(pron. cwat-tee-ko)
*def. weird, exaggerated, curious, scandalous, shocking, funny
If you're wondering how this one word can mean ALL of these things, most of which are far from similar to one another...well, SO. AM. I.
Every time I meet someone new they inevitably ask me two questions: "Why Chile?" and "How are you getting along with Chilean spanish?" My response to the first is always "Well the Spanish immersion program at my school was in Chile, so here I am," and my response to the second is: "I thought I would be OK because I knew how to speak Spanish more or less before I came here, upon I arriving, however, I discovered that you all speak Chilean, which is NOT the same thing as Spanish... so I've had to start over and learn a lot." Then whoever I'm speaking to usually chuckles, nods his/her head a few times, and looks at me like a lost puppy (adorable, entertaining to play with, but you don't really have the time or energy to teach it all the tricks it needs to know). And so I soldier on, trying my hardest to remember to be patient with myself as I teach myself the linguistic tricks. Oy, what a pain in the arse this is at times!
You just called yourself adorable and entertaining. I noticed delusional wasn't one of the words...strange(cuática?)
ReplyDeleteMargie Sparkle--A little while ago you explained to me how your theory of learning a language had changed since you arrived in Chile and I asked you to write about it. I still think you should do that. It might help other people (me) work through their approach to language learning!
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