&R. This trip is pura fiesta - nothing but partying . There's no better way to learn and practice your Spanish then by walking the streets all day and night, hanging out in bars and restaurants talking to anybody and everybody.
With that in mind, I thought I'd share some things I've learned about having a good time. Para que tu sepas (just so you know), some of the things in this post may be very Mexican, but are probably understood by many.
Let's get started.
Ir de parranda
To go partying. Just that simple. A parranda is a party. This is one of several ways to say party besides fiesta. In fact, most of the people I talk to rarely (if ever) use the word fiesta when they talk about going partying.
Manaña voy de parranda para celebrar mi cumpleaños
Tomorrow I'm going partying to celebrate my birthday
A Parrandón (parrandona for the ladies) is someone who likes to party. You can also say Qué parrandón to talk about a great party. Parrandero (parrandera) is also a term for someone who likes to party.
Ir a Pachanguear
Yep, another way to say you're going to party. I don't recall where I picked up this expression, but here are some examples:
¿Vamos a ir a pachanguear verdad?
We're going to go partying right?
Estoy pachangueando
I'm partying
El sábado me fui de pachanga con mis amigas
I went out partying with my girlfriends on Saturday
Es muy pachanguero
He likes to party
Panchanguero (pachanguera) is a someone who likes to party. In English we'd probably say party animal. A pachanga is a party.
Let's not forget about Ir de fiesta. It works the same way the other expressions do.
¡Vamos de fiesta!
Let's go party!
Manaña voy de fiesta para celebrar mi cumpleaños
Tomorrow I'm going partying to celebrate my birthday
Fiestero/fiestera is another way to talk about being a party animal.
I've got one more for you, and this might come as shock.
Ir de party
Vamos de party
Let's go party
While it may sound strange, this is a very, very common way to talk about going out to party. I've heard the expression vamos de party more times than I can count. And that's good news for you, because if you can't remember the the other options you will most certainly remember this one. And you'll sound authentic to boot.
Well, know that we've established that we ready to party, what kinds of places can you party at?
Un bar. Yes, a bar, just we like we say in English, but give it your best Spanish accent. You can also go to "un club". Again, just use your Spanish accent and you're golden. If you want to sound a little more Mexican, you can use the word "antro".
¿Hay un buen antro por aquí?
Is there a good club around here?
I will warn you that antro might have a different meaning in other countries. I mentioned that I like to go to antros to my friend from Peru, and she gave me a strange look. Turns out that to her an antro was not a club, but a bar, and a dive bar at that. Go figure. I think the word discoteca is probably more universal.
Well, after all of that, I'm sure you've figured out what today's expression means.
No estaba muerto, estaba de parranda
I wasn't dead, I was partying
You can also say:
No estaba muerto, andaba de parranda
This is a nice phrase you can use to get a few laughs if you haven't seen someone in a while and they ask you where you've been. Or why you haven't posted anything to your blog in almost a month.
Well, that's it for now. I've got some more party and drinking related vocabulary and phrases to share with you all in a future post, so stay tuned!
¡Hasta la próxima!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Monday, December 26, 2011
¡Qué madrugadora eres!
For the most part, the holidays have come and gone. Yes, we still have to get through "el año nuevo", but Christmas (la navidad) is usually the most stressfull half of the holiday season, especially viernes negro (Black Friday).
My only problem with viernes negro is that you have to levantarse temprano (get up early) to take advantage of the best ofertas (sales). Venga (come on), who decided that 4 in the morning is a good time to get up and go shopping?
Anyway, as I mentioned above, to talk about getting up early you need the verb levantarse.
Tuve que levantarme a las 4 de la mañana para ir de compras para el viernes negro
I had to get up at 4 in the morning to go shopping for Black Friday
Siempre me levanto temprano para ir al trabajo
I always get up early to go work
Levantarse is one of those verbs you just have to know. If you're not familiar with it, it's pretty standard, so you'll find plenty of help in your Spanish book. However, what you may not know is that there's another way to talk about getting up early.
Madrugar also means to get up early. So with that in mind, you can say:
Madrugué (or Me levanté temprano)
I got up early
Here's another example.
Madrugué a las 4 del la mañana para ir de compras
I got up early at 4 in the morning to go shopping
Instead of "4 de la mañana" you can say "4 de la madrugada".
Por Madrugar in our photo above would translate to something like "for early birds" or "for early risers". And speaking of early risers, you have the terms madrugador or madrugadora, which is a way of refering to someone who gets up early.
¡Qué madrugadora eres!
You're really an early bird/early riser
There's really no one word translation in English that I can think of, but you get the idea.
Keep in mind that madrugador is for a male and madrugadora is for a female.
There's also a saying in Spanish you may have heard:
A quien madruga Dios lo ayuda
The early bird catches the worm
This bit of Spanish is a great addition to your toolbox and sure to impress your Spanish friends that have been monitoring your progress.
¡Hasta la próxima!
My only problem with viernes negro is that you have to levantarse temprano (get up early) to take advantage of the best ofertas (sales). Venga (come on), who decided that 4 in the morning is a good time to get up and go shopping?
Anyway, as I mentioned above, to talk about getting up early you need the verb levantarse.
Tuve que levantarme a las 4 de la mañana para ir de compras para el viernes negro
I had to get up at 4 in the morning to go shopping for Black Friday
Siempre me levanto temprano para ir al trabajo
I always get up early to go work
Levantarse is one of those verbs you just have to know. If you're not familiar with it, it's pretty standard, so you'll find plenty of help in your Spanish book. However, what you may not know is that there's another way to talk about getting up early.
Madrugar also means to get up early. So with that in mind, you can say:
Madrugué (or Me levanté temprano)
I got up early
Here's another example.
Madrugué a las 4 del la mañana para ir de compras
I got up early at 4 in the morning to go shopping
Instead of "4 de la mañana" you can say "4 de la madrugada".
Por Madrugar in our photo above would translate to something like "for early birds" or "for early risers". And speaking of early risers, you have the terms madrugador or madrugadora, which is a way of refering to someone who gets up early.
¡Qué madrugadora eres!
You're really an early bird/early riser
There's really no one word translation in English that I can think of, but you get the idea.
Keep in mind that madrugador is for a male and madrugadora is for a female.
There's also a saying in Spanish you may have heard:
A quien madruga Dios lo ayuda
The early bird catches the worm
This bit of Spanish is a great addition to your toolbox and sure to impress your Spanish friends that have been monitoring your progress.
¡Hasta la próxima!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Ahorita vengo
Ahorita. One simple word. It's not hard to spell, it's not even hard to pronounce. But don't let that fool you, because this little word has not only caused problems for gingos like us, but for native born Spanish speakers as well.
In Spanish, the word for now is ahora, which is where the word ahorita is derived from. Figuring out where ahorita comes from is the easy part. Figuring out what it means is the hard part.
Ahorita
Right now
Ahorita vengo
I'll be right back
If you frequent Mexican restaurants, you may have heard this:
Ahorita le traigo
I'll bring it right now
Notice that I said Mexican restaurants. That's because ahorita is primarily a Mexican thing. Not that other Spanish speakers don't say ahorita, because they do. It's the meaning of ahorita that not all Spanish speakers agree on.
In some parts of the Spanish speaking world ahorita simply isn't used at all. In other parts it's interpreted as "later". Rather then me trying to explain it to you, I'm going to point you to a real life example of the kind of havoc this tiny little word can cause. Take a look at this YouTube video. The video is of a young woman talking about how the word ahorita caused the first argument between her and her boyfriend. It's actually kind of funny and is a mixture of Spanish and English, so it's a good chance for you to put those Spanish ears to work.
Since we're on the topic of Mexican Spanish, there's yet another Mexican way to say "right now".
Regreso luego luego
I'll be right back
In fact, I actually wrote a post about "luego luego" a few years ago. You can read it by clicking here.
If you want to convey the notion of "right now" in standard Spanish that everyone can understand, then you want "Ahora mismo".
¿Se le traigo ahora mismo?
Should I bring it right now?
Since ahorita isn't a 100% reliable way of telling someone you'll be right back, let me give you a few phrases that should work universally.
Ahora (mismo) vuelvo
Enseguida vuelvo
Ya regreso
Enseguida regreso
Well, that's it for today. I hope you all found this useful. If you speak Spanish with enough people, sooner or later you'll hear these phrases and hopefully won't fall victim to the "Deer in headlights" syndrome.
Hasta la próxima.
In Spanish, the word for now is ahora, which is where the word ahorita is derived from. Figuring out where ahorita comes from is the easy part. Figuring out what it means is the hard part.
Ahorita
Right now
Ahorita vengo
I'll be right back
If you frequent Mexican restaurants, you may have heard this:
Ahorita le traigo
I'll bring it right now
Notice that I said Mexican restaurants. That's because ahorita is primarily a Mexican thing. Not that other Spanish speakers don't say ahorita, because they do. It's the meaning of ahorita that not all Spanish speakers agree on.
In some parts of the Spanish speaking world ahorita simply isn't used at all. In other parts it's interpreted as "later". Rather then me trying to explain it to you, I'm going to point you to a real life example of the kind of havoc this tiny little word can cause. Take a look at this YouTube video. The video is of a young woman talking about how the word ahorita caused the first argument between her and her boyfriend. It's actually kind of funny and is a mixture of Spanish and English, so it's a good chance for you to put those Spanish ears to work.
Since we're on the topic of Mexican Spanish, there's yet another Mexican way to say "right now".
Regreso luego luego
I'll be right back
In fact, I actually wrote a post about "luego luego" a few years ago. You can read it by clicking here.
If you want to convey the notion of "right now" in standard Spanish that everyone can understand, then you want "Ahora mismo".
¿Se le traigo ahora mismo?
Should I bring it right now?
Since ahorita isn't a 100% reliable way of telling someone you'll be right back, let me give you a few phrases that should work universally.
Ahora (mismo) vuelvo
Enseguida vuelvo
Ya regreso
Enseguida regreso
Well, that's it for today. I hope you all found this useful. If you speak Spanish with enough people, sooner or later you'll hear these phrases and hopefully won't fall victim to the "Deer in headlights" syndrome.
Hasta la próxima.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Si me toca el gordo, qué hago?
If you translated this as:
¿Si me toca el gordo, que hago?
If the fat man touches me, what do I do?
You'd be wrong. Let's find out why.
OK, the truth is, whether or not your translation is wrong depends on context. "El gordo" does mean fat man, but it also has another meaning.
"El gordo" is a colloquial way of referring to "la lotería". And "lotería" means lottery in case you don't know. It's not uncommon for us to refer to the lottery as "the big one", and "El gordo" is the Spanish version of that. "El gordo" is universal, so you can use this with Spanish speakers from anywhere.
You may have wondered about the use of tocar in this sentence. Literally "si me toca" translates to "if it touches me", but we wouldn't say that in English. You could have easily said:
¿Si me gano el gordo, qué hago?
If I win the the big one, what do I do?
As you can see, using the verb ganar (to win) is more of a direct translation. But using the verb tocar is also a very common way of expressing this. It's also a good way of flexing your Spanish muscles and impressing your Spanish speaking friends.
And speaking of tocar, it's used in a few other ways you may find surprising. But I'm not going to tell you what they are in this post. In fact, I'm not going to tell you at all, because another fellow blogger has already written a great post about this, so why reinvent the wheel?
My new found internet friend and Spanish aficionado runs the blog Vocabat.com. Her blog focuses on Colombian Spanish and gives us some great insight on the language and culture of Colombia. What makes her blog even more informative is that she is reporting directly from the city of Medellin. I can't even begin to tell you how jealous I am. Anyway, it's a great blog, check it out.
Here's the link to her post on the verb tocar. If you're serious about learning Spanish, be sure to read it, because it's both informative, and amusing. Not to mention it may very well save you some embarrassment.
¿Me toca o me toco?
That's it for today, ¡hasta la próxima!
¿Si me toca el gordo, que hago?
If the fat man touches me, what do I do?
You'd be wrong. Let's find out why.
OK, the truth is, whether or not your translation is wrong depends on context. "El gordo" does mean fat man, but it also has another meaning.
"El gordo" is a colloquial way of referring to "la lotería". And "lotería" means lottery in case you don't know. It's not uncommon for us to refer to the lottery as "the big one", and "El gordo" is the Spanish version of that. "El gordo" is universal, so you can use this with Spanish speakers from anywhere.
You may have wondered about the use of tocar in this sentence. Literally "si me toca" translates to "if it touches me", but we wouldn't say that in English. You could have easily said:
¿Si me gano el gordo, qué hago?
If I win the the big one, what do I do?
As you can see, using the verb ganar (to win) is more of a direct translation. But using the verb tocar is also a very common way of expressing this. It's also a good way of flexing your Spanish muscles and impressing your Spanish speaking friends.
And speaking of tocar, it's used in a few other ways you may find surprising. But I'm not going to tell you what they are in this post. In fact, I'm not going to tell you at all, because another fellow blogger has already written a great post about this, so why reinvent the wheel?
My new found internet friend and Spanish aficionado runs the blog Vocabat.com. Her blog focuses on Colombian Spanish and gives us some great insight on the language and culture of Colombia. What makes her blog even more informative is that she is reporting directly from the city of Medellin. I can't even begin to tell you how jealous I am. Anyway, it's a great blog, check it out.
Here's the link to her post on the verb tocar. If you're serious about learning Spanish, be sure to read it, because it's both informative, and amusing. Not to mention it may very well save you some embarrassment.
¿Me toca o me toco?
That's it for today, ¡hasta la próxima!
Monday, November 14, 2011
¿Has visto mi chamarra?
It's that time again, where I share a bit of Spanish with you that I hope you find entertaining and maybe even useful.
I could explain what a chamarra is, but I'm lazy, so I'll show you a picture instead.
¿Has visto mi chamarra?
Have you seen my jacket?
Yes, a chamarra is what your Spanish book calls a chaqueta. If you haven't heard this word already, tarde o temprano (sooner or later), you will, especially when you start delving into the world of Mexican Spanish.
So what's so special about the word chamarra in Mexican Spanish you ask? Other than it's the preferred word for jacket in much of Mexico, nothing. It just means jacket. In fact, it means jacket no matter where in the Spanish speaking world you go. Not everyone uses the word chamarra, but you should be understood.
This may come as a surprise, but the word that might give you problems in Mexico is the one your Spanish book taught you....chaqueta.
Yes, I'm quite sure you're intrigued about how the word for jacket, chaqueta, could be troublesome, so let me get on with it.
At some point in your learning Spanish career someone is going to tell you"don't use the word chaqueta in Mexico", and they're going to be very emphatic about it, almost to the point where you think you'll be deported from the country if you do use it. Why you ask? Because the word chaqueta means something else in Mexico. That something else would be "hand job". Unfortunately, no one ever told me that. I did know that Mexicans in general preferred the word chamarra, but I had no idea why. Let me tell you what happened to me when I couldn't remember the word chamarra and went with chaqueta.
I was in Mexico in the month of January, and it was pretty chilly. I was talking with someone about how cold it was and I said...
Hace frio, per no tengo chaqueta
It's cold, but I don't have a jacket
You won't believe what happened next....
Nothing.
Yep, absolutely nothing. Our conversation just went on normally, he didn't bat an eye. And this is what brings me to a huge pet peeve of mine. There are people who go around putting fear in gringos about using the word chaqueta in Mexico when it just isn't necessary, so now I'm going to set the record straight.
Chaqueta, in Mexico and any other Spanish speaking country, means jacket. Feel free to run through the streets of Mexico shouting chaqueta to your hearts content. People will think you're crazy, but they aren't going to cruxify you. It just so happens that for whatever reason, chaqueta is used colloquially to refer to the act of self-gratification. Well, in reality it would be a noun, and the phrase to refer to the act itself is hacerse una chaqueta, for those of you who need to know. And it applies to both men and women.
Now, if you're in the company of friends, 13 years olds or construction workers and you say..."Necesito una chaqueta", yes, you're probably going to hear a few chuckles, if not flat out laughter. I mean, come on, it is kinda funny. There's nothing wrong with a little toilet/juvenile humor every now and then. And even better, with this new found knowledge maybe you can make one of your friends the butt of the joke instead of the other way around.
So there you have it. Yes, chaqueta might have you blushing from embarrassment in the right (wrong?) context, but the truth its totally safe to use chaqueta to refer to a jacket in Mexico. In fact, in some parts of Mexico it's actually quite common to hear it.
That's it for today. ¡Hasta la próxima!
I could explain what a chamarra is, but I'm lazy, so I'll show you a picture instead.
¿Has visto mi chamarra?
Have you seen my jacket?
Yes, a chamarra is what your Spanish book calls a chaqueta. If you haven't heard this word already, tarde o temprano (sooner or later), you will, especially when you start delving into the world of Mexican Spanish.
So what's so special about the word chamarra in Mexican Spanish you ask? Other than it's the preferred word for jacket in much of Mexico, nothing. It just means jacket. In fact, it means jacket no matter where in the Spanish speaking world you go. Not everyone uses the word chamarra, but you should be understood.
This may come as a surprise, but the word that might give you problems in Mexico is the one your Spanish book taught you....chaqueta.
Yes, I'm quite sure you're intrigued about how the word for jacket, chaqueta, could be troublesome, so let me get on with it.
At some point in your learning Spanish career someone is going to tell you"don't use the word chaqueta in Mexico", and they're going to be very emphatic about it, almost to the point where you think you'll be deported from the country if you do use it. Why you ask? Because the word chaqueta means something else in Mexico. That something else would be "hand job". Unfortunately, no one ever told me that. I did know that Mexicans in general preferred the word chamarra, but I had no idea why. Let me tell you what happened to me when I couldn't remember the word chamarra and went with chaqueta.
I was in Mexico in the month of January, and it was pretty chilly. I was talking with someone about how cold it was and I said...
Hace frio, per no tengo chaqueta
It's cold, but I don't have a jacket
You won't believe what happened next....
Nothing.
Yep, absolutely nothing. Our conversation just went on normally, he didn't bat an eye. And this is what brings me to a huge pet peeve of mine. There are people who go around putting fear in gringos about using the word chaqueta in Mexico when it just isn't necessary, so now I'm going to set the record straight.
Chaqueta, in Mexico and any other Spanish speaking country, means jacket. Feel free to run through the streets of Mexico shouting chaqueta to your hearts content. People will think you're crazy, but they aren't going to cruxify you. It just so happens that for whatever reason, chaqueta is used colloquially to refer to the act of self-gratification. Well, in reality it would be a noun, and the phrase to refer to the act itself is hacerse una chaqueta, for those of you who need to know. And it applies to both men and women.
Now, if you're in the company of friends, 13 years olds or construction workers and you say..."Necesito una chaqueta", yes, you're probably going to hear a few chuckles, if not flat out laughter. I mean, come on, it is kinda funny. There's nothing wrong with a little toilet/juvenile humor every now and then. And even better, with this new found knowledge maybe you can make one of your friends the butt of the joke instead of the other way around.
So there you have it. Yes, chaqueta might have you blushing from embarrassment in the right (wrong?) context, but the truth its totally safe to use chaqueta to refer to a jacket in Mexico. In fact, in some parts of Mexico it's actually quite common to hear it.
That's it for today. ¡Hasta la próxima!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Si tuere dominicano dale like
Si tuere dominicano dale like
This sentence could confuse you for multiple reasons, so let's get started.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the word "tuere" might have some of you saying "what the heck is that?". Don't bother looking it up in your dictionary, you won't find it.
The reason you won't find "tuere" in your dictionary is because it isn't one word, it's two. "Tuere" is really "tu ere". Well, that's not entirely true, it's "tu eres". However, when you "quita la s" - drop the "s" and say it really fast, it becomes "tuere". Dominicans (among other Spanish speakers) are famous for dropping the s when they speak and even more famous for speaking incredibly fast.
So we've solved our first mystery. That leaves us with "dale like". You may have already guessed the meaning of this one, but if you haven't, here's a clue:
Yes, "dale like" means to "to like" something in FaceBook. Now we can make our translation:
Si tuere dominicano dale like
If you're Domican, "like" this
And since we're on the subject of FaceBook, let's talk about that. That's really what this entrada (post) is about anyway.
Primero lo primero (first things first), FaceBook in Spanish is simply refered to as "FaceBook".
Mandame un mensaje por facebook
Send me a message on FaceBook
You can also simply refer to FaceBook as "el face". This may be regional, but everyone will know what you're talking about.
If you use FaceBook, you're a feisbuqero, or feisbuquera.
When you're using FaceBook, you're feisbuqueando.
q peedo we q haces?? ps nada aki....feisbuqueando
What's up dude, what are you doing? Nothing, I'm just on FaceBook
Notice the cryptic lanugage. People really write like that. Let me translate it for you.
q peedo we q haces?? ps nada aki....feisbuqueando
Qué pedo wey, qué haces? Pues nada aquí....feisbuqueando
Who would have ever thought you'd have to translate from Spanish to Spanish? But let's get back to our conversation about FaceBook terminology.
If you want to tell your friends to add you to their page...
Agrégame en FaceBook
Add me to your FaceBook page
If you want them to take you off their page...
Borrame de tu Facebook
Take me off your FaceBook page
You may also need this one, I certainly did:
Te borré sin querer de mi Facebook
I accidently removed you from my FaceBook page
You can also tag people in photos.
Te voy a etiquetar en unas fotos
I'm going to tag you in some pictures
Or you can go with something perhaps a bit more cool:
Te puse tag en el Face
I tagged you in FaceBook
Oye te puse tag en un par de fotos
Hey, I tagged you in a couple of photos
If you want to poke someone, you can "Dar un toque". Although, while poking around on the web (ok, ok, bad joke, I promise not to do it again) I discovered that the opinion of many Spanish speakers is that "Dar un toque" is a bad translation. But, that's what's FaceBook uses, so there we have it. And you should always be polite and "Devolver el toque" - poke them back.
Lastly while we did talk about how to "like" something, you have a few more options as well. You can "pon un like" or "pon un me gusta" as well.
That's it! This certainly isn't the end all be all of feisbuqueando in Spanish, but it should get you started. Also, check out this page for some good examples of "FaceBook speak". If you start feisbuqueando with your Spanish friends, you might need it.
http://gringationcancun.wordpress.com/2010/04/10/how-to-speak-like-a-mexicano-im-down-with-the-kids-and-the-facebook/
¡Hasta luego!
This sentence could confuse you for multiple reasons, so let's get started.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the word "tuere" might have some of you saying "what the heck is that?". Don't bother looking it up in your dictionary, you won't find it.
The reason you won't find "tuere" in your dictionary is because it isn't one word, it's two. "Tuere" is really "tu ere". Well, that's not entirely true, it's "tu eres". However, when you "quita la s" - drop the "s" and say it really fast, it becomes "tuere". Dominicans (among other Spanish speakers) are famous for dropping the s when they speak and even more famous for speaking incredibly fast.
So we've solved our first mystery. That leaves us with "dale like". You may have already guessed the meaning of this one, but if you haven't, here's a clue:
Yes, "dale like" means to "to like" something in FaceBook. Now we can make our translation:
Si tuere dominicano dale like
If you're Domican, "like" this
And since we're on the subject of FaceBook, let's talk about that. That's really what this entrada (post) is about anyway.
Primero lo primero (first things first), FaceBook in Spanish is simply refered to as "FaceBook".
Mandame un mensaje por facebook
Send me a message on FaceBook
You can also simply refer to FaceBook as "el face". This may be regional, but everyone will know what you're talking about.
If you use FaceBook, you're a feisbuqero, or feisbuquera.
When you're using FaceBook, you're feisbuqueando.
q peedo we q haces?? ps nada aki....feisbuqueando
What's up dude, what are you doing? Nothing, I'm just on FaceBook
Notice the cryptic lanugage. People really write like that. Let me translate it for you.
q peedo we q haces?? ps nada aki....feisbuqueando
Qué pedo wey, qué haces? Pues nada aquí....feisbuqueando
Who would have ever thought you'd have to translate from Spanish to Spanish? But let's get back to our conversation about FaceBook terminology.
If you want to tell your friends to add you to their page...
Agrégame en FaceBook
Add me to your FaceBook page
If you want them to take you off their page...
Borrame de tu Facebook
Take me off your FaceBook page
You may also need this one, I certainly did:
Te borré sin querer de mi Facebook
I accidently removed you from my FaceBook page
You can also tag people in photos.
Te voy a etiquetar en unas fotos
I'm going to tag you in some pictures
Or you can go with something perhaps a bit more cool:
Te puse tag en el Face
I tagged you in FaceBook
Oye te puse tag en un par de fotos
Hey, I tagged you in a couple of photos
If you want to poke someone, you can "Dar un toque". Although, while poking around on the web (ok, ok, bad joke, I promise not to do it again) I discovered that the opinion of many Spanish speakers is that "Dar un toque" is a bad translation. But, that's what's FaceBook uses, so there we have it. And you should always be polite and "Devolver el toque" - poke them back.
Lastly while we did talk about how to "like" something, you have a few more options as well. You can "pon un like" or "pon un me gusta" as well.
That's it! This certainly isn't the end all be all of feisbuqueando in Spanish, but it should get you started. Also, check out this page for some good examples of "FaceBook speak". If you start feisbuqueando with your Spanish friends, you might need it.
http://gringationcancun.wordpress.com/2010/04/10/how-to-speak-like-a-mexicano-im-down-with-the-kids-and-the-facebook/
¡Hasta luego!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Ayudita porfis
One of the first things you learn in Spanish is how to say "please". And that's a good thing, because you can never be too polite.
And just in case you don't know, "por favor" is Spanish for "please".
However, once you go beyond your text books and actually start communicating with real people, you quicly learn there's more than one way to say please.
Un cafecito, porfa
A coffee, please
Vengan a mi fiesta por favorcito
Come to my party please
Préstame tu cel para hacer unas llamaditas plis
Loan me you phone so I can make some quick calls please
Ayudita porfis
A little help please
Remember that all of these versions of por favor are interchangable. I will point out that porfis is along the lines of "pretty please". And "plis" is a bit of Spanglish slipping into the language. It sounds almost exactly like "please" in English.
Also remember that for formal occassions you'll want to stick with "por favor". It's also possible that one version is a little more regional than the other, but everyone will still understand you.
Too bad we don't have all these options in English. Anyway, don't be afraid to try to try these out with your amigos, they make your Spanish sound just a bit more natural.
¡Hasta luego!
And just in case you don't know, "por favor" is Spanish for "please".
However, once you go beyond your text books and actually start communicating with real people, you quicly learn there's more than one way to say please.
Un cafecito, porfa
A coffee, please
Vengan a mi fiesta por favorcito
Come to my party please
Préstame tu cel para hacer unas llamaditas plis
Loan me you phone so I can make some quick calls please
Ayudita porfis
A little help please
Remember that all of these versions of por favor are interchangable. I will point out that porfis is along the lines of "pretty please". And "plis" is a bit of Spanglish slipping into the language. It sounds almost exactly like "please" in English.
Also remember that for formal occassions you'll want to stick with "por favor". It's also possible that one version is a little more regional than the other, but everyone will still understand you.
Too bad we don't have all these options in English. Anyway, don't be afraid to try to try these out with your amigos, they make your Spanish sound just a bit more natural.
¡Hasta luego!
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