Seseo, ceceo y yeísmo
Today is Spanish Friday so this post is in Spanish. If you participated in Spanish Friday on your own blog, leave your link in comments. Scroll down for English translation!
Mientras limpiando unas carpetas en mi computadora, descubrí dos archivos de audio – Un archivo es de mi voz y el otro es el voz de Carlos. Al principio no podía recordar lo que eran pero después de escucharlos, ya me acordé. Los archivos de audio son muestras de pronunciación española. Un día encontré un artículo fascinante, [Seseo, ceceo and yeísmo (or, some major variations in Spanish pronunciation)] y en este artículo tuvieron un texto que cuando es leído por hablantes nativos, muestra muy bien las diferencias de acentos. Pedí a Carlos leerlo para poder escuchar su pronunciación y también grabé a mi misma practicándolo para perfeccionar mi acento.
El texto:
El cazador de libros se sentía feliz al encontrar en una casa señorial de Zaragoza una colección de cien publicaciones científicas insólitas.
-Yo no veo ningún caballo —le dije a ella al llegar a la llanura lluviosa. Yo sé que viajar instruye mucho pero ayer en la calle de Nueva York, con el billete en el bolsillo, nunca me lo habría imaginado así.
Todos los tesoros oscuros de las islas estaban en la sala de subastas. En el primer lote había dos cisnes negros, unos sigilosos gatos de dimensiones gigantescas y tres muñecos enmascarados.
El boxeador extraño se exasperó al tomar el examen exigente en Extremadura. Se consideraba un excelente experto, pero a su parecer fueron muy ortodoxos y exudaron una exquisita inflexibilidad.
Veintinueve vacas hambrientas vuelven a comer hierba, mientras las abejas zumban por todas partes. Bebiendo un vaso de vino y sentado en un banco cercano, el hombre descubre la clave. Desde ahora sabe qué hacer en verano y en invierno también.
Yo creo que las palabras “consideraba” y “inflexibilidad” son las palabras cuando más me escucho gringa. Voy a seguir practicando. También quiero grabar a los niños leyendo el texto para que puedan ver cómo ellos mejoran hasta el final del verano.
[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
While cleaning up some files on my computer, I found two audio files – One file is my voice and the other is the voice of Carlos. At first I couldn’t remember what they were but after listening to them, I remembered. The audio files are samples of Spanish pronunciation. One day I found a fascinating article, [HERE] and in this article there was a section of text that when read by native speakers, shows very well the differences in accents. I asked Carlos to read it to hear his pronunciation and I recorded myself practicing to perfect my accent.
The Text:
El cazador de libros se sentía feliz al encontrar en una casa señorial de Zaragoza una colección de cien publicaciones científicas insólitas.
-Yo no veo ningún caballo —le dije a ella al llegar a la llanura lluviosa. Yo sé que viajar instruye mucho pero ayer en la calle de Nueva York, con el billete en el bolsillo, nunca me lo habría imaginado así.
Todos los tesoros oscuros de las islas estaban en la sala de subastas. En el primer lote había dos cisnes negros, unos sigilosos gatos de dimensiones gigantescas y tres muñecos enmascarados.
El boxeador extraño se exasperó al tomar el examen exigente en Extremadura. Se consideraba un excelente experto, pero a su parecer fueron muy ortodoxos y exudaron una exquisita inflexibilidad.
Veintinueve vacas hambrientas vuelven a comer hierba, mientras las abejas zumban por todas partes. Bebiendo un vaso de vino y sentado en un banco cercano, el hombre descubre la clave. Desde ahora sabe qué hacer en verano y en invierno también.
I think the words “consideraba” and “inflexibilidad” are the words where I sound most gringa. I’ll keep practicing. I also want to record the kids reading the text so they can see how much they improve by the end of summer.
A Quince Party… (for my boy)
Image source: Flickr user Kaptain Kobold
I briefly mentioned in a previous post that I’m planning a quinceañero party for my son, and I promised to give details at a later date – so today I’ll tell you how this all came about. Below is an excerpt of the story as I wrote it for latinamom.me, with a link to read the rest over there.
When I first suggested the possibility of a quince to my husband, whispered one night in the dark as we fell asleep, Carlos waved me off like a lost and confused moth that had mistaken a porch light for the moon. I wasn’t surprised that it took awhile for Carlos to open his mind and warm up to the idea—after all, quinceañeras are traditionally coming-of-age celebrations only for girls and Carlos is a very traditional-minded person. However, over time I explained my intentions and little by little, Carlos came to support the idea of throwing a quince for his son.
[Read the rest on latinamom.me HERE]
Would you ever consider a quince party for your son?
Domingo Para Todos
Today is Spanish Friday so this post is in Spanish. If you participated in Spanish Friday on your own blog, leave your link in comments. Scroll down for English translation!
A veces Carlos mira programas en la tele que son extraños para mi y los niños – Uno de ellos es Domingo Para Todos. Domingo Para Todos es como una version salvadoreña de Sabado Gigante. La idea principal es tener gente de la audiencia participando en juegos chistosos, patrocinados por marcas para ganar dinero.
Tengo sentimientos contradictorios sobre el show. A ver la gente haciendo juegos en que tienen que vestirse como un rollo de papel higiénico o un gran pollo, me da algo de pena ajena. A veces parece que la gente se siente con vergüenza pero lo hacen porque necesitan el dinero – y por eso a veces pienso, “¿No es explotación?”
Por otra parte, hay gente que parece que están gozando estar en el show y me dan risa. También me gusta que hay un segmento de promover músicos salvadoreños. Entonces, cada domingo, miramos Domigo Para Todos en familia y los niños aprenden más español, además de observar la moda en El Salvador, (parece que pantalones apretados y fauxhawks todavia son populares con los muchachos.)
[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
Sometimes Carlos watches TV shows which are weird to me and the kids – One of them is Domingo Para Todos. Domingo Para Todos, (Sunday For Everyone) – is kind of like a Salvadoran version of Sabado Gigante. The main idea is to have audience members participate in funny games which are sponsored by brands so they can win money.
I have mixed feelings about the show. Seeing the people playing games which involve dressing like a roll of toilet paper or a big chicken, makes me feel a little embarrassed for them. Sometimes the people seem to feel ashamed and like they’re only doing it because they need the money – and for that reason, sometimes I think, “Is this not exploitation?”
On the other hand, there are people who seem to be having fun on the show, and they make me laugh. I also like that there’s a segment which promotes Salvadoran musicians. And so, every Sunday, we watch Domingo Para Todos as a family and the kids learn more Spanish, in addition to observing the latest fashions in El Salvador, (it seems that tight pants and fauxhawks are still popular with the young men.)
Quince Countdown!
As a member of Lowe’s Creative Ideas Network I received gift cards from Lowe’s in order to purchase supplies to complete projects. All opinions are my own.
It’s June which means we have only two months to prepare for my 14 year old son’s quince.
Yes, that’s right – I said “son’s quince.” We have decided to have a quince party for our son’s 15th birthday with some traditional elements re-imagined, (since the celebration is usually reserved for girls in Latin America) – More on all of that another day.
For now I want to show you some of our preparations, (besides making a list of all the foods I want to serve which so far includes tamales, yuca frita, pupusas with curtido and tres leches – an already exhausting menu considering it’s just me cooking.)
Since our son’s birthday is in August, an outdoor party seems to be the way to go. We want to have the quince in our backyard in case it’s too hot or rainy, that way we can always take it inside – (besides, we don’t plan to go crazy and rent a location, hire entertainment or have catering. This is going to be a modest celebration compared to most quinces.)
The problem with having the party in our backyard is that our backyard isn’t very conducive to entertaining. We have two “mini-patios” – if you can even call them that – at each rear door, and it’s not inviting at all. A large patio would work much better for a quince and any other little backyard party we want to have in the future, but on our budget that means doing it ourselves with very affordable materials.
The first stage was brainstorming and daydreaming. I had a million ideas for a new patio, from the types of pavers I wanted to use, to the design, to the furniture and everything in between. In my mind, it’s a sunken backyard oasis, shaded by tropical plants, (nevermind the fact that palm trees wouldn’t survive a Mid-Atlantic winter.) Okay, time to get realistic about not only our skill level, but our budget.
The first step was to pick the pavers and measure the area we wanted to cover so that we knew how much materials to buy. We chose red square pavers, which weren’t my first choice, but they worked for our budget and in the end, I liked how they look. (Not to mention, working with squares made things less complicated.) In addition to the pavers, we purchased gravel and sand.
Once we removed the old patios and outlined the entire area with mason’s string tied around stakes, we began the very boring task of digging out the grass. Next we added gravel which we tried to distribute and tamp down in such a way that it was level. To be honest, I’m really impatient when it comes to this sort of thing but this is one step you really need to do right or it throws off everything else.
(For more detailed steps, two helpful articles on Lowes.com include: Design a Paver Patio and Build a Brick Paver Patio.)
Next you can lay down the pavers, making sure they’re level as you go along. After all pavers are in place, sweep sand into the cracks and then mist lightly with water from the hose.
Add some furniture and landscaping – maybe some pretty hanging lights, (which will be my next step!) and you’re ready to party.
Remember the beat up dark green chairs from the “before” photo? A neighbor gave those to us a few years ago. With a coat of Valspar spray paint for plastic, they look brand new and I chose a much happier color!
What else do you think we need to do to prepare the space for the party?
Check out more from Lowe’s Creative Ideas Network by subscribing to their Creative Ideas Magazine and E-Newsletter, following them on Pinterest, and by seeing what the other Lowe’s Creative Ideas Network members are up to.
Verano de Español: Chucho
Today is Spanish Friday so this post is in Spanish. If you participated in Spanish Friday on your own blog, leave your link in comments. Scroll down for English translation!
Hoy tenemos una semana haciendo el “Verano de Español” en nuestra casa y va bien. Mis hijos tienen 14 y 11 años y este es el cuarto año de “Verano de Español” – (por no hablar de que hemos estado hablando más español en general desde el primer año, no sólo durante el verano.) O sea, todos sabemos qué esperar y no es tan difícil este año.
Mi hijo mayor es más reacio a responder en español espontánea pero cuando lo hace, su vocabulario siempre me sorprende. Un día quería hablar conmigo sobre la bolsa de valores y le instruí intentar lo en español. Él puso los ojos y suspiró, pero luego lo hizo excelente.
Mi hijo menor me habla en español espontánea pero todavia está aprendiendo vocabulario. Me pregunta muchas veces al día qué significa una palabra, o cómo decir algo en español. Ojalá está absorbiendo todo como una esponja.
Anoche, jugamos un juego que es casi una versión de Scrabble en español. Mi hijo menor quería jugar y dijo: “Vamos a jugar en español” – a pesar de que se puede jugar en inglés. Sonreí cuando se deletreó la palabra “vos” – pero me reí cuando en su siguiente turno se deletreó “chucho.”
Parece que su vocabulario salvadoreño está bien establecido.
[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
Today we’re a week into doing “Spanish Summer” at our house and it’s going well. My sons are 14 and 11 years old and this is our fourth year doing “Spanish Summer”- (not to mention that we’ve been speaking more Spanish in general since the first year, not only during the summer.) In other words, we all know what to expect and it’s not as difficult this year.
My older son is more reluctant to speak Spanish without prompting, but when he does, his vocabulary blows me away. One day he wanted to talk to me about the stock market and I instructed him to do it in Spanish. He rolled his eyes and sighed, but he did an excellent job.
My younger son speaks Spanish without prompting but is still learning vocabulary. He asks me many times each day what a word means or how to say something in Spanish. Hopefully he’s absorbing everything like a sponge.
Last night, we played a game which is pretty much a Spanish version of Scrabble. My younger son wanted to play and said, “Let’s play in Spanish” – even though it’s possible to play it in English. I smiled when he spelled the word “vos” (a word commonly used in El Salvador to mean “you”), but I laughed when on his next turn he spelled the word “chucho.” (“Chucho” is slang for “dog” in El Salvador.)
It looks like his Salvadoran vocabulary is well established.
Cóctel de Camarones en Salsa Rosada
Warm weather reminds me of the beach, and when I think of the beach, I think of La Libertad and the last time I was there, and of course, of seafood. One of my favorite Salvadoran seafood dishes is Cóctel de Camarones en Salsa Rosada, (Shrimp Cocktail in Pink Sauce), and so I’ve learned how to make it for myself at home since I can’t take a trip to El Salvador’s coast whenever the mood strikes. While Carlos prefers Cóctel de Conchas, somehow I have to end up sharing my Cóctel de Camarones every time I make it.
Cóctel de Camarones en Salsa Rosada
Ingredients:
12 ounces shrimp – cooked, peeled and de-veined, tail-off
1/3 cup mayonnaise (you can use light mayonnaise!)
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 a small red onion minced
handful of cilantro chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Optional: diced Roma tomatoes and/or diced avocado
Directions:
Combine all the ingredients and serve chilled in cocktail/martini glasses, (or any wine or margarita glasses you might have on hand), along with wedges of lime to squeeze onto the cóctel and Saltine crackers to eat the cóctel on. This recipe serves two people as a main dish or four as an appetizer.
Chirmol
The more I look through the index of Salvadoran recipes I’ve shared here on Latinaish, the more I’m overwhelmed by the dishes I still have yet to share, make, or even try! I’m especially surprised to see that I haven’t shared a recipe for chirmol since this is something we make fairly often during summer months. Similar to the more famous Mexican “pico de gallo” – versions of chirmol are made in various Latin American countries. Recipes vary by family but all are based on diced tomato and onion. Chirmol can be used as a fresh, colorful and flavorful accompaniment to many dishes such as steak or grilled chicken. (Last night I made a batch which we used to top hot dogs!)
Salvadoran Chirmol
4 large Roma tomatoes, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1 small handful cilantro, chopped
a good squeeze of lime or lemon
a few shakes Worcestershire sauce
salt to taste
Optional: A few radishes diced fine, and/or 1/2 a green pepper diced. Like it spicy? Add diced or minced jalapeño.
Note: If you want to keep it really traditional, you should use only tomatoes, onion, cilantro, lemon and salt.
Directions:
Combine all of the above in a bowl and serve!
Madagascar Culo
I’m trying to kick off “El Verano de Español” (Spanish Summer) a little early this year and yesterday I made a very concentrated effort to stick to Spanish with the boys.
I’m not sure what happened this year. At one point I was in the habit of speaking Spanish with the kids the majority of the day, then one day I realized I was speaking a lot of English to them and had been for some time. Each night I went to bed feeling guilty, promising I’d go cold turkey the next day but I’d wake up exhausted and forcing my brain to stay in Spanish was like trying to baptize a cat.
Anyway, Friday I managed to speak to the boys in mostly Spanish and they even responded to me in Spanish several times. To keep the momentum going, after dinner I decided we’d watch a movie in Spanish together, having recently discovered a bunch of bootleg DVDs from El Salvador I had forgotten we own. (To be very clear: We didn’t purchase these DVDs and haven’t even watched them – they were sent as gifts from one of Carlos’ tíos many years ago.)
My younger son popped some popcorn and I put the DVD for Madagascar in. Here’s a little video I made about the surprises that awaited us. (And as hilarious as this was to me, let this be a word of warning for anyone buying bootleg DVDs for their kids in El Salvador… They aren’t exactly rated G! This may be a good reason to buy the real thing.)
Ah yes… Spanish Summer is off to an excellent start.
Raspado de Elote Loco
Today is Spanish Friday so this post is in Spanish. If you participated in Spanish Friday on your own blog, leave your link in comments. Scroll down for English translation!
Ya casi fue dos años que fuimos a El Salvador y cada día lo siento más y más. Aunque tenemos la esperanza de ir otra vez en 2014, por el momento tengo que aceptar la realidad que voy a pasar otro verano sin viajar allá. Para sentirme mejor, voy a cocinar todas mis comidas favoritas de El Salvador – y cuál mejor por empezar el verano que el Raspado de Elote Loco?
Mi receta entonces, si ustedes quieren aprovechar de los ricos elotes frescos que ya están de temporada.
Raspado de Elote Loco
Ingredientes:
elotes (mazorcas) de maíz frescos, descascarillados y cocidos (uno por cada persona)
mayonesa
salsa de tomate (ketchup)
mostaza
salsa inglesa (o “salsa Perrins”)
queso parmesano, fresco y rallado
El método:
1. Cortar los granos del maíz del elote con un cuchillo. Llenar vasos pequeños de plástico, 3/4 llenos del maíz fresco.
2. Encima del maíz, echa algunas sacudidas de salsa inglesa, una cucharada de mayonesa, un apretón de ketchup, un apretón de mostaza, y encima de todo, una gran pizca de queso parmesano.
3. Servir con un tenedor en cada vaso.
[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
It’s been almost two years now that we went to El Salvador and every day I feel it more and more. Although we hope to go back again in 2014, at the moment I have to accept the reality that I’m facing another summer without traveling there. To make myself feel better, I’m going to cook all my favorite foods from El Salvador – and what better way to start the summer than with Raspado de Elote Loco?
Here’s me recipe then, in case you guys want to take advantage of the delicious fresh corn cobs that are now in season.
Raspado de Elote Loco
Ingredients:
fresh corn cobs, husked and cooked (one per person)
mayonnaise
ketchup
yellow mustard
Worcestershire sauce
Parmesan cheese, fresh and grated
Directions:
1. Cut the corn from the cobs with a knife. Fill small plastic cups 3/4 full with the fresh corn.
2. On top of the corn, add a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce, a tablespoon or so of mayonnaise, a squeeze of ketchup, a squeeze of mustard, and on top of everything, a big pinch of Parmesan.
3. Serve with a fork in each cup.
Club Glee
Today is Spanish Friday so this post is in Spanish. If you participated in Spanish Friday on your own blog, leave your link in comments. Scroll down for English translation!
Hoy quiero introducirles a mi nueva causa favorita en El Salvador. Glasswing International es una organización independiente, y tienen muchas valiosas iniciativas que estoy planeando apoyar con mi dinero – y ojalá un día cuando regresamas a El Salvador, con mi tiempo. De las iniciativas que tienen, Club Glee es una de mis favoritas. En Club Glee, los jovenes aprenden como cantar y bailar – pero es mucho más que esto. Los jovenes que participaron aprenden cooperación, se sienten aceptados, hacen amigos, y ganan confianza. Al final, programas así no sólo ayudan a los niños, pero también el futuro del pais porque está creando mejores ciudadanos.
Aquí hay un video que realmente me llegó al corazón. Chécalo.
Si quieres apoyar a programas como Club Glee, aprender de sus otras programs, (incluyendo programas en Guatemala y Honduras), o seguir sus perfiles de medios de comunicación social – dale una visita a Glasswing.org [en inglés], o en español AQUÍ.
[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
Today I want to introduce you to my new favorite cause in El Salvador. Glasswing International is an independent organization, and they have many worthwhile initiatives that I’m planning to support with my money – and hopefully one day when we return to El Salvador, with my time. Of the initiatives they have, Club Glee is one of my favorites. In Club Glee, the youth learn how to sing and dance – but it’s much more than that. The young people who participate in the program learn cooperation, feel accepted, make friends, and gain confidence. In the end, programs such as this not only help the children but also help the future of the country because it’s creating better citizens.
Here is a video that really touched my heart. Check it out.
If you want to support programs like Club Glee, learn about their other programs (including programs in Guatemala and Honduras), or follow them in social media – give them a visit at Glasswing.org [English] or in Spanish HERE.
