I have quite a bit of exposure to Spanish (the Tex-Mex variety), but have only actually studied it for a single semester. Due to my experience with Latin, French and Italian, I can understand a bit, particularly when I see it written, but not enough to follow a conversation. As far as speaking Spanish, I am limited to only a very few words and phrases.
On my job I take a lot of calls from customers who will ask, right off the bat, to be connected to someone who speaks Spanish. Since we only have one person in our office who does speak the language, and she is usually on another line when these requests are made, I often (about 75% of the time) ask the customer if they’d like to try explaining their questions to me in English. Almost invariably, I have no trouble understanding them.
So with this context, how would I say the following in Spanish:
“Your English is much better than my Spanish”
I want it to be polite and understandable, but sufficiently mangled grammatically as to make the point that I’m really not kidding, and they are truly better off continuing the conversation in English. I should also point out that the Spanish speakers who call us are not just from the US-Mexico border region – we get callers from Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and Spain. Therefore colloquialisms are best avoided.
Kind of a tall order, I know, but does anyone have a suggestion?
Well, straight up translated, it’d be “Su inglés es mucho mejor que mi español.”
There all sorts of ways to screw with it. I kinda like “Su inglés siendo muy mejor que me español”, which is “Your English being very better than me Spanish.” That sentence has a couple of fundamental grammar errors, of the sort that someone comfortable with the language would never make.
Thank you kindly, Bambi Hassenpfeffer (and that’s a fabulous user name, BTW). I’ll give it a try. I’ll also be sure to put as much “gringo” into it as possible.
Since it doesn’t appear that any native speakers have offered advice, I’ll give it a try. I wouldn’t translate it so literally, and would say something like this:
*
Usted puede hablar ingles mejor que puedo hablar espanol.*
You can speak English better than I can speak Spanish.
-or-
Usted sabe hablar englis mejor gue puedo hablar espanol*.
You know how to speak English better than I can speak Spanish.
I’m not certain, but I think “your English” is idiomatic to English and might not sound quite right in Spanish.
You’re right that I am not a native speaker, but I am often mistaken for one. Usually, they tell me I sound Cuban, but I’m not sure why.
Google up “mi inglés es” and you’ll see it’s used quite often – usually as “Mi inglés es bastante malo / terrible / tan básico”. In addition, Kizarvexius specifically asked for a phrase that would show that his Spanish is not usable conversationally while at the same time encouraging the caller to try his English, so if it sounds unnatural in Spanish (which IMHO it doesn’t), that’s actually an advantage.
I wouldn’t necessarily regard that as a good thing. I tell people I can speak and understand Spanish, but not Panamanian.
I think this is the first thread I’ve seen on how to speak bad Spanish. I’m surprised more people haven’t chimed in. We have a number of experts on that subject on the board.
Well, it’s a good thing in Tampa. The silly vast majority of my local hispanohablantes are Cuban in origin, followed closely by Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. Most of the people who have told me I sound Cuban were in fact Cuban themselves, so I’ve always taken it as a compliment. My problem now is one of vocabulary. I’m comfortable with the stuff I use every single day, but it’s mostly work-related. Small talk, sports, things like that? Less comfortable. Maybe I’ll just move to Miami.
No kidding. My eyes usually bleed a little when they come out of the woodwork, but where are they now that we need them?
I tell people I can speak and understand Spanish, but not Panamanian.
