Authors: Julie Gutin
The Everything Spanish Grammar Book: All The Rules You Need To Master Espanol (Everything®) (37 page)
If your Spanish classes are conducted in Spanish, it’ll help to know some basic phrases as well. Here are a few to get you started:
¿Cómo se dice
grades
en castellano?
How do you say “grades” in Spanish?
Señor Blanco, ¿puede usted repetir su pregunta, por favor?
Mr. White, can you please repeat your question?
¿Cuándo tendremos el examen final?
When are we having the final exam?
No entiendo cómo conjugar el verbo “ser”. Explíquemelo, por
favor.
I don’t know how to conjugate the verb
ser.
Please explain it to me.
¿Podemos usar el diccionario durante la prueba?
Can we use the dictionary during the quiz?
¿Puedo ir al baño, por favor?
May I please go to the bathroom?
Eating Out
To practice your Spanish, try eating out at local restaurants that serve Spanish, Caribbean, or Mexican fare. Lots of students of Spanish enjoy going out to a Spanish tapas bar. And many others have forsworn the local Tex-Mex hangout in favor of authentic Mexican restaurants that serve dishes like
mole, chiles rellenos,
and
sopa de frijoles negros
(meat in chile sauce, stuffed peppers, and black bean soup).
QUESTION?
What are tapas?
Tapas are small appetizer-sized dishes like
aceitunas
(olives) or
jamón serrano
(Spanish cured ham) eaten instead of a main course. Tapas originated in southern Spain as bar snacks. Some say
tapa
comes from the word “to cover” because bartenders used to cover a glass with a little plate to keep flies away and eventually started adding a bit of food to the plate. Others say it comes from the phrase
tapar el apetito
(put a lid on the appetite).
When you’re out at a local burrito joint—or even if you’re at the only Peruvian restaurant in town—you can try ordering in Spanish and sticking to the Spanish side of the menu, but you can always fall back on English if necessary. But if you travel abroad, you may not have that luxury. Here are some common dishes you may encounter on the menu in Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, or anywhere else in the Spanish-speaking world.
On the Menu
| carta, menú | menu |
| antojito | appetizer |
| ensalada | salad |
| sopa | soup |
| caldo | broth |
| pescado | fish |
| mariscos | seafood |
| ave | poultry |
| carne | meat |
| salsa | sauce |
| legumbres | vegetables or legume |
| vegetales | green vegetables |
| pan | bread |
| postre | dessert |
| bebida | drink |
Common Menu Items
| ceviche | fish or seafood cured in lemon juice |
| empanada | savory stuffed pastry, usually with meat |
| chuleta | (pork) chop |
| bistec | (beef) steak |
| hígado | liver |
| salchicha | pork sausage |
| salpicón | cold non-vegetable salad (usually with seafood) |
| chorizo | pork sausage |
| lomo de cerdo | pork loin |
| tocino | salted pork |
| pozole | hominy stew |
| tortilla española | Spanish potato omelette |
| croqueta | croquette |
| mofongo | mashed plantains, often with seafood |
| al ajillo | in garlic sauce |
| al horno | baked |
| arroz con frijoles | rice and beans |
| paella | a saffron rice dish, usually prepared with seafood |
| arepa | corn pancake |
| tamales | corn patties, usually with minced meat |
| yucca | a root vegetable similar to a potato |
| tostones | savory fried plantains |
| maduros | sweet (ripe) fried plantains |
| arroz con leche | rice pudding |
| batido | milk shake |
| helado | ice cream |
| flan | custard |
| buñuelo | fritter |
| sangría | a mix of wine and fruit juices |
| café | coffee |
| agua | water |
| jugo | juice |
Even if you can’t figure out the name of the dish, you might get the general idea of the dish from the list of ingredients. Here is some vocabulary to help you along.
Meat, Poultry, and Fish
| carne de cerdo | pork |
| carne de res | beef |
| jamón | ham |
| cordero | lamb |
| ternera | veal |
| chivo | goat |
| pollo | chicken |
| pato | duck |
| pavo | turkey |
| bacalao | cod |
| atún | tuna |
| langosta | lobster |
| gamba | large shrimp |
| camarón | shrimp |
| calamar | squid, calamari |
| mejillón | mussel |
Fruits and Vegetables
| cebolla | onion |
| ajo | garlic |
| tomate | tomato |
| lechuga | lettuce |
| aguacate | avocado |
| papas | potatoes |
| maíz | corn |
| champiñón | mushroom |
| espinaca | spinach |
| coliflor | cauliflower |
| berenjena | eggplant |
| aceituna | olive |
| piña | pineapple |
| naranja | orange |
| manzana | apple |
| pomelo | grapefruit |
| uva | grape |
| fresa | strawberry |
| frambuesa | raspberry |
Other Ingredients
| arroz | rice |
| lenteja | lentil |
| huevo | egg |
| aceite | oil |
| vinagre | vinegar |
| mantequilla | butter |
| queso | cheese |
| leche | milk |
| crema | cream |
| azúcar | sugar |
| sal | salt |
| pimienta | pepper |
Looking for a Job
Traveling is good for your language skills, but an even better way to start speaking like the locals is to get a job in a Spanish-speaking country. If you’re in school and have the opportunity to spend a semester abroad, you can find an internship that will help you improve your professional skills and your foreign language. And if you’re out in the real world, there are many programs available to those interested in spending some time abroad. You can do volunteer work, teach English, or maybe even get a job in your career field.
Buscando empleo (Looking for a Job)
| empleo | job |
| curriculum profesional | resume |
| carta de acompañamiento | cover letter |
| habilidad | ability, skill |
| anuncio de trabajo | help-wanted ad |
| entrevista | interview |
| salario | salary, wages |
| jefe | boss |
Putting Together a Resume
If you’re serious about your job search, it’ll help to have a good resume. If you’ve already got one in English, you’ll have to change a few things, but the idea is the same. In your resume, include your name and address, date of birth, education, work experience, and skills.
Sample Resume
Datos personales
Nombre y apellido: Janet Morton
Lugar y fecha de nacimiento: San Francisco, 5 de abril de 1979
Dirección: 3 calle Main, #15, Boston, MA 01905
Teléfono: 617-555-1234
Formación
El Colegio San Bernardo, 1993-1997, calificación de notable.
Licenciado en Educación Bilingüe, UCLA, 1997-2001.
Idiomas
Castellano: leído, hablado, escrito y traducido (nivel alto).
Italiano: leído y hablado (nivel medio).
Informática
Microsoft Office, HTML
Experiencia profesional
Profesora del programa Inglés Como Segundo Idioma, escuela
de Boston. Septiembre de 2001-mayo de 2003.
Directora del programa Inglés Como Segundo Idioma, escuela
de Boston. Junio de 2003-el día presente.
As you can see, the first section should cover
datos person-ales
(personal information). In the United States, it is inappropriate for the employer to ask about your age, let alone expect you to list it on your resume. In Spain and in some parts of Latin America, however, indicating the
fecha de nacimiento
(date of birth)—as well as
lugar de nacimiento
(place of birth)—is still appropriate.
