Lost in Translation
I don’t have any ridiculous stories of my own to share regarding language mishaps and miscommunication, but I can share a fun one about a friend on this trip. He was having a conversation with some locals he had met playing soccer here and he meant to tell them that he was embarrassed about something. Not yet having a firm grasp of the Spanish language, he accidentally said “estoy embarazado,” meaning “I am pregnant,” instead of “estoy avergonzado,” the correct way to say that he was embarrassed. His friends erupted with laughter at his blunder as we all did when he had told us what happened.
While I am still waiting for my embarrassing moment to happen, I have definitely had my fair share of those “lost in translation” experiences. I can read and write Spanish relatively well, but conversational Spanish is another thing entirely. Sometimes, my host mother will speak to me and I will have absolutely no idea what she is saying. I feel awful when I stare blankly at her after she has just asked me a question. She just speaks so quickly sometimes that I can’t catch the phrases and translate them in my mind.
This happens with Argentinians quite often. They speak very rapidly but the kicker is that Porteños, specifically, will speak in phrases that I have never heard before. For example, instead of using “tú” as the second personal informal pronoun, Porteños say “vos.” The first time I heard this, my eyes widened in fear because I thought that it was short for “vosotros,” the word and conjugations that all Spanish teachers tell you to never worry about because they are not commonly used in the Spanish speaking world. In addition to “vos,” they conjugate certain verbs in the second person informal form differently. The verb tener meaning “to have” is normally “tú tienes,” but here in Buenos Aires, the verb is changed to “tú tenés.” These are merely slight differences, but I definitely have had to adjust my speaking and vocabulary to understand more of what Porteños are saying to me.
Aside from occasionally not being able to understand what people are saying, I am thoroughly enjoying my immersion in the Spanish language. I speak with Rita and Nicola at dinner each evening and most of the school day with my classmates and professor. I love listening to Spanish being spoken and sung so I will often just eavesdrop intently on conversations I hear on the colectivo or subte, or listen to the popular songs I have heard out at bars and restaurants a few times to catch all the lyrics. My favorite phrase that is used here is “mira vos,” meaning “look at you.” It can be used as a complement or encouragement when someone has done something exciting, or as a sarcastic comment when you are feeling smart and sardonic.
For the most part, my Spanish is rapidly improving and I am becoming much more confident in my abilities to speak. With the help of Rita and Professor Sokol, I will be chatting with ease in no time.