OBSOLETE COVID THREAD Spanish lessons in the time of COVID

[C clearly]

This popped up in my YouTube feed. It might be helpful if your pandemic Spanish needs brushing up.

 

[islandwalker]

This popped up in my YouTube feed. It might be helpful if your pandemic Spanish needs brushing up.

What a "sentido de humor" that guy has! It's surely the funniest lesson I've seen for learning "three uses of quedar". Thanks for brightening my day by posting this! I'll be watching some of his other lessons over the coming days.

 

[Kathy F.]

This is terrific. I caught about 60%, figured out another 30%, then I subscribed. If nothing else, I'll be ready to listen to normal Spanish when I get back on the Camino. Thanks for sharing.

 

[linkster]

He estado mirando mi telenovela española favorita ... ¿Que hora es?

 

[Pelegrin]

This popped up in my YouTube feed. It might be helpful if your pandemic Spanish needs brushing up.

There is another one:
Cuanto tiempo queda ?
How long left ?

 

[Pelegrin]

He estado mirando mi telenovela española favorita ... ¿Que hora es?

Better is: 'He estado viendo mi telenevela', because 'He estado mirando' doesn't necessarily mean that you paid attention.

 

[Pelegrin]

And in relation to empty shelves in supermarkets in Spain, I live in Madrid and only found lack of milk and toilet paper the day that the Estado de Alarma was declared.
I don't catch his accent, but because he says "habichuelas" (beans), maybe he could live in Murcia or Andalucia. I don' t know how was the situation there but I think he is joking.

 

[C clearly]

I don't catch his accent, but because he says "habichuelas" (beans), maybe he could live in Murcia or Andalucia. I don' t know how was the situation there but I think he is joking.

I think (not absolutely sure) that he is from Granada, but has lived in London for some time so he is talking about the situation in London.

 

[Kathy F.]

LOL. Por favor, no piensa mucho de la situacion. Solamente enjoy.
Y, BTW, que hora es??

 

[mahz]

And in relation to empty shelves in supermarkets in Spain, I live in Madrid and only found lack of milk and toilet paper the day that the Estado de Alarma was declared.
I don't catch his accent, but because he says "habichuelas" (beans), maybe he could live in Murcia or Andalucia. I don' t know how was the situation there but I think he is joking.

You bet, the guy is from Granada (Andalucía) and lives in London. He says so in the presentation of his chanel. Plus his accent and a few details from the video background show it is credible.

 

[witsendwv]

This popped up in my YouTube feed. It might be helpful if your pandemic Spanish needs brushing up.

Thanks for the link. I just watched two episodes and will be adding them to my daily study time. He speaks very clearly and I can understand all except a few words here and there. I only wish I could speak as well as I can hear and understand.

 

[kmalivuk]

Both the "¿Que Hora Es?" series and the 2005 Peruvian movie "Madeinusa" provided me with a deeper understanding of Latin American Spanish culture. These 2, and doubtless others, are both instructional and entertaining portrayals to those of us living in non-Spanish speaking lands. But they are deeply insulting to LatinX and other Spanish-speaking cultures and countries.

I was shocked, both times, when I learned this first-hand. I have no idea what effect these videos have on the people of Spain. Perhaps they have no effect. But the message here is that learning a language is only a preliminary to truly understanding a culture.

I was traveling solo for 2 years in South America (2015/2016) when I learned from Peruvians that the internationally acclaimed "Madeinusa" is a vile refutation of all the struggles they have endured to move their country forward. Perú has worked tremendously hard to leave the genocide of the Fujimori/Sendero Luminoso years behind and they despair that the world will not recognize their progress. And so they refuse to acknowledge the movie-as-metaphor value of this important cinema. The scars are too deep within the national culture to value artistic merit when whole regions of the country were in flames not that long ago.

And during the 30 years I lived in a US-border state with Mexico, I found out that, what to me is an incredibly humorous parody of everyday telenovelas, is seen as an attack on Mexican values. Who knew? They did, and now I am thankful that I do too.

With sincere gratitude toward all my native Spanish-speaking friends, I was able to see into both cultures at a more visceral level. I was able to discover, just a little bit more, what life means in another land. These lessons can never be learned in a classroom or in a 2-week vacation in a place where the language is different than ours.

Perhaps, Thanks Be the Camino, we who are learning Castilian Spanish along the Way can hope to know Spaniards beyond the mere words that separate us. Thanks for the Youtube link BTW. My Spanish is rusting horribly here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Buen Camino para todos

 

[witsendwv]

I d

Better is: 'He estado viendo mi telenevela', because 'He estado mirando' doesn't necessarily mean that you paid attention.

I do not think these can be insulting to Spanish speaking cultures as it clearly makes tremendous fun of all of who are endeavoring to do our best to learn Spanish and know just how badly we mess up at times. I am reminded of a waiter in SdC who asked me if I were wearing a small city on my back when I mispronounced the word for backpack. The Spanish (and I include all autonomous regions) have a wonderful sense of humor when it comes to our foibles.

 

[linkster]

¿Que Hora Es? posted without malice, prejudice, or intent to offend anyone!

It reminds me of myself (self-deprecating humor) in Spanish class taught by a Mexican professor (chair of the language department) who laughed his butt of when I showed it to him.

I was born in Chicago ... home of DA Bears!

 

[kmalivuk]

I d

I do not think these can be insulting to Spanish speaking cultures as it clearly makes tremendous fun of all of who are endeavoring to do our best to learn Spanish and know just how badly we mess up at times. I am reminded of a waiter in SdC who asked me if I were wearing a small city on my back when I mispronounced the word for backpack. The Spanish (and I include all autonomous regions) have a wonderful sense of humor when it comes to our foibles.

Initially I, too, had the same thoughts as you. I saw these portrayals through my own experiential filter and found nothing amiss in the overall message. And that's what I meant in my first posting when I said this is an opportunity to go deeper into a "foreign" culture and *really* see how someone views referential humor from a custom other than the one from where we originated. There is no ultimate truth. There is no ultimate reality. I'm not arguing in defense of one view over another. I'm merely noting that what can be wildly humorous for one, can indeed be a cultural attack on another. "¿Que Hora Es?" is verifiably offensive in Mexico and among LatinX along the border states of the US.

 

[Pelegrin]

"¿Que Hora Es?" is verifiably offensive in Mexico and among LatinX along the border states of the US.

I didn't know it.
Then how do they ask the time?

 

[Pelegrin]

I d

I do not think these can be insulting to Spanish speaking cultures as it clearly makes tremendous fun of all of who are endeavoring to do our best to learn Spanish and know just how badly we mess up at times. I am reminded of a waiter in SdC who asked me if I were wearing a small city on my back when I mispronounced the word for backpack. The Spanish (and I include all autonomous regions) have a wonderful sense of humor when it comes to our foibles.

I don't think that making fun of this kind of mistakes is a custom in Spain in general.
And it wasn't my intention either, because "mirando TV" is not a big mistake at all.
It is the same as "Seeing TV" instead of "Watching TV".

 

[Pelegrin]

In this context, I never correct spelling mistakes on this forum if they are not important. I only correct when someone says that is learning Spanish or the phrase clearly sounds funny. For example, when a member told us time ago that he liked very much "Caldo de Gallego" . I did it.

 

[linkster]

In this context, I never correct spelling mistakes on this forum if they are not important. I only correct when someone says that is learning Spanish or the phrase clearly sounds funny. For example, when a member told us time ago that he liked very much "Caldo de Gallego" . I did it.

No hay problema aqui. Gracias por tu ayuda.

 

[Pelegrin]

No hay problema aqui. Gracias por tu ayuda.

No hay de que.

 

[linkster]

I just saw that Comcast has The Great Courses - Learning Spanish 1 & 2 available on demand for free. I am sure there is a way to search for it in the guide, but I just use my remote and say "Learning Spanish". It looks like they are the equivalent of the first year of beginning Spanish at the university level.

 

[David with new Kit!]

Having holidayed in Spain for over 25 years I was lazy with learning, apart from "Una cerveza" or "La cuenta" (Or La factura) I confess to not trying.

But, I now have time on my hands and a combination of "Spanish for Dummies" Duo Lingo and Google translate I have clocked up 20hrs learning just in the last week.

Pretty soon I'll be able to master "Dos cervezas" !!

But seriously, what an opportunity to be able to do a little bit more on my next trip