Expat Files - Bad Translation - 04/18/14

-The sad tale of what happens when Latins translate and/or subtitle US and European movies: ones that were originally in English. When Latins translate bad Hollywood movies, they remain bad movies… but when good first-rate movies are translated they are always much much worse for the effort and mostly unwatchable for us gringo and Expats. And for those of us who know Spanish well, we cringe even more…     

 

-Ever wonder what the Spanish translation is for the usually derogatory “N” word? You’ll be surprised…

 

-There is one cheap ubiquitous product that Latins use daily, as both a major construction material and as a very common food source… can you guess what it is?    

 

-Spanish speaking folks are adopting English words and phrases like crazy. It’s a good thing for clueless gringos with bad Spanish but many old time Latins lament that their language is being fooled with more and more. Old timers don’t blame the gringos. They blame their own younger generation, and things beyond their control like cable TV. Though they know it’s impossible to stop the so-called “progress”.

 

-There are times when having the “gringo advantage” will truly frustrate you. If you didn’t have that innate gringo drive going for you(as the locals obviously don’t), you wouldn’t occasionally simmer in your own juices from waiting half an hour or longer in some pointless queue just to pick up 2 dollars’ worth of dry-cleaning or collect 20 cents worth of tortillas, or to question a statement or bill.

 

-My upcoming JULY, 2014 “Expat Wisdom” seminar is set to go so. The dates will be Saturday, July 12 thru Thursday, July 17. The agenda and complete signup details are on the www.ExpatWisdom.com website main page. Just click the Latin American Seminar link on the top of the main page and check it out.

 

-Do follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.