the most frequent word
The most frequent word I use daily in Mexico is Gracias, which translates to thank you. Accordingly, Muchas gracias is thank you very much. In second place by frequency I'd highlight Buenos días. Yes, I say hello less often than I say thank you. Goodbye, by the way, I almost never use.
The next thing I decided to learn after one of my trips to the store was numbers. 1, 2, 3 – Uno, dos, tres... and so on up to a thousand. I just got tired of not understanding what people were saying to me, and decided to simply take and memorize it, just like back in school with the multiplication table. Spanish is a very articulate and well-thought-out language, I adore it for that, and even without knowing the language, I can quite easily tell where a word begins and where it ends.
You don't even necessarily have to perceive it intuitively, like in some American English, where it's simply useless to listen with your mind, trying to match what you hear with what's stored in your box of learned words — you have to just absorb it, bypassing reason. Spanish, or rather Mexican Spanish (the difference, I suppose, is in speech speed — Mexicans speak, by hearsay, more slowly), is quite easy to perceive.
The fourth thing I learned today is "Lo siento, no hablo español". And I got a certain kick out of it, I don't know why. Now I can use English a little less often, I guess that's why:) People in their home country always like it when foreigners learn their native language. They smile at you so warmly when they realize that you — someone who came from afar, descended from the far north, having flown across the ocean — are speaking to them in a language they've understood since childhood. And that, damn it, is wonderful, my friends...
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#ArthurOHarra #LearningSpanish #JourneyThroughMexico