Posted by adir ferreira
Remember that song, Mack the Knife, the 1958 classic performed by Bobby Darin? Well, Panamanian singer/songwriter Rubén Blades wrote one of his greatest hits, Pedro Navaja, based on Mack the Knife. It talks about a neighborhood thug who appears to die during a robbery (his song “Sorpresas” continues the story). Here’s some vocabulary so you can understand the story.
Tumbao (tumbado) – rhythm, strut
Guapos – bad boys
Gabán – coat
Pa’ que – so that
Puñal – dagger
Sombrero de ala ancha – wide brim hat
Zapatillas – sneakers
Salir volao (volado) – to flee
Acera – sidewalk
Zaguán – hallway
Darse un trago – to have a drink
Flojo – lazy
To’os (todos) – everyone
Pasar la vista – to look briefly
A la carrera – running
Refunfuñar – to grumble
No hacer pesos – not to make money
Cargar encima –to have something with you (money, gun, etc.)
Irle para encima a alguien – to attack someone
Hundir – to sink; to plunge
De pronto – all of a sudden
Estar salao/salá – to be damned
Aunque – although
Check out the vídeo below and the lyrics here.
Now, would you know how to retell the story of what happened to Pedro Navaja and the woman?
Looking forward to your comments!
Posted by adir ferreira
I know how it feels to have to learn all those conjugation forms by heart… and there are so many exceptions to the rules… blah blah blah.
So, dear reader, to help you learn about the imperative a little more pleasantly, I chose two videos: the first one is Thalia’s Regresa a Mí, where you can learn many regular and irregular imperative forms while you sing along. The verbs you have to pay attention to are: dar – regresar – decir (negative) – tener – dejar – tratar – tomar – decir.
Before JLo started dating Marc Anthony (who, by the way, was married to a Miss Universe!, Sí, estoy muy chismoso hoy), they did a duet singing No Me Ames (Don’t Love Me). Now, try to do the same by finding the imperative form of the following verbs: decir – dudar – amar – dejar – escuchar . Tip: many of them are negative imperative, ok?
Posted by adir ferreira
A lot has been written and said about the tango so I’m going to cut to the chase and bring you a video by Carlos Gardel, one of the greatest tangueros of all times. In this song, Mano a Mano (Hand in Hand) he uses tons of lunfardo, a kind of Argentinean slang. I have picked out some of the expressions with their translations in English. Watch the video and see if you can spot them.
Rechiflao – mad, angry
Bacana – rich, well-to-do
Juego del remanye – trying to know the intentions of two people
Percanta – a woman
Gambetear – to avoid
Morlacos – peso, money
Marchanta - peddler
Engrupir – to swindle
Gavión – a gigolo
Claudicar – to give in
Acamalar – to protect; to trap
Cafishio - pimp
If you want to learn more about argentinismos, check Argentinismos, a very cool website with an Argentinean dictionary, last names, famous quotes, sayings, jokes, music and much more.
¡Che, flaco, no querés aprender más sobre los argentinos? A ver si entrás en el sitio y decime lo que pensás.
Posted by adir ferreira
Wow, every week I just can’t wait to watch American Idol and see so many talents and of course, so many bad people singing and freaking me out! But did you know we also have American Idol in Spanish?
Latin American Idol is broadcast by Sony Entertainment Television for all of Latin America. It has the same format of its American counterpart. The judges (Spanish Gustavo Sánchez, Cuban-born American singer Jon Secada and Mexican singer Mimi) aren’t as ruthless as Simon Cowell, but they give great feedback.
Thanks to Youtube, you can watch whole episodes of the third season. The language is not so difficult so if you’re into American Idol, try it in Spanish now.
The website contains lots of extra information, judges’ blogs, videos and pictures. Be sure to check it out.
Remember to post your comments, we want to know what you think!
Posted by adir ferreira
I have always used songs in my lessons because I think they’re a fun way to learn. When I teach the subjunctive I always use a song by a Spanish duo, el Dúo Dinámico. They come from a very poor Spanish family (Basque and Aragonese) and are famous all over Spain and South America. One of their songs appears in Pedro Almodóvar’s movie ¡Átame! (Tie me up! Tie me down!). In “Resistiré” there are a lot of verbs used in the subjunctive and let’s try something here: you watch the video and supply the correct form used in the song. As a clue, the verbs are used in time expressions starting with “cuando”. Shall we go for it? Here are the verbs.
perder - dormir -cerrar -dejar -sentir-costar -rebelar -poner -soplar -romper -ser -apuñalar -reconocer - amenazar -salir -pasar
Post your answers and prontito les doy la respuesta.
