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This is a follow up to last August's "Spanish Language" newsletter (see here).
We had a great response when we ran a Spanish Language column in last August's
newsletter - and some good stories of how a minor mistake can make one look very silly indeed.
Fortunately the Spanish are such friendly people that they are happy to help you as you try, and happy to laugh when you get it wrong.
To avoid one mistake we heard about, it's worthwhile learning how to understand the
"Gents" and "Ladies" sign on toilet doors. Whilst "Señor" does mean Sir or Mister, "Señoras" is NOT its plural - and "Señoras" is NOT the men's
toilet. Quite the opposite.
"Señoras" is for the ladies, and it is sometimes abbreviated to a simple S or a picture of a flamenco dancer in twirling dress. The men need to look for a C, which is for "Caballeros", which literally translates as Knight or Horseman, but these days the horse is optional.
Mistakes can also be avoided by understanding how the Spanish understand time.
The British are quite strict with their Good Mornings and Good Afternoons, with the former switching to the latter at 12 noon precisely. This is not the same in Spain. Spanish mornings begin
normally, but they tend to drag on till about 2 or 3 when they sit down to eat.
Any time before this is the morning, and people will say "Buenos Dias" - any use of "Buenos Tardes" before lunch will elicit confusion, and if a Spaniard says midday (mediodia) they mean 2 or 3pm, not 12 noon.
"Buenos Tardes" takes over at lunchtime and carries on till about 9pm when
the Spanish will sit down to supper - after which "Buenos Noches" (Good night, or Good Evening) is said.
The British are also confused by the Spanish use of the word "ahora".
This is most often translated to mean "now" but this misses the cultural blurring present in the word "ahora".
It all rather depends on how it's said. There's the firm and repeated "ahora" which means "now" and then there's the normal "ahora" which means "quite soon, probably".
If you are not aware of this distinction, the oft heard phrase "hasta
ahora" would make little sense. This means "see you now" and is said to mean "see you soon" or "see you in a minute".
Another important concept is the use of "usted".
This means "you" (singular) and is used in a formal setting. In the past, it would have been normal to use "Usted" in almost any situation involving strangers or people older than yourself. Nowadays, most people revert to the informal "tu" and this is, in most situations, perfectly acceptable. However, there are still situations whereby the use of "usted" will go down very well, especially if dealing with authority or older people, the former will feel important, the latter respected.
To use "usted", you need to use verbs in the third person rather than the
second. This means that if you want to say, "do you speak English?" you would normally say "hablas inglés?" but would need to say "habla inglés?" - it's as simple as
that, well, not quite - because to pronounce "usted" you need to say ooh-ste-th.
We hope you find these tips useful, and please keep telling us of your stories of
trying out the Spanish language, we love to hear them.
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