Having a non-Spanish speaking friend visit is the best language training. After all, it was up to me to figure out how to communicate. Here are a few of the Spanish phrases that I hear all the time.
effectivo = “cash”
tres quarto = how I like my steak cooked
muy amable = “so kind”
a la orden = what the shopkeepers cry out to get your attention, and so much more. It’s like “sure” or “okay” as well.
listo = okay or “ready.”
But, just when I think I’m getting less baffled, I go to Carulla or Jumbo, and I can’t understand what the cashier is saying when they ask me if I have a membership card? At least now I understand them, I just don’t actually know what they are saying…
Soda (gaseosa) is similar to its English translation, in that what it’s called is highly regional (“bebida” in Chile; I haven’t quite figured out what to do when talking about general “drinks” either non- or alcoholic (the latter of which is tragos, but I wanted to say like, “something to drink whether it be sodas or alcohol or juice or frigging water,” oh well)). “Efectivo” is pretty universal in my experience. And they always ask “Tiene Club Lider?” at the Lider, so perhaps it’s something similar?
Thanks for the reminder about pop, soda, soft drink, etc. Here, they ask what I want to “tomar” so that seems easy enough now that I now it. In Carulla grocery store, they ask something about “….. puntos?” so I know that they are asking if I’ve got a club card, if not a “leader card.”
Poor piggies. After 23 years here, I still haven’t tried a cerdo lechal…
Wow. Keep up your fortitude! Wouldn’t want to break a record like that!