Associating Language Problems with Solutions
Posted by Ronna vonKnorring on Sep 18th, 2007
A visiting tico and his wife seemed entertained about the trouble I was having with three little words in Spanish. I explained my difficulties to them by saying, "Muchas palabras en español es muy similar." (Basically, "Many words in Spanish are very similar"). To demonstrate, I pointed to my eye and said ojo. Went to the kitchen and held up a piece of garlic, and said ajo. Then outside I plucked a leaf from a plant, and said hoja (silent "H"). Together the couple repeated all my words, ojo, ajo, hoja and then laughed at my struggles over what to them are simple little words.
I so badly want to be fluent in Spanish, but adding new words to my small vocabulary has been a struggle.
When I watch televison shows in English, they are often translated into Spanish at the bottom of the screen. Simply watching television in Spanish has proven to be a good way to learn the language, I've been told. It's true, and I have been able to increase my vocabulary just by being a couch potato. I have learned a lot this way and often "read" the show just to find mistakes in the on-screen translations. And there are many!
I have also realized in these translations that the word bien (good) is used for all kinds of English expressions: alright, okay, sure, good, well, fine, cool, whatever, you bet, etc. It is the same with various "curse" words in English. There only seems to be one major word that they use for several of the bad words in English. It seems Spanish is limited with words to express things as in-depth as we do in English. Although for SOME words they use more than enough words. I was told "typewriter" was translated to something like, "a machine that you put paper into and type words on using individual letter keys to form a document." To that I say, COME UP WITH A NEW WORD already!
There are a lot of funny things found in translations and I'm always on the look out for them. Recently we were watching a CSI. show. Two officers were talking about an unidentified body, referring to it as "John Doe." I laughed out loud when I read the translation for John Doe is "Juan Perez."
Some words, once you hear the translation, you see the "connection" and it can be quite eye-opening and entertaining too. These type of words I seem to always be able to remember. A few examples of these are:
Pregnant - embarazada (hmmm, embarassed at being with child?)
Handcuffs - esposas (hilariously, esposas translates to WIVES as well)
Glasses - Ante ojos, Costa Rica only - Translates to "before eyes".
In other Latin countries glasses are gafas.
Recently Ken's son returned home with a package of cookies that I had not seen before. After trying them I thought they were really good (most packaged cookies/cakes are NOT that great here). I told him how we'd have to remember the name of them and get some more when we were at the store again. Looking at the package, I tried to figure out how to pronounce the name: " QuQi." After a moment or two, I realized the translation was "cookie". Hee hee.
Then there are the pronunciation of American products on commercials. The programs on HBO are not promoted by saying H - B - O like we would. Rather they pronounce the letters in their language which comes out sounding like "Achay ... Bay ... O." It's funny. A commercial for Colgate toothpaste sounds like Coal... gah... tay. Someone told me that a form of the Spanish word "colgat" means "I hang myself", or something similar to that. She thought it was strange seeing kids on the commerical for Colgate singing about suicide while brushing their teeth.
I've tried many ways to learn Spanish. I have children's books in Spanish, songs, books for conversational basics, computer games, listen as you drive CDs, DVDs, all kinds of dictionaries, stickers to put on household items (this actually worked really well too), and more. Even though my couch potato learning has been beneficial, I have learned the most words from the use of one book's technique. Word association.
Many people laugh when I share some of the exmaples, but hey … it works for me. I learned the basic rules of word association from Spanish by Association, The Linkword Language System, by Dr. Michael M. Gruneberg. By applying the same principles of this book I have been able to create new word associations on my own.
My favorite words that I applied association to are; breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In Spanish they are desayuno, almuerzo y cena. Once I associated them with a visual, I've never forgotten them. In the book it says to close your eyes and VISUALIZE the association for 15 seconds before learning a new one. Try doing the associations below and at the end see how many you can recall. Read these one at a time, and focus on each one for 15 seconds, then move on to the next. Good Luck!
Examples:
The word for BREAKFAST is DESAYUNO When you pronounce it is sounds like day-say-you-no. I picture a large man sitting down to eat breakfast and demanding a platter of bacon. The wife, not wanting her husband to eat the greasy meat says, “They say you know bacon is bad for breakfast”. THEY SAY YOU KNOW…DA SAY YOU NO….desayuno!! Get it?
The word for LUNCH is ALMUERZO
Sounds like ahlm-wear-so. I picture being with a friend and we are trying to decide where to go for LUNCH and commenting, "Hmmm, where should we go for lunch"... UM WHERE GO...AHLM WEAR SO, almuerzo!
The word for DINNER is CENA
When pronounced it sounds like say-na. To remember this word I pictured how by the time I get home from work at the end of a crazy day, sitting down to DINNER is the first time I have been SANE, ahhh, all day!! SANE AHHH, SAY NA, cena!!
A coat is called ABRIGO, a-bree-go. I just picture putting on a coat and feeling the chill of a breeze leave m. In other words...A BREEze GO.
Arm in Spanish is BRAZO. I just picture bracelets made of pretty brass, oh ... nice! on a ladies arm. BRASS OH, brazo
Face is CARA. I think to take cara, CARE, of the skin on my face.
A little snack or appetizer is called a BOCA. Boca means MOUTH in Spanish so I just recall how they are bite sized snacks. Just big enough for your boca, mouth.
From the book I learned a few other fun words and here are some of those examples:
The word for cupboard is: ARMARIO When I open a cupboard, I just think that one of the characters from MARIO BROTHERS, the video game, will jump out at me.
The word for oil is ACEITE. I imagine dripping oil on something and it reacts like ACID.
The word for left is IZQUIERDO, sounds like es-care-doe. I tell myself, that people are often, "A SCARED, OH, to turn left in front of oncoming traffic. A SCARED OH, ES-CARE-DOE, izquierdo!!
The word for CUSTOMS is ADUANA, add-wan-a. Picture going through customs upon entering the country and hearing the agent counting as people go through the line saying, "ADD ONE a, add two a add three a, etc. ADD ONE A, aduana!
Fork in Spanish is TENEDOR. Stick your fork in a steak to see how TENEDOR, tender, it is.
Knife is CUCHILLO. Sounds sort of like, Ka-chi-yo. I picture grabbing a knife to fend off a would be attacker and yelling at him, "Yo, back off, I have a knife and with it I COULD KIL ... O!"
Crazy huh? I have learned more words than you can imagine using this technique and apparently it makes for some great laughs at parties. I have been laughed at ... a lot ... I don't care. The ticos who speak fluent Spanish seem particularly humored by my way of learning their words.
I've had to be creative and come up with some word associations on my own for remembering the names of new people I meet as well. Most often with difficult names or ones that I've never heard before.
There is this guy nearby who sells the popular ceviche (pickled raw fish snack) and I could NEVER remember his name. I finally put my word association to work and now have no trouble remembering his name, which sounds like "RIMMY". To bring his name to mind, I think to myself how "Rimmy always fills the cups of ceviche to the RIM".
A young lady named Magali used to live near us. I had the hardest time remembering her name until I associated it with something. I broke down her name: Ma-gally and thought to myself, "I hope she doesn't get MUGGED in an ALLEY. MUG'd ALLEY = Magali! See!?!?!?! Cool, huh?
Okay, Test Time! What are the Spanish words for:
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Coat
Arm
Face
Appetizer
Cupboard
Oil
Left
Customs
Fork
Knife
Extra points for:
Pregnant
Handcuffs
Glasses
My new favorite cookie ;-)
Learning Spanish can be a lot of fun it just takes some discipline and time. In Spanish it is just poco a poco...little by little.
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