Spanish Pronto Reading Practice Welcome! This story asks why Spanish speakers in Spain keep using English words for things, even when there are perfectly good Spanish words for them. The rapid spread of new technologies, as well as the growing interconnectedness between people who once would have had little chance to talk to each other, both contribute to a world where everyone talks to each other, often about things that did not need a name before, in any language, because they did not exist until just yesterday, or today. So, for example, although it is possible to say "correo electrónico" (electronic mail) in Spanish, it is also common just to say "email." An intermediate option is just to say "mensaje" (message). In Spanish, Twitter is still Twitter, of course, but "Twitter users," "tweets," and "to tweet" have their Spanish equivalents in "tuiteros," "tuits," and "tuitear." INSTRUCTIONS: Click on the article link (below the headline) to open the original article in a separate window or tab. The rest of this page will help you understand the beginning of the article. There is also a list of words that will help you get some idea about some of the rest of the article. Hopefully this will help you pick up a little more Spanish.

This Spanish reading practice is brought to you by: migratory wildlife. You may have figured out, by now, that our sponsors tend to be parts of life which deserve more attention and respect than they normally get, but which never seem to be the subject of any advertisement or public relations campaign. As we in the north enter fall (or autumn), and the south enters spring, millions or more likely billions of animals are undertaking sometimes spectacularly long journeys to get to somewhere they would rather be this coming winter/summer. The most obvious of migratory wildlife are the geese that honk loudly as they fly by, but there are also migrating whales, bats, songbirds, butterflies. Some notable migratory wildlife include Monarch butterflies most of which are heading to Mexico about now, and sooty shearwaters, which will be crossing the Equator this month on their way from California, Japan, and Alaska down to New Zealand and the waters off Antarctica. Twenty million birds, all crossing the equator in the space of just 10 days, on a nearly 40,000 mile (65,000 km) annual round trip!

Por qué lo llaman "cookie" cuando quieren decir galleta

Why do they call it "cookie" when they mean "galleta"

O cómo en muy poco tiempo nos hemos rodeado de un sinfín de términos anglosajones sin justificación aparente.

Or how, in a very short time, we have surrounded ourselves with Anglo-Saxon terms without end, for no apparent reason
 

El empleo de palabras inglesas ha provocado que en España ya no se coman galletas, sino "cookies".

The use of English words has made it so that, in Spain, one no longer eats "galletas," but "cookies."
 

"Please, ya que vas a Starbucks te doy cash y me traes una cookie de chocolate y un Chai Tea Latte que tengo que mandar unos e-mails urgentes y escribir unos tuits antes de que empiece el shooting".

"Please, since you are going to Starbucks, I will give you cash and you can bring me a chocolate cookie and a Chai Tea Latte, because I have to send some urgent e-mails and write some tweets before the shooting [the photo shoot] begins."
 

Si mi abuela levantase la cabeza y oyese esta frase tan común hoy en día, nos daría una colleja.

If my grandmother were to lift up her head and (were to) hear this sentence that is so common nowadays, she would give us a slap on the back of the neck.
 

Pero lo que es aún peor es que, además de la mía, la abuela de Brighton tampoco sabría de qué estamos hablando.

But what is even worse is that, besides mine, the grandmother from Brighton [England], would not know what we are talking about, either.
 

Nos (in)comunicamos en un spanglish que no es correcto ni en un idioma ni en otro y del que los medios de comunicación tienen gran parte de culpa (por supuesto, incluido smoda.es).

We (mis)communicate in a Spanglish that is not correct in one language or in the other, and for which the communications media are largely to blame (including, of course, smoda.es).
 

"He llegado a leer en una revista una frase con 12 palabras y 4 de ellas en inglés que tienen además su correspondencia en castellano", nos cuenta Urbano Hidalgo, Jefe de Edición y Cierre de la revista Vanity Fair. Y es que en la mayoría de los casos, los términos que empleamos en inglés tienen su equivalente en nuestro idioma. Por ejemplo, ¿por qué decimos parking si podemos emplear la palabra aparcamiento, o ropa vintage y no de segunda mano?

4 cuatro 12 doce a to además besides aparcamiento parking lot (US), car park (GB) caso case castellano Spanish cierre (m.) closing con with correspondencia correspondence cuenta (he) tells de of, about decimos (we) say edición (f.) publishing ejemplo example ellas them empleamos (we) use emplear to use

en in equivalente equivalent es (it) is es que (it) is (the fact) that frase (f.) sentence he (I) have he llegado a leer (I) have even read idioma (m.) language inglés (m.) English jefe (m. or f.) head Jefe de Edición y Cierre Managing Editor la the leer to read los the mano (f.) hand mayoría majority no not nos (to) us

nuestro our o or palabra word parking (m.) parking lot (US), car park (GB) podemos (we) can por for por qué why que which, that, who revista magazine ropa clothing segunda second si if su their términos terms tienen (they) have una a(n) vintage vintage (adj.) y and

"En general su empleo no está justificado, siempre existe un equivalente. A veces incluso me enfrento al problema de términos que han sido castellanizados y que ni siquiera significan lo mismo en el idioma original. Un caso flagrante es 'publicista' que se usa como sinónimo de agente o relaciones públicas mientras que en castellano significa: persona que escribe para el público, generalmente de varias materias, o persona que se dedica a la publicidad".

a veces sometimes agente (m. or f.) agent al to the caso case castellanizados Hispanicized castellano Spanish como as de of, about el the empleo use en in enfrento (I) face equivalente equivalent es (it) is escribe (he/she) writes está (it) is existe (it) exists flagrante flagrant

general general generalmente generally han (they) have idioma (m.) language incluso even justificado justified lo mismo the same thing materias subjects me myself mientras que while mismo same ni siquiera not even no not o or original (m.) original para for persona person problema (m.) problem

públicas public (adj.) publicidad (f.) popularizing, publicizing, advertising publicista (m. or f.) popularizer, publicizer, advertiser público public que which, that, who relaciones (f.) relations se dedica dedicates (herself/himself) se usa (it) is used sido been siempre always significa (it) means significan (they) mean sinónimo synonym su their términos terms un a(n) varias various y and

Other words to look for, in order of appearance: significado (meaning), traducción (translation), dispositivo (device), conexión (connection), inalámbrica (wireless), /wɪfɪ/ ("WEE-fee"), alimento (food), bajo (low), calorías (calories), gracioso (funny), países (countries), peor (worse), anglicismos (Anglicisms), su razón de ser (their reason for existing), esnobismo (snobbery), lector (reader), cosmopolitismo (cosmopolitanism), modernidad (modernity), casual (accidental, by chance), informal (casual).

http://smoda.elpais.com/articulos/por-que-lo-llaman-cookie-cuando-quieren-decir-galleta/2468

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