I had a kid from Honduras helping me for a few days, and he brought a small selection of hand tools. (Before anybody gets their knickers in a wad, he has a green card.) He’s been here since December, and he knows about as much English as I know Spanish, but he has a good attitude and wants to learn. I’m doing interior remodeling, so I use him to help hold long boards, snap chalk lines, etc, and slowly let him take on other tasks.
We worked out a system where I would measue and he would cut. I can count to 12 in Spanish, so I would call out a dim like tres feet cinco inches y uno quarter and it worked, althoiugh fractions other than quarters are a problem. Then I called out a bigger dim and got a bad look in return. Tried again … same response. So I looked at his tape measure that he had borrowd from another amigo … there weren’t any feet marked on it. It was almost all inches, although there were a few feet marks. I didn’t inspect the whole tape, but there was a 6FT mark but no 7FT or 8FT, only 84 & 96 inches. My Stanley tape has small numbers that tell you instantly where 5′-3″ is … his only had 63″. No wonder he gave me a strange loo.
I tossed that tape in the basura and gave him one of my spares, and things went much better. I also gave him a torpedo level and a 12″ plastic speed square, and he thought he was a hot carpenter then.
I’m sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
Replies
You can improve your spanish a little, instead of calling out dinensions in a combination of spanish and english try.... feet is pez , inches is pulgadies, and for fractions , a quarter is un "quatro" and an eighth is " octavo". Forget about smaller fractions, just stick to the octavos and bang it in tight.
Get an english to spanish dictionary, and not just one, get several. There are even some especially for construction terms. You need several because in south America there are differant countries, and i've found out that even amigos from differant countries down there can't communicate with each other. The one guy from mexico will call tar paper "papele day asphalto", while the guy from bolivia will call it "negro manilla".
Some useful phrases....
?tengo hambre?..... are you hungry? ( like, ready for lunch?)
vamos a la casa.... lets go home
leesto? ..... ready? ( as in.. ready to lift up the beam?)
pieza day mierda.... ( that's) a piece of sh_t
pistola.... nail gun
clavos para pistola.... gun nails
bueno, bonito, y barato...... good, pretty, and cheap. ( like, do your best and caulk the rest)
Edited 5/5/2005 6:15 pm ET by panama red
?tengo hambre?..... are you hungry? ( like, ready for lunch?)
psssttttt Panama - you're tripping up on your verb conjugations...
tengo hambre = I have hunger (it's short for the full phrase: yo tengo hambre)Of all the things that I have lost, I miss my mind the most!
tengo hambre...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I see differences alrerady. Lunch time is loonches (phonetic, not real spelling). The nail gun is matillo kompressor.
He tries to use English all the time, and I try to use Spanish, so we're edumacting each other.
What's the word for wood? Like gimme that 2x4. He's saying something like marrerra but I can't catch it.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
He's saying something like marrerra but I can't catch it
Madera is wood, medera de la constuccion is "lumber" IIRC.
Pino is "pine" which works for a lot of framing.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
feet is pez , inches is pulgadies, and for fractions , a quarter is un "quatro" and an eighth is " octavo"
Would get you stranger looks around here . . .
Feet are peids (PEE yeds); inches are inchas (INcyas); 1/4 is quiches (KWEEchez); 1/8 is aites (ATES or ATE es).
Some useful phrases....
?tengo hambre?..... are you hungry? ( like, ready for lunch?)
My brain says: "tempo (para) comida" (or comida norteño, lunch but no siesta).
vamos a la casa.... lets go home
And also "Vamos a la cantina" or "Vamos de la mercada rapido (para cerveza)"Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Save the spanish for everything else.
The guy is going to have to learn the english for measurements just like the rest of us, if he is going to make it.
Yeah, I know, we already knew the english for the numbers, but we still had to wrap our brains around using the tape measure accurately. He can learn it in the same way everyone else does it, and he'll be better off.
A person with no sense of humor about themselves, has no sense at all.
Ok Luka ... gimme your phone nombre, we'll call one day and you can 'splain the black diamonds to him. :)
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
'splain the black diamonds to him
Ooh, diamante negro leaps to mind, but probably would be better to call them rhomboides negros.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
OK, here's a few I picked up from the help I've worked with, please give me the CapnMac Spanish Review:
"con juevos" - put some oomph into it!
"juevon" - lazy
"que verguenza" - shame on you
"dinero facil" - easy money
"panzon" - fat man
"patron" - boss
"patrona" - wife
"juevon" - lazy
Be careful, for some Latin countries, this is not a a "nice" word. I got slap my my wife's girlfriend for calling her juevon in a joking manner. Try using perizoso or osioso (I can speak it, but forgot the spelling part)
yeah, I'm finding out jobsite Spanish is not the safest. I once repeated a phrase I'd heard often on the jobsite (didn't even know what it meant), and everyone I was working with stopped and stared at me, and finally someone said "Man, I never expected YOU to use such filthy language!". Oops.
Word.
I was on a Habitat for Humanity build in central Costa Rica. We were digging the trench for the foundation with a limited number of tools (pick axes, shovels, and so on.)
I made the mistake of believing the handout they gave us with the names of the tools in Spanish. Obviously, someone had not cleared this with the locals in Costa Rica.
I kept asking for the "pica"...which the official handout stated meant "pick axe". Lots of laughter and snickers as I kept this up the first day. "Here, use the pica..." "Where is the pica?" "I think I'll need a pica to tackle this." A few of the other women who were willing to tackle the heavy stuff were right there with me, 'Pica this...pica that."
Finally, someone told us that the local slang for...er....a masculine body part was the word "pica".
Awkward. We never took the official "word sheet" at face value again.
"patron" - boss
LoL, just never, ever confuse padron and patron--close is not close enuf' <g>Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Also, "patron" (Pa-trown) has a meaning wider than simply boss. It carries an implication of "guardian", similar to the "patron" in English. To be called someone's patron is both an honor and an obligation.In general, Spanish is more formal that English. "Senor" (imagine a squiggle over the "n") is most literally translated as "lord", and "usted", the formal form of "you", is probably best translated as "thou".Of course, most Spanish-speakers will appreciate any serious attempts you make at speaking their language (just don't end every word with "o" and expect them to understand/appreciate it), so don't be afraid of making a faux pas with regard to the linguistic subtleties.
Dan
What is El Jeffe? I am being called el jeffe and padron. Both mean boss to me. And I understand the underlying subtelties of padron. Just not sure what is the distinction of el jeffe. (I am a little "heavy"
As I come in the am I am saying Buenas Dias caballeros!
Good morning cowboys???
el jeffe
That's typically the "chief," or to use a borrowed bit of cowboy spanish, the (head) Honcho.
So, owner of the company is el jeffe; the PM is el primaro; the super/foreman is el segundo. With more than one crew, a certain grandeur is granted honorifically and the bossfella gets called patron.
As I come in the am I am saying Buenas Dias caballeros!
Buenas dias, hombres! is probably more apt, at least until noon, then it's buenas tardes. That, and the plural of señor can sound like a cat spitting if rendered wrong.
These are some good terms, too: cerca, near; lejos, far; aquí, (right) here; allí, there (not here); ayea, (over) there.
Baje, lower; and levante, lift; can also be useful.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
(imagine a squiggle over the "n")
Ah, comme ca (hmm ¿como tan?): ñ
That's ALT key and 164 on the numeric keypad; Ñ is ALT+165.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I don't have enough fingers for that.
rhomboides negros. No, I want to see you explain their purpose ... to a kid who has only used a tape for less than a year.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
No, I want to see you explain their purpose
Well, now between my spanglish & your spansih and his english, we might have a chance . . .
Explaining the initiation rites might be a tad more complicated though <wink> . . .
Hmm, madera typical and madera grosso might start it . . .
Percada una, izzat "per each"? "Percada centra" is what my memory wants for spacing (that, and and the magical "OhSay" <g>).Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Si senor. Comprende nada.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
Comprende nada
Au contraire <g>, su comprende un poccito (verstehen ein wenig; wakari mas te skoshi; parlay vous un petites), or we'd not have this gab going.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Ahhh, un poccito ... that's what I see first thing every morning.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
No, it's what your wife sees when ... no, never mind.
Good attitude and wants to learn... my definition of a good helper or apprentice. Good for you for bringing him along and your patience with his language skills. But I'll tell you what my mother told me about her parents after they got here from Italy. Unless they were in the company of family or friends, speaking italian was forbidden because they KNEW that they all needed to learn english if they were going to survive and do well here... they did , god bless them... so, my two cents, encourage your guy to learn as quickly as possible... good luck (to you both!) BUIC
my first true love was a Puerto Rican girl from Ft Lee NJ ... we met in Wildwood NJ ...
I was 14 ... she was 13 ... and worlds older than me.
I still remember some spanish ... but each and every phrase she taught me would get me kicked outta here for life!
if U ever need to swear at him ... alot ... drop me an email!
Jeff
I once watched three guys in Mexico install wood forms for pouring (really) a concrete basura ceiling. Between them they had two hammers (one with a broken claw) and one very old and rusty handsaw. For forms they had pieces of wide boards and plywood, none measuring more than 2x4 feet, and assorted sticks of 2x4, 1x4, and other indescribable stuff, nothing longer than about 5 feet. Most of the nails they used were reclaimed from other work. The basura had block walls and two rooms, each about 6x6 feet.
It took the three of them most of three days to piece it together, but when the ceiling was poured (with VERY wet concrete) it all held fine, and very little leaked through.
It's amazing how much they could do with so little.
At least the folks I saw in that part of Mexico (Rio Bravo) were some of the hardest working, cleanest, nicest folks I've ever met. Though in grinding poverty, everything was clean and well-kept. No one was ever loitering either -- they always were busy with SOMETHING, and in two weeks I saw maybe 5 people smoking.
Thanks for sharing that, makes us appreciate what we have a little more. I once worked with a Hispanic framing contractor who said he had a relative from Mexico visit his jobsite. He asked where the rolloff dumpster full of scraps was going, and when he found out it was going to the dump, he got choked up, and said you wouldn't believe how happy they would be to have that wood in his home town, that the craftsmen there could do beautiful things with it.
Hey Ed,
I know most everyone else has been replying to the language barrier, but in response to the crappy tools problem, I think you did great! I recently hired my first "real" employee, and although he has a sincere desire to work hard and learn, he had no tools. I took him to the HD and bought him a decent tool belt, Estwing, speed square, etc.; cost me about 80 bucks. That is under the assumption that if he stays with me for so long, they are his, if not, they become my "spares." Maybe you could work out a deal where if he needs something, you would take 50% of the cost out of his pay and eat the rest. It's a tax break for you, and a goodwill gesture from you to him. I have a program where an employee can trade his/her "bonus" every quarter to a new tool should he or she decide to.
Just a thought.