I took Spanish in junior high, high school and college, pero, mi español es muy mal. I try to speak with some of the employees at my building, in hopes of improving my language skills, however, I typically only manage a few short sentences.
Me: “Hola. Como estas?”
Her: “Muy bien. Y tu?”
Me: “Bien, bien. Gracias.”
Her: “Cómo está su hija?”
Me: “Bien.” Cómo se dice, ‘She is doing well. This is her last year in college and then she’ll be a teacher.’?”
At this point my coworker usually breaks into English and our conversation turns into a Gibraltar newspaper article (where Spanglish is very common), or she teaches me one word out of the twenty, “Ah, maestro.” “Sí, maestro,” I reply. The conversation usually ends with a “Hasta luego,” her walking away giggling, and me saying to myself, “Ah, chingao. I’ve got to practice my Spanish more often.”
The fact that I struggle with learning, retaining and effectively speaking a second language gives me a huge level of respect for people who are bilingual. Especially those who learn a second (or third or fourth) language later in life. What I’ve found in many of those cases is that lost in translation are the adjectives or verbs we often use to talk around that which we are really thinking. What is found in translation, is honest, sincere communication sans malicious intent. I see this most often when texting with Maverik Midget King, His first language is French and he just recently learned English.
He sent me a picture of a body builder and I asked if he wanted to look like him. “I want lost my fat belly,” he replied. “I’m still trying to lose my baby fat from 41 years ago,” I told him. “For girls I love. I hate skinny. Your a perfect body!! I love!” was his response. “You are lovely to me – thank you,” I replied. “I love chobby,” was his next text to me. “Agreed. I’ll eat more cookies,” I text back. Perfect = chubby. If anyone else had said this to me, especially someone who spoke English as their primary language, I would think they were a douche (French word – I’m trying to learn that language too). Since he said it, as someone who is trying to learn a second language, I find the translation to be sweet, honest, and endearing – mon lapin doux, je suis heureux de vous trouver.