Tag Archives: English

English Camps for Kids Who Speak No English

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Hey guys, how’s it going? You may be wondering if I’ve dropped off the map and the truth is, yeah, I kind of have. But no worries, I’m back from “teaching English” for a week at an English camp located in the province of León. It was my first time in León, and I loved it—apart from the bitterly cold mornings! León is a beautiful province, and its capital city is home to a strikingly beautiful cathedral.

Catedral de León

Rosetón León

I love Gothic cathedrals for one reason: L-I-G-H-T.

At this campamento de inglés, the children are expected to speak in English with their native camp counselors (monitores in Spanish). It sounds good, right? Send your kid to a camp, where he/she will learn English from native speakers! Awesome, yeah?

Yeah, about that. The problem starts when the children’s level of English is so low that they cannot convey basic desires in English. If a child does not know the word for milk, how can he/she be expected to speak only in English, to follow commands in English, to understand a native English speaker? You got me.

This camp wasn’t about teaching English really. There were no classrooms or lessons or exams. It was just meant to be a camp in English. That’s it. But I came away having spoken more Spanish than English.

And that’s the irony of English camps in Spain.

Have you ever taught at an English camp in Spain? What was your experience?

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I Refuse to Say Trousers—Or Why American English Is the Best

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I sometimes feel like the creature in the old Dr. Seuss book Green Eggs and Ham. I will not say trousers, I will not say trainers. I will not say them in a house, I will not say them to a mouse. I will not say them here or there, I will not say them anywhere. I can be stubborn when I put my mind to it, which is basically all the time.

Green Eggs and Ham

Okay, this is not true. I do try to refer to both American English and British English for a few reasons (reasons I have deemed good ones, as I like to congratulate myself on my decisions):

American vs British

American English is in all the movies. There are British movies and television shows, don’t get me wrong. For example, the glorious show known as Downton Abbey. (Do not call it Downtown. It’s quite far from downtown, actually.) But the vast majority are produced by none other than Hollywood. Now, Spaniards don’t really see this as a problem in either way because almost all movies and television shows are dubbed, and people have told me on many an occasion that they don’t like “reading” while watching movies. I get it. But someday, perhaps you’ll like to watch television shows in English to improve your skills! We Americans have got ya covered. Come to the Dark Side!

American businesses are in Spain, and I do believe there are more of them than British ones. I realize that there’s the proximity issue for Spaniards. You are indeed much closer to them than to us. But there are a lot more of us, and we’re invading your schools, teaching English with our American accents, and the kids might just benefit from it. Who knows? Stranger things have happened.

The Rubber Issue

The Rubber Issue. You might actually go to the US one day, and you don’t want to be caught asking for a rubber. It’s okay to learn the word rubber; I just think it’s better to realize that in the States, you’d be asking for a condom. Yeah, not exactly the word you want to bust out in the middle of maths math class.

There is no reason to think American English is less “pure” than British English. Okay, I hate this one. First of all, languages are in constant flux and no language or accent is better than any other. I admit to having my preferences (yes to British and Irish, no to deep-South accents), but still, it would be more than snooty to assume I speak a “purer” language than another person, based purely on snobbery. For example, Britons tend to hate the verb form “gotten,” considering it an Americanism. Oh, I beg to disagree, sir. According to multiple sources, the word is of British origin and its usage dates back to the fourth century. How’s that for ancient, British folk? Oh yeah, and it was used by none other than Mr. William Shakespeare himself, so shove it!

American English is closer to the phonetic spelling. We all know English is notoriously difficult due to its nonsensical spelling. (Thank goodness for the gloriousness of the phonetic Spanish language!) Well, the Americans at least realiZe that the word realize sounds like it has a z in it! Realise, pshhhh … no. Also, theater makes more sense than theatre. Come on. It just does.

image

Americans love British accents. We aren’t snooty about our language, realizing that we got it from across the pond, and we love them for it! Thank you, Britain! We also wish to give our thanks for their seriously sexy accents, which—if we didn’t speak English with an American accent—we wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate! Swoon!

So, come on, tell me: should I start referring to flashlights as torches or what?

“English” Words Spaniards Use

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It’s natural that languages adapt words. English wouldn’t be what it is without the myriad of words we’ve borrowed from other languages, most notably French. English has become a very influential language, especially in the areas of technology. It makes a lot of sense to use words like “smartphone,” “Internet,” “click,” and many more. These words have the same meaning in Spanish as in English. However, during my years in Spain I’ve come to realize there are several which have very different denotations in Spanish than in English. Obviously, I love them and need to share them with you. Here are some of my favorites.

  • Zapping. Nothing to do with shocking anyone with rays of electricity. Nope, this is your basic channel surfing. In Spain as well as in the US, men are especially gifted at this practice.

[Source]

  • Footing. Meaning: to go jogging, to go for a run, as Spain’s former prime minister is showing us in the above picture.
  • Panty. (Also known as pantimedias.) My mother-in-law asked me if I needed one of these for a wedding. I was rather surprised to hear the question, as I associate panty with panties—you know, underwear. Nope, un panty is just a pair of pantyhose that also cover you up to the waist. You know, the normal kind, or at least what I considered to be normal. Medias, the word I use, can also mean the kind that only go up to your thighs, so be forewarned, ladies.
  • Body. Similar to the panty, un body covers even higher up.
  • Top. A top is an article of clothing for women that has no sleeves or straps, but I’m pretty unsure on this. If you go into any Mango store, you’ll see a section for tops. Maybe my readers can help clarify if this is true!
  • Jersey. When I learned Spanish in high school, I learned to say “sweater’” as suéter, a term obviously derived from English. I was very surprised when I came to Spain and learned that the term here is jersey. For me, jersey is the shirt athletes wear, whether it be in basketball, soccer, or football.

By Incal (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

  • Smoking. This is so funny to me. We do indeed have a smoking jacket, also called “black tie,” so it makes sense that Spaniards call this un smoking, which is alternately spelled un esmoquin.
  • Parking.  This is close to the original English meaning, but you’d have to add “lot” for it to make any sense. “A parking” without “lot” is meaningless to me. After all, it could be a “parking space” or a “parking spot” just as easily.

Tu hijo puede ser un crack -- Jaime Alguersuari

[Source]

  • Crack. A crack has nothing to do with with our definition of “a slight opening, as between boards in a floor or a wall.” Nope, crack in Spain Spanish usually means a really great athlete. For example, Rafa Nadal or Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Personally, I’ll go with my favorite, Victor Oladipo.
  • Heavy. This has nothing to do with weight. No, a heavy in Spain is a word derived from the music genre of heavy metal. Un heavy listens to heavy-metal music, and lots of it. Some “tips” for being heavy, according to this website, include wearing one’s hair long, wearing spiked bracelets, and saying things like, “Mi rollo es rock.”
  • Freaky. Usually spelled friki, it means freak. Yes, it is very close to the English “freak,” but I love that in English this word would be an adjective, whereas here it’s turned into a noun. In 2012, the Royal Spanish Academy which is responsible for regulating the use of the Spanish language, added the word to its latest dictionary edition. If you understand Spanish, I recommend checking out the Wikipedia entry for this term, as it delves into the different levels of “frikismo,” among other things.

What other “English” words have you seen being used here in Spain or in other countries?

Being an English Teacher Means …

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learning-English-p7viz6

Source

  • Finding yourself speaking slowly even when you don’t need to. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve done this to poor Mario, who speaks impeccable English.
  • Pronouncing certain words differently without realizing it. I am almost 100% sure I now pronounce certain words differently. Why can’t I stop this?!
  • Constantly analyzing why we say things the way we do. Is it “at” or “in” or could it really be both? The skateboarding competition will be held at the park. The skateboarding competition will be held in the park. They both sound okay, but “at” sounds slightly better. What do you think?
  • Getting sick frequently. Yep, I’m under the weather again, this time with a lovely cough and mucosidad.
  • Talking a lot. Prepare yourself for those early mornings when you don’t want to say a single word, but have to take for an hour straight.
  • Getting frustrated when the students still don’t add the “s” onto the end of third-person singular verbs, like when they say, “She speak” instead of “She speaks.” Come on, Spanish verb conjugation is infinitely harder and I still do it right most of the time! You only have to do one “conjugation.” You shouldn’t forget it every single time!
  • Having to be constantly creative. There is usually a fun way to teach a subject, but it isn’t always fun to plan that fun activity. Capiche?
  • Loving it when the students (in my case, sixth graders) try. I can’t tell you how much it warms my heart to see them struggling to explain things to me, just because they could so easily slip back into Spanish, but they don’t. I love that they want to learn!

So, what about you, fellow English teachers? What does being an English teacher mean for you?

But I’m a Girl! … and Other Spanish Language Mishaps

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I really enjoy the discussions that arise from posts like last week’s about my Rookie Mistakes (written in all caps because it’s a BFD).

As you know, I like to think about all the important, totally unimportant things in life.  Although Spanish is important—being the second-most spoken language in the US—the stuff I contemplate is really not. Except to me, thus making it, like, oh my God, super-mega important. Got it?

As you may well know, Spanish has something called grammatical gender, which actually doesn’t have to do with gender; it’s just a name we use. (Confusing? Yeah.) If you don’t know what this is, just think of the terms fiancé and fiancée. One means a man engaged to be married (fiancé), while the other means a woman engaged to be married (fiancée). So if I called a man my fiancée—oopsy, that would be wrong.

For the most part in English, we don’t deal with this, especially since we pronounce fiancé and fiancée exactly the same way (or at least I do). Hence, when we native English speakers learn a language that does employ grammatical gender, we usually have slip-ups. If you don’t, I officially hate you. Don’t call me again; I’ve blocked your number.

Right now, I’m what I’d call an advanced speaker of Spanish. (I’m even better at writing!) But I like to talk fast in English, so I try to speed up my Spanish as well. I hate being the person everyone listens to like, Come on! Cough it up! Right? Don’t you hate that? Naturally, though, this leads to missteps. I often autocorrect myself, because I’m very self-aware in this area, but sometimes I don’t catch it.

The most common way to tell if something in Spanish is masculine/feminine is to say how the word ends. If it ends in –o, it’s likely masculine; if it ends in –a, it’s likely feminine. Ya with me? However, this is not always the case. (See: la mano.) Easy peasy, lemon squeezy?

In my rush to speak, I sometimes call Mario a girl. No, I don’t say, “Eres una chica,” no. I just refer to him with a feminine adjective. I’m sure this sounds rather odd to him, as this whole grammatical gender thing is ingrained in his speech, and has been since he was a wee little tot with glasses. (Cutest kid ever.) So it has to be jarring when I do this. I like to compare it to when my students would refer to males as “she” or females as “he.” Yes, it happened, and it always seemed so weird to me. Don’t they get it? Well, of course they do; they just mix it up—just like yours truly.

Gender is a tricky thing in Spanish. Here are some examples:

  • It’s el agua/águila/arte, but las aguas/águilas/artes.
  • La mano vs. el mapa
  • Words sometimes change meanings, depending on whether they’re preceded by el or la:
    • El cura (the priest); la cura(the cure)
    • El herido (the wounded man); la herida (the wounded woman/the wound)
    • El frente (the front); la frente(the forehead)
    • El capital (the capital [money]); la capital (the capital [of a country])
    • El mañana (the future/tomorrow [but tomorrow is really an adverb]); la mañana(the morning)
    • Sometimes words are both—la/el mar (both are still used) el/la calor (la calor is seen as archaic). Apparently, la mar is more poetic. That’s because females are more poetic, did you know that? (Okay, I lie.)

Okay, I’m going to stop here. I tend to start writing and just keep going and going, because there’s always more I want to say. But I shan’t. Please, tell me about your grammatical-gender-based mishaps in the comments!

How to Continue a Positive Bilingual-Bicultural Relationship

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One of the best parts of writing a blog are the people you “meet.” While I’ve not met any blogger friends in person, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with a lot of different people, whether that be fellow bloggers or people who just like to read my blog. I especially love emails, and always love to hear from you! So if you’ve ever thought about saying hey, please email me at: kalhendr[at]gmail[dot]com.

So I’m very happy to introduce my first ever (!) guest post from my friend, Melanie. Melanie, like me, is in a relationship with a Spaniard. What’s distinguishes her from most of my friends who are in relationships with Spaniards is that she and her husband live in the U.S. In Texas, to be exact. Thus, she has a unique perspective – one that I think we don’t get to hear a lot about in my corner of the blog world. Anyway, I’ll let her take over from here.

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Whether it is marriage that has strengthened your commitment to your foreign partner or some other less formal arrangement, continuing a bilingual/bicultural relationship may not be as easy or the same as first starting one. After learning how to deal with and coming to enjoy each other’s similarities and differences in the beginning of a relationship, here are a few tips for a continued rich personal and cultural experience for you both:

Customs

Embrace each other’s cultures wherever you live: do not let where you live dictate the extent to which you appreciate each other’s cultures. For example, I find it extremely endearing that at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, Spaniards individually greet and wish each other “Happy New Year” with two kisses. On the other hand, I also appreciate the way that celebrating birthdays is a little bit more fun and special in the US with birthday cake, presents, and parties (customs I haven’t noticed as much in Spain). Enjoy each other’s traditions by following them wherever you are. It may make your partner feel special that you remembered something significant from his or her culture and brought it to life in your own.

Turrones

Turrones

Food and Drink

While it’s easy to compare whose country may have better cuisine, my advice is that it’s better not to make the contrast because this battle will never end! Instead, enjoy both countries’ gastronomy by learning each other’s family recipes or purchasing cookbooks (I personally recommend Culinaria Spain, edited by Marion Trutter for those interested in Spanish dishes). Wherever you live, make an effort to cook each other’s favorite dishes. For example, it is my personal goal to always learn a new recipe from my mother-in-law every time we see each other. Making these dishes later keeps my husband happy.

TortilladePatata

Tortilla de Patata

People and Travel

While you may have enjoyed visiting your partner’s pueblo the first few times around, remember that a person’s hometown is always special to him or her. Even if going back to visit a small town on numerous occasions isn’t as exciting as packing up to go on a cruise or other exotic vacation, try to enjoy the experience through your partner’s eyes, childhood, and relationships. Learn new phrases from in-laws. Ask your partner to take you to one of his or her favorite childhood spots – whether it be a hangout, school, look-out point, etc. There will most likely be a story that goes along with the ride. And remember, most importantly, that family members and friends will always be happy to see you whenever you go back to each other’s hometowns. I always ask my husband to take me to the Mirador de Cáceres because the sights are that beautiful!

ParteAntiguaCaceres

ParteAntiguaCaceres (2)

La Parte Antigua de Cáceres

Enjoy the journey

You may not know where you will live in a few months, next year, or for the rest of your life with your partner. That’s okay. Remember to enjoy where you live in the moment, and know that you are probably there for a justifiable reason: job, family, health, etc. It’s easy to become anxious thinking about the future and how this whole bicultural-bilingual relationship will work out. But being too focused on the future can impede moments shared together focused on building understanding and deepening that cross-cultural love that brought you together in the first place. Remember that several simple moments of joy can add up to an overall rich and happy life.

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Thanks, Melanie!

Urban Dictionary and the Bilingual Relationship

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A lot of the times I talk with Mario, I have to look up something on WordReference, whether it be translating something to Spanish while we’re speaking Spanish or translating something he’s said into English because, seriously, wtf did you just say?

I often end up directing him to Urban Dictionary for any and all slang definitions. In the past, I’ve directed him to it for the following definitions:

How did I find all these? I looked them up in GChat, so you know they’re legitimate. I seriously had all these conversations with Mario. It’s fine; he’s learning exactly what Shit Girls Say.

[Source]

But one of the best ones came today. We were chatting like normal, sharing stupid videos, and being all mushy. (We’re good at all of those.) Then, out of almost nowhere, Mario shares something.

Mario:my brother learnt the phrase “get loose” de la canción

me:hahahahahahahah

Mario:porque apareció en un capítulo de…

me: TBBT? [Side note: TBBT = The Big Bang Theory, a show with which Mario is obsessed.] omg you have me dying. i want to remember that always.

Mario:almost

The Simpsons

me:“my brother learnt the phrase ‘get loose’ de la canción.” i am writing that down

Mario:I have just realized why you are dying

I mixed Espainish and Engrish without knowing

is that it?

me:no. it’s just hilarious that your brother learned that phrase.

THAT phrase

Mario:oooh. doesn’t it mean “relax” or something similar?

me:normally

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=get%20loose

see #2

Mario: ooh

So, another perk of dating a foreigner. Your Tuesday night GChat sessions might just turn out with a lesson on the phrase “get loose.”

Plus or minus? You be the judge.

**Stuff Mario Says titled as it is because my mother reads this blog.

The Language We Speak

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Inspired by Rachel’s post, First Language Limits, I got to thinking. (I do that sometimes, you see.)

I love language and thinking about how it affects everything. Some have argued that language is the window through which we see the world and, although the theory is debatable, I like to read about it and wonder how others experience the world.

Image taken from this great article on how language may influence the way we see the world.

For instance, English lacks a strong subjunctive tense. Yes, you should say “I wish I were (an Oscar Mayer Weiner),” but many people say instead “I wish I was.” Now, in Spanish, the subjunctive is ever-present and quite difficult to master. I do it right 95% of the time, but I sometimes get stumped. I don’t get why you wouldn’t use it with “fingir” (to pretend), but you don’t. After years of rote memorization, I finally get it. But explain it? Uhh…

IMG_0733

Anyway, tangent over. I started off this entry wanting to talk about language and how it affects us – particularly, Mario and me. Mario and I met in Spain. I was learning Spanish. (Still am! Amazing how it’s a lifelong process!) I asked him to speak to me only in Spanish. He agreed, as his English really didn’t need that much improving. The only thing he has gotten from me is slang. You’re welcome.

It didn’t last long. When I’m frustrated, the words pour out in English. I think I sound more eloquent in English, surer of what I want to express. They are poor excuses, to be sure, but our relationship was affected by our switch from Spanish to Spanglish. To this day, our relationship is a mishmash of languages.

Collage de Picnik

From September 2009 to February 2011 to the present – Spanglish.

Sometimes, a whole conversation is conducted in one language with nary a word in the other. Sometimes, we abruptly switch. All it takes is him or me to start speaking the other language – the other will follow suit. Sometimes, we insert whole phrases or words in the other language. For example:

  • Eres muy cute. (Am I the only one who hates using “mono” for “cute”?)
  • Te I love you.
  • We had eggs, jamón, salchichón y queso. Some words just have to be in Spanish. Ham? Not nearly the same as jamón.
  • Vamos a ver una peli en el movie theater.

You know, normal stuff. I’m not really sure if this affects us, but it does expand our vocabularies. Plus, it’s way useful to be able to converse in another language so people can’t understand. After I’ve been around Mario for a while, I sometimes switch to another language with my mom or my friend Hilary so the other people can’t understand, forgetting that, um, neither can my mother or Hilary. Ooooops, Spanglish is getting to me.

So, if you don’t mind, tell me about your bilingual relationships, what you think of them if you don’t have one, and whether you think language affects how we see the world or if that’s all just a bunch of rubbish.

Bilingual Inside Jokes

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Nos gusta hacer el tonto.

That means, if you didn’t already know, we like to be silly. Since Mario has a girlfriend who speaks two (of his four) languages, it’s all the more fun. I like to make linguistic jokes, too. It’s okay, I admit to be hopelessly nerdy.

The other day, I got to thinking. Mario and I have some inside jokes (just writing that reminds me of high school and how hilarious we all thought we were), but they wouldn’t really make sense to most people—only to those who are blessed to understand both Castilian Spanish and American English. I thought about these for a while and tried to write them down. By the way, it’s quite difficult to write down inside jokes because they never come to mind when you’re trying to document them, only in the moment. At least for me that’s true.

  • Tejado de menos. To say, “I miss you” in Spanish, you say “Te echo de menos.” Well, “te echo” said in a hurried manner sounds quite like “techo” or “ceiling.” Thus, I thought it would be funny to turn “techo” into “tejado,” which means “roof.” So the phrase “tejado de menos” was born.
  • Estoy espalda. In English, when we want to say we’ve returned, we often say “I’m back.” I guess to Spanish speakers this must sound a bit odd when they learn it because being “back” (returned) and having a back (large posterior area of the human body) are two very different things. So Mario, being who he is, decided to tell me that he was back quite literally—“Estoy espalda”—which, as you might have guessed, makes no sense in Spanish.
  • Se me olvidó ponerme las lentejas. The word for “contact lenses” is “lentillas.” An Anglophone friend of Mario’s once said that she forgot to put in her contact lenses. Only instead of contact lenses (“lentillas”) she said “lentejas.” If you’ve read my previous entry, you’ll realize that you probably don’t want to put any lentil stew in your eyes. Especially without your contacts.
  • Espainish. Obviously, Spanish. We have no problem joking around about the other’s accent. Actually, though, Mario’s accent is pretty darn good, but we like to joke around saying “americanooouu” in the exaggerated way or “Espainish estudent from Espain.” You know, normal people stuff.
We really are completely normal.

Totally.