Sunday 7 December 2014

Viñetas, el humor negro.

One of my first Spanish teachers told me that you'll know when you're really making progress in a foreign language; it's when you start to 'get' some of the humour. Part of the challenge is, of course, the language; but another aspect is a knowledge of the 'issues of the day' which make the local people smile (if sometimes a little sardonically).

As you've probably noticed already, I have a liking for the 'Fe de Ratas' viñetas (by J.M. Nieto) published in the ABC newspaper. Well, here's another dibujante who often brings me a smile, although it's usually through slightly gritted teeth. Andrés Rábago (who draws under the pseudonym 'el Roto' in the left-of-centre El País newspaper) has recently been awarded the Premio Internacional Libertad de la Prensa 2014 for his 'línea de independencia y el espíritu crítico.'

Here are a selection of mis favoritos:. Treat it as a quiz if you like. How many do you 'get' straight away? How many can you make sense of with the help of your dictionary?


I'll leave you with a tale of my own 'eureka' moment of Spanish humor. It'd taken me a while to work out what was going on in the supermercado deli-counters, the centro de salud and all the other places where the locals employed their very 'un-British' queuing system. It involves entering and asking of the waiting crowd, '¿Quién es el ultim@?' (BTW, I love the way younger Spaniards use the '@' symbol to indicate that a word can be masculino or feminina.) Whoever has just entered before you will raise their hand and you can join the throng for a chat knowing that you only have to keep an eye on this person to know when it's your turn next. (But don't forget to identify yourself when the subsequent person walks in!)

Anyway, on to my big moment... I was on my way to a match at Villarreal's Madrigal estadio one evening. It's crammed amid the narrow terraced streets of the town. I turned down the short side-street that led to my turnstile to find it full of people waiting to get in. I wasn't late for the game so assumed there was some problem with the turnstile. A few seconds later, as the crowd built up behind me, a local wag shouted, '¿Ultimo?' Well how we all laughed. And then I noticed. I was laughing too. I really felt I'd crossed a barrier in my linguistic development.

¡Mucha suerte!
JJD

If you enjoyed this resource, you might enjoy reading about my life here in Spain as an immersion teacher of a class of primary children. Zen Kyu Maestro: An English Teacher´s Spanish Adventure is published as an eBook by Monday Books. There´s a free sample chapter available to download here: Zen Kyu Maestro

Saturday 29 November 2014

El Gordo.

So it's Christmas! (Well, at least it'll be December by the time you get to school on Monday.) So what do you think of when you think of Christmas in Spain?

El Gordo. 'The Fat One'. 

Spain's annual 2 billion euro lottery draw is due to take place (as always) on the 22nd of December. And, as is now also 'as always', it comes with a high-profile publicity campaign.

This year it's a series of mini-stories under the theme, 'El mayor premio es compartirlo.' (The best prize is to share it.) 


Many bars, clubs and businesses buy a ticket which their customers subsequently purchase 'shares' in, meaning that a win is often for a group of people joined by a common interest or activity.

Here's the headline story, about a man who forgets to buy his share in his local bar's ticket, only to discover that it wins the top prize. Have your pañuelos at the ready as you translate, it's getting rave reviews in the Spanish press as a real tear-jerker. Who's going to be the first in the class to shed a tear?


There are nueve short stories in all, ideal for higher-level students to translate as the Christmas season kicks-in. You can find them at El Bar de Antonio (the official website):


¡Feliz Navidad a todos, y muy buena suerte!

JJD

And a P.S., If you're really up-to-speed with current Spanish politics, you'll enjoy this parodia, featuring current presidente Mariano Rajoy (of the right-wing Partido Popular) and the leader of the recently-formed (and fast-growing) Podemos party, led by Pablo Iglesias. Rajoy plays the unlucky loser, Iglesias is the barman. Imagine Rajoy is Cameron and Iglesias is Farage and you'll get the drift (although it's interesting to note that Podemos is a left-of-centre party).

 El bar de Pablo Parodia

Presidente Mariano Rajoy

Pablo Iglesias, Podemos



If you enjoyed this resource, you might enjoy reading about my life here in Spain as an immersion teacher of a class of primary children. Zen Kyu Maestro: An English Teacher´s Spanish Adventure is published as an eBook by Monday Books. There´s a free sample chapter available to download here: Zen Kyu Maestro


Sunday 16 November 2014

¿WhatsApp?

Yes, WhatsApp is big in España

The news that you could tell when your message had been recieved caused quite a stir in the press recently. El doble check azul (blue double tick) has caused quite a polemic. Here are a selection of articles you might find interesting... and another cartoon from one of my favourite dibujantes (J.M. Nieto, from the ABC newspaper) poking fun.





If you enjoyed this resource, you might enjoy reading about my life here in Spain as an immersion teacher of a class of primary children. Zen Kyu Maestro: An English Teacher´s Spanish Adventure is published as an eBook by Monday Books. There´s a free sample chapter available to download here: Zen Kyu Maestro



Friday 7 November 2014

Downton Abbey, España...

Yes, it's true. Downton Abbey is big en España. Here are a couple of 'Downton en España' resources for you to enjoy.

First, an article from Wednesday's (6th November) ABC newspaper commenting on the 'controversy' surrounding the fate of Isis, the dog.


Secondly, here's a link to TV station Antena Tres's Downton Abbey page, where you can enjoy video clips from series 5 (which is currently showing here)... all in glorious dubbed Español!


Who said studying Spanish was boring?

¡Disfruta!

If you enjoyed this resource, you might enjoy reading about my life here in Spain as an immersion teacher of a class of primary children. Zen Kyu Maestro: An English Teacher´s Spanish Adventure is published as an eBook by Monday Books. There´s a free sample chapter available to download here: Zen Kyu Maestro

Saturday 1 November 2014

Poverty in Spain, a cartoonist's view.

With unemployment (el paro) in Spain at close to 25% for adultos and 50% for the 16-25 age bracket, the issue of poverty (la pobreza) is high on the political agenda. Here's a cartoon (una viñeta) from Yahoo.es. 



If you enjoyed this resource, you might enjoy reading about my life here in Spain as an immersion teacher of a class of primary children. Zen Kyu Maestro: An English Teacher´s Spanish Adventure is published as an eBook by Monday Books. There´s a free sample chapter available to download here: Zen Kyu Maestro

Friday 10 October 2014

¡Corre! ¡Corre!

This anuncio is all over the TV in España atm, nice easy bit of translation for you...


This one I just spotted while searching for the above. Spanish subtitulos to help you with some South American acentos.

Link to Youtube 2

¡Disfruta tu trabajo! ;)

JJD

If you enjoyed this resource, you might enjoy reading about my life here in Spain as an immersion teacher of a class of primary children. Zen Kyu Maestro: An English Teacher´s Spanish Adventure is published as an eBook by Monday Books. There´s a free sample chapter available to download here: Zen Kyu Maestro

Tuesday 7 October 2014

¡Que bote!

What do you make of this?
























A little background might help. I was at the Mestalla stadium on sabado for the Valencia-Athlético Madrid clash. The Mestalla is Valencia's home ground. It's a pretty raucus place on a normal match day, but this wasn't a normal match day. At kick-off, Valencia were in second place, Athlético were third. It was a four o'clock start and the ground was pretty full, including a couple of hundred Athlético supporters. ('Away' fans are much rarer in Spain than they are in the UK.) So it was pretty noisy and the Valencia fans, in their 'Curva Nord' (north curve) section were adding plenty to the afternoon's entertainment. Then the match kicked off...

6 minutes, Valencia score. The Curva Nord explodes in celebration.

7 minutes, they score again. The second celebration is just a continuation of the first.

13 minutes, 3-0. Old men wearing jackets and ties are dancing in the aisles and waving their brimmed hats in the air. 

And then this happens...


It took a few moments before I connected the chant to the message on the hoardings around the ground, but then I had heard variations on the ¡Que bote! chant many times before so I soon made the link. It's often chanted during fiestas and celebrations, and is usually directed at a particular person. I was in the town square of Vila-Real a couple of years ago when they were promoted and the crowd chanted '¡Que bote pres-i-dent!', forcing the club's president (normally quite a reserved old gentleman) to bounce up and down on the Ayuntamiento balcony in front of 25,000 cheering fans.

Now for the 'lesson'. Bote comes from 'botar', the verb 'to bounce'. And 'Que bote' is that tricky old Spanish subjunctive which is so difficult to define. I've read that it often expresses a wish or desire, so '¡Que bote Mestalla!' could be translated roughly as a wish, 'that the Mestalla bounces'.

And as you can see by my rather unprofessionally shaky video, it certainly bounced!

P.S., if you're interested, and if you're good!, your teacher might agree to show you the highlights of the match (5 minute video) at the end of the lesson. It's worth seeing, and the match didn't end 3-0!


And yes, the commentary is in Spanish so you will still be learning! (Well, that's what I call learning anyway!)

Un saludo and 'Amunt, Valencia!'  

Ummm, that's not Spanish, it's the local Valenciano lingo and it means something close to 'Go, Valencia!'

If you enjoyed this resource, you might enjoy reading about my life here in Spain as an immersion teacher of a class of primary children. Zen Kyu Maestro: An English Teacher´s Spanish Adventure is published as an eBook by Monday Books. There´s a free sample chapter available to download here: Zen Kyu Maestro




Saturday 4 October 2014

Only joking...

I spotted this in the ABC newspaper last week...


Have a great weekend!

Sunday 21 September 2014

¡Como un tigre!

I first saw this anuncio during the descuento of the Borussia Mönchengladbach -v- Villarreal partido on Thursday night. I've no doubt it's done the rounds in the UK so the translating shouldn't be too difícil .

¡Disfruta!

¡Como un Tigre!

The second version isn't one I've yet seen on the TV...

Como un Tigre dos


Sunday 7 September 2014

La Vuelta al Cole

Yes, it's back to school time again. But for some, it's even harder...


The current unemployment rate in Spain is 24.5%. Yes, one quarter of the workforce. That means a lot of hardship for families. A return to school comes at a price, uniform, books, classroom materials...

Cruz Roja and Carre Four have teamed up to co-ordinate a campaign of solidaridad to help families in financial difficulties. Here's the video for their campaign which was running this weekend:


I hope you enjoy your return to school.


Sunday 8 June 2014

Rasca de la Roja

The World Cup begins this week, so here are a couple of little 'extras' students of Spanish might enjoy looking at.

1. Gana Con La Roja is a tie-up between the Spanish national squad (the selección) and the ONCE charity for Spain's blind and partially sighted. The website has a neat little 'clickable' player-board giving details of each member of the squad (in Spanish). Keen soccer fans may wish to spot the players who are on the board... but haven't actually made the final squad. Equally there are some players on their way to Brazil who aren't on the board.


2. World Cup song. The ONCE/selección tie-up also has a World Cup song, and here it is. I'm sure all your classes will be singing along in no time.



Sunday 25 May 2014

Morbo

Coca-Cola launched a new advertising campaign a couple of weeks before the 2014 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Athlético Madrid. Here it is (link to Marca.com/Youtube):



Below is a transcription and following that a translation, but I know, being the serious student you are, you'll be doing all that yourself...

Transcription:

Papa, Podemos tener una charlar de hijo a padre?
Sí, claro.
Veras, papa, aunque para mama y para ti,
siempre seré vuestro pequiñín, ya he crecido.
El mes pasado cumple doce,
Me hago la cama, 
eligo mi ropa
Y hasta me quedo con Marco
cuando salís.
Solo quiero que entendáis que
soy capaz de elegir mis cosas.
Si, Jose
Se nota que has hecho mayor.
Y, bueno, en fin, lo que queria decirte es que,
me he hecho del Atleti.
Como?
Sé que tendré que aprenderme una alineación nueva,
Que ya no podremos ir juntos a la peña que fundó el tío
que tendré que regalar el carné de socio que me hiciste cuando nací.
Pero, no hay nada que pueda hacer,
Mi corazón ahora es de Athlético, papa.
Santi! Vienes a jugar?
Ya veo que has crecido,
supongo que no puedo hacer nada?
No, y ahora, cómo se lo decimos al abuelo?
Tranquilo ya sé nos ocurrira algo. 

And now the translation:

Dad, Can we have a chat, son to father?
Of course.
You see, dad, although for mum and you,
I'll always be your little one, now I've grown.
Last month I was 12 years old.
I make my own bed,
Choose my clothes.
And I even babysit for Marco when you two go out.
I only want that you understand that
I'm able to choose my things,
Yes, Jose,
I've noticed that you've got older.
And, well, to sum up, because what I want to say to you is,
I now support Athletico (Madrid).
What?
I know I'll have to learn a new lineup,
And that we can't go any more to the club that uncle founded,
And that I'll have to give away the membership card 
that you got me when I was born,
But, there's nothing that I can do.
My heart now is with Athletico, dad.
Santi, are you coming to play?
Now I see that you've grown
I suppose that I can't do anything.
No, and now, how are we going to tell grandad?
Relax, I know we'll think of something.

Great ad. But now for the morbo...

Phil Ball's excellent book on Spanish football of the same name (Morbo, When Saturday Comes Books Ltd, 2003) spends 21 pages trying to define this elusive Spanish word. This ad, and the background to it, will illustrate morbo nicely.

Real Madrid and Athlético Madrid are city rivals, but the real rivalry in Spain is, of course, Real and Barcelona. Atleti are very much the poor relations in terms of Madrid inter-city rivalry. Real had won the Champions League (European Cup) nine times before the 2014 final. Atleti had never won it. But the tale was twisting (a central element in morbo) as Atleti had just been crowned La Liga champions the week before. So, Real going for their tenth title (their elusive décima), Atleti going to break their duck. And this is where the non-footballing part of the story (another morbo ingredient) raised its head...


There is a long-running dispute in Madrid between the workers in four Coca-Cola factories and the company which is planning to cut the workforce. The top leaflet translates as 'If Madrid doesn't make it, Madrid won't drink it'. 

So, you see, a Coca-Cola/Atleti tie-up has a lot more to it than just a sponsorship deal. Real Madrid fans filled the web with vitriol, half of it against their footballing rivals, the other half in solidarity with the workers and against coca-cola. 

Check out this measured comment on the Marca site:

Este anuncio de la marca que es boicoteada en Madrid, demuestra lo chaqueteros que son los atléticos, no les importa nada el Atlético, simplemente son del Atlético por alguna otra razón... esta de la nivieta es buena, pero la principal causa de"hacerse" del Atlético, es la madriditis. Llevar la contraria y ser unos chaqueteros es lo habitual entre los del "pateti", salvo pequeñas excepciones.

Note also that Marca is the daily Real Madrid supporting football newspaper which outsells nearly all other newspapers in Spain. Note also the contributers own version of the 'Atleti' nickname (pateti).


Este anuncio de la marca que es boicoteada en Madrid, demuestra lo chaqueteros que son los atléticos, no les importa nada el Atlético, simplemente son del Atlético por alguna otra razón... esta de la nivieta es buena, pero la principal causa de"hacerse" del Atlético, es la madriditis. Llevar la contraria y ser unos chaqueteros es lo habitual entre los del "pateti", salvo pequeñas excepciones.
#195 09.may.2014 | 18:45 Este anuncio de la marca que es boicoteada en Madrid, demuestra lo chaqueteros que son los atléticos, no les importa nada el Atlético, simplemente son del Atlético por alguna otra razón... esta de la nivieta es buena, pero la principal causa de"hacerse" del Atlético, es la madriditis. Llevar la contraria y ser unos chaqueteros es lo habitual entre los del "pateti", salvo pequeñas excepciones.


Leer más: "Mi corazón ahora es Atlético, papá" - MARCA.com
#195 09.may.2014 | 18:45 Este anuncio de la marca que es boicoteada en Madrid, demuestra lo chaqueteros que son los atléticos, no les importa nada el Atlético, simplemente son del Atlético por alguna otra razón... esta de la nivieta es buena, pero la principal causa de"hacerse" del Atlético, es la madriditis. Llevar la contraria y ser unos chaqueteros es lo habitual entre los del "pateti", salvo pequeñas excepciones.
(But before you join the 'Real' indignation, check out the Real Madrid website for a list of their sponsors... Real Madrid sponsors ...)

So, all set for an explosive game of football with plenty of morbo. Well, not quite. Spanish morbo tends to keep twisting and turning over and over. Three days before the final, this:


But not for any of the reasons you might imagine. According to this latest twist in the morbo tail, the actor involved in the ad, Gotzon Sánchez, has been linked with organisations which are linked to other organisations which offer support to terrorist groups.

And you thought this was all about football.

By the way, in the final, Atleti led 1-0 until the last 2 minutes, then Real equalised and went on to win 4-1 after extra time. And even in that painful detail there is more morbo. 40 years previously, Atleti played their only other final. With a minute of extra time to play they led the great Bayern Munich 1-0 but then they conceded and went on to lose the replay.

Glass of water, anyone?