Ode to the Spanish Language
Trip Start
Sep 05, 2006
1
27
33
Trip End
Sep 04, 2007
Viña del Mar,
Chile
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Don´t get me wrong, I love English for three very good reasons and I loved my year in Switzerland where I got a glimpse into the German language with all it´s dialectal glory, but I love Spanish for the very opposite reasons that I appreciate German and English. I guess that´s why they call it a romance language.
German is, and English can be, a very literal language. There´s no cushioning, no padding, no flowery words to make things sound prettier, it´s straight-forward and unforgiving. What you say is what you get. Words compound and multiply like rabbits until they melt into a string of incomprehensible (to a non-speaker) syllables that begin and end with a lot of r´s, d´s, s´s, and t´s. For example the dictionary (or diccionario in Spanish) isn´t a dictionary, it´s a Wörterbuch (word book). It just makes sense! It´s great, really. And even when the language branches off into it´s mountain yodel-odeling dialects in the south, it still maintains it´s rigidly logical structure. You say what you mean. That´s it. Fabulous.
And that´s why Spanish tickles me pink. It could be deemed the exact opposite. Not in word structure, but in the usage of the words. Take for instance, the instructions on a package of powdered soup. In English your package will dictate a logical order of instructions in as few words possible, maybe even with a couple illustrations all leading up to the final instruction- Serve Hot.
Spanish will also give instructions in a logical order, maybe even with the same consistency of illustrations, but will throw in extra adjectives like salt in a bowl of hot cazuela. It might say, ¨Add some delicious vegetables¨ or ¨Enjoy and dont´forget to smile,¨ or ¨Feed to hungry bellies gathered round a well-set dinner table with your family and friends,¨ or maybe even ¨Why don´t you go ask the friendly neighbors over for a little soup and bread to converse and delight in each other´s company.¨ I´m telling you, these packages get creative.
Oh, and I´ve got more examples. Just the other day I was running along a main street towards the beach when I was almost leveled by a student driver. But the thing is, this was no ordinary student driver- this was a ¨Driving Conquistador.¨ Really, it´s no wonder that I almost had my legs amputated when there´s a kid behind the wheel that feels like he´s Hernán Cortés conquering the Aztecs...
All of these are great but the moment when the mothers come to fetch their children after school is over is always my favorite. For obvious reasons, of course, but also because I get to listen to the moms and dads greet their children. When I was a kid I think remember distinctly that my dad usually varied between two nicknames ¨squirt¨ and ¨you little squirt¨. My mom almost always said ¨sweetie.¨ Here, when I return a child to their parents at the end of the day it´s ¨como esta mi vida¨(my life) or ¨mi corazon¨ (my heart) and of course ¨mi amor¨ (my love).
While Spanish and German have their good and bad traits, my heart still goes out to the learners of English... With all of it´s phrasal verbs, prepositions, homophones and extensive vocabulary, I definitely take pity on my students here from time to time.
