So, I had always known a bit about Catalan ("c" and "s" are pronounced "th"; double "l" is pronounced hard "j", "b" is "v", final "s" sometimes swallowed, etc......perfect example, the golfer Villegas is pronounced buh-JAY-guh or buh-JAY-gus).
I thought that was it.
NOT SO. This is a completely different language. Castilian Spanish and Catalan are as different as Spanish and Italian. Many signs and menus are in two languages (not, to my dismay, English and Spanish...but Spanish and Catalan).
So that was the first surprise. The second is the true realization about the whole "th" thing. Yes, I always heard that "Barthelona" was the way to pronounce it. I just never processed it completely, but here's the fact: the way to pronounce things correctly here is to insert a lithsp into your speech, a la Thindy Brady.
The first day or two, this was very hard for me to do. It just felt foolish. Now "Muchath grathia" is just as natural as boobs on the beach. Uno, doth, treth, quatro, thinko, theis, theite, ocho, nueve, dieth, on-the, do-the, tre-the, etc.....almost every number is affected, which definitely affects the mental processing of amounts of checks at restaurants or bets at the poker table.
The good news is that, 3 days in, I am definitely getting more comfortable in communicating! Hopefully, I'll continue to improve.
Adioth ya'll.
(tomorrow: my thoughts on female toplessness)
-S
Scotteh great blogging. Looks like ur totally immersing youself in the culture, language, and boobs of Spain. Ha ha. My experience has been those that should show their boobs don't and those that should not do. How's that working for u? Live, laugh, and love life. Keep on blogging babe. Della
ReplyDeleteDella--you posted successfully. Technology be damned!
ReplyDeleteMy prior brief experience to topless beaches (Costa Rica, Playa Del Carmen, Austin) suggests that your theory about boob quality is right.
Here, luckily, that is not the case. At all. Nuff said.
-S
Della is spot on with foreign toplessness.
ReplyDelete