And now for the verbose part..
Daniel and Mirta (host family) have helped me so much to learn Castellano that I probably owe well over half of my working vocabulary to them. Daniel didn’t think he had much English but we frequently use a mixture of both English and Castellano and we occasionally resort to a French word when it can better explain our ideas or identify a word easier. Needs must when the flow of conversation and communication is more important than 100% accuracy, especially in a busy family with lots of comings and goings.
Melisa speaks English well and we use a mixture of both, although we usually use English when confirming comprehension of specific meeting places and times and when talking on the phone to each other. When people are busy, I am particularly mindful of how time-consuming communicating with me in Castellano can be! Mirta is very strict about my learning and doesn’t use English at all with me although she can speak a little. She speaks very clearly and slowly to me and has a really good way of keeping explanations or questions simple … and she doesn’t mind repeating things syllable by syllable if necessary and she has excellent diction. I can’t expect everyone to be so patient with me all the time, especially when they can get their meaning across easier in English when in a hurry, so I really appreciate her time and effort.
Although I understand the masculine and feminine endings of words, singulars and plurals, etc, I frequently make lots of mistakes in my efforts to speak a bit faster than laboriously word by word with “ums” and “arrs” in between. Daniel and Mirta patiently and tolerantly correct me and explain rules to me and off I go again. Likewise with verb endings in the present tense.
Note to self: The next time I go to tell a student, “I’ve told you this several times before…blah, blah, blah….” I will remember these moments of feeling really “dumb” because knowing something does not necessarily mean you can use it or do it spontaneously.
I have been using a small and invaluable phrase book to help me with standard and predictable vocabulary and phrases. The three pages on common regular and irregular verbs have been well thumbed and I frequently stop mid-sentence to open my book and search for the correct verb ending. For the life of me, I cannot remember them and I make the same mistakes over and over again. Paul-from-Hamilton-who-is-staying-in-La Plata told me that he frequently says, from his limited vocabulary, that his “head is broken”. I use the saying. “My disc is full” to indicate that I can’t take on board any more information.
So I have usually been talking in the present tense and use the word for “yesterday” or “tomorrow” or similar to indicate past or future. It must be excruciating for people trying to listen to me but, mercifully, it’s often a mutual arrangement as I spend as much of my time speaking in English to people wanting to practise with a “real” speaker, as I do in Castellano. It is a very small price to pay in return for all the help I have had. And then, sometimes things suddenly fall into place and I have a new formulaic phrase to use and off I go with a small burst of proficiency.
There is a 2 year old member (Sophia) of the extended family who is at that “sponge” stage of soaking up everything around her and then surprising people by coming out with expressions and opinions which totally stun everyone and she is now at the stage where the family think she is a wee genius, as does the family of most other two year-olds world-wide. I feel very much like Sophia, who has been watching, listening and processing, then making intelligible pronouncements when all the information makes sense. It feels great when people comment on how much better I am getting at speaking and understanding Castellano.
I have had 2 Spanish lessons so far with Peter, the AFS student and Adriana, who is a Spanish English translator and a teacher at STEP. She learned British English as opposed to American English that most other people speak here and she has the most beautiful ¨Spinglish¨ accent which I love listening to. I have been learning the past tense (pretorito perfecto y pretorito impefecto) as I have pretty much been stuck in the present tense since I have been here. We had a truly “intercultural language” moment when I was trying to explain something to Peter in English, and the word ‘leg’ was necessary. He could not understand me repeating, “leg…. leg … you know, leg.. L-E-G…” and in the end he said, “¡Oh, pierna!” which is Spanish for…leg. He could not understand my English accent and we had to move into Spanish for mutual comprehension. Such is the difference between American pronunciation and
I also helped Adraiana’s English by suggesting she say, “Hang on” instead of “ Wait” every time she needed to pause. Peter said this was OK in American English too.
Update: I can now discuss rugby and colder weather with taxi drivers. My conversations were previously limited to expressing opinions on heat. I think I have discussed rugby more in Castellano than in English.
So, anyway, on Easter Sunday I went for a Sunday Drive with Daniel and Mirta to
We went for lunch at a new shopping/hotel/casino complex and afterwards checked out the Casino. I am a “remedial” gambler in that I need help to get started rather than to stop gambling. After watching Mirta and helping her lose a few pesos, I frivolously parted company with 50 pesos (about $25NZ) and was lured into winning about $80 pesos… and I should have stopped there, I guess. I’m still not sure how the game worked, I just randomly pushed a few buttons which Mirta suggested…. until I lost the whole lot. However, I did learn a new word that day (I lost – perdi ) so all was not lost after all. My limited vocabulary could only come up with, “The casino ate my money.” (El casino comió mi dinero…note the correct use of the past tense!)
Sunday was completed with an asado by Daniel and delicious-as-always dessert by Mirta – which was, I think made with bread, for a gathering of family and friends.
Random Observations
I have met so many young people who are so well-educated or in the process of their studies. There are doctors, lawyers, pilots, psychologists, nurses, bio engineers, computer software designers and so on come to STEP, or other private institutes to learn English. Also, university education is completely free in
Toilet paper seems to be very thin in
And, while still on toilets…so to speak… teachers apparently use the same toilets as students in most schools. No preferential treatment.
And, moving slightly off the toilet… many bathrooms and some public toilets include bidets. These, (and I think I always knew this but never had a chance to prove it) do not make good footbaths as there are too many taps to operate and water coming from too many directions to successfully manage while balancing on one foot when the other foot is trying to hold down the water spurting upwards, onto the ceiling and the floor.
It is unsafe, and only slightly less suicidal than throwing yourself under a moving train, to use a pedestrian crossing in Paraná. Do not be fooled by the white striped lines -they are for decorative purposes only.
There are lots of small and large memorials to people and events, and many schools named after people of significance. Many roads are named after dates for example: 25 de junio is the name of a road.
Roads are not called roads – they just have names like: Nogoya, 25 de mayo, Malvinas,
Love the horse and cart rubbish cart - not a silly idea. Have sent Laura a text for her birthday - have things to post too so may wait and send with your things. Had Wellington lot here for dinner last night with Mark C and Christine - James growing like a mushroom and lovely to have a catch up.
ReplyDeleteLynn