ON THE 15-MINUTE-A-DAY METHOD

I have been advocating the 15-minute-a-day method for language learning for years and am still backing it. As a matter of fact, only yesterday I suggested a student of mine try it. At first glance, it appears to be an easy task to take on but difficult to adhere to because this method, which totals 91 hours of study yearly, puts the student´s character to the test. It boils down to focusing on language study for fifteen minutes every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. I have challenged many of my students to do it, only to find that not one has been able to pursue this method for more than a month. Out of 24 hours, it would seem easy to set apart 15 minutes daily to accomplish a given task, but it isn´t. Given the nature of the brain, rituals are welcome but end up becoming boring, and boredom kills learning. I have not solved this drawback or glitch in the system, but I still believe in the 15-minute-a-day method for language learning and I am still giving the matter much thought.      

LANGUAGE AND ITS POSSIBILITIES

 

Language -any language- has a dearth of possibilities that man refuses to admit. We prefer to think that language is a limitless tool at our service. We may believe we can express our thoughts adequately using words but, unfortunately, language does not stretch that much. Feelings and emotions are hard to pin down with words, words whose meanings change in time, and with customs and conventions. There will always be a gap between what we are trying to convey and the words we actually use. Language is not a static entity so please do not be deceived, and remember that language is not a precision tool. 

NO PAIN, NO GAIN

 

We are all acquainted with the English expression "No pain, no gain" which is often found in gyms, even in Spanish gyms. But as hard as it may be to believe, due to the idiosyncrasy of the Hispanic character, Spanish has many such expressions. Not one, but many. Let me list some:

-Medicina que pica, cura (sana) 

-El que algo quiere, algo le cuesta 

-No hay atajo sin trabajo 

-No hay miel sin hiel 

-El que quiere celeste que le cueste 

-No hay barranco sin atranco 

-No hay vida sin fatiga 

-El que no se arriesga no gana 

-El que quiere marrones, que aguante tirones 

MAÑANA, MAÑANA...

 

A la mañana siguiente On the morning after

Pedro y yo hablamos a la mañana siguiente Peter and I spoke on the morning after

— “… fue encontrado muerto a la mañana siguiente.” Lorenzo García Vega, Los años de Orígenes, 1978. Cuba.

De (buena) mañana Early in the morning

Fuimos a patinar de buena mañana We went skating early in the morning

De la mañana AM (am)

Nos levantamos a las cinco de la mañana We got up at five am

De la noche a la mañana Overnight

Esto lo podemos hacer de la noche a la mañana We can do this overnight

— “Robert Hastings se hace rico de la noche a la mañana…” Domingo Ynduráin, Del clasicismo al 98, 2000. Esp.

Después de pasado mañana The day after tomorrow

Nos veremos después de pasado mañana We´ll meet the day after tomorrow

Hasta mañana See you tomorrow

Adiós, hasta mañana Goodbye, see you tomorrow

Mañana será otro día Tomorrow is another day, better luck tomorrow

Hoy has perdido, pero mañana será otro día You have lost today but better luck tomorrow

— “... el pueblo de Bolivia sabe que mañana será otro día.” Los Tiempos, 13/2/1997. Bol.

No dejes para mañana lo que puedas hacer hoy Don´t put off till tomorrow what you can do today

Hay que hacerlo ahora, no dejes para mañana lo que puedas hacer hoy We must do it now, don´t put off till tomorrow what you can do today

— “Lo que puedes hacer hoy, no lo dejes para mañana.” José Luis Martín Vigil, En defensa propia, 1985. Esp.

Pasado mañana Day after tomorrow

Nos veremos otra vez pasado mañana We´ll meet again the day after tomorrow

Por la mañana In the morning

Iré por la mañana temprano I´ll go early in the morning

ARTIFICIAL LANGUAGE IN FILMS

As you know, I champion original-language films to improve our second-language skills. In a recent post, I dealt with Netflix's House of Cards, and commented about it. However, I want to warn you not to be deceived. The language in films does not reflect the language it is in day-to-day living, in any country or any social class, or period in time. The dialogs actors mouth are the products of the imagination of scriptwriters who are the slaves of their culture, social background, education, and experience. This is important to bear in mind. You are not hearing native speakers ad-libbing in their normal social setting. That you will find when overhearing conversations on the subway of New York or the underground in London. See the difference?   

SPANIARDS, THAIS AND ENGLISH

Due to a gruesome crime perpetrated by a Spaniard upon a Colombian in Thailand, the Peninsular media have been dealing with this news daily for several weeks. Hundreds of journalists have been deployed to Bangkok to report the latest information on the incident, with videos and interviews with locals, and the Thai police handling the case. The input has been chaotic, contradictory, and misleading. Why? The glitch is language, the original languages are Spanish and Thai. Few Spaniards speak Siamese and even fewer Thais speak Spanish. So, they have been communicating in English. And chaos and a Chinese fire drill have set in. Spanish journalists have a shallow smattering of basic English while the locals have a passing very basic acquaintance with it. Both claim they speak the language but reality says otherwise. And the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I have witnessed on TV how a Spanish journalist asked a Thai policeman an incomprehensible question only to hear a nonsense response. It reminds me of the Bible and its dictum that when the blind lead the blind they both fall into the ditch. It would all be so much easier if, in this case, both parties ate a bit of humble pie and took some lessons, a lot of lessons, in order to improve their English. The linguistic Chinese fire drill could thus be avoided.            

PALABRAS OBSOLETAS

Los diccionarios levantan acta del vocabulario de una lengua. Una vez una palabra entra en la colección, ahí se queda, para bien o para mal, y aunque haya caído en desuso. Por ejemplo: "Colillero", que proviene de colilla de cigarrillo o puro, que es/era "persona que recoge colillas tiradas por otros" en el María Moliner y que para el DRAE es "persona que recoge por las calles, cafés, etc., las colillas que tiran los fumadores." Entra en Academia en 1899 con la misma definición. No entro en comentar las dos definiciones, que son mejorables, pero sí me pregunto qué hace esa palabra en el diccionario. La última vez que aparece en el CREA fue en 1986, escrita por Francisco Umbral: "Yo soy un colillero que ando por los bares y los ceniceros buscando colillas..." ("Sólo fumadores", El Mundo, 30/10/1986.) Nótese que Umbral ya tuvo que definir la palabra en ese momento, por si acaso sus lectores ya no sabían su significado. ¿Qué hace en los diccionarios? Ya no existe la profesión de colillero, que recogía colillas para revender el tabaco. Ya casi ni existen fumadores. La palabra ha muerto porque la economía ha mejorado. También porque la sociedad está más concienciada sobre la salud y sabe que chupar las babas de los demás no es recomendable. Ahora los "colilleros" son artilugios en la vía publica para que los fumadores apaguen y depositen las colillas. Pero ni María Moliner ni la Academia lo saben.    

FILMS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING

Of late, and at my daughter Laura´s behest, I have been watching Netflix´s House of Cards. Wags have it that the stuff found on this platform is superb entertainment. I have access thanks to my daughter Lorraine´s charitable offer to admit me to her channel, again at her behest. I am sold on the virtues of the Internet for language learning. Online you can find just about everything, and plenty of tools, to aid and guide you in your foreign-language acquisition. Watching films in the original language is an activity I highly recommend. However, last night, watching another episode of House of Cards, I was intrigued by the language used by the politicians involved. The scriptwriters make a tour de force to instill the dialog with witticisms, puns, proverbs, sayings, and funny linguistic sleight of hands, quick and brisk, which, to me and in the end, sound faux. People, not even politicians, talk like that. So witty, so clever, so quick on the draw, so swift in the funny retort, all make us doubt that this is a reflection of any type of reality. And then, to make it worse, actors mumble and whisper to themselves. They seem to forget that there is an audience out there that needs to understand what is going on. The congressman-turned-vice president speaks funny. Is it because he is faking a Southern accent? Then, why am I writing about this? Because I still urge you to watch original-language films, by all means, but the right ones. Watch films where actors speak distinctly and clearly and where the dialog is true to the realities of language. Robert McKee in an interview says that American actors are hard to understand, and he knows a thing or two about the film industry.    

ESTUDIAR Y SUS CONNOTACIONES

 

El verbo estudiar, étudier, estudar, studieren, to study, studiare, es una especie de verbo maldito, anatema en las mentes de la gente corriente, para todos: niños, jóvenes, maduros y viejos, a los que la palabra trae a la memoria la época de estudiantes –gente que estudia-, los profesores agrios, repelentes y maleducados que nos amenazaban con exámenes, con malas notas, con expulsiones de clase, con decírselo a nuestros padres… y nos decían cada dos por tres que debíamos estudiar y no lo hacíamos.

El verbo anatema proviene del latín studium que equivale a studere que significa ocuparse en, dedicarse a, concentrarse en. A la vista de esto propongo que cambiemos ese verbo por otro u otros: aprender y concentrarse. Y propongo más: para aprender no hace falta estudiar. No es necesario poner los codos sobre una mesa. No es esencial encerrarse en un cuartucho como monje enclaustrado. Para aprender sólo necesitamos aprender: retener en la mente lo que sea, almacenarlo en la memoria y poder usarlo cuando queramos. Y eso se puede conseguir dando un paseo, echando una rápida mirada a una frase o párrafo, oyendo un nombre o número de teléfono por fugazmente que sea, escribiendo algo o, mejor aun, haciendo un esfuerzo consciente y extremo para almacenar aquello que queremos recordar o retener en la memoria.

Dejemos, pues, de estudiar y comencemos a concentrarnos.

LABOR

 

Be (go into) in labor Estar (ponerse) de parto

John´s wife is in labor in the hospital La mujer de Juan está de parto en el hospital

— “I always knew that the most important moments to capture in this project would be when Jeanette went into labor and gave birth.” Mary Ellen Mark, Mary Ellen Mark: Exposure, 2005. US. 

Forced (hard) labor Trabajos forzados

He was sentenced to 50 years of hard labor

Labor of love Trabajo de amor

This embroidery is a true labor of love Este bordado es un verdadero trabajo de amor

— “This book was a labor of love, and lots of people were part of the effort.” John C. Perry, Myths and Realities of American Slavery…, 2003. US. 

Labor pains Dolores de parto

She´s shouting; I guess she´s in labor pains Está gritando; presumo que tiene dolores de parto

— “The contractions of the uterus produce normal labor pains.” Daniel Limmer et al., Emmergency Care, 2002. US.

Labor under difficulties Trabajar en condiciones difíciles

This pandemic forces us to labor under great difficulties Esta pandemia nos obliga a trabajar en condiciones muy difíciles

— “He told them that the colonists had long labored under difficulties and hardships by debts contracted in the Indian…” Edward McCrady, The History of South Carolina…, 2008. US.

Parts and labor Piezas y mano de obra

I must charge parts and labor Debo cobrar piezas y mano de obra

— “No administrative charge shall be imposed if the total estimated cost of parts and labor is one hundred dollars or less.” Statutes of California, vol. 3, 5252. US.

The fruit of one´s labor El resultado (fruto) del trabajo de uno

The Gold Medal is the fruit of my labor La medalla de oro es el resultado de mi trabajo

— “It takes self-control to apply the effort to a field that is not immediately producing and patience awaiting the fruit of his labor to materialize.” AI L. Holloway, The Fruit of the Spirit…, 2008. US.

MILL

 

A mill cannot grind with the water that is past Agua pasada no muele molino

Forget what happened yesterday, a mill cannot grind with the water that is past Olvídate de lo que pasó ayer porque agua pasada no muele molino

— “The mill cannot gridn with the water that is past, as the old people in the mountains used to say.” G. Richards, Red Kill, 1980. UK.

Draw water to one´s mill Arrimar el ascua a la sardina de uno

In this deal, Robert is drawing water to his mill, naturally En este acuerdo, Roberto arrima el ascua a su sardina, naturalmente

Go through the mill (hell, fire and water, hell and high water) Pasarlas negras (canutas, las de Caín, moradas, por la calle de la amargura)

Let me tell you, I´ve gone through the mill in jail Deja que te cuente, las he pasado canutas en la cárcel

— “... they are good enough. However, they have to realise that experience counts and you have to go through the mill.” Cape Times, Africa - 17 Jul 2003. S. Afr.

Put through the mill (wringer) Poner a parir, hacérselas pasar canutas a alguien, hacerle pasar a uno las de Caín, dar un rapapolvo

They put me through the mill in that office and that´s why I quit Me las hicieron pasar canutas en esa oficina y por eso me fui

— “But these journalists have been put through the mill during their battle with Campbell - and some of the most gruelling pressure has come from their employer.” Independent, 14 Jul 2003. UK.

Run-of-the-mill Del montón, de poca monta, común y corriente, corriente y moliente

I saw a run-of-the-mill action movie Vi una película de acción del montón

— “According to the accepted view, run-of-the-mill artists should be taught to know their place and be left to their own devices.” Josephh Agassi et al., A Critical Rationalist Aesthetics, 2008. US. 

The mills of God grind slowly but they grind exceedingly fine Dios no paga al contado, pero todo lo que debe queda saldado, Dios retarda la justicia, pero no la olvida

Sooner or later Robert will be punished; remember that the mills of God grind slowly but they grind exceedingly fine Más pronto o más tarde Roberto recibirá su castigo; recuerda que Dios retarda la justicia pero no la olvida

— “The mills of God grind slowly. This expression means that although retribution may be delayed, it is sure to overtake the wicked. It comes from the Adages of Erasmus.”Mark Elvins, Catholic Trivia, 2002. US.