Don’t make a scene!

Posted by adir ferreira
Oct
2
2009

From time to time most of us like to sit back, relax and watch junk TV. But we can use it to improve our listening in Spanish. I just found these videos from the show Casos de Familia (Family Affairs) but I won’t tell you what the caso is about, you have to check it out. Have fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_SEjwfD1Z0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEU2QifNYTs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VwlPnLZZJg

 
Posted under Culture, Entertainment, Pronunciation, Spanish Language
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Business Spanish

Posted by adir ferreira
Sep
29
2009

According to Ed Brodow in the book Negotiate with Confidence, Americans do business in a hurry. The following sentences will show businesspeople some ways to establish rapport, induce the other part to open first, explore the needs of the client, and then resist the first offer.

Bien, en primer lugar … - Well, first of all …
Gracias por haber venido. - Thank you for coming.
Les agradezco que hayan vendio a reunirse con nosotros hoy. - I would like to thank you for meeting with us today.
Gracias por venir en tan corto plazo. - Thank you for coming on such short notice.
Gracias por reunirse con nosotros en tan corto plazo. - Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice.
Gracias por haber tomado tiempo para reunirse con nosotros. - Thank you for taking time out to meet with us.
Hemos oído muchas cosas buenas sobre su empresa. - We’ve heard so many good things about your company.
Estoy seguro de que nos esperan buenos momentos en el futuro. - I’m sure so many good things lie ahead for us in the future.

Bien, ¿por qué no me dice lo que tiene en mente? - Right, why don’t you let me know what you have in mind?
¿Le gustaría empezar? - Would you like to begin?
Creo que usted debería empezar. - I think perhaps you should go first.
Es mejor que usted empiece con lo que había planeado y continuaremos de ahí. - It’s best if you start with what you had planned and then we’ll take it from there.
No, ¿por qué no empieza usted? - No, why don’t you go first?
No, por favor. Usted primero. - No, please. You go first.

¿Qué está usando ahora en términos de …? - What are you using now in terms of …?
¿Actualmente, qué están…? - What do you currently …?
¿Están satisfechos con su … actual? - Are you satisfied with your current …?
¿Qué le gusta más del producto? - What do you like the most about the product?
¿Qué le gusta menos en el producto? - What do you like the least about it?
¿Estaría en lo correcto si dijera…? - Would I be right in saying that …?

Muy bien, pero no era eso lo que tenía en mente. - OK. Well, that’s not exactly what I had in mind.
Mire, francamente yo esperaba … - Well, to be honest, I was hoping for …
Bien. Parece bueno, pero… - OK. Well, that sounds fine, but …
Nos gustaría un poco más de tiempo para pensar al respecto. - We’d like a little more time to think it over.
¿Y si …? - And what if …?
Aún tengo algunas dudas sobre … - I still have a few doubts about …

 
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Cuéntame todo.

Posted by adir ferreira
Sep
24
2009

The verb contar has several meanings. Check them out!

1. to count (to add up)

Ella quiere perder peso sin contar calorías. – She wants to lose weight without counting calories.

2. to tell (a story)

¿Le contaste la historia a tu hermano? – Did you tell your brother the story?
No se lo cuente a nadie. – Don’t tell anybody.

3. to have (a period of time)

Cuenta 15 años de experiencia en periodismo. – He has 15 years of experience in journalism.

4. to count (to matter)

La maestra dijo que ese error no cuenta. – The teacher said this mistake doesn’t count.

5. used with “con”

Cuento contigo. – I’m counting on you.
Cuento con los derechos de reventa de los libros de Stephen King. – I have the resale rights for Stephen King’s books.
Tuve que contar con expertos en biología para terminar tal trabajo. – I had to count on Biology experts to finish that job.

6. Con esto yo no contaba. – I wasn’t expecting this.

7. ¿Qué te cuentas? – What’s happening?

9. to count oneself in, to considerer oneself as.

Los medios estadounidenses se cuentan entre los mejores del mundo. – The American media are among the best in the world.

Nos vemos prontito.

 
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Word Origins: placebo, domingo y ostra

Posted by adir ferreira
Sep
18
2009

Placebo (same spelling in English and Spanish) is a harmless substance given to a sick person instead of medicine, without telling them it is not real. They’re often used in tests in which some people take real medicine and others take a placebo, so that doctors can compare the results to see if the real medicine works properly.

The word placebo comes from Latin and it is the future of the verb to please or satisfy; it denotes the idea that doctors prescribe a placebo just to satisfy/please his patient.

Domingo – Pope Sylvester I hold office between the years 314 and 335, and he was the first to name the seventh day of the week dominicus, because it was “the day to consecrate the Lord” (Dominus). Before that, Romans had called Sunday dies solis (day of the sun) and such denomination influenced other languages like English (Sunday), German (Sonntag), Dtuch (zondag), and Swedish (söndag).

Pope Sylvester I was canonized as St. Sylvester – his day is celebrated on December 31st – and his calling Sunday the seventh day of the week had geographical impact almost ten centuries later: when Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean on November 3rd 1493, he landed in an island in the Small Antilles, which he named Dominica, because it was a Sunday, according to the Julian calendar.

Ostra (oyster)

The word ostra, which comes from Latin ostrea, has a very interesting story in Spanish. Around the 14th century, it lost the r and became ostia, thus becoming a homophone with the word hostia (host as sacramental bread, coming from the Latin for sacrifice) and lending itself to all sorts of puns, which was considered a sacrilege. However sacrilegious it was, this form imposed itself in most of the Iberian Peninsula and, even today in Andalusia, the word for oyster is ostión. Later on, due to pressure from the Vatican, it adopted the form ostra, the same form in the language of Camões and Machado de Assis (Portuguese).

Nos vemos prontito.

 
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Verbs and Prepositions

Posted by adir ferreira
Sep
14
2009

Verbs and other words change meaning when used with some prepositions. Let’s have a look at some of them.

1. deber

Deber – have to, must (obligation) – Debes estudiar mucho para la prueba. (You have to study a lot for the test.)

Deber de – must, should (probability) – Hoy no ha venido; debe de estar enferma. (She didn’t come today; she must be sick.)

2. dar

Darse a (to work hard, to start doing something vigorously) – Para no perder la beca, me daré al estudio. (I will study hard so I don’t lose my scholarship.) – Después de que su mujer lo abandonara, se dio a beber. (He started drinking after his wife left him.)

Darse con uno (to run into someone) – Se dieron con Rosa en la fiesta. (They ran into Rosa at the party.)

Dar por (to consider something finished) – Esta tarea la doy por concluida. (This task is over and done with.)

Darse sobre uno (to attack) – El perro se dio sobre el niño y casi lo mató. (The dog attacked the boy and almost killed him.)

Dar para (stretch to cover) – Nuestro presupuesto no da para comprar un coche nuevo. (Our budget is not enough to buy a new car.)

Nos vemos prontito.

 
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