Hi, Kakan Turing (Tony Velasquez, DZMM) : You made the same mistake i did, hindi uubra 12 units of Spanish natin haha 😂 Portuguese is not Spanish, my Gen Z nephew, J, corrected me before
In Australia, a Filipino would be mistaken for a Samoan, in public commute, bus, New York and L.A., a Mexican woman would ask you for directions and all you could manage is a smile and a “Pardon, yo no hablo Espanol (smiles and seems pleased she could manage to answer a question in Spanish with her 12 units of Spanish in college)”
When J was a wee child wearing an oversized T-shirt, he and Myra patiently spent the day with me looking for a 100% coverage sunblock, for myself, because J was going to his surfing lessons at Santa Monica Beach…
After getting the sunblock in Sephora,
they then brought me to their favorite restaurant in a mall in L.A.
Here’s that conversation:
My smart nephew, J, in his then-child-voice: Let’s go here, we always go here.
Myra: Yah, that’s his favorite restaurant.
It’s a Brazilian restaurant. Waitress comes over.
Me, trying to impress J with my 12 units of Spanish, looks at waitress: Hola!
Me, opens the menu — it has pictures of the food, yehey! Me, points at one menu item and shows it clearly to the waitress, “Estó …” (watch and learn, people: This is how you carry out a conversation in a Spanish restaurant with your 12 units of Spanish — largely body language in Spanish, just point to the menu item and say “estó“)
Me : “y …aahh… hhmm (flipping the pages, pretending to read the ENTIRE “Spanish” menu) ahh, hhmmm, (points at another menu item and shows it clearly to the waitress) y … y estó” (points at the item)
Waitress nods her head.
Me, nodding my head at her.
(Can you see how good i am in applying what i learned in AS (arts and sciences) Spanish.)
Me to the waitress: “Muy bien” (yehey, I’m using my 12 units of Spanish in college)
Then the waitress prepares to get our order, and I say: “Muchas gracias”
(yehey, I carried out a conversation in Spanish with my 12 units!!! My teachers would be proud of me)
My smart then-child-nephew in his cute then-child-voice, J: Why are you speaking to her in Spanish?
Me: Because she’s Mexican.
J: She’s not Mexican, she’s Brazilian, this is a Brazilian restaurant.
Me: How do you know she’s not Mexican?
J: Because I know her, we’re here every week, she’s from Brazil.
Me (ang kulit) : Well, if she’s Brazilian, she can understand my Spanish.
My smart then-child-nephew in his cute then-child-voice, J: They don’t speak Spanish in Brazil –they speak Portuguese.
Me (sobrang kulit talaga) : Well, Portuguese and Spanish are the same.
My smart then-child-nephew in his cute then-child-voice, J: No, they’re not.
Me (ang kulit): How do you know
J: I know it.
Brazilian waitress comes back carrying our fast order …
Me: See? … Look at that! — She understood my Spanish!
J (sighs, laughs) Hayyyst (sighs)
