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Maesonna

Jul 27, 2013, 4:55 PM

Post #1 of 11 (1245 views)

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Some Matador articles on learning Mexican Spanish

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Some links to inspire everyone after the ‘Is it futile?’ thread:

Three Lessons in Mexican Spanish

Regarding ‘lesson two’, the author didn’t share my experience that baking powder is more often referred to as ‘Royal’, since that’s the name of the most common brand of baking powder. As for yeast, I do find it in the Comercial Mexicana at the panadería counter, the place where you take your choice of breads to have them bagged and priced. It’s shelved below the counter in little yellow boxes, brand name “Tradi-Pan”. If I asked for levadura (meaning yeast) and they showed me baking powder, I would say, ‘No Royal, sino levadura para hacer pan.’

A Quick and Dirty Phrasebook of Mexican Slang

Eight Classical Mexican Expressions

How One American Learned Spanish – from near-zero to language hero!

There are also links for ‘related articles’ below each of the above articles on the respective pages.

(This post was edited by Maesonna on Jul 27, 2013, 7:10 PM)

esperanza

Jul 27, 2013, 5:38 PM

Post #2 of 11 (1235 views)

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Re: [Maesonna] Some Matador articles on learning Mexican Spanish

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Great links, Maesonna--thanks for posting them.

I share your experience that Royal (pronounced roy-AHL) is the common term for baking powder. As you said, it's the most common brand and has become the generic for baking powder--just as we most commonly refer to any brand of nose-blowing tissue as Kleenex.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

(This post was edited by esperanza on Jul 27, 2013, 5:39 PM)

morgaine7

Jul 27, 2013, 11:06 PM

Post #3 of 11 (1216 views)

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Re: [Maesonna] Some Matador articles on learning Mexican Spanish

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Brilliant, thanks so much.

Kate

esperanza

Jul 28, 2013, 6:43 AM

Post #4 of 11 (1206 views)

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Re: [Maesonna] Some Matador articles on learning Mexican Spanish

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Now that I've had time to read all three points in the first article, I would disagree with #3 as well. Mexicans do listen to cumbia, salsa, and banda, of course, and often one of these three is blasting from a radio somewhere near you. But Mexicans of every age also constantly listen to and revere boleros--the Mexican standards, not unlike the mid-20th century 'standards' from the USA. When a bolero starts playing on the radio, everyone within listening distance sings along, and everyone knows all the words. You can't say that about cumbia, salsa, and banda.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

La Isla

Jul 28, 2013, 9:46 AM

Post #5 of 11 (1190 views)

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Re: [Maesonna] Some Matador articles on learning Mexican Spanish

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Looking at the Eight Classic Mexican Expressions, I don't see that "tener ganas de" is particularly Mexican.

cbviajero

Jul 28, 2013, 10:07 AM

Post #6 of 11 (1187 views)

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Re: [La Isla] Some Matador articles on learning Mexican Spanish

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I also wondered about "echar la hueva",I've always heard it said "tirar la hueva".

La Isla

Jul 28, 2013, 10:14 AM

Post #7 of 11 (1182 views)

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Re: [cbviajero] Some Matador articles on learning Mexican Spanish

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I wonder how much real expertise in using Mexican Spanish the author of the article has.

tashby

Aug 4, 2013, 9:32 AM

Post #8 of 11 (1020 views)

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Re: [Maesonna] Some Matador articles on learning Mexican Spanish

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Fun links, Maesonna. Thanks. I'm happy to say I'm familiar with (and even use!) several of those phrases and constructions. So maybe it's not futile after all. :-)

I particularly loved when one of the writers wrote, "I learned so much when people stopped being polite." There is so much truth in this. Only now that I have some Mexican friends who know me well enough, and like me well enough, to correct my mistakes do I feel like I'm really starting to learn the language.

(This post was edited by tashby on Aug 4, 2013, 9:34 AM)

mcm

Aug 4, 2013, 10:02 AM

Post #9 of 11 (1012 views)

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Re: [tashby] Some Matador articles on learning Mexican Spanish

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I second that! I am pretty much stuck (because of my own laziness) at the stage where just about everyone understands me, and I am able to communicate clearly in most circumstances BUT I know (or think) that I am very very far from speaking grammatically correct Spanish. Unfortunately, most people are great about correcting my word usage (choice of word or pronunciation) but not my (many) errors in use or placement of pronouns, verb tenses, idiomatic usage. But, I'm happy to have gotten as far as I have, and am not giving up.

eyePad

Aug 4, 2013, 9:25 PM

Post #10 of 11 (974 views)

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Re: [tashby] Some Matador articles on learning Mexican Spanish

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Tasbhy, you know several? That's pretty good. Most of those I would call idiomatic, there's so many no one can know them all.

tashby

Aug 5, 2013, 2:41 PM

Post #11 of 11 (932 views)

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Re: [eyePad] Some Matador articles on learning Mexican Spanish

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Thanks, eyePad. I'm really lucky to have become good friends with a guy who recognizes and loves how colorful Mexican Spanish is, and who is really generous about sharing stuff with me.