The house was deathly quiet all weekend. I moped around like a dog without a tail and eventually, to pull myself out of the doldrums, did something I've wanted to do for ages... logged on to the library's website and signed up to take an on-line Spanish language course-- - Ever since Latin classes in secondary school, I've had a notion to learn Spanish. I think it was the nuns' way of assuring us that Latin would be worth the slogging when they told us that, with Latin under our belts, we'd be able to learn Spanish or Italian in under six months,. Not sure I buy the bit about six months, but it was a very pleasant distraction working my way through the introductory lessons and finding them so easy.
Miss Oriss understands Spanish, having lived in Argentina as a child. She watches Spanish language soap operas when she's at home, and did likewise while she stayed with me. Every weeknight at nine o'clock we tuned in to "Abismo De Pasion," a good, old fashioned bodice-ripper, complete with love triangles and conniving mothers in law, young studs hard put to keep it in their pants, and older dudes trying to position themselves to be as rich as possible while doing as little work as possible. I didn't even need a dictionary to understand the title! Thrilling stuff. Mostly I did the daily crossword or sudoku while glancing occasionally at the screen. After a few weeks though I found myself caught up in the action and actually able to follow the general thread. Of course it was all in hundred-mile-an-hour Spanish, so I had to get a considerable amount of help in the translation department from Miss Oriss.
Now that she's gone, I've fallen by the wayside. I haven't tuned in to "Abismo" since she left. I do not know if Gayel has killed Damian for stealing Elyssa away from him, or if the padre has regained consciousness and revealed who it was that ran him off the road in an effort to silence him. I may never find out. But in the meantime I can tell you, in Spanish, what my name is, where I am from, what a pleasure it is to meet you, and that I travel frequently to Puerto Rico [even though I don't.]
The OC had better watch out. Next time he drops in here he could find himself falling into an abyss of passionate, hundred-mile-an-hour Spanish.
Hasta luego muchachas!
8 comments:
Haha Molly, you're becoming rather R rated on this blog. The "keep it in their pants" line had me laughing. Soap operas seem to be a dying institution -- glad to see they're holding on somewhere. Good luck with your Spanish lessons -- very ambitious!
I love telenovelas ... the more like Knot's Landing the better . What with the wobbly sets , the layers of make-up and the way the characters all have names like Wilma or Heracles , they're definitely the most entertaining way to learn Spanish . ( Though I have to say the nuns were right ... Latin did prove useful ) .
You're obviously off to a flying start . Another few months and you could move to Venezuela and land a leading role ....
Buenas dias, muy excelente, Señorita! Como estas hoy?
Oh my. I smiled all my way through this post. Mega thanks.
I was also reminded of a book by Alice Thomas Ellis in which she got sucked into a Spanish soap opera and watched it with glee. The more things change...
ah yes ... Spanish 101 ... i can remember the entire first dialog ... and i remember how to say "library" and the phrase, "When did he take it into his head to learn how to ski?" although i have never had the opportunity to use it ... oh yeah - i can also say "poor little pancho" (which i DO use a lot, but i substitute LuLu for Pancho)... and i can curse in Spanish, but i'm not really sure what i am saying when i do ...... you're gonna love being quadrilingual (is that a word? spellcheck doesn't think so)
Oh, well done, Molly. It well known that learning any new language enriches parts that other skills don't reach ...and Spanish seems enriching at many levels!
Have you ever seen the Spanish Lottery performed on telly? Choirs of children in their party clothes sing the numbers. A great operatic performance - I hope they still do it. High drama all the way.
Several years ago when my husband and I were still doing mission trips to Mexico I tried to learn a little Spanish. I too took Latin all those many years ago, and I'm glad I did because it really did help me with both reading and writing. However, learning Spanish at this age would mean, for me, dedicated weekly if not daily time. I'd love to be able to speak it and to understand it but I think that's for my next lifetime. :) blessings, marlene
I know that Latin helps in any romance language, but I never tried to learn Spanish. The way things are, I should have. But, for now....Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres.(Or something like that) Oh, second year Latin was so many years ago!
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