Spanish language question

[hunsta]

Hey all. I have a small question I need someone who speaks fluent Spanish to help me with.
Before my last Camino. I endeavoured to learn a little Spanish to help me along the way. Which it did. And I picked up a little whilst there.
Now to my question. Whilst there, on quite a few occasions in conversation we heard the term ( and excuse spelling) "Baly Baly Baly". We took this to be perhaps like saying " Yeah Yeah Yeah" or " OK OK OK".
Would that be correct? Or does it mean something totally different?
Cheers

 

[OzAnnie]

" OK OK OK".
Would that be correct?

Correct. And spelling in Spanish is ‘vale’
V pronounced closer to our ‘b’ .. the ‘e’ at the end sounds like e in egg. Not our ‘y’

I’ve only got a smattering of Spanish but okay . with this term

 

[trecile]

Hey all. I have a small question I need someone who speaks fluent Spanish to help me with.
Before my last Camino. I endeavoured to learn a little Spanish to help me along the way. Which it did. And I picked up a little whilst there.
Now to my question. Whilst there, on quite a few occasions in conversation we heard the term ( and excuse spelling) "Baly Baly Baly". We took this to be perhaps like saying " Yeah Yeah Yeah" or " OK OK OK".
Would that be correct? Or does it mean something totally different?
Cheers

It's vale, vale, vale, but it is pronounced as you wrote it, and indeed it means what you think.

 

[hunsta]

Correct. And spelling in Spanish is ‘vale’
V pronounced closer to our ‘b’ .. the ‘e’ at the end sounds like e in egg. Not our ‘y’

I’ve only got a smattering of Spanish but okay . with this term

It's vale, vale, vale, but it is pronounced as you wrote it, and indeed it means what you think.

Thank you very much. I thought it was that. Much appreciated.

 

[Robo]

Vale, Vale, Vale.
It's a great expression isn't it?

The other one that caught me out..........till I thought about it, was......

S.O.S.
At least that's what I heard.

I was thinking "what does this acronym stand for"?

And then the penny dropped!

Eso Es. That's it!!

 

[trecile]

Eso Es. That's it!!

Exactly!

 

[jungleboy]

And then the penny dropped!

The next level mind-blower for you is:



S-O-C-K-S




(Eso sí que es)

 

[Kanga]

The next level mind-blower for you is:



S-O-C-K-S




(Eso sí que es)

That is very good.

 

[Anamya]

Spanish speaker, but Portuguese native here. So please, Spaniards, correct me if I'm saying the wrong thing!!

"Vale, vale, vale", in a very pedantic translation, would be something like "it´s valid, it´s valid, it´s valid", or that whatever you said "has value". The verb "valer" is usually translated as "to be worth".
As you correctly noticed, it´s used as "ok, ok, ok" when everything is going to be fine

 

[Pelegrin]

Spanish speaker, but Portuguese native here. So please, Spaniards, correct me if I'm saying the wrong thing!!

"Vale, vale, vale", in a very pedantic translation, would be something like "it´s valid, it´s valid, it´s valid", or that whatever you said "has value". The verb "valer" is usually translated as "to be worth".
As you correctly noticed, it´s used as "ok, ok, ok" when everything is going to be fine

That's correct. But we also can say "vale, vale, vale" to finish a discussion no matter you are thinking the other side is wrong. In this case we often add "lo que tu digas".

 

[Robo]

The next level mind-blower for you is:



S-O-C-K-S




(Eso sí que es)

Sorry, not sure I get that one.
Socks are Calcetines.
But I suspect that's not what you mean.......

Oh OK. I get it now.

 

[Robo]

That's correct. But we also can say "vale, vale, vale" to finish a discussion no matter you are thinking the other side is wrong. In this case we often add "lo que tu digas".

That's the way I hear it used.

You often here Australians Say "Yeh, Yeh, Yeh" Used in the same context.
Either as agreement, as in Yes, That's it.
Or in disagreement! As in, let's move on!

 

[Kanga]

Or if you disagree and want to continue the argument, could you say - "disculpe pero...." Only asking because disculpe and disculpame are my very favourite Spanish words!

 

[Pilgrim9]

I love the emphasis that natural-born speakers of Castilian put on stimulating their conversational partners: plodding sentences are never emitted, some vim or spice is almost always added to the message.

Here is a spice puzzle:

If
< ¡Claro que si! > equates to "Clearly it is so!", or "Indeed!" or "Of course!",
then
< ¡Claro que no! > should, obviously, mean "Obviously not!" or similar.

But in conversations between those whose first language is Castilian, the two phrases seem to be used interchangeably to mean "of course!".

Is that correct?

Claro que ...

 

[Camino Chrissy]

my very favourite Spanish words!

My favorite Spanish words are "cafe con leche"!

The next level mind-blower for you is:



S-O-C-K-S




(Eso sí que es)

Love this! Possibly I could increase my Spanish skills if all the words had the same pronunciation in English...and pictures included.

 

[Pelegrin]

That's the way I hear it used.

You often here Australians Say "Yeh, Yeh, Yeh" Used in the same context.
Either as agreement, as in Yes, That's it.
Or in disagreement! As in, let's move o

I love the emphasis that natural-born speakers of Castilian put on stimulating their conversational partners: plodding sentences are never emitted, some vim or spice is almost always added to the message.

Here is a spice puzzle:

If
< ¡Claro que si! > equates to "Clearly it is so!", or "Indeed!" or "Of course!",
then
< ¡Claro que no! > should, obviously, mean "Obviously not!" or similar.

But in conversations between those whose first language is Castilian, the two phrases seem to be used interchangeably to mean "of course!".

Is that correct?

Claro que ...

Yes. It is correct. Also "por supuesto" is valid for "of course".

 

[linkster]

I find spanishdict.com useful as a reference. The pronounciation tab shows the phonetic spelling and someone actually saying the word.

Check out the translation for "vale" on SpanishDictionary.com!

Translate millions of words and phrases for free on SpanishDictionary.com, the world's largest Spanish-English dictionary and translation website.

www.spanishdict.com

 

[linkster]

@hunsta FYI, I posted the following resources: Basic Dictionary for Hospitaleros 2.0 (pdf), and Basic Dictionary for Hospitaleros - Quizlet (flashcards with audio).

¡Buena suerte!

 

[Peligro]

To anybody that might be taking lessons from this thread, just want to point out that it’s not always vale, vale, vale - you don’t have to say it three times. In fact, if you said it three times every time you’d be “that guy” that thinks you have to say it three times.

 

[trecile]

To anybody that might be taking lessons from this thread, just want to point out that it’s not always vale, vale, vale - you don’t have to say it three times. In fact, if you said it three times every time you’d be “that guy” that thinks you have to say it three times.

It seems that simply saying vale once is a bit more serious - it gives the word more weight and importance, like you have actually listened to what someone said and are agreeing with them. Twice, a little less so, and three times is just "okay, okay, okay - let's get on with it!"
I'm not sure if my analysis is correct though, and of course tone and context matter a lot.

 

[John Sikora]

I've also had some people say "vale" more or less continuously and randomly during a conversation as English speakers would say "yes" acknowledging an ongoing conversation context. It is a great word with multiple uses. The very discussion of this is another reason why walking a Camino broadens ones understanding and experiences.

 

[SioCamino]

Repetition is also used a lot in spoken Spanish for emphasis, communication etc... Hence the "vale, vale, vale"

It reminds me of a chat with a hospitalero one day, can't remember where on the VDLP, he was given us some directions to exit the town and then the end of the directions were "y entonces , flecha, flecha, flecha, flecha, flecha....."

 

[Carolethecatlover]

Hey all. I have a small question I need someone who speaks fluent Spanish to help me with.
Before my last Camino. I endeavoured to learn a little Spanish to help me along the way. Which it did. And I picked up a little whilst there.
Now to my question. Whilst there, on quite a few occasions in conversation we heard the term ( and excuse spelling) "Baly Baly Baly". We took this to be perhaps like saying " Yeah Yeah Yeah" or " OK OK OK".
Would that be correct? Or does it mean something totally different?
Cheers

Vale, vale, vale, 'That's right!' or same Latin root, 'Valid! x3. V=B. Viente = 20 you hear bent ay.
Spanish is easy. 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 4 weeks, living with a family, you can be fluent.

 

[SioCamino]

I think my 2 favourite phrases are "¡Ojalá!" (handy for so many situations, hopefully/if the fates allow/ god willing) and one which i learnt at the Pilgrim's Office : "¿ya está?" To which the answer is usually "sí, ya está" ( is that it!? Is that everything? Do you need anything else? Etc etc)

 

[Pelegrin]

It seems that simply saying vale once is a bit more serious - it gives the word more weight and importance, like you have actually listened to what someone said and are agreeing with them. Twice, a little less so, and three times is just "okay, okay, okay - let's get on with it!"
I'm not sure if my analysis is correct though, and of course tone and context matter a lot.

I agree

 

[Peligro]

It seems that simply saying vale once is a bit more serious - it gives the word more weight and importance, like you have actually listened to what someone said and are agreeing with them. Twice, a little less so, and three times is just "okay, okay, okay - let's get on with it!"
I'm not sure if my analysis is correct though, and of course tone and context matter a lot.

I would agree - my wife says it multiple times when she's done letting me talk

 

[Lydia Gillen]

Listening to you all is almost like been on the Camino!

 

[Vince Rollason]

Hey all. I have a small question I need someone who speaks fluent Spanish to help me with.
Before my last Camino. I endeavoured to learn a little Spanish to help me along the way. Which it did. And I picked up a little whilst there.
Now to my question. Whilst there, on quite a few occasions in conversation we heard the term ( and excuse spelling) "Baly Baly Baly". We took this to be perhaps like saying " Yeah Yeah Yeah" or " OK OK OK".
Would that be correct? Or does it mean something totally different?
Cheers

Hi
Vale. vale ,vale. The Spanish pronounce V as B which is why it sounds like Bale. It is just an affirmative expression meaning Yeah, sure Ok. You may also hear claro, claro claro.
Buen Camino
Vince

 

[CMMCKEON]

Hi, In preparation for my 5th Camino, I took Spanish lessons via Zoom for one hour per week with Magdalena. In April 2021 I was a complete beginner, now I can hold a decent conversation in Spanish and look forward to September when, hopefully, I begin the Camino del Norte.

[Edited to correct date]

 

[MariaSP]

I love the emphasis that natural-born speakers of Castilian put on stimulating their conversational partners: plodding sentences are never emitted, some vim or spice is almost always added to the message.

Here is a spice puzzle:

If
< ¡Claro que si! > equates to "Clearly it is so!", or "Indeed!" or "Of course!",
then
< ¡Claro que no! > should, obviously, mean "Obviously not!" or similar.

But in conversations between those whose first language is Castilian, the two phrases seem to be used interchangeably to mean "of course!".

Is that correct?

Claro que ...

Claro que sí can be used ironically to mean 'whatever'. So, if you say something and the other person replies 'claro que sí' (ironically) they are not agreeing with you.

Regarding both 'claro que sí' and 'claro que no' being used interchangeably to mean 'of course': in both cases you are agreeing with what the other person said; 'claro que sí' agrees with a positive statement and 'claro que no' agrees with a negative statement. So they can both be translated as 'of course', but not interchangeably.

They can be also used to disagree. In this case, you use 'claro que sí' to disagree with a negative statement and 'claro que no' to disagree with a positive statement.

Imagine I say 'Galicia is the best place in the world'. If you agree with this positive statement, you can reply 'claro que sí'. If you strongly disagree, you can say 'claro que no'.

If I say 'Galicia is NOT the best place in the world', you can agree by saying 'claro que no' or you can disagree by saying 'claro que sí'.

 

[The Kolbist]

That's the way I hear it used.

You often here Australians Say "Yeh, Yeh, Yeh" Used in the same context.
Either as agreement, as in Yes, That's it.
Or in disagreement! As in, let's move on!

T

That's correct. But we also can say "vale, vale, vale" to finish a discussion no matter you are thinking the other side is wrong. In this case we often add "lo que tu digas".

Or in America and only in America - we can add the two positives that makes negative - depending on the tones - "Yeah Right"

 

[Grahame]

Hey all. I have a small question I need someone who speaks fluent Spanish to help me with.
Before my last Camino. I endeavoured to learn a little Spanish to help me along the way. Which it did. And I picked up a little whilst there.
Now to my question. Whilst there, on quite a few occasions in conversation we heard the term ( and excuse spelling) "Baly Baly Baly". We took this to be perhaps like saying " Yeah Yeah Yeah" or " OK OK OK".
Would that be correct? Or does it mean something totally different?
Cheers

It could mean vale -the "v" is pronounced like a "b". Vale - means okay in Spanish -so probably a good guess on your part! I am not fluent but I have a degree in Spanish and French. I think to be anywhere near fluent you need to be a natve speaker or live in Spain

 

[Gillean]

That's the way I hear it used.

You often here Australians Say "Yeh, Yeh, Yeh" Used in the same context.
Either as agreement, as in Yes, That's it.
Or in disagreement! As in, let's move on!

Or the famous "Yeh........No!"

 

[Beeks]

Why do French folks only have one egg for breakfast?

Because one egg...

is enough! (un oeuf)

Vale.

 

[EL LECHERO]

Hey all. I have a small question I need someone who speaks fluent Spanish to help me with.
Before my last Camino. I endeavoured to learn a little Spanish to help me along the way. Which it did. And I picked up a little whilst there.
Now to my question. Whilst there, on quite a few occasions in conversation we heard the term ( and excuse spelling) "Baly Baly Baly". We took this to be perhaps like saying " Yeah Yeah Yeah" or " OK OK OK".
Would that be correct? Or does it mean something totally different?
Cheers

I understand it to mean " Fine". For example. " I'd like to have a Coke"
"Vale" says the Waiter
Interesting that word does not exit in Mexican Spanish...

 

[Pelegrin]

I understand it to mean " Fine". For example. " I'd like to have a Coke"
"Vale" says the Waiter
Interesting that word does not exit in Mexican Spanish...

Doesn't exist "vale" in Mexican Spanish??
What word do they use for OK?

 

[EL LECHERO]

Hey all. I have a small question I need someone who speaks fluent Spanish to help me with.
Before my last Camino. I endeavoured to learn a little Spanish to help me along the way. Which it did. And I picked up a little whilst there.
Now to my question. Whilst there, on quite a few occasions in conversation we heard the term ( and excuse spelling) "Baly Baly Baly". We took this to be perhaps like saying " Yeah Yeah Yeah" or " OK OK OK".
Would that be correct? Or does it mean something totally different?
Cheers

Aprovecha! I used that a lot in Spain.

 

[trecile]

Doesn't exist "vale" in Mexican Spanish??
What word do they use for OK?

Bueno

 

[Pelegrin]

Bueno

Vale gracias

 

[RRat]

Hey all. I have a small question I need someone who speaks fluent Spanish to help me with.
Before my last Camino. I endeavoured to learn a little Spanish to help me along the way. Which it did. And I picked up a little whilst there.
Now to my question. Whilst there, on quite a few occasions in conversation we heard the term ( and excuse spelling) "Baly Baly Baly". We took this to be perhaps like saying " Yeah Yeah Yeah" or " OK OK OK".
Would that be correct? Or does it mean something totally different?
Cheers

Vale is compable to us baby boomers using "cool". Something can be "cool" or "cool,cool,cool" if we want to emphasize how "cool" it is.

 

[RRat]

Bueno

Pues si

 

[gailsweb]

T

Or in America and only in America - we can add the two positives that makes negative - depending on the tones - "Yeah Right"

Not only in America - I think it’s fair to say English speakers generally use different tones for meaning

 

[Pilgrim9]

Claro que sí can be used ironically to mean 'whatever'. So, if you say something and the other person replies 'claro que sí' (ironically) they are not agreeing with you.

Regarding both 'claro que sí' and 'claro que no' being used interchangeably to mean 'of course': in both cases you are agreeing with what the other person said; 'claro que sí' agrees with a positive statement and 'claro que no' agrees with a negative statement. So they can both be translated as 'of course', but not interchangeably.

They can be also used to disagree. In this case, you use 'claro que sí' to disagree with a negative statement and 'claro que no' to disagree with a positive statement.

Imagine I say 'Galicia is the best place in the world'. If you agree with this positive statement, you can reply 'claro que sí'. If you strongly disagree, you can say 'claro que no'.

If I say 'Galicia is NOT the best place in the world', you can agree by saying 'claro que no' or you can disagree by saying 'claro que sí'.

Thank you for this clarification.

 

[Bogong]

Yes. It is correct. Also "por supuesto" is valid for "of course".

Si, claro!

De colores. Bogong

 

[Bogong]

My favorite Spanish words are "cafe con leche"!

Love this! Possibly I could increase my Spanish skills if all the words had the same pronunciation in Englishe pronunciat...and pictures included.e sam

If only english words had the same pronunciation in english! Even within an english speaking country they vary a lot. Visiting Auckland's wonderful Maritime Museum the guide told us of the commander's " "beard" floating ashore after the wreck of HMS Orpheus. Turned out it was "bed". Relating this to two lovely New Zealand ladies from another part of the country later they were highly amused. Thn a news flash came on tne radio that thevpolice had made a murder arrest. " They've caught the kuller" said one. I once watctched the movie "coal Miner's daughter" For the first three quarters of an hour I couldn't understand a single word! But these are mild examples compared to what goes on in Australia. If you live in a country you just take it all in your stride but heaven help a visitor!
De colores

Bogong

 

[henrythedog]

Not only in America - I think it’s fair to say English speakers generally use different tones for meaning

But in Spanish - they use the subjunctive!

I’d challenge anyone (as stated above) to be truly ‘fluent’ in Spanish including the correct use of the subjunctive, 100% success in choosing correctly por vs para and ser vs estar, correct use of pronouns and the full range of tenses and have a wide working vocabulary in just one month! It’s beyond my imagination.

I’ll admit I’m not the sharpest tool in the box with language learning but I’ve had 4 years of fortnightly classes and countless visits to Spain and I’m just a solid B1, B2 on a good day, on the international scale. C2+ is fluent(ish)

 

[trecile]

But in Spanish - they use the subjunctive!

I’d challenge anyone (as stated above) to be truly ‘fluent’ in Spanish including the correct use of the subjunctive, 100% success in choosing correctly por vs para and ser vs estar, correct use of pronouns and the full range of tenses and have a wide working vocabulary in just one month! It’s beyond my imagination.

I’ll admit I’m not the sharpest tool in the box with language learning but I’ve had 4 years of fortnightly classes and countless visits to Spain and I’m just a solid B1, B2 on a good day, on the international scale. C2+ is fluent(ish)

I wholeheartedly agree! Being able to have very simple conversations vs being truly conversational or fluent is very, very different.

 

[Peligro]

I wholeheartedly agree! Being able to have very simple conversations vs being truly conversational or fluent is very, very different.

I was a Spanish major in college, I’ve lived in Valencia and visited every non-pandemic year for the last 30 years, I’ve been married to a Spaniard for 24 years and I still make mistakes and learn new words all the time. My wife has lived in the US for 26 years and still makes mistakes in English, especially if she’s tired. Our daughter is bilingual but still struggles from time to time in Spanish since she’s never spent more than two weeks at a time with her grandparents in Valencia. The fun is not in speaking perfectly, it’s in learning and communicating. That’s one of the best things about the Camino - so many languages are spoken and there is SO MUCH to learn from the other pilgrims.

 

[calmeg]

On our various caminos we have heard Vale a lot of times. To us, vale in Spain seems to be used as a noun, verb, adjective or adverb, depending on the mood of the speaker. And as to fluency- I was once told that if you can tell and understand jokes in Spanish- you are fluent.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

If only english words had the same pronunciation in english! Even within an english speaking country they vary a lot. Visiting Auckland's wonderful Maritime Museum the guide told us of the commander's " "beard" floating ashore after the wreck of HMS Orpheus. Turned out it was "bed". Relating this to two lovely New Zealand ladies from another part of the country later they were highly amused. Thn a news flash came on tne radio that thevpolice had made a murder arrest. " They've caught the kuller" said one. I once watctched the movie "coal Miner's daughter" For the first three quarters of an hour I couldn't understand a single word! But these are mild examples compared to what goes on in Australia. If you live in a country you just take it all in your stride but heaven help a visitor!
De colores

Bogong

That's odd, the only people that I have heard speaking in a funny accent have all been fureners.

We did used to have fun with women visiting from the USA though. If we went out to lunch with them we would play a game where we tried to get them to say "I will have six please" to the waiter

 

[hunsta]

We did used to have fun with women visiting from the USA though. If we went out to lunch with them we would play a game where we tried to get them to say "I will have six please" to the waiter

Oh you naughty Kiwi you

 

[Beeks]

That's odd, the only people that I have heard speaking in a funny accent have all been fureners.

We did used to have fun with women visiting from the USA though. If we went out to lunch with them we would play a game where we tried to get them to say "I will have six please" to the waiter

Cheeky!

 

[Yoyo]

Doesn't exist "vale" in Mexican Spanish??
What word do they use for OK?

"vale" on its own is rarely used.
Mexicans are more likely to say "sale". For more emphasis, they may even say "¡sale y vale!". This is mainly for agreeing to a plan or suggestion.

Depending on context, they may also say "correcto", "está bien" or "de acuerdo" or a number of other expressions. "OK" is also commonly used.

 

[Pelegrin]

Vale is Castilian. In Galicia some people could say "Está bien" or "Ta ben". In Cataluña and the Basque country I don't know.

 

[David with new Kit!]

I find spanishdict.com useful as a reference. The pronounciation tab shows the phonetic spelling and someone actually saying the word.

Check out the translation for "vale" on SpanishDictionary.com!

Translate millions of words and phrases for free on SpanishDictionary.com, the world's largest Spanish-English dictionary and translation website.

www.spanishdict.com

Brilliant - I use spanishdict.com regularly and did not know about that function. I do now!
Thanks @linkster

 

[MariaSP]

My favorite Spanish words are "cafe con leche"!

Love this! Possibly I could increase my Spanish skills if all the words had the same pronunciation in English...and pictures included.

At least Spanish pronunciation is consistent; the same letter always produces the same sound. The same cannot be said about English...

 

[tomas2019]

At least Spanish pronunciation is consistent; the same letter always produces the same sound. The same cannot be said about English...

Estoy de acuerdo!!!!!!!

 

[Esperanza]

I’ve spent a lot more time in Mexico than Spain, but my opinion is “vale” is the equivalent of “bueno,” which Mexicans say constantly. Other words and phrases exist for agreement, but that is true in both Spain and Mexico. I would translate them both as “okay.”

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

To see a classic example of this watch the Two Ronnies sketch "Four candles" first aired in 1976 and still funny

 

[trecile]

To see a classic example of this watch the Two Ronnies sketch "Four candles" first aired in 1976 and still funny

What part of England are their accents from? I met an English guy on the Camino in 2016 who was about as unintelligible. A young German girl that I was walking with told me that she thought that her English was very good (it was excellent), but she couldn't understand him at all. I assured her that it wasn't her language skills, as I couldn't understand him either!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

What part of England are their accents from? I met an English guy on the Camino in 2016 who was about as unintelligible. A young German girl that I was walking with told me that she thought that her English was very good (it was excellent), but she couldn't understand him at all. I assured her that it wasn't her language skills, as I couldn't understand him either!

I was unable to laugh at Rick's video as I was unable to understand a word! I couldn't get past three minutes and even that was pure torture.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

@David61, I understand your accent perfectly.
EDIT...as it pertains to the written word.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Thank yee chrissy, canny iv yee tuh sa see

I take it back...my post #65!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Aw. I said Thank you Chrissy, good of you to say so. Read it through, it almost makes sense

Thank you for translating, David. It was the last part I strughled with...all good now.

 

[henrythedog]

David

there is a ‘private message’ option, which I understand is visible only to the participants and not the moderators. Perhaps that might be an option for ‘banter’ between two people without inviting moderation?

I’ve almost always found the (volunteer) moderators on here to be very reasonable; but the ‘house style’ of the forum is biased very much towards the informative and away from the opinionated. That’s just how it is.

regards

D

 

[Pelegrin]

I liked those shops. 50 years ago in Galicia, they also served orujo, hot Estrella de Galicia and cafe de puchero (pot coffee).

 

[OzAnnie]

Vale is Castilian. In Galicia some people could say "Está bien" or "Ta ben". In Cataluña and the Basque country I don't know.

Hi Pelegrin
I did wonder whether this expression ‘vale’ - was a more regional one .. … on my first trip to spain before starting a camino ., I did some touring around via bus etc and didn’t ‘hear’ this word consciously until Córdoba. / in lessons I’d not been given this word .. (a teacher from Sth America ).

At least Spanish pronunciation is consistent; the same letter always produces the same sound. The same cannot be said about English...

I agree mostly. The pronunciation is consistent ; especially if you stick to the ‘rules’ (ie as to where the emphasis is placed and only one emphasis per word (in my understanding)..
BUT it does catch a lot of people out when they read ‘hola’ or any Spanish word starting with ‘H’ and start the word with ‘huh’ - (when we all know it’s pronounced as English would say ‘ola’).

my 2 cents
Annie

 

[Jacobus]

Hey all. I have a small question I need someone who speaks fluent Spanish to help me with.
Before my last Camino. I endeavoured to learn a little Spanish to help me along the way. Which it did. And I picked up a little whilst there.
Now to my question. Whilst there, on quite a few occasions in conversation we heard the term ( and excuse spelling) "Baly Baly Baly". We took this to be perhaps like saying " Yeah Yeah Yeah" or " OK OK OK".
Would that be correct? Or does it mean something totally different?
Cheers

Can vale said once with proper inflection mean ok? Like in is that all right?
Lets start walking ¿vale?

 

[plrinPorto]

Can vale said once with proper inflection mean ok? Like in is that all right?
Lets start walking ¿vale?

Yes, it is often used just like that, ending a statement where in English we'd use "is that okay with you?" or just "okay?" I'm stopping here, okay?

 

[AlainC]

"vale" on its own is rarely used.
Mexicans are more likely to say "sale". For more emphasis, they may even say "¡sale y vale!". This is mainly for agreeing to a plan or suggestion.

Depending on context, they may also say "correcto", "está bien" or "de acuerdo" or a number of other expressions. "OK" is also commonly used.

I have studied at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México and spent several months in México over the past 12 years. Yet, I have never heard a Méxicano say “sale”. Also “vale” is not widely used. They prefer “claro” or “verdad”

 

[Yoyo]

I have studied at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México and spent several months in México over the past 12 years. Yet, I have never heard a Méxicano say “sale”. Also “vale” is not widely used. They prefer “claro” or “verdad”

I lived in Mexico for almost 30 years and can assure you that "sale" is widely used.
"verdad" on the other hand is used more like an English question tag:
¿Tu hermano es ingeniero, ¿verdad? – Your brother is an engineer, isn't he?
¡Saludos!

PS: Decided to look it up and found this:

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I stick with English...it's much less complicated.
I'm sure knowing only an itsy bitsy bit of Spanish doesn't help me though.
I do know vale and sale in English...easy peasy. Lol.

 

[Pelegrin]

"Vale" for "sale".
("Vale" is also receipt in Spanish).

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I stick with English...it's much less complicated.

"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is a grammatically correct sentence in English ...

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[trecile]

"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is a grammatically correct sentence in English ...

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And ghoti is an alternate spelling for fish.

"Ghoti" = "Fish" | EnglishClub

English is not phonetic! The famous ghoti = fish device shows the illogicality of English spelling. For ESL learners.

www.englishclub.com

 

[Canche]

Hey all. I have a small question I need someone who speaks fluent Spanish to help me with.
Before my last Camino. I endeavoured to learn a little Spanish to help me along the way. Which it did. And I picked up a little whilst there.
Now to my question. Whilst there, on quite a few occasions in conversation we heard the term ( and excuse spelling) "Baly Baly Baly". We took this to be perhaps like saying " Yeah Yeah Yeah" or " OK OK OK".
Would that be correct? Or does it mean something totally different?
Cheers

"Vale", not baly, means alright. Ok. yes. It can be used in several different contexts.

 

[KariC]

I’ve spent a lot more time in Mexico than Spain, but my opinion is “vale” is the equivalent of “bueno,” which Mexicans say constantly. Other words and phrases exist for agreement, but that is true in both Spain and Mexico. I would translate them both as “okay.”

De acuerdo. I've never heard "vale" except in Spain. Love that use of it; picked it up while I was there.

 

[Esperanza]

@KariC The bueno habit is so automatic with me, I found myself saying “bueno, vale” a lot. LOL!

 

[trecile]

De acuerdo. I've never heard "vale" except in Spain. Love that use of it; picked it up while I was there.

I'm taking Spanish lessons with a Venezuelan tutor who is currently living in Colombia. I asked her if people say vale or something else. She said that it is common in Venezuela - but just a single time as agreement, not vale, vale, vale - but is less common in Colombia, where I believe she said that people say cierto more often.

 

[hunsta]

WOW 80 responses. Who'd-a-thunk ? However................naaaaaa! On second thoughts I'll leave it there. Gracias

 

[Joselito]

Correct. And spelling in Spanish is ‘vale’
V pronounced closer to our ‘b’ .. the ‘e’ at the end sounds like e in egg. Not our ‘y’

I’ve only got a smattering of Spanish but okay . with this term

Yes, it means OK or Sure; sort of how the English sometimes use "Right" - that's what "vale" means literally. By the way, the "b" and the "v" are pronounced the same in Spanish and are a bit odd for English speakers; it's a "voiced bilabial fricative." this means you bring your two lips close together but not quite touching. It's sort of like saying a "w" but without the "oo" lips' shape. Give it a try!

 

[Teej41]

What part of England are their accents from? I met an English guy on the Camino in 2016 who was about as unintelligible. A young German girl that I was walking with told me that she thought that her English was very good (it was excellent), but she couldn't understand him at all. I assured her that it wasn't her language skills, as I couldn't understand him either!

Their accents are London (working class) often referred to as 'Cockney'. The Queen is also from London but you can, I presume, understand what she says. So social class plays its part, not just the region of the country. If you can't understand them you'd have no chance in Newcastle upon Tyne or Glasgow.

 

[David Tallan]

But in Spanish - they use the subjunctive!

I’d challenge anyone (as stated above) to be truly ‘fluent’ in Spanish including the correct use of the subjunctive, 100% success in choosing correctly por vs para and ser vs estar, correct use of pronouns and the full range of tenses and have a wide working vocabulary in just one month! It’s beyond my imagination.

I’ll admit I’m not the sharpest tool in the box with language learning but I’ve had 4 years of fortnightly classes and countless visits to Spain and I’m just a solid B1, B2 on a good day, on the international scale. C2+ is fluent(ish)

If I were a pedant, I might point out that English retains traces of the subjunctive as well.

 

[peregrina2000]

Ok, I can’t resist this funny little video that shows us how lucky we are to be trying to navigate in Spanish rather than in French.

 

[Texas Walker]

Doesn't exist "vale" in Mexican Spanish??
What word do they use for OK?

Esta bueno. shortens to ta bueno. gives you away to all the world as using Mexican Spanish. (Esta has an accent on the a but I can't find it in the list.)

 

[Pelegrin]

Esta bueno. shortens to ta bueno. gives you away to all the world as using Mexican Spanish. (Esta has an accent on the a but I can't find it in the list.)

"Está bueno". Here in Spain nobody says that. We say "Está bien".

 

[Phileas]

The word "vale" comes from the infinitive "valer", which could be translated, among other meanings, as "to be worth". Consequently, the word "vale" - which is third person, singular, present - could be translated (literally) as "it is worth" (or, figuratively speaking, as "what you say has some value to me").

At the end (or at the begining, we could say), both the Spanish words "valer" and "valor", and the English word "value" come from the same Latin word "valere".

 

[lovetoread3]

I find spanishdict.com useful as a reference. The pronounciation tab shows the phonetic spelling and someone actually saying the word.

Check out the translation for "vale" on SpanishDictionary.com!

Translate millions of words and phrases for free on SpanishDictionary.com, the world's largest Spanish-English dictionary and translation website.

www.spanishdict.com

Or WordReference

 

[linkster]

Or WordReference

The thing I like about spanishdict pronunciation is that you can see one of the women say the word in addition to hearing it. It also has Latin American and Spain Spanish.

Por ejemplo: https://www.spanishdict.com/pronunciation/decir

Or something a bit more complicated: https://www.spanishdict.com/pronunciation/desafortunadamente

I also find this site interesting although a bit technical: https://tulengua.es/syllables/

 

[JillGat]

Vale, Vale, Vale.
It's a great expression isn't it?

The other one that caught me out..........till I thought about it, was......

S.O.S.
At least that's what I heard.

I was thinking "what does this acronym stand for"?

And then the penny dropped!

Eso Es. That's it!!

This song jumped into my mind when you mentioned "Eso Es"

 

[Sparrow in Texas]

I have a Spanish language question. I need a term of endearment to use with my favorite waiter at a local restaurant 'Tex-Mex, perhaps a little flirty but not really romantic, a fun word for a man 40 years younger than me from El Salvador. Suggestions?

 

[Bookladymd]

The next level mind-blower for you is:



S-O-C-K-S




(Eso sí que es)

That's the punchline for a joke I would tell my students after I taught them clothing words in Spanish.

 

[Canche]

guapo