Thursday, March 21, 2013

How Do You Say "blankie" in Spanish?

This is just one of the many questions I've asked my Mother-in-law since my son was born. It's cobijita by the way.

I have come to realize that I learned "classroom" speak when majoring in Spanish in college. Sure, I picked up some slang and a few words for around the house, but I really didn't get that "home speak".

Since Liam was born I have found myself looking up all kinds of words on my SpanishDict App on my iPhone. It's usually pretty accurate, but then I have to consider what country the word is coming from. How you say one thing in Spain can differ greatly from how you say it in Mexico or Argentina or Guatemala.

I honestly never learned much about Guatemala and wouldn't you know that's the country who's slang and "home" terms I need to know. That leaves me asking my Mother-in-law when my husband can't remember. My husband is fluent in Spanish. It was pretty much his first language, but he prefers English. Spanish is coming back to him now that we use it ALL the time. If there's a word he can't remember and we ask his Mom, he immediately says, "That's right!". He knows...he just hasn't used his Spanish in a very long time. It's coming back to him though.

There are some words that just do not seem to want to stick for me though. Maybe it's because I'm getting old. haha! To combat this and to remember them so I can use them with Liam I have started putting up Post It Notes all over the house. I write the name of the object and stick the note on or near it. I planned on doing this when Liam started reading, but it looks like I'm getting a head start. ha! I did this when I first started learning Spanish too. Although at that time the words were more general...Stove, Refrigerator, Table, etc.


Here are few examples. A lot of the words are for things found in the kitchen.

Seagull. We see the seagulls outside our window and I had no clue how to say that in Spanish!
Colander.


Rolling Pin

Electric Mixer

Kitchen cabinet



I have learned a lot of vocabulary from Liam's book, My First Spanish Word Book. It's now one of his favorite books. He loves flipping to the pages of animals and saying "gato" (cat) for anything with four legs. lol!  


So, how do you say these words in Spanish? I know there has to be some variations from other countries. Let me hear them! :)


5 comments :

  1. Wow I don't think I knew any of those words! My husband doesn't either, he's forgotten so many of the words he doesn't use all the time.

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    1. Glad I could share! My husband is the same way! If I start using the words daily then they stick and my goal is for Liam to have a bigger vocabulary than I have! lol!

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  2. And thanks for sharing on "Say It Two Ways Thursdays" too!

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  3. Hi Sandra!!! I would say them the same way you have. By the way, love that cute little pudgy hand in "el gabinete" picture! :)

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    1. Thank you! I thought his hand in the picture was a lot cuter than just taking a picture of my "gabinete". lol! Thank you so much for your input! :)

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