Estoy intentando escribir esto en español, pero es el fin de semana y no recuerdo lo que aprendí en la universidad hace diez años.
Okay, now my brain hurts. I won’t lie. I broke out the 501 Spanish Verbs, the Spanish-English dictionary, and if I had any commitment I would break out the Spanish Idioms. Still, me not talk pretty one day, me talk pretty right now. MJ was commenting on her blog and thought it would be cool if we all wrote a post in whatever foreign language we learned in college. Her statement is the example in Clichés for Dummies for the easier said than done entry. I still understand Spanish pretty well. I can follow what’s going on with Rafael and Isabel on a telenovela. I can’t speak Spanish to save my life. If I got dropped in Argentina I could get home but I wouldn’t be able to get Gabriela to give me free tango lessons. I wish I did speak more languages. I had a couple of classes with a Ukrainian kid at UNF. He spoke Ukrainian, Russian, French, and English fluently. I want to be able to do that but there’s absolutely no need for it here in the US and even less need here in Jacksonville. So I never get to speak Spanish and it’s atrophied in the decade since I took my last class. I imagine in Miami and in certain parts of Tampa it’s difficult to function if you don’t speak Spanish. You’re missing huge chunks of the flavor of the city if you only speak English. In Jacksonville you don’t even really need to know English. All you need to know is go Gators, I’m a Republican, and Yes, I’ve accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal savior. I love living in Jacksonville, but it’s not a hot bed of curiosity. I couldn’t live in Miami, but its Latin vibe is intoxicating. We need to bring some of it up here. We’ll send them some water from the St. Johns and they can send us algunas cubanas. Three years ago George Lopez said we’d all be speaking Spanglish in two years. Well, sabes que, I’m still waiting pendejo.
4 comments:
According to an article in the NYT today, 2 Hispanic surnames have made it in the top 10 names list in the Ustados Unidos. One of them was Garcia and I forgot the other one, so baby, brush up on your espanol because it would seem, that it's only a matter of time.
Soy una gringa tambien, pero puedo comprender quando alguien habla en espanol.
Where do I get a tilde on this keyboard anyhow?
Riding the subways in NYC I always got a kick listening to the chicas around me gossiping, knowing they thought I couldn't understand. Occasionally I'd interject, just to let them know that they can't talk trash about the big white chick without her knowing it.
But there is a foreign tongue in Jacksonville. I'ma fixin' to hollar atch all y'all if' I kin lairn hit. I near bout got it.
The southeast is also the only part of the country where I routinely hear middle agged women refer to their fathers as "daddy."
I'm honored to have inspired your topic and to have inspired such use of your reference materials.
C'est bien!
One more english idiom you need to be able to say in Jacksonville; "Bless her heart". The best usage; right after saying the most mean, despicable, rumor-filled thing you can possible conjure up about someone.
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