Experience

One night I was with my mom and we were shopping and while I was in the store I saw a mother and her little girl. As I was browsing wasting time waiting for my mom I noticed they were speaking Spanish and the Mom's Spanish was fluent. It was amazing because the little girl just like us kids learning Spanish spoke it slower. I could really understand what she said which made the experience ten times better. It made me realise that even as a little kid she wasn't totally fluent and that's the same way in America with our English. They were having fun looking at clothes and the little girl was saying, "No mas." Later she said,"No quiero." Her mother and her laughed about it. It was a great experience and Mexico helped me not be afraid of fluent Spanish, because they could be afraid of English just like we were with Spanish. It's cool to be able to understand and disect their language. =]

Actually Understanding

When I first started taking Spanish my freshman year I thought that no matter how hard I tried to understand I would never be able to understand it when spoken to me. Well after two years of hard work I proved to myself that it all paid off. I was walking through the Dubuque Walmart the other day when I passed a group of teens that spoke fluent spanish. Being the curious person i am I tried to catch a few of the phrases that were being said, at first it was overwhelming just like when we first got to Mexico. But after remembering what they said and breaking it down I realized one of the girls in the group was asking the other if she wanted to get the item they were holding. I felt so proud of myself for applying my Spanish skills in real life. So now when ever I hear people speaking spanish I try to figure out what they are saying. Its kind of like a game and it is actually quite fun! Its different fromlearning it to actually applying it. :)

Spanish for the NFL

Tonight I was watching football. As I was watching it they were discussing how there is a new website in spanish for football. The website is www.nfl.com/espanol . So just to see what they were talking about I went on the internet and checked it out. Fair enough, that exact website is all the same as nfl.com except its in spanish, obviously. I read through some of the headings, looked at some of the stories, and was amazed at what I actually understood. Directly opposite of that, there was also many words I didn't know. When I first heard this on tv I thought it was really cool that they have a spanish website for something that is very common in America. I think it is cool that they take such a simple website, that is viewed by many, and make it to suit spanish speaking people also. So, my opinion on this is that it is a neat thing to do and I just wonder how many other commonly used websites will also have a similar website, except in Spanish.

-Vanessa Bonert

Flashcards | Sp.III Ch.3 Part 2 Vocab

Flashcards | Sp.III Ch.3 Part 2 Vocab

Flashcards | Sp.III Ch.3 Part 1 Vocab

Flashcards | Sp.III Ch.3 Part 1 Vocab

The other day my friend Emilee Muller and myself went to Las Flores before the football game that night. We enjoy doing this that way we don't have to get food at the game because it costs a lot more there. We had a fun time eating. We loved the chips and salsa. It was very good. We both got yolands and I loved them. I get them everytime that I go there. Emilee on the other hand thought that since I was getting them that they would be great, but she wasn't a fan. We sort of wanted to use our Spanish, but we were kind of nervous. We thought that if we did then they would start to talk to us really fast and we wouldn't know what they were saying. We decided not to. We also noticed that all of the workers there might not have known how to speak Spanish. That just gave us another thing to be nervous about if we started to speak Spanish. The other thing that happened there that kind of made me laugh a little was we each got one pop. She drank hers a lot faster then me, which was a first might I add. It was pretty much gone and everytime a waiter went by they asked her if she wanted a refill. She was asked about eight times. Everytime that she was asked we both looked at each other and laughed and then she said no. She was started to get annoyed though I think. Then we went to pay and I was playing on leaving a tip, but I only had a twenty dollar bill so I was going to pay at the register and then tip a few dollars after I had paid. The thing is by the time that I had paid the lady at the register the table was already cleared off...so I thought it was best that I just didn't tip. We hurried out as fast as we could because we thought that it was kind of rude. Also before we went into the building we saw Mr. Cassutt. He didn't see us...but we saw him and we tried to say "hi" but he must not have heard us. I had a fun time and I think Emilee did too.

Mexicans in Summer

Over the summer while I was at home helping around the farm two Mexicans stopped looking for a job, not one, not two, not three, but four times. One guy did all the speeking while the other just stood there. The one who spoke was farily fluent in english but hard to understand at times. He was good at slang english though with his "you duh boss?" or "is duh boss around?" lines. The other guy who didn't speek english would say things to the other guy in spanish but I didn't really understand anything with them speeking so fast. I was always told I should be the translater but I don't think I would be very good at it with the little spanish I know that deals with farming. If any more Mexicans would come and aply for the job I would like to try and figure out what they are saying but thats it.

Francia Raisa

Francia Raisa is an actor who plays on the TV show The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She plays Adrian, who is a teen
that struggles with her boyfriend, who just had a son with another girl, and her parents. I chose to do my blog about her because I was watching an older episode and she was talking in Spanish. She was talking really fast and it was hard to understand but I was able to catch certain words. Adrian aslo becomes pregnant and ends up losing the baby on the show.

Francia has Mexican descent too. Her mother is from Mexico and her father is from Hondurus. Francia was born in 1988, on July 26. As a young girl she was involved in many different types of dance, and didn't really start acting until she was a junior in high school. Her father is a hit radio speaker in L.A. known as El Cucuy. She also has two sisters.


I really enjoy Adrian on The Secret Life, because she adds drama and makes the show interesting. She can also drive me crazy because she is always trying to get back with her ex, Ricky, who had the baby and is now with the woman he had the baby with, Amy. She just can't seem to get over Ricky. Otherwise she is very interesting and fun to watch.



Cited Sources:
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=francia+raisa&hl=en&sa=X&rlz=1T4TSNA_en___US389&tbm=isch&prmd=ivnsol&tbnid=5YtLI94hq9raUM:&imgrefurl=http://chickswelike.com/2011/01/22/chickswelike-francia-raisa/&docid=eQF83wwj1h_e4M&w=300&h=266&ei=qwxtTp76Gs6msAL18ZnWBA&zoom=1&biw=1154&bih=525&iact=rc&dur=343&page=1&tbnh=121&tbnw=137&start=0&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=85&ty=74


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2116006/bio

Sarinana

Today i was watching Top 20 Countdown on VH1 and they were talking to a girl named Sarinana and how she is making an album. She is from mexico and has had many difficulties learning the language. She said she made a song talking about how she is "different" and apologizing if she meant something the wrong way because she was still learning the English language. Its really interesting how she decides to create a song on how her life is different than most of ours in the United States.

This made me realize that people from Mexico coming into the United States isn't as easy as what we think. They have to learn our language which some people aren't really familiar with and it takes time. They also have to get used to our way of living. Even though it was hard for Sarinana she managed to learn our language and now she is having a successful career with her new album coming out soon.

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez is both an actress and a singer. She is a Latina, born on July 24, 1969, in Castle Hill. This is a part of The Bronx, in New York. Her parents are Guadalupe and David Lopez. This is how Jennifer is connected to Spanish. Her parents both lived in Puerto Rico, but neither of them had known each other until they both met by chance, when they each had moved to New York. Jennifer was raised as a Roman Catholic, which is the religion that makes up the majority of Spanish people. She went to a Catholic school for her entire education. She got her start in acting thanks to "In Living Color". Jennifer was preciously married to Ojani Noa and Cris Judd. In 2004 she married Marc Anthony. In 2008 Lopez and Anthony became the parents of fraternal twins , Emme and Maximillian. Recently, Jennifer Lopez has filed for divorce from Anthony. She is known for her part in the movies "The Backup Plan", "The Wedding Planner" and her recent song "On the Floor", which became an instant hit in the music industry. Lopez even came out with an entire album in Spanish titled "Como Amo una Mujer". Lopez is a very talented person, who is both a great actress and artist. Watch one of her movies, or listen to one of her songs TODAY! Personally, I believe "On the Floor" is a great upbeat song, that is perfect for dances!!

Sources:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000182/bio

http://www.biography.com/articles/Jennifer-Lopez-9542231?part=1