Being in a strange country of even just an area of town that doesn’t speak your native language can be a scary situation. You can multiply that times ten when it becomes an emergency situation. 

 Below are a list of common Spanish sentences and phrases that can be helpful in an emergency situation.

• Will you help me?          ¿Me ayudas?(may eye-yoo-dahs?)
• Please Help!                        ¡Ayuda por favor!(eye-yoo-dah pohr fah-vohr!)
• What Happened?             ¿Que’ paso’?(kay pah-soh?)
• I don’t know.                       No sé .(noh say.)
• I can’t breathe.                  No puedo respirar.(noh poo-way-doh rehs-peer-ahr.)
• She needs a doctor.         Ella necista un doctor(ay-yah neh-seh-see-tah oon dok-tohr.)
• Where is a phone?           ¿Dónde hay un teléfono?(don-day eye oon tel-ay-foh-noh?)
• Where is a hospital?       ¿Dónde está el hospital?(don-day ehs-tah ehl ohs-pee-tahl?)
• I’ve just been robbed.    Alguien me robo’.(ahl-gee-ehn may ro-boh.)

Some additional words

• help                                           ayuda(eye-yoo-dah)
• health                                      la salud(lah sah-lood)
• pills                                           las pastillas(lahs pahs-tee-yahs)
• headache                                el dolor de cabeza(ehl doh-lohr dehl es-toh-mah-goh)
• stomachache                        el dolor del estómago(ehl doh-lohr dehl es-toh-mh-goh)
• cough                                        tos(tohs)
• an injury                                la herida(lah ehr-ee-dah)
• pain                                           la pena(lah pay-nah)
• infection                                 la infección(lah in fek-see-ohn)
• fever                                         la fiebre(lah fee-ay-bray)
• police                                        el policía(ehl poh-lee-see-ah)
• embassy                                  la embajada(lah em-bah-ha-dah)
• passport                                  el pasaporte(ehl pas-ah-pohr-tay)
• insurance                              el seguro(ehl say-gu-roh)
• throat                                      garganta(gahr-gahn-tah)
• blood                                         la sangre(lah sahn-gray)
• bone                                          el hueso(ehl oo-way-soh)
• body                                          el cuerpo(ehl koo-ehy-poh)
• heart                                        el corazón(ehl kor-ah-zohn)
• foot                                            pie(peeeh)
• leg                                              pierna(peeehr-nah)
• chest                                         pecho(peh-choh)
• arm                                           brazo(bvrah-soh)

Many people think that “Cinco de Mayo” is the day that Mexico gained it’s independence, but that is not true.

So why is the day so significant? And why should Americans savor this day as well?

Because 4,000 Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5th, 1862.

The French, Spanish and English troops landed in Mexico 5 months earlier with the intention of collecting Mexican debt from the new democratic government under the presidential rule of Benito Juarez an Indian. The Spanish and English Troops collected their debts and left the country. However, the French under the rule of Emperor Napoleon III had other intentions and did not leave.

Emperor Napoleon III  brought over a Hapsburg prince, Maximilian,to rule the new Mexico. The French had not been defeated in over 50 years and proved not to be afraid of anyone. Since the United States was involved in its own civil war they did not pose a threat to Napoleon and the French army.

The French, armed with the finest modern war equipment, left from the Port of Vera Cruz and set out to destroy Mexico City. The French believed that if they conquered Mexico City that the rest of the country would surrender.

Texas native General Zaragosa ordered Colonel Diaz and his cavalry( considered the best in the world) to attack the French. The French in turn sent their men to chase Diaz. The French were destroyed by the superior cavalry. The remaining French soldiers charged the Mexican defenders through terrible rain and storms to face charging cattle and Indians armed with machetes. When the battle was over many French were killed or badly wounded and those left were being pursued by Diaz and his superb cavalry.

The Mexicans had WON a great victory!

That victory, kept Napoleon III from supplying the Confederate army with weapons for almost a year. This allowed the Union Soldiers to build up their army,which then allowed them to win the battle of Gettysburg just 14 months later, essentially ending the Civil War. 

Once the Civil War was ended,Union forces were then rushed to the Texan/Mexican boarder by lead of General Sheridan who supplied the Mexicans with all the weapons and ammunition it needed to fight the French. American soldiers were discharged of their uniforms and riffles if they would join the Mexican army to fight the French. Mexican and American  side by side defeated the French. The American League of Honor march in victory along with the Mexican Army in a Victory parade in Mexico City.

In gratitude, thousands of Mexicans crossed the border after Pearl Harbor to join the U. S. Armed Forces. Still today Mexicans remember the loyalty and help from the Americans during that war in 1862 and are willing to help America fight for its freedom at the possible cost of their own lives.

That is why “Cinco de Mayo” is such a celebration! It is a celebration about liberty and freedom. It is about two countries fighting side by side together since May 5th, 1862 to preserve the rights and freedoms both countries hold so dear.

Celebrate and remember your friends! Viva, el Cinco de Mayo! 

Hello or Hi                          Hola (oh-lah)

Good Morning                  Buenos dias  (Bway-nohs dee-ahs)

Good afternoon               Buenas tardes (bway-nohs tar-dehs)

Good Evening                   Buenas noches (bway-nahs no-chehs)

How’s it going?                ¿Como` te va? (Koh-moh tay vah?)

 What’s happening?     ¿Que` pasa? (Kay pah-sah?)

What’s going on?

You may also notice that we use bueno and buena. This has to do with the gender of the word it precedes. Ex: dias is masculine and tardes and noches are feminine. You use an o with masculine and an a with a feminine word.

When learning Spanish or any other language it is important to learn the basic pronunciation of the sounds. Let’s start from the beginning. Here is the basic Spanish alphabet and its pronunciation.

a -ah

b-bveh

c-seh

d-deh

e-eh

f-eh-feh

g-heh

h-ah-cheh

i-ee

j-Hoh-tah

k-kah

l-eh-leh

m-eh-meh

n-eh-neh

ñ-eh-nyeh

o-oh

p-peh

q-koo

r-eh-reh

s-eh-seh

t-teh

u-oo

v-bveh

w-doh-bleh bveh or in Spain oobveh doh-bveleh

x-eh-kees

y-ee gree eh-gah

z-seh-tah

Spanish also includes some double letters in its alphabet

ch-cheh

ll-ye

rr-a trilled r

Consonants tend to sound the same in English and Spanish.

There are some differences but that is for another lesson.

Below are a list of common Spanish sentences and phrases that can be helpful in an emergency situation.

• Will you help me?          ¿Me ayudas?(may eye-yoo-dahs?)
• Please Help!                        ¡Ayuda por favor!(eye-yoo-dah pohr fah-vohr!)
• What Happened?             ¿Que’ paso’?(kay pah-soh?)
• I don’t know.                       No sé .(noh say.)
• I can’t breathe.                  No puedo respirar.(noh poo-way-doh rehs-peer-ahr.)
• She needs a doctor.         Ella necista un doctor(ay-yah neh-seh-see-tah oon dok-tohr.)
• Where is a phone?           ¿Dónde hay un teléfono?(don-day eye oon tel-ay-foh-noh?)
• Where is a hospital?       ¿Dónde está el hospital?(don-day ehs-tah ehl ohs-pee-tahl?)
• I’ve just been robbed.    Alguien me robo’.(ahl-gee-ehn may ro-boh.)

Some additional words

• help                                           ayuda(eye-yoo-dah)
• health                                      la salud(lah sah-lood)
• pills                                           las pastillas(lahs pahs-tee-yahs)
• headache                                el dolor de cabeza(ehl doh-lohr dehl es-toh-mah-goh)
• stomachache                        el dolor del estómago(ehl doh-lohr dehl es-toh-mh-goh)
• cough                                        tos(tohs)
• an injury                                la herida(lah ehr-ee-dah)
• pain                                           la pena(lah pay-nah)
• infection                                 la infección(lah in fek-see-ohn)
• fever                                         la fiebre(lah fee-ay-bray)
• police                                        el policía(ehl poh-lee-see-ah)
• embassy                                  la embajada(lah em-bah-ha-dah)
• passport                                  el pasaporte(ehl pas-ah-pohr-tay)
• insurance                              el seguro(ehl say-gu-roh)
• throat                                      garganta(gahr-gahn-tah)
• blood                                         la sangre(lah sahn-gray)
• bone                                          el hueso(ehl oo-way-soh)
• body                                          el cuerpo(ehl koo-ehy-poh)
• heart                                        el corazón(ehl kor-ah-zohn)
• foot                                            pie(peeeh)
• leg                                              pierna(peeehr-nah)
• chest                                         pecho(peh-choh)
• arm                                           brazo(bvrah-soh)

Patrons of the Nashville Public Library can brush up on their skills for FREE  just with a computer and Internet access.

Mango Languages is a program that offers language lessons in Spanish, English, French, German, Mandarin, Chinese, and Italian.  The program uses real life situations and conversations that are most commonly used day to day. So, while listening and repeating you can pick up sentences and individual words of the language. This gives a base on which to build upon that leads to even more combinations of words and sentences that broaden your language skills.

Go to www.library.nashville.org/research/res_mango.asp or call 615-862-5800 for more information.

Interesting Note:

Anglicismos

In Spanish there are a few words that derive from English words, known as anglicismos.

Note the spelling of some of these words in Spanish:

beicon – bacon
pipermín – peppermint
parquin – parking
jipi – hippy
campin – camping
rosbif – roast beef
baipás – bypass
márquetin – marketing
bisnes – business

 

A few examples of idioms in English are:

to be” on the go”

to”play the filed”

to”jump the gun”

Spanish also has many idiomatic expressions. Some of those expression sound a little odd to us in English but makes perfect sense to a Spanish

Speaker. Some examples are below:

Idiom……………Hace mucho calor

Literally………..It makes much hot

True Meaning…It is very hot

There are many idiomatic expressions that use the verb tener.

Literally the verb Tener means ” to have”.

However, in these phrases it is translated more as ” to be”.

Some phrases express physical sensations and others psychologial in nature.

Some common examples are below:

Tener prisa ……………To be in a hurry

Tener celos…………….To be jealous

Tener calor…………….To be hot

Tener suerte…………..To be lucky

Tener hambre…………To be hungry

Unfortunately there is no easy way to understand idiomatic phrases. It comes with practice and memorization and just being around the language.

Look for another tip next month.