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Learning a new language can be an exciting adventure-one that opens unexpected new doors in communication. But beware: one step forward as you learn Spanish or English can, at times, result in your foot in your mouth. In this new section readers share their moments of being lost in translation… An American friend was planning a special romantic dinner to impress a new lady friend. He had the perfect recipe and went out shopping, but when it came to buying the chicken breasts his Spanish failed him, and he asked for "chichis de pollo, por favor." -Grace When first here, we went to the hardware store to get nails for a construction project and asked for "uñas"... fingernails! -Celia An American friend who speaks Spanish beautifully inadvertently reduced a sales clerk to giggles by using a Spanish word that is correct in other countries but not here. She watches home improvement shows and learns a lot of construction-related vocabulary from the subtitles. When it came time to choose chandeliers for her new house, she went to a fixtures store and asked for exactly what the TV taught her: arañas (spiders). -John I was riding the Unidad Deportiva/La Lejona bus when the driver's helper started chatting me up. I was dressed in a ridiculous pink polka-dot skirt, and he must have taken this for a youthful, come-hither look. We talked a bit, in fractured Spanglish, and then he asked me if I was casada. I was a little tired, and I thought maybe he could tell by my eyes, and so I said: "quizás un poco" (maybe a little). We talked some more and he again asked me if I was casada. Whoa! I guessed I must have looked bad, either dark circles or bags under my eyes, and I thought he certainly was persistent with this question, especially under the circumstances-with me looking so tired and all. And so I replied again, "quizás un poco." It wasn't until I got off the bus and watched it drive away that I realized he'd been asking if I was married. Poor thing! I must have really frustrated him when I kept answering "maybe a little!" -Vicki |