Being the foreman at a commercial site, a majority of the workers are of Latino origin. Suggestions please to explain production and work schedules.
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Find the guy who speaks the best English, and make him your asst.
Take night class in Espanol.
Night class good idea but takes a long time. Finding which of the latinos speaks the most english - good idea.
Also - go pick up an english/spanish dictionary so he can learn the spanish version of some key words; and have it at the jobsite with ya. Some basics, for e.g. "no" is "no"..."yes" is "si" LOL! In truth, the workers would probably notice and appreciate seeing him making the effort to communicate and some who actually know more english than they're letting on; would come around and try a bit more from their side.
If there's a school teacher nearby who teaches spanish, could have them craft ya the spanish version of some key concepts and phrases also.
Just logged back in. Thanks for the tips. I like the idea for the teacher. I will use that. As for the night classes, I barely have any night left after the twelve to fifteen hour days. I have been sitting at the table with the plans trying to schedule the next week for about 5 hours now. Thanks Again
Hey Mike:
Few other thoughts to share with ya, now that have seen SamT input etc.
Key phrases:
Good morning/day: buenos dias (bwen noz dee ahs)
Good nite: buenos noches (bwen noz no chez)
thank you: gracias (grah see az)
How do you say....in english?: como se dice? (ko moh say dee say? en ang lay?)
I don't understand...: yo no comprendo (yoh no kum pren doh)
please: por favor (pour fah vore)
much: muy (moo eee) or mucho (moo choh) as in "Muchos gracias"
Also:
There are volunteer translators on the http://www.virtualtourist.com website; in case getting in touch w/a spanish teacher not easy for ya to do what with your current work hours. If ya go to the VT website: free signup, and ck around the site - you'll find they have a lot of spanish translators there that could give you some spanish translation for stock phrases, also.
Well I'm headed to Bolivia next weekend so we'll see how well my limited espanol serves me...
Ahora piensa emboracharme.
Ya think it's time to get intoxicated? Bueno... muy cervezas fria!
Hasta Luego (see ya later)!
Bueno... muy cervezas fria!"
What, not Margarita Grande'??? Wimp.
WSJ
nope...tehkillya kicks my azzzzzz.
Dos Equis con limon, por favor.
And be real careful with "Chinga (sp?) se tu madre"
"It is as hard for the good to suspect evil, as it is for the bad to suspect good."
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE)
Bob, IIRC, you 'bout got that right...it's "chinga su madre" - real fightin' words if used in tense situation.
"chingar" is the root verb: "to F*ck"
so the expression: chinga su madre is telling someone "F... yer mother"
Ya never insult a latino's mother unless yer ready to rumble...but sounds like you knew that Bob! (DO tell!)
Ya never insult a latino's mother unless yer ready to rumble
If you add leche tu madre in there, it's the no-jury-will-convict-me (as in "fighting words") phrase in Mexico.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
This is crude, but it gets me appreciated and more work outa them.
Kay Thee-say Ess-tah? How do you say this? (point to object)
Kay-thee-say (english word)? How do you say (english word)?
Ooh-no 1
Dose 2
Trace 3
Kwa-tro 4
Sink-oh 5
Sase 6
See-eh-tay 7
Oh-cho 8
New-eh-Vay 9
Dee-ess 10
Dose-say 12
Kah-tore-say 14
Dee-ess-ee-sase 16
Kla-Vo Nail
Kla-vo day Oh-cho 8d nail
Kla-vo day dee-ess ee sase 16d nail
Dose ee Kwa-tro 2x4
Kwa-tro ee Dee-ess ee sase 4x16 (say Dee-ess-ee-sase fast, as one word)
Dose ee kwah-tro day dose-say 2x4x12
Mace inch
Pull-gah-though foot
Ee and
Ell him/the
Two you
Yo me/I
Heh-fay Boss
Heh-fay Gran-day Big boss
Trah-bah-hoe work/job
Pork-kay why/because
Way-no good
Mal bad
Pree-may-tha first
Say-goon-doh second
Ell (architect/engineer/superintendant) ess (oon/uno) heh-fay gran-day The architect is a big boss
Ell no goose-toe He doesn't like (it/this)
Ell Heh-fay no goose-toe The Boss doesn't like (it/this)
Vah-ma-nose(rhymes with dose) ah trah-bah-hoe Let's go to work.
Ess-tah ess no way-no This is no good
Way-no Trah-bah-hoe! Good job!
Ess Sir-vay-sa ee meh-thia It's beer:thirty!
ya forgot ...
Pen-day ho
man yana
fre-o/ caliente
and most important
Cervasa
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Dont forget :
La Migre La meegray)- Immigration
Tienes cartre verde.. -You have a green card
Quantos hemanas tiena Y quantos anos - How many sisters you have and how old
Darkworksite4:
El americano pasado hacia fuera ase la bandera
Ron
Havent seen you in a while, but I see you got the important ones!
Doug
cartre verde.. -You have a green card
It's carte azur, they were rose for a while, but they're blue right now <g>Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
well ya gonna tell Mike what the words mean or what?
Pendajo: pen day ho = azzhole
hijo de puta: eee ho day pu tah = son of a b*tch
estupido: esss two pee doh = stupid (one) as in "miguel es estupido"
A problem comes into play with spanish slang...and mexican is way different than other dialects like, say cuban or puerto rican or castellan (from Spain).
If ya got folks from PR - and ya hear them say "gonyo" - that's a wicked nasty term with no direct english translation... But if ya hear that from the crew, ya know they're from PR.
If ya got other latinos and they say:
"Estoy intentando arreglar esta hostia pero no me sale!"
that slang phrase means: "I am trying to fix this F*cker but am not having any results!"
(hmmm - that may be a good one for folks in carpy biz to know...)
you are so bad...
at least I didnt say punta gringo...lol
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
"women who behave...fail to make history"
ohhhh..I like that one..reminds me of someone.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
I was in the service with a bunch of Puerto Ricans (they got drafted, don't you know) in 1968 down in Georgia. One night we passed a bottle of 151 around 'til we got to the top of the label, then added a can of frozen grapefruit concentrate.....
Now I know why there is a bat on the label.
I passed a few years of my life seriously involved with a gent from PR I met during my first college stint...almost married him. Anyway, have travelled in PR a few times as another time I had a gal from PR as college roommate.
I have noted: they have their own unique libation combinations. Strangest one, IMHO, was gin with grape soda. Can't remember what they called it...
Where I come from we called it "Purple Jeezus".
Ohmygod - that's IT! LOL. Geez, we were suckin those down while attempting to water ski at the lagoon (amazing didn't get hepatitis from that...) What a hoot!
You forgot:
Conyo (probably the word you rendered as 'gonyo'; an anatomical reference best left to the imagination....)
Maricon (Monkey, but with overtones again best left to the imagination....)
Gordo (Fatso)
Flaco (Skinny guy)
This must all be good lingua del puce ('thumb talk') 'cause I learned it from fine, upstanding members of the United States Merchant Marine in Puerto Rico....
PS--I always understood hijo de puta to translate as 'son of a wh*re' rather than S.O.B....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Dino! good to hear from ya and hey, if ya got your info from the MM in PR...how could I take exception to any of it??? LOL!
(are you home yet, or in RI dealing with yer truck?)
Ryan, me, and the Big Blue Beast are all safely back home, having had an 'extra' three-day 'vacation' trip down and back. We took advantage of the obligatory trip to stop by Mystic Seaport on the way up to Jamestown from New London. Ryan got to slide down the backstays on the Chas. W. Morgan and hold the very harpoon that Queequeg needled Moby Dick with....
View ImageDinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Lets not forget.....
mas rapido su pinche wawone pendeho ( faster U f$$$$ lazy .....
Tu awaila ( your grandmother) its like saying ah your mother... but latins dont insult each others mother they prefer grandmother
and
Vahmenos quickas viene.... Scram here come the police....
dia de pagar esta verines... paydays on friday....
No may importa...I dont care
No ma trabajo... not my job
Tienes una prima calientes... hey do you have a hot cousin....
esta aya solo... Is she single
most important
Eh esta no tiempo por descanza.. its not break time yet...
Darkworksite4:
El americano pasado hacia fuera ase la bandera
Great to hear Dino - and super pic! Tks.
Always got more pics: probably took about 250 while I was in RI and out hiking with Sasa. I'm trying to organize them on the 'puter now, pre-requisite to copying them all to a few CDs or thumb drives....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
hijo de puta to translate as 'son of a wh*re'
LoL! That's the way I was taught. The new one I hear is hijo de puto, which I'm pretty sure translates as it reads, offsrping of dos maricones (got to be a low life not even have a mother . . . ) Not something heard when a wheto is around, more what our locals call WBs (ladron de trabajor not being strong enough cussin').Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
mal de cervesas <g>
Dolor de cebeza.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I my part of Texas, there's a bit more splanglish:
Mace inch "in kah" (from inche the 'singluar' of inches)Pull-gah-though foot "P'yed" (from peid or foot)
Ell him/the "El" (him) is a generic pronoun used more than "it" (et) conversationally.
Two you The "tu" form of "you" is some times considered demeaning, unless that is the intent. "Su" (SUE) is the more formal "you."
Heh-fay Gran-day Big boss The Spanish teachers want you to say "patron" (pah TROhn), but that can cause some unintended meanings (esp if you are hisheard to say "cabron" . . .)
Mal bad Mal is also "ill." I'm having mal de lunes, or monday-itus today <g>.
Pree-may-tha first Premero (PREE mer oh) is "the first" meaning the on-site boss.Say-goon-doh second Segundo is "the second," or foreman.
Primo (PREE Moh) means "best."
If I can get over my mal de trabajor de lunes I may come up with more <g>
dolor = pain
martes = Tuesday
mièrcoles = Wednesday
jueves = Thursday
viernes = Friday which is often dia de paga, paydayOccupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
There are some spanish/english CONSTRUCTION dictionaries around. Check on the FHB site, jlconline.com, http://store.builderbooks.com/cgi-bin/builderbooks and http://www.buildersbookdepot.com/
The NAHB has Spanish/English for Construction booklets. They are small enough to fit in your (or their) back pocket. Buy a bunch and encourage your employees to be responsible to learn some English too!
they got the pocket version at lowes for $5
mucho trabaja.
remodeler
Hey Mike,
Sign language works...not the official version...the one you make up. Trouble is, they (Latino's) actually don't have specific words for many common things as we do in english.
A nail gun, firearm, drill motor, etc. may all be pistolas!
And their sentance structure is usually backwards from ours.( Hey Mike, you want to go for a beer after work?) They might say: After work, Mike you go for a beer? I have supervised several hispanic laborers in the past. I always did what others have suggested, finding the one that spoke the best english. You should at least know some basic words though.
There are english to spanish dictionarys online. Also spanish to english so you can figure out what they are saying about ya!
Anyway good luck!