Que hora es?
I’ve started studying Spanish. I am learning castellano argentino, and will be shrilling my y’s and ll’s, using the “vos” tense, and trying to aspire my s’s.
My accent does not sound as hilariously horrible as the above video, thanks to my French and, yes, Korean (pure vowels, and the lucky ability to roll my r’s), but my vocabulary pretty much sucks, and well, so does my grammer.
Uno…dos…tres…
Enero…febrero…marzo…
Hace mucho frío en Nueva York…
El dulce de leche me gusta…
Quiero besar mi guapo novio…Mil amores tuve yo y en ninguno yo encontraba la dulzura que soñé, ya que en cambio sólo hallé la falsía despreciable que mi alma endureció.
Ok, I totally googled that last one. ;)
I’m really excited. Some words in tango lyrics are already starting to open up to me, and there is a veritable blossoming in the music.
Yes, I can dance tango without understanding a word of what Gardel is gurgling on about. Donato’s crooning will be no less lovely. But I wonder how my dance will change when I will finally come to know the stories and poems and inflexions and double entendres and swear words in the lyrics of the songs that I already love? How many more tangos will I fall in love with because of what is being sung? How many songs will change their emotions for me when I realize that the singer has been crying, instead of laughing?
Right now, I am thinking of my favorite non-tango songs, and I cannot imagine loving them as much if I didn’t know what was being said. It would be like smiling at Buckley’s “Lover, you should’ve come over“, without being hynotized by the poetry. It would be like walking on the pavement to Gainsbourg’s “Je t’aime…moi non plus” without bursting out laughing. Like peacefully humming along to Bowie’s “Rock ‘n Roll Suicide” without swooning at its existential anguish. Or listening to Barbara’s “Ce matin là” without tasting the wild strawberries in my mouth…
I feel like I am about to open the door to the magic wardrobe. I have the key, and it’s just a matter of figuring out how to turn it…
R con R cigarro, R con R barril,
rápido corren los carros
cargados de azúcar al ferrocaril…
(sigh).
I’m going to write in Spanish a little bit in my blog everyday… in hopes that it will help my brain with speaking it. Feel free to correct me, my dear blogueros and blogueras, as I am sure I will be making many laughable mistakes!
Hay que estudiar mucho cada día… Pero yo estoy muy cansada, y tengo dolor de cabeza.
Bueno, chicos y chicas, hasta mañana!
ESTOY cansada.
ESTAR = temporary conditions or location
Ser= the way something usually is, time, dates
No charge for the lesson ( I’m retired)
Doing well/ muy bien!
n a n c y
6 March 2008 at 6:30 pm
nancy!!
gracias, niña! ser vs. estar is the very first lesson i learned (aside from “me llamo nuitblanche. y vos?”). and my brain retained a lot, as you can see, lol.
(hug)
La Nuit Blanche
6 March 2008 at 6:53 pm
Ah, you should come down here and practice with me in Buenos Aires. :-)
tinatangos
7 March 2008 at 11:18 am
tina, mi linda bailarina… quiero caminar en las calles de buenos aires y hablar castellano con los guapos camareros, con vos! ;) pero hoy, hay que trabajar mucho, y soñar menos de argentina. :(
La Nuit Blanche
7 March 2008 at 1:12 pm
“Soñar menos”?! Jamais! Got to keep dreamin’ chica…
…and uh…don’t ever disappear from us like that again, okay? Major “awesome blog” withdrawal you put me through. But you made me realize I appreciate you enough to comment, which my shy little soul so rarely does. I’m not such a “virtual” hug person, but in this case, I think it calls for it…a huge welcome back hug from moi.
Bissous,
Kita
Kita
8 March 2008 at 4:19 am
You’re back! Hurrah!
OK, I’m behind the times, I’ve only just noticed. But I’m happy to see you.
Psyche
8 March 2008 at 3:59 pm
oh! I just noticed this. it’s “mañana” (last sentence in your post… the n’s are switched)…
Sorry, that’s the Virgo in me… ;-)
tinatangos
9 March 2008 at 10:34 pm
tina!
i am a virgo too, hehe. gracias por la corrección! :-D
La Nuit Blanche
10 March 2008 at 10:09 am
“Que ora es ?” Q&A survival for Buenos Aires milongas’ floor :
Q : “Que lindo !” (very usefull to express satisfaction, may be the only on to remember)
A : “Que lindo !”
Q : “De donde sos ?”
A : “de Nueva York, de Francia…”
Q : “Y Vos, de aca ?”
A: … (according answer could be a good opportunity to switch to English)
Q : “Como se llama”
A : “… , y vos ?”
Q : “Cuando se queda ?”
A : “Me voy en tres dias”
A : “Tienes que aprovechar” (You bet I will !)
Q : “Muchas gracias”
A : “No, gracias a vos”
That’s all, you can last a whole milonga with these”Que ora es ?”, at least I am ;-)
PS : avoid actual “Que oras es ?” you might give the impression you’re bored, and it’s a bit rude even if you are.
PPS : consider anything that sounds like “cafecito” as an explicit proposal…
patadura
10 March 2008 at 11:30 am
paradura! que linda lista! y no olvidar:
“…estooooooo….”
for when i am quickly trying to remember these phrases in my head, hehe.
psyche: muchos abrazos por vos… i’ve missed you, too. :)
kita: hello and welcome! thank you for your love!
La Nuit Blanche
10 March 2008 at 11:53 am