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When traveling in Latin America, it is sometimes useful to know all the ways you might be addressed by a local.  I mean, you don’t want someone to refer to you as something and not know what it means, right?  Different countries have different names that they call foreigners, but there are a few ‘universal’ terms.  Here’s a quick lesson on all names gringo.

First and foremost, gringo is going to be the most popular name you come across.  Gringo originally comes from the days of the Mexican-American War.  The Americans wore green uniforms, and the Mexicans wanted them to get out of their territory, so they would shout ‘Green Go!’– and voilá!  Gringo!  Pretty neat, huh?  Since then, however, gringo has become a name that is used to refer to North American and European foreigners, despite the origin of the word.

Secondly, huero/a or guero/a is a popular name used to refer to white-skinned, blonde foreigners in Mexico.  However, their perception of what is blonde is a little different from that of what you might be used to.  Blonde means pretty much anything lighter than dark brown.  So if you have hair lighter than dark brown, you can expect to be called a huero/a or guero/a.

Next up, blanco/a.  This pretty much follows the same rules as huero/a and guero/a– refers to white people, but what you consider a white person might be a little different.  If you have even the slightest bit of a pale-ish complexion, you will probably be referred to as blanco/a.

Finally, yanqui.  This is a term used mainly for Americans in Argentina, but we’ve heard it’s used elsewhere, too.  It’s pronounced ’shankee,’ but is their own version of our yankee.  Apparently all Americans are Yankees.  This term is only used in Argentina, though, but you can expect to be called this all the time.

Alright, so there are have it!  Don’t be offended if you are referred to by any of these names– for the most part, they aren’t derogatory, unless they are said in such a manner.

There is a Bueno, entonces… class that includes some information on gringo-terminology, too– see, we’ve covered all important topics!  To check out the program, take a look at the Bueno, entonces… learn Spanish Youtube page, where you can see clips of the Spanish classes. Become a fan on Facebook to learn useful Spanish phrases, get cool info about what’s going on in the Spanish-speaking world, and save $50 off the program!

Mini Lesson Argentina, Latin Culture, learn Spanish, Slang

You’ve probably heard that the Latino culture is very, very machista.  Meaning it is excessively masculine.  Some people like this aspect of the culture, others don’t– Example: The machismo mentality means that chivalry is still very much alive.  However, it also means that the men are more aggressive and over-bearing.  Hm.  Tough call.  As things become more globalized, the machista culture is slowly evolving into something slightly less machista.  The language, however, is not making any changes at all.

Unlike in English, Spanish nouns all have genders– they are either masculino or femenino (el boleto, la mesa). Because of the masculine nature of Latin languages, the masculino form is always the dominant one.  For example:  If there is a large group of all males, you would refer to them as ellos (the masculine form of ‘them’).  If there is a large group of all females, you would refer to them as ellas (the feminine form of ‘them’).  However, if there is a mixture of men and women–even if there are one million women and one man, the group would need to be referred to as ellos.  Now how unfair is that?

A tricky part about the gender in Spanish is that there isn’t too much rhyme or reason to it– you just have to learn as you go along.  Example: A dress is a garment typically worn by a female.  So it should be a feminine noun, right?  Wrong. El vestido is masculine.  Native speakers are raised with this concept of everything being masculine or feminine, so a lot of them find it unusual that native English speakers have no such concept at all.  For us, gender is typically genitalia-related.  For them, gender is part of absolutely anything.  No worries, though, you’ll pick it up with time.

In fact, we’ve got a whole class in Bueno, entonces… devoted to the genders and masculinity of Spanish–such a major theme in the language that a full class is well worth it.  Check out the Bueno, entonces… Youtube page to see some clips of our Spanish lessons and get an idea of what our teaching method is all about (think Rosetta Stone meets South Park).  It is fast-paced, colloquially-based, and absolutely hilarious.  Oh, and you will actually learn how to SPEAK Spanish by the end.  The whole series is over 18 hours and is available on DVD or as a download for your computer, iPod, or iPhone–all for as low as $147!  Take a look at our learn Spanish site and let us know what you think!

Mini Lesson Latin Culture, Spanish grammar

WARNING: NSFW MATERIAL AHEAD.

A quick note before you continue: if you are easily offended or do not like foul language, don’t bother reading on.  Bueno, entonces… sees learning a language as something that should be fun, entertaining, and useful.  This means that we are willing to teach you things that you might hear on the street, but wouldn’t read in a text book.  If you don’t like our method of teaching, it’s probably best you go learn language from a more formal program like Rosetta Stone.

Okay, onto today’s lesson!

Surely you’ve noticed that we tend to focus on Argentine lunfardo (slang), piropos (pick-up lines), and insultos (insults).  Well, if you 1) don’t plan on going to Argentina anytime soon, 2) are interested in the slang of other countries, or 3) don’t really give a crap either way, today’s your lucky day!  We are going to teach you some of our favorite insultos and slang from various Spanish-speaking countries, so here it goes!

Chupame el pico (Chile) = Suck my dick

Dejáte de güear (Chile) = Stop f*cking around

Malparido (Colombia) = Waste of life (badly born)

Jalame el hule (Costa Rica) = Leave me alone (pull my rubber)

Malfallao (Spain) = Tightass (poorly f*cked)

Araña (Mexico) = Hoochie Mama (spider)

Lameculos (Spain) = Brown-noser (ass-licker)

Hijo de la Verga (Mexico) = Son of a Cock

Alright, so this obviously doesn’t cover all the countries, nor all the necessary phrases, but it at least gives you a bit of a base.  A really useful site for slang is Urban Dictionary (yes, even for Spanish slang), so it might be worth checking if you want to learn a little more about insultos and various slang.  And let us know if you have any others you’d like to add to the list!

Isn’t this a good way to learn Spanish?  1) fun, 2) entertaining, and 3) useful.  What more could you want?  Plus, you’re way more likely to remember and use this stuff than, say, a worksheet of formal conjugations.  If you want to learn more about the Bueno, entonces… program, check out our language learning software website!  We offer over 18 hours of classes that are available on DVD or as a download for your computer, iPod, or iPhone.  And you can get the whole series for as low as $147 - if you’re a Facebook Fan, you get it for $97 (and you’ll learn tons of useful Spanish phrases while you’re at it)!

Culture/News, Mini Lesson Colombia, Costa Rica, Insultos, Latin Culture, Mexico, Slang, Spain

When learning a language, cognates become your best amigo. What are cognates? Cognates are words that have the same meaning, and look the same in two different languages. Examples: Alcohol = Alcohol, Falso = False, Ofender = Offend… you get the idea. Now, all is good and fun with these cognates until they become your amigo falso (false friend).

Amigos falsos, or what we like to call cog-nots, are words in Spanish that look like an English word, but actually mean something completely different. Example: Carpeta doesn’t mean carpet, it mean’s folder. They’re nasty little words that no one likes, but you’re just going to have to learn to deal with them. Here, we will give you fair warning of a few amigos falsos that you might come across in your Spanish studies.

First and foremost, one of the most common amigos falsos that is notorious for causing embarrassment is… well, embarazada. Estoy embarazada, more specifically. I am embarrassed? Nope. Embarazada actually means pregnant, so when you exclaim that you are ‘so embarazada,’ for something you just did, you’re really just making things worse for yourself.

Secondly, estoy excitado/a does not mean that you are excited. Well, it somewhat does, but in Spanish, excitado/a is typically associated with sexual excitement rather than regular excitement. Instead, you might want to say estoy emocionado/a.

Here are a couple other amigos falsos to be aware of:

Sensible = Sensitive, sensible

Éxito = Success, exit

Actual = Current, actual

Assistir = To Attend, assist

Atender = To Serve/ To Take Care Of, attend

… And the list goes on…

There are loads of amigos falsos in Spanish, but you will learn them as you come across them in your studies. Don’t be too worried about them now, though. Just make sure you’re aware that cognates can also be cog-nots!

To check out David and Jimena’s conversation about amigos falsos, along with the rest of the program, visit the Bueno, entonces…learn Spanish website and become a fan on Facebook to learn useful Spanish phrases. Want to see clips of our Spanish classes to see how they’re set up? Check out our Youtube page!

Mini Lesson Spanish vocabulary

So there’s many ways to woo, but our favorite is through the art of piropos (pick-up lines).  Here, we provide you with yet another piropo to woo the crowds:

Si la felicidad es agua y el amor es fuego, ¡Como me gustaría ser tu bombero!

Alright, so the literal translation for this one is If happiness is water, and love is fire, how I would love to be your fireman! Are you weak in the knees yet?

The form of the verb gustaría might be in a form that you are not familiar with.  This form is called the condicional (conditional), or sometimes referred to as the futuro hipotético (hypothetical future).  It is primarily used in two different situations:

First, the condicional tense is used when asking a formal request.  For example, ¿Me prestarías una lapicera? (Would you lend me a pen?).  You also use the condicional for simple things like ordering a coffee in a café– a safe way to be sure you are not being rude when asking anyone outside your circle of friends for a favor.

Second, the futuro hipotético is used when referring to a ‘would be’ situation.  For example, ¡Como me gustaría ser tu bombero! (Again, how I would love to be your fireman!)  In this situation, you are referring to something in the future that you could or could not happen– it’s all hypothetical.

So there you have it– go out and find your next victi–erm, potential soulmate.

Here at Bueno, entonces… we love piropos to help us learn Spanish, because 1) they keep our loves lives thriving, and 2) they are entertaining, and therefore easier to remember.  Let us know if you have any other favorite tools you use to learn or remember Spanish, or just let us know if you have any comments or suggestions for the blog. You can check out more clips from each Spanish class on Youtube, or become a fan on our Facebook Page and learn some useful Spanish phrases!

Mini Lesson Funny, learn Spanish, Piropos, Slang

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Here’s a trabalenguas (tongue-twister) to challenge your pronunciation skills: Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal en tres tristes trastos.
 En tres tristes trastos tragaban trigo tres tristes tigres.

Now, what could that jumble of words possibly mean? Let’s break it down…

Tres tristes tigres = three sad tigers. Alright, that’s easy enough.

Tragaban comes from the verb tragar, which means to swallow. Tragaban is in the past tense form of ‘them’ (referring to the tigers). What do they swallowed? They swallowed trigo, which is wheat.

Okay, so far we have three sad tigers swallowing wheat.  Continuing on: en un trigal means in a wheat field (trigo. trigal. See the connection?).

And finally, en tres tristes trastos—in three sad dishes. Whew.

The second bit of the trabalenguas is the same phrase, but reversed, so we aren’t going to bother with another translation.

Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal en tres tristes trastos. 
En tres tristes trastos tragaban trigo tres tristes tigres.

Try saying that one ten times fast!

Want to really improve your Spanish pronunciation? Get your hands on Bueno, entonces…Learn Spanish and you could be speaking conversation Spanish in just five weeks! Check out more clips of each individual Spanish class on our Youtube Page.

Facebook Fans also get $50 off. Um, SWEET. And you’ll also learn hilarious Spanish phrases and pick-up lines. EXTRA SWEET.

Are you a Bueno, entonces… fan yet?

Mini Lesson learn Spanish, Mini Lesson, Spanish pronunciation

La Barra Brava in Argentina is what we like to call hooligans. This term pretty much always goes hand-in-hand with fútbol (soccer) fans, as they are undoubtedly the rowdiest group in the country. When translated, barra brava means wild or fierce bar or block, but hooligans is really the only term we commonly use in English to describe a group like this. In some Spanish-speaking countries this term doesn’t really exist, but rather hinchada or varying slang, depending on the country.

The Barra Brava is the rowdiest subgroup of an hincha for any given team. Hincha is a term meaning group of fans (you could use the term fan club, but that sounds a little too much like boy-crazy teenagers). To say you are a fan of something, you could say soy fanático de… or soy hincha de… Hincha is more commonly used for sports or specific teams, while fanático is used for almost everything else.

Another use of the word hincha is when referring to the group of fans as a whole, such as la hinchada de Boca es muy grande (the group of fans for Boca is very large). Hincha is not used in all Spanish-speaking countries, or at least not in this way. The word hincha comes from the verb hinchar, which literally means to swell or blow up. A swollen ankle, which is often seen in the fútbol world, is a tobillo hinchado. So you might hear of the word in other countries, but they won’t know what you’re talking about if you say you are hincha de River.

Other important terms for fútbol include:

Cancha (not to be confused with concha, as seen in the post ‘La C*ncha y La Kama Sutra’) = Field (for sports)

Estadio = Stadium

Partido = Game or Match (for sports)

Equipo = Team

There you have it. Want to check out more from Bueno, entonces…? Check out the rest of our blog posts and you can compile your own Spanish dictionary of terms - and head to our Facebook to learn useful Spanish phrases. Our language learning software is super unique and formatted to work on almost anything with a screen!

Culture/News, Mini Lesson Latin Culture, Slang, Spanish vocabulary

In the Spanish language, diminutives and augmentatives are common to hear in everyday conversations. In fact, they are so common that you probably hear them in every sentence spoken.

What are diminutives and augmentatives? They are word endings that can be linked to a word to make it seem smaller or larger. Examples: -cito/a, -ito/a (as in panCITO, casITA,) or -ón/ona (as in huevón, llorONA).

The diminutive form is more commonly used, but you will hear the augmentatives used on occasion, although most often when the augmentative form is used, the meaning of the word changes (huevo means egg, but huevón most often will be used as a slang word for idiot, although it’s not as common in Argentina as in Chile or Colombia).

In English, diminutives aren’t as common, and closest thing we have to it would be something that resembles baby-talk (fishy, daddy, horsey, etc…) or adding ‘little’ before a noun. But really, that doesn’t do the diminutives in Spanish any justice. A lot of people are reluctant to use too many -itos and -itas, because it feels a little… cutesy, but in Spanish, it doesn’t give off that vibe at all.

Diminutives can also be used as a term of endearment—you might have heard people call each other by Pablito or Lucita. Sometimes these are names that an individual was referred to as a kid, and it just stuck with them, but a lot of the time it is used in any given conversation as a term of endearment (In English, it’d be something like Maggie for Margaret, or Robby for Robert). Dónde está Pablito? (Where is little Pablo?) Or Pobre Lucita, está enferma (Poor little Lucia, she’s sick.)

Now get out there and cutesy-fy some palabritas (er..word-ies?)!

Spanish is really fun when it comes to being creative - the slang terms and -itos/-itas/-ons are just the beginning. Start Bueno, entonces…Learn Spanish now and you’ll be speaking and understanding native Spanish in just five weeks! We also have clips of our Spanish classes on Youtube - go check ‘em out and get a taste of our style.

Mini Lesson learn Spanish, Spanish grammar

We all love piropos (pick-up lines), and, like insults, you can never have too many at your disposal, which is why we are posting yet another one to woo the crowds.

Here’s one for the romantics: La única flor que le falta a mi jardín es tu flor de poronga. Now practice saying it a few times. It sounds charming, doesn’t it?

Well, turns out that this pick-up line about flowers and a garden is pretty deceiving. The direction translation is:

The only flower missing from my garden is the flower of your penis.

Ahem. We don’t know if this line has ever worked for anyone, but it’s probably not worth trying. Nonetheless, it is well worth a Spanish lesson, so let’s get on with it!

This phrase is interesting for a couple reasons:

1) Did you read the translation? That’s interesting enough.

2) The noun flor (flower) looks as though it should be masculine (doesn’t end in ‘a’), but in fact, it is actually feminine. And,

3) The term le falta might have thrown you off. Don’t worry, it isn’t an easy concept. In order to break down the meaning of le falta, we need to look at the phrase:

“la única flor que le falta a mi jardín.”

Faltar means to be lacking something—in this case, the garden is lacking the flower of your penis. Instead of saying ‘the only flower that my garden lacks,’ the word order changes a bit, and the word for ‘lacks’ comes before ‘garden’.

The ‘a’ in falta a mi jardín is what connects the two parts of the phrase—first the action, and then who (or what) receives the action.

Lastly, the ‘le‘ in le falta refers to the garden—the garden is lacking something. It is an indirect pronoun that can mean him/her/it (or in this case, the garden). The ‘a mi jardín’ is only there to specify, as there is no prior context to the phrase, but if there had been context, a simple ‘le falta‘ would’ve been just fine.

Whew, exhausted yet? Don’t worry, that was like Spanish Levels I, II, and III in about 5 minutes. With Bueno, entonces…Learn Spanish, you’ll watch David (our protagonist) goes from “Hola” to picking up local girls (or at least, attempting to.) Become a fan on our Facebook Page and learn cool Spanish phrases - and check out our Youtube Page for clips of our Spanish classes, too!

Mini Lesson, Random Funny, learn Spanish, Mini Lesson

Interesting Fact: Not all authorities agree on which letters make up the Spanish alphabet. Crazy, right? This here is the closest thing to an official Spanish alphabet (from the Real Academia Español. )
A: a
B: be
C: ce
CH: che
D: de
E: e
F: efe
G: ge
H: hache
I: i
J: jota
K: ka
L: ele
LL: elle
M: eme
N: ene
Ñ: eñe
O: o
P: pe
Q: cu
R: ere
S: ese
T: te
U: u
V: ve
W: uve doble
X: equis
Y: i griega (E griega)
Z: zeta

Want to hear the words? Check out this great site that has the Spanish alphabet audio clips. Yup, they don’t include the ‘ch’ or ‘ll’ on that site. Because sometimes they take those ones out. Or they add ‘rr’. And sometimes the ‘w’ is called ‘doble v’ or ‘doble u’ or ‘w’ is not included at all. Oh yeah, and the ‘v’ (as in Victor) is sometimes ‘uve’.

Come on Spanish, get your act together.

To find out more about Spanish grammar, check out Bueno, entonces…Learn Spanish and speak and understand native Spanish in five weeks! (You can also check out clips from our Spanish classes on Youtube!)

Mini Lesson Mini Lesson, Spanish grammar