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Estoy aprendiendo español


Guest irolbackwards

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Guest irolbackwards

I have a good dozen or so stories of saying, "whoops" type things learning Spanish. They're funny. I'd love to share them with you but I want to hear your's too. This won't get us in trouble for fraternizing because we're talking about learning the Spanish language.

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I have a good dozen or so stories of saying, "whoops" type things learning Spanish. They're funny. I'd love to share them with you but I want to hear your's too. This won't get us in trouble for fraternizing because we're talking about learning the Spanish language.

Whoops - is not a spanish word!!!

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Guest irolbackwards

harina, arena, orina

harina-flour

arena-sand

orina-urine

This is pretty confusing for me...I mean, I speak Spanish like I speak English. So you can imagine what it's like to be sitting at the table with me...hehe I'm tearing up, thinking about this.

We had been in Guadalajara for about 6 weeks and we had our Mexican friends over for the evening. My "Mexican" brother wanted me to teach his wife how to make chocolate chip cookies. She doesn't speak any English and I had completed Spanish 2 at the college level forgetting just about everything when we crossed the border.

So, I've got all the ingredients out on the kitchen counter. She's standing in the kitchen with me listening. I said, "ok, primero, necesitamos dos tazas de orina."

(traslation, "First, we need 2 cups of urine".)

"NOOOOO (my name)!!!! NOOOOO", she replied! hehehe

They think I should start one of those cooking shows...hahaha

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Guest irolbackwards

I beg to differ on "whoops". My Mexican friends say it ALL of the time. Although, my "Mexican" brother did tell me that an American taught it to him. hehe

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harina, arena, orina

harina-flour

arena-sand

orina-urine

Well irolbackwards,

Before this goes too far, I wish to point out that the three words that you've cited are, in fact, pronounced distinctly; that is to say, differently.

Harina = a-RE-na

Arena = a-RAY-na

Orina = oh-RE-na

(Best I can do without some typical pronounciation symbols.)

Notwithstanding their different prounciations, consider a simple English example like:

To

Too

Two

These three words DO sound exactly alike, but the CONTEXT in which they are used does not create any confusion for the listener.

The simple truth of the matter is that Spanish vowels (the same ones that created the confusion you cited) are nearly always pronounced consistently. The few exceptions I believe are referred to as "dipthongs", when two vowels are next to each other they can make a different sound than the vowels do alone. I would not make the statement that Spanish is an easy language to learn, but the vowels certainly ARE.

I am making the assumption that your question was a serious one.

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Guest irolbackwards

No question...just sharing a funny story.

Many people on this board live where I do and I'd like to get to know them.

I'm not perfect in my Spanish speaking abilities.

I know what I want to say and the word is similar, but not correct making for a funny story. This is also true for me in English.

Are you a teacher? Or just enjoy the language? Everyone has a knack for something. Mine would have to be conversation.

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I just had a "whoops" thing happen. We had our Mexican friends house sitting while we took a vacation. While talking to the husband on the phone after discussing some problems that had come up at the house (in Spanish) I was saying goodbye. I asked him to please give "saludos a las chuletas" when of course I meant "las chulitas" referring to his wife, daughter and baby-on-the-way. I was reliecved to hear they thought it was very funny.

Chuletas = chops, like pork chops

Chulitas = cuties or sweeties, more or less

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  • 2 weeks later...
Orina = oh-RE-na

Chandler_ I believe that ORINA is pronounced o-REE- na

The vowels en español are pronounced

a= ah

e= eh

i= ee, as in eek!

o= o as in Oh oh!

u= oo as in coop ;)

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Hi, this is my first post.

We will be moving to the Lakeside once our house sells. It is so exciting! I grew up in the United States and became a teacher. I taught English and Spanish to both adults and children. When I get to the lake I want to form a group of friends who want to learn Spanish and Mexican cooking. It would be like a cooking club with the host house rotating every month. We would cook, learn ingredients and converse all in Spanish! :D

eslteacher

esl: English as a Second Language

ssl: Spanish as a Second Language

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a= ah

e= eh

i= ee, as in eek!

o= o as in Oh oh!

u= oo as in coop

Followed by "el burro sabe mas que tu", just ask any Mexican primaria student.

!Ah, que lastima! Todo el tiempo que fui en las calles y la primaria fue por nada. ¿Parese que el burro es un animal muy, muy inteligente, no? <_<

Fíjate, este es un foro para aprender español. Si mi español fui perfecto, no hay nececidad de ser aqui.

There are no stupid questions...

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  • 4 years later...

QUOTE (sioux4noff @ Aug 27 2007, 10:23 PM)

QUOTE

a= ah

e= eh

i= ee, as in eek!

o= o as in Oh oh!

u= oo as in coop

Followed by "el burro sabe mas que tu", just ask any Mexican primaria student.

!Ah, que lastima! Todo el tiempo que fui en las calles y la primaria fue por nada. ¿Parese que el burro es un animal muy, muy inteligente, no? dry.gif

Fíjate, este es un foro para aprender español. Si mi español fui perfecto, no hay nececidad de ser aqui.

There are no stupid questions...

Shouldn't that last line be: "Si mi español fuera perfecto, no sería necesario de estar aquí..."? or something along those lines?

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Hi, this is my first post.

We will be moving to the Lakeside once our house sells. It is so exciting! I grew up in the United States and became a teacher. I taught English and Spanish to both adults and children. When I get to the lake I want to form a group of friends who want to learn Spanish and Mexican cooking. It would be like a cooking club with the host house rotating every month. We would cook, learn ingredients and converse all in Spanish! biggrin.gif

eslteacher

esl: English as a Second Language

ssl: Spanish as a Second Language

Suena muy divertido. Suerte.

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  • 5 months later...

LOL !!!!

I can see that you get into the same situations I went to learn english.....LOL!

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same for "embarrasing" that means "vergonzoso" in spanish, "embarazoso" but no related to pregnancy....LOL!

in spanish a woman is pregnant, and maybe she can be also, embarrased by the situation....LOL!

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  • 7 months later...

Hi, this is my first post.

We will be moving to the Lakeside once our house sells. It is so exciting! I grew up in the United States and became a teacher. I taught English and Spanish to both adults and children. When I get to the lake I want to form a group of friends who want to learn Spanish and Mexican cooking. It would be like a cooking club with the host house rotating every month. We would cook, learn ingredients and converse all in Spanish! biggrin.gif

eslteacher

esl: English as a Second Language

ssl: Spanish as a Second Language

That sounds fantastic! please send me a private txt message with the rest of the information since my husband wants to lear spanish, the sooner the better!!! And I would love to learn Spanish cooking! ^_^ Tnx!

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  • 2 months later...

I want to form a group of friends who want to learn Spanish and Mexican cooking. It would be like a cooking club with the host house rotating every month. We would cook, learn ingredients and converse all in Spanish! biggrin.gif

A nice idea. Except for the "converse all in Spanish" part. You are unlikely to encounter sufficient gringos (or Canadians) for a dinner party here who have mastered more than a humble, monosyllabic appreciation of Spanish. That's the bad news. The good news is that a majority of them are terminally tin-eared and thus revel in the fantasy that they are fluent in the language.
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