Free Spanish Lesson 40. Getting around in Latin America

Cuando pide direcciones a la gente in a Latin Ame rican country, if they know where your destination is, tiene suerte and they will give you directions like those found in the “Locations” section of our Level I Spanish Course.

However, si no saben, they usually won’t let you know that they don’t know. They will instead say, “Está por allí”. Then they’ll usually wave their arm and point to some lugar indefinido. If this happends to you, it should be a quick red flag que la persona isn’t quite sure where the place is. If this happens and especially si está de pie, be sure to ask at least 3 to 4 people where the place is as you get closer a su destino; eventually you’ll get there. I can’t tell you cuántas veces this happened to me when I lived in Latin America.

Like the U.S., where many of us men don’t no queremos pararnos and ask for directions (it’s kind of a pride thing because we’d have to admit que en verdad we didn’t know where we were going), in Latin America many men act similarly y no quieren admitir that they don’t know where a certain destino is. Por supuesto, in both cultures, hay mujeres that do the same thing, but generally us men are the most guilty.

Now back to our original scenario. Vamos a decir que you want show off your newly acquired Spanish, and ask where the “Vásquez Building” is, so you say, “¿Dónde está el edificio Vasquez?” And, let’s say that the person knows exactly donde está and rattles off some long description in Spanish y no tiene idea de lo que dijo. What should you do?

Acabo de hablar con una vecina last week who had an experience just like that. She was in Latin America con su jefa representing an adoption agency last month. They had to get to a certain building and she said, “¿Dónde está . . .” Her boss was so impressed that she knew Spanish, and after a lengthy description, the boss said, “Bueno, ¿Qué dijo?”. She said, “¡No tengo la menor idea!”; they both laughed. She ended up calling me last week y ahora quiere comprar our course which has 13 major conversation sections, incluyendo a great locations section, so she can communicate better in Spanish and work through almost any situation.

Si alguno de ustedes ha tenido similar experiences, please let us know; we’d love to hear about them. Also, if any of you native speakers out there tiene más para agregar a this topic, please feel free to write in. Nos encantaría to hear from you.

Side Note: In Latin American millas are not used when speaking about direcciones o distancias. Instead of miles, se usan kilómetros. For your information, una milla equals approximately 1.6 kilometers. So, si tiene que manejar 30 millas, that would be equivalent to 48 kilometers. And, if you drive at 65 millas por hora that is the same as 104 kilometers per hour!

Vocabulario de la semana – Vocabulary of the Week

cuando pide direcciones a la gente – when you ask people for directions.

tiene suerte – you’re in luck

si no saben – if they don’t know

está por allí – it’s over there

lugar indefinido – indefinite place

que la persona – that the person

si está de pie – if you’re on foot

a su destino – to your destination

cuántas veces – how many times

no queremos pararnos – (we) don’t want to stop

que en verdad – that really (truly)

y no quieren admitir – and they don’t want to admit

por supuesto – of course

hay mujeres – there are women

vamos a decir que – let’s say that

¿Dónde está el edificio Vásquez? – Where is the Vásquez bui lding?

donde está – where it is

y no tiene idea de lo que dijo – and you have no idea what they said

acabo de hablar con una vecina – I just talked to a neighbor

con su jefa – with her boss (feminine)

¿Dónde está . . . – Where is…?

Bueno, ¿Qué dijo? – Well, what did he say?

¡No tengo la menor idea! – I have no idea

y ahora quiere comprar – and now she wants to buy

incluyendo – including

si alguno de ustedes ha tenido – if any of you have had

tiene más para agregar a – have more to add to

nos encantaría – we would love

millas – miles

direcciones – directions

o – or

distancias – distances

se usan kilómetros – kilometers are used

una milla – one mile

si tiene que manejar 30 millas – if you have to drive 30 miles

millas por hora – miles per hour

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Written by David S. Clark – President of Visual Link Spanish who says…

¡Qué le vaya bien! (May everything go well for you!)

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.