August 24th, 2011

SE HABLA ESPANOL

So I’m speaking a lot of Spanish these days.  Mostly, it’s going pretty well…but as would be expected, it’s also waaayyy harder to be somewhat interesting/funny in one’s second language (if you can even call it that).  I am enjoying the chance to get to hear how people really speak: a lot of times in Spanish classes we learned really Spain-specific, formal manners of speaking that don’t translate well to everyday life in South America.  Because I am too lazy to write coherent paragraphs right now, I’ve organized my experiences as a gringa trying to speak Spanish in the following list.

1)      People here LOVE to use the diminutive forms of nouns.  That is, in Spanish you put “ita” or “ito” onto the end of a noun to indicate that it is remarkably small.  Only here, you put “ita” or “ito” to indicate that you feel affection towards the noun in question, or towards the subject that the noun is acting upon.  And Ecuadorians are affectionate folk.  Therefore, almost everything you say changes to its diminutive.  I am often called “mi hijita” which means “my little daughter”, and every morning am offered a “técito” or “little cup of tea.”  Sometimes they use the “ito” to make offensive things less offensive.  For example, a neighbor referred to someone as “gordito,”  theoretically to indicate that although he may be fat, I do still feel affection towards him.

2)   Ecuador (as do most South American countries) has a lot of its own words that do

You would never learn in a typical Spanish class.  For example, they say “chompa” instead of “chaqueta”, “carro” instead of “coche”, and absolutely everything is “chevere,” which means “cool.”  If you ever plan on visiting Ecuador, you must must must learn the word “chevere.”  You can never overuse it.  Usually it’s pretty easy to pick up these new country-specific words.  The only unfortunate thing is when you use a slang word from another country that has quite a different meaning here.  Take the word “chualo”, for instance.  In some countries it means “cute” or “precious”, in other words, very appropriate thing to call a baby.  Turns out, parents do not appreciate this word being used in reference to their children, as it means here “pimp” or “john.”  Oops.

3)      For the most part, I can understand what is being said in Spanish when someone is

Either a professor addressing a quiet classroom or someone speaking directly to me.  I tend to tune out a bit though when I’m with a group of 3 or Ecuadorians who are all talking to each other about something not really related to me.  It’s hard to listen to multiple people talking at once with a lot of slang and excitement thrown in.  Apparently I get a confused/spacey/bored look on my face, because everyone in a while in the middle of such an Ecuadorian conversation, someone will suddenly feel the need to make some dull comment related to me that I can understand.  They say it in the same tone of voice that the parent of a bored child who has been forced to attend an adult dinner party would say something in an attempt to get the child to liven up a bit.  “Today, Timmy did watercolors and painted a tree” is not so far removed from “Today, Olivia read outside on the terrace.” Wow!  I then smile and nod vigorously.

 4)      This road goes both ways.  Sometimes I find myself in situations with only one or

 Two other Ecuadorians, and whenever we fall into a silence, I assume it’s my fault because I’m not                       being foreign and interesting.  So, naturally, I feel compelled to make some inane comment or another.  The following are some direct quotes from yours truly (translated into English, but don’t worry, they were just as (if not more) stupid in Spanish): “there is a lot of space in this lawn” “there are a lot of buildings on this street” “I like this painting because it has a lot of red.”  Needless to say, after these thought-provoking and original tidbits conversation resumed with unprecedented energy.