Spanish Lessons
First off, if you don't speak Spanish you're going to have no clue what I'm talking about so that sucks for you I guess.
Alright, I thought I'd impart some knowledge as to what I have learned in Spanish since I have been here. The first thing you'll notice when you come to Argentina is that is sounds like Italian. Argentinean Spanish is basically Spanish spoken as if it were Italian. For example, with commands like "Cállate" the accent is usually on the first "a" so it sounds like "KI-yah-tay", in Argentina it's "Calláte" or "kai-JAH-tay". This is also because the double "ll" sound which is normally a "y" sound (tortilla, quesidilla) is a "j" sound (tortijah, quesidijah). Next, is the Vos form ("bos"). Instead of using the "tu" form, they use vos. It works like this: normally tener is tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen. In Argentina it's tengo, tenés, tiene, tenemos, tienen. To make the vos form you take the infinitive, tener, drop the "r", and add an accento to the preceding vowel+ "s". Examples: poder: podés not puedes, venís not vienes, querés not quieres, and the irregular form for ser is "sos" not eres. So as soon as you arrive people ask you, "De dónde sos?" Where are you from? So that takes some getting used to. I still don't use it all the time. Vocabulary differences, everybody uses the word "lindo" for everything that is any shade of nice. The weather's nice, they say "Que lindo", you see a beautiful girl, "Que linda", you had a nice weekend, "lindo", and if something is really nice you can throw out a "re-lindo" which basically means really nice. Use caution with this though because you gotta roll that R if you're gonna throw out a re-lindo. Really roll it. Next, guys say boludo to each other if there friends, but it can also be used if somebody cuts you off when your driving, "BOLUDO!". I guess it means something inbetween asshole and fucker, but between friends it's friendly. Kind of weird, but you'll hear this word all the time. "Che boludo!" People say "che" a lot too. It basically means "hey!" A dance club is a bolliche, you can't use the word '"coger" which usually means to take. It has a very sexual connotation here, and means "to take" in a tototally different sense. You don't want to coger a taxi if you catch my drift. Conversely, tirar is used here but in Colombia it is the same thing as coger in Argentina. Also, usually in Spanish if you don't know a word you can guess what it means by looking at it. There are a few execeptions, for example, "embarazada" doesn't mean embarassed, it means pregnant. Next, using "vos" versus "Ud" with strangers. In English you can allude the issue of who you adress formally and who you don't because the language doesn't require it; however, in Spanish ever verb forces you to describe your relationship to somebody else. Am I going to use the informal or the formal with this person? Most the time I have no idea what would be appropriate. I'm told that Argentineans use this as a strategy to define their relationships. For example, if you get into a taxi and don't really want to be bothered by them because they are very talkative, you can use the "Ud" form to put distance in the relationship. Conversely, if you want to be friendly with someone you use "vos". Always use vos with any woman under 50 or you'll make them feel old. It's kind of like when you switch from miss to madam I think. Anyway, use vos just to flatter them. Kind of interesting. Here's an example of a quick conversation between friends, "Che boludo, qué tal?"/ "Todo bien, vos"/ "Bien" / "Bueno, chao"/ "chao". Don't say adios. A weird translation thing, the toothpast brand "Colgate" litterally means in Spanish "hang yourself". Yet despite this is seems to be a pretty popular brand down here. Colgar means to hang, and it's in a command form with a relexive "te". Kind of funny. Ok, see you later. Randomly one of my buddies from my Spanish class at UW is in Buenos Aires so I'm going to give him a call. Later.
Alright, I thought I'd impart some knowledge as to what I have learned in Spanish since I have been here. The first thing you'll notice when you come to Argentina is that is sounds like Italian. Argentinean Spanish is basically Spanish spoken as if it were Italian. For example, with commands like "Cállate" the accent is usually on the first "a" so it sounds like "KI-yah-tay", in Argentina it's "Calláte" or "kai-JAH-tay". This is also because the double "ll" sound which is normally a "y" sound (tortilla, quesidilla) is a "j" sound (tortijah, quesidijah). Next, is the Vos form ("bos"). Instead of using the "tu" form, they use vos. It works like this: normally tener is tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen. In Argentina it's tengo, tenés, tiene, tenemos, tienen. To make the vos form you take the infinitive, tener, drop the "r", and add an accento to the preceding vowel+ "s". Examples: poder: podés not puedes, venís not vienes, querés not quieres, and the irregular form for ser is "sos" not eres. So as soon as you arrive people ask you, "De dónde sos?" Where are you from? So that takes some getting used to. I still don't use it all the time. Vocabulary differences, everybody uses the word "lindo" for everything that is any shade of nice. The weather's nice, they say "Que lindo", you see a beautiful girl, "Que linda", you had a nice weekend, "lindo", and if something is really nice you can throw out a "re-lindo" which basically means really nice. Use caution with this though because you gotta roll that R if you're gonna throw out a re-lindo. Really roll it. Next, guys say boludo to each other if there friends, but it can also be used if somebody cuts you off when your driving, "BOLUDO!". I guess it means something inbetween asshole and fucker, but between friends it's friendly. Kind of weird, but you'll hear this word all the time. "Che boludo!" People say "che" a lot too. It basically means "hey!" A dance club is a bolliche, you can't use the word '"coger" which usually means to take. It has a very sexual connotation here, and means "to take" in a tototally different sense. You don't want to coger a taxi if you catch my drift. Conversely, tirar is used here but in Colombia it is the same thing as coger in Argentina. Also, usually in Spanish if you don't know a word you can guess what it means by looking at it. There are a few execeptions, for example, "embarazada" doesn't mean embarassed, it means pregnant. Next, using "vos" versus "Ud" with strangers. In English you can allude the issue of who you adress formally and who you don't because the language doesn't require it; however, in Spanish ever verb forces you to describe your relationship to somebody else. Am I going to use the informal or the formal with this person? Most the time I have no idea what would be appropriate. I'm told that Argentineans use this as a strategy to define their relationships. For example, if you get into a taxi and don't really want to be bothered by them because they are very talkative, you can use the "Ud" form to put distance in the relationship. Conversely, if you want to be friendly with someone you use "vos". Always use vos with any woman under 50 or you'll make them feel old. It's kind of like when you switch from miss to madam I think. Anyway, use vos just to flatter them. Kind of interesting. Here's an example of a quick conversation between friends, "Che boludo, qué tal?"/ "Todo bien, vos"/ "Bien" / "Bueno, chao"/ "chao". Don't say adios. A weird translation thing, the toothpast brand "Colgate" litterally means in Spanish "hang yourself". Yet despite this is seems to be a pretty popular brand down here. Colgar means to hang, and it's in a command form with a relexive "te". Kind of funny. Ok, see you later. Randomly one of my buddies from my Spanish class at UW is in Buenos Aires so I'm going to give him a call. Later.
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