Spanish for the California farmer
First published in 1981. It included translations for phrases a farmer might need to communicate with his workers, such as, “Clean up your camp. You live like a f**king pig.”
One of the authors noted: “This is a practical book. This is not a grammar book. If you want to have beautiful Spanish, you can get your grammar books and go to school. If you want to be practical in a farm case, you have to know the slang. People use the language.”
The book is available on Amazon, though listed as “Out of Print — Limited Availability.”
One of the authors noted: “This is a practical book. This is not a grammar book. If you want to have beautiful Spanish, you can get your grammar books and go to school. If you want to be practical in a farm case, you have to know the slang. People use the language.”
The book is available on Amazon, though listed as “Out of Print — Limited Availability.”
Wilmington Morning News - Jan 9, 1983
Comments
At last a language book that teaches us what's missing in every grammar book and Spanish-Whatever dictionnary; the slang and swear words.
Posted by Yudith on 01/28/19 at 06:20 AM
I own a very useful little book from the same period called Tabu Spanish of Mexico.
Posted by Dr. Fian on 01/28/19 at 08:34 AM
I need the equivalent for the next time I go to Germany.
Posted by Virtual on 01/28/19 at 01:07 PM
During my high school years I worked the grape fields around town and learned a little field Spanish. Not enough to hold a conversation but enough to know when the guys were calling the boss an a##hole.
Posted by KDP on 01/28/19 at 05:09 PM
This reminds me of when The National Lampoon published an article "Speaking Dirty in Esperanto".
Posted by Joshua Zev Levin, Ph.D. on 01/28/19 at 10:05 PM
When I was at university, the dorm for freshmen international students was connected to ours. There was a strong push to get us to mingle (relaxed tv room hours, late night pizza deliveries overlooked, etc. if there were a few international students with us). It was kind of difficult because we had so little in common. Someone finally hit on the idea that instead of trying to share the same activities, we should look for benefits in our differences.
So was born the international education exchange -- we offered honest and straightforward answers and advice on everything from how to not dress like a dork to knowing if a local girl was teasing you, and they gave us language lessons, not only telling us how to pronounce some words but also giving cultural references so we'd know which words to use in which context.
By the end of the first semester, I could swear fluently in eight languages.
So was born the international education exchange -- we offered honest and straightforward answers and advice on everything from how to not dress like a dork to knowing if a local girl was teasing you, and they gave us language lessons, not only telling us how to pronounce some words but also giving cultural references so we'd know which words to use in which context.
By the end of the first semester, I could swear fluently in eight languages.
Posted by Phideaux on 01/29/19 at 01:26 AM
Joshua: I'm not surprised. Henry Beard himself published "Latin for All Occasions". Mind you, if you want obscene Latin, all you have to do is open Catullus or Martialis.
Posted by Richard Bos on 02/03/19 at 03:53 AM
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Category: Languages | Books | 1980s