>mastering spanish is going to take longer than i thought. I >donīt think a month here will do it. Definitely two months >but a month... I dunno. If the people in my family spoke >more spanish around me, that would help out but alas they >are damn chombos who have to speak english all the time. >Itīs funny too. When i ask them about certain words, >phrases, kwk., they draw blank faces and say their spanish >is bad and donīt know. > >However I can understand why now. The majority of my family >(on my motherīs side anyway) grew up in the Canal Zone which >was officially considered American territory. People born >in the Canal Zone, were granted American citizenship along >with Panamanian citizenship. The schools in that area only >instructed in English. Alot of older chombos Iīve met >learned spanish in their teens or even older because they >never needed to use it. > >Now things are different. There is no more Canal Zone thus >the use of English is slowly fading away. It already >started fading away years ago but now it is fadng more >rapidly. I have plenty of relatives who speak no English. >Especially those relatives who are mixed with the cholos. >The Latins here very seldomly speak english. > >Anyways, Iīm beginning to actually "hear" the words now when >someone speaks. ALthough, I may not know what they mean or >do know what they mean but need time to mentally translate >the words to english. At this point sentence structure is >killing me when speaking. I just watched a movie in >portuguese and had to read spanish subtitles and did so with >ease. I can read pretty well but the difference in sentence >structure between english and spanish is still hard for me >to decipher orally. But everyday things get a little >better. > >The other thing is the lazy ass Panamanian tongue. bastards >speak so fast because they drop off syllables and shit. I >know the secret now. For the longest i was trying to figure >out why people would say "Also" when they were in agreement >with something. The word for "also" is "tambien." What >they are saying is "īta bien" short for "estā bien" or " >itīs good/okay." The "es" sound is frequently dropped off >of words as carrying that "s" takes up time. >EG. >"ma tarde" for "mas tardes"- later >"dos dolas" for " dos dolares"- two dollars > >But that is a rule in general to leave off syllables and >words altogether. Noone here says "Buenos dias" or "Buenos >tardes" or "Buenas noches." Usually youīll just get a >"Bueno" or "Buena." Sometimes if you are lucky, you might >get a whole "Buenos" with the "s" at the end. > >Another issue is the slang. People be sayin shit that ainīt >in my dictionary all the time which , of course, is to be >expected. The funniest term i heard was "So Pā" = Whatīs >up. Basically its " pasó" as in "Que Pasō." I thought it >was pretty creative. Then there is "caerse"= to fall down >which in slang terms can me "to like someone." For instance >" Me cayo su amigo." Literally doesnīt make sense as it >means " I fall down your friend," but in slang terms means " >I like your friend." Iīve been learnign the profanity down >here too like "Chucha"=fuck or "puta"=whore/prostitute. > >Letīs not even get into gross chombo Spanglish. Jeez. Iīm >trying to learn spanish, give me a break. > >Why canīt everyone speak like those guys on those spanish >tapes we had to listen too in school. > >Like this: > >Me llamo Juan. > >**pauses for 2 seconds** > >Me llamo Juan. >************** > >If only... Damn real-life people.
"Forget Black History Month, how about live an African History Life"-Ansley Burrows