Expand Your Vocabulary in Another Language 2020

[dougules]

Sometimes when you put out all this new vocabulary it makes me feel a little discouraged when I see how little of it I know.  I feel like I'll never master Spanish.  I need to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.  Being able to hold a conversation is still huge even if it's a little rough.  Polishing it and adding more vocabulary just makes things better.  It's ok if my Spanish is never native-speaker level.   

[dougules]

I think I'm going to go back to the Spanish words first. I think you're learning Spanish words as the concepts come up.  I'm going the other way and learning Spanish words as I hear them, so it makes sense for you to put English first but for me to put Spanish first.

hora pico		rush hour
apodo		nickname
vendimia		vintage (wine)
experimentar		to experience
entrañable		endearing
aderezo		dressing (food)
egipcio		Egyptian
sobrellevar algo		endure sth
el añil, el índigo		indigo
ludoteca		playroom, game library
darse un chapuzón		take a dip (swim)
ventrílocuo		ventriloquist
tétrico		dismal
torpe		clumsy
trajo		he brought (irregular past)
algodón de azúcar		cotton candy

[Luz]

Sometimes when you put out all this new vocabulary it makes me feel a little discouraged when I see how little of it I know.  I feel like I'll never master Spanish.  I need to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.  Being able to hold a conversation is still huge even if it's a little rough.  Polishing it and adding more vocabulary just makes things better.  It's ok if my Spanish is never native-speaker level.

I often feel like I'll never master Spanish either. I like your take on it. I think I need to just enjoy the process and let go of the result.

[Luz]

I'm back from my maternity break! I'm changing my approach to just translating 3 words per day (rather than 20 words once a week). I will write the list of twenty words at the end of the week.

My husband was home on paternity leave and we usually speak Spanish as a family if he's present. But caring for a newborn is stressful, so I spoke English the whole time and just reverted back to Spanish last week now that I'm finding my groove caring for 2 young kids. If I have another baby, I will take another exemption to our family language rule.

I've also begun reading in both languages to my toddler. We were strict about doing media only in the minority language until now. But she's getting older and I decided that there's a lot of content I want to convey that would be impossible for me to communicate in Spanish at this point. I can see that keeping the minority language strong will be a lot harder as she gets older since much of her world will be in English. Good motivation to hit the vocabulary hard!

[dougules]

Felicitaciones por el nacimiento de tu niño/a

[Luz]

I need to go through my words this week to make sure there are no duplicates and to check the correct translation with my husband. I also need to take a little time to review the correct formatting to get the rows and columns straight. But for the next few weeks, I'll be short on time. So I'll focus on getting the words posted and reviewing them with my toddler when we read. I'll come back and clean them up later.

631. unhappy:                                    infeliz
632. saddle:                                       una silla de montar
633. seat:                                          el asiento
       chair:                                         la silla
634. to flavor:                                    sazonar, dar sabor
635. grain (of sand, wood grain):        el grano
636. satellite:                                    el satélite
637. satellite dish:                             la antena parabólica
638. saw:                                          la sierra
639. stinger:                                     el aguijón
640. to itch:                                      picar (also to sting?)
641. scorpion:                                   el alacrán, el escorpión
642. to hold together:                        mantenerse unido
643. groove:                                     la rutina
644. to scrub:                                   restregar, fregar
645. whiskers:                                  los bigotes (also mustache)
646. to hold in place:                        mantenerse fijo
647. plank:                                       el tablón
648. opposite:                                   opuesto, contrario (enfrente- spatial)
649. to join:                                     unir, juntar
650. thread:                                      el hilo

Gracias, @dougules. !El bebé es muy tranquilo como su papá, gracias a Dios!

[Luz]

Yikes! It's been a month since I've last posted. I'm determined to finish this year strong.  I have a few weeks worth of words scratched out on paper to add to the thread but am 2 weeks behind where I should be.

I haven't been reading my usual 30 minutes per day with my toddler either. I'm being flexible about it while we're still in the 4th trimester, but will get back on the wagon once the baby is 3 months (next week!).

651. season		la estación, la temporada (de deportes)
652. ewe		la oveja
ram		el carnero
lamb		el borrego, el cordero
653. outside (line/edge)		exterior, externo (el borde exterior)
654. to sail		navegar
655. garment		la prenda
656. to shout		gritar, vocear
to scream		chillar
to yell		gritar, chillar
to call out		llamar
657. to sink		hundirse
658. to rest on		apoyarse en
659. to skate		patinar
660. to glide		deslizarse, planear (en el aire)
661. ice skates		los patines de hielo (patín: singular)
roller skates		los patines de ruedas
662. ski		el esquí
663. to skip		ir dando brincos
664. skyscraper		el rascacielos
665. to sled		ir en trineo
666. slice		la rebanada, la tajada, la lonja (carne) la rodaja (fruta) el trozo (pastel)
667. slide		la resbaladilla, el tobogán
668. top of		la parte superior
669. to slip		resbalarse
slippery		resbaloso
670. tortoise		la tortuga terrestre

[dougules]

Hace mucho tiempo desde que he escrito algo aquí, así que voy a echarle más palabras ahora. 

pandilla		gang
nicho		niche (in a wall)
el barandal		railing
requesón		ricotta, cottage cheese
desodorante		deodorant
algo a cambio		sth in return
rebeldía		rebelliousness
escala		layover, a stop (transit)
chatarra		scrap, junk
manga		sleeve
el arenque		herring
un cojín		a cushion
silla de ruedas		wheelchair
un resfriado		a cold (illness)
tabla de surf		surfboard
los gatos tienen siete vidas		two less than in English
un sinfín de		endless
fodongo (MX)		slobbish, slovenly
novato		novice, rookie
refrán		saying

[dougules]

Et aussi pour ceux qui apprennent le français:

éclore		to hatch
un bourgeon		a bud
content DE		content with
chatoyer		shimmer
le macis		mace
les agrumes (m)		citrus
créneau horaire		time slot
la devise		currency (money)
dégarni		balding
un étal		a stall, a stand
se côtoyer		to mingle, to rub shoulders
déambuler		stroll
un statut économique		an economic status
décrasser		to clean
la fécule		starch
étaler		to spread out
mijoter		simmer, stew
boucaner		to smoke (meat)
une gousse d’ail		a clove of garlic
épater qqu		to wow someone

[dougules]

Voy a intentar poner vocabulario aquí con regularidad.

cebada		barley
daltónico		colorblind
daltonismo		colorblindness
resplandeciente		glowing
musgo		moss
estaca		post, stake
escupir		to spit, spit out
incautación		seizure (legal)
depredador		predator
sobaco, axila		armpit
cigarra		cicada (false friend)
engrapadora (MX), grapadora (Col),		stapler
corchetera (Chile)
gancho		clothes pin
un trago		a drink
presentir		to sense, to get a feeling
remordimientos		regrets
un timbre		a doorbell
un perezoso		a sloth
malicioso		malicious
alcantarilla		sewer
alcantarillado		sewer system

[dougules]

El mundo es un pañuelo		It's a small world
Hacerme agua la Boca o hacerme la boca agua		To make my mouth water
Es pan comido		it's a piece of cake
Hablando del rey de Roma		To speak of the devil (idiom)
Hacer una montaña de un grano de arena		make a mountain out of a mole hill
roedor		rodent
costar un ojo de la cara		cost an arm and a leg
la gota que derramó/colmó el vaso		the straw that broke the camel's back
Hay gato encerrado		it smells fishy
desmoronar		crumble
resquicio		loophole, gap
villano		villain
atascado		stuck, mired (mud)
atorrado		stuck (wedged)
el telón		curtain (stage)
toque de queda		curfew
fastidiar		bother
desventaja		disadvantage
un encendedor		a lighter
un reajuste		a readjustment
pandemia		pandemic

[dougules]

@Luz, cuando tienes un momento (jajaja), ¿podrías preguntarle a tu marido cuál es la diferencia entre "rara vez", "raras veces" y "raramente"?

¿Cómo están tu hijos?  ¿Todavía tranquilos?

[Lomonossov]

@Luz, cuando tienes un momento (jajaja), ¿podrías preguntarle a tu marido cuál es la diferencia entre "rara vez", "raras veces" y "raramente"?

¿Cómo están tu hijos?  ¿Todavía tranquilos?

As a native speaker, I´d say that raramente is the only one I use normally. However, to me the three forms have the same meaning and I could not rank order them by occurrence. You have similiar adverbial constructions like casi nunca or apenas that are more commonly used, at least in Spain.

Saludos!

[dougules]

@Luz, cuando tienes un momento (jajaja), ¿podrías preguntarle a tu marido cuál es la diferencia entre "rara vez", "raras veces" y "raramente"?

¿Cómo están tu hijos?  ¿Todavía tranquilos?

As a native speaker, I´d say that raramente is the only one I use normally. However, to me the three forms have the same meaning and I could not rank order them by occurrence. You have similiar adverbial constructions like casi nunca or apenas that are more commonly used, at least in Spain.

Saludos!

Thanks.  I gather that it varies by dialect.  I actually heard "rara vez" in a video from Mexico a few days ago.  If raramente is what's the main one in Spain, though, I'll use that. 

[dougules]

Más vocabulario para hoy:

de todos modos		anyway, in any case
hada		fairy
lidiar con		deal with
atinado		wise, sensible
filo		cutting edge of a blade
hablar con rodeos		beat around the bush, mince words
una reja		a grate
chisme		gossip
trabarse		bind,lock up
revisión		inspection