QUINCEAÑERA FIT FOR A PRINCESS

For $30,000 a latin débutante can have a quinceañera at Disneyland with 500 guests, sleep in the princess mansion and ride in the Cinderella coach. Since Disney offers it, we can assume there are people buying it. This goes to prove that not all hispanics in America are picking tomatoes.

In our area, here in South Texas, parents OFTEN spend as much on their daughter's quinceañera as they will later on their wedding! It also is a class issue. Teenage girls want to one up their classmates and parents use quinceañeras to impress their friends and family with their status.

Word: el trampolín

Pronunciation: trahm-poh-LEEN (Note that the Spanish r here is pronounced with a tap of the tongue against the front of the palate.)

Meaning: springboard (literal or figurative), diving board, ski jump

Example: La mexicana Laura Sánchez, actual campeona centroamericana y del caribe, calificó a la final del trampolín de 3 metros en la segunda jornada de actividades.

Translation: Laura Sanchez of Mexico, current Central American and Caribbean champion, qualified for the final in the 3-meter diving board during the second round.

Warning: The device known as a trampoline in U.S. English is usually referred to as "una cama elastica," although trampolín is also sometimes used because of influence from English.

Word: engañar

Pronunciation: eng-gah-NYAHR (The Spanish r here is pronounced with a tap of the tongue against the front of the palate.)Listen

Meaning: to deceive, to defraud, to mislead, to lie, to cheat on

Example: El ladrón nos engañó a todos desde el principio.

Translation: The thief deceived all of us from the beginning.

atrevido participio pasado

1.adjetivo osado: daring, bold
2.adjetivo insolente: insolent, impudent
3.adjetivo indecoroso: daring, risqué

atrevidamente, adverbio: boldly

La ignorancia es atrevida. Ignorance is courageous (daring, bold). - Spanish proverb

uva, (ooba) feminine noun:

grape

At midnight of New Year's eve in Spain they have a custom:

"Tomar las uvas de la suerte"
"to eat the grapes of (the) luck"

Read about it at this page translated from Spanish.

To read the original Spanish text simply mouse over the English. Its a handy neat method of refreshing your Spanish!

afán \A'fin\, pl. afánes, noun:

eagerness; effort

The general idea behind afán is being enthusiastic about doing or achieving something. So it can mean either the eagerness with which you do something, or the effort you put into doing it. If you think of the phrase ‘a fan’, it may help you to remember the meaning.

en su afán de marcar un gol
in his eagerness to score a goal

The effort meaning comes out in the next example:

Trabajan con mucho afán.
They put a lot of effort into their work.

In Colombia afán means hurry as in:

Puede esperar, no hay afán.
It can wait, there’s no hurry.

related:
afanar

1verbo transitivo robar to nick, pinch
1verbo pronominal to work with zeal
› afanarse en to work hard at
› afanarse por to strive to, do one's best to

afanoso

1adjetivo persona eager, keen, zealous (of persons)
2adjetivo tarea hard, laborious, tough (of tasks)

sources: http://dictionary.reference.com
http://en.wiktionary.org
http://www.diccionarios.com

afición (afi'θjon), noun:

hobby; fans, supporters

Afición is a key word, since it refers to what we like doing in our spare time, or hobbies.

Mi afición es la filatelia.
My hobby is stamp collecting.

If you do something as a hobby, you do it por afición:

Pinta por afición.
He paints as a hobby.

In its other meaning, afición refers collectively to fans or supporters of a particular sport, usually football:

la afición española
the Spanish fans

la afición local
the local fans

related:

aficionado participio pasado, adjetivo

1. keen, fond; ser aficionado a algo to be fond of something
2. not profesional, amateur

or as a nombre (noun) both masc. and fem.
3. fan
4. an amateur

The English language imported the word "aficionado" about 1845, from Spanish. Its meaning in English remains: "amateur," with the specialized usage: "a devotee of bullfighting." lit. "fond of," from afición "affection," from L. affectionem.

sources: http://www.Dictionary.com
http://www.etymonline.com
http://www.diccionarios.com

zurdo (THUHR-doh)
left-handed

'zurdo' is the opposite of 'diestro' right-handed

Casi cada décimo ser humano es zurdo.
Almost every tenth human being is left-handed.

Spanish saying:

Borra con el codo [elbow] lo que escribe con la mano.
Her left hand doesn’t know what her right hand is doing.
http://www.spanish-word-a-day.com/

La palabra del día: adecuado (ah-theh-KWAH-thoh) (Each d in this word sounds approximately like the "th" of "that.")

Significado: fitting, appropriate

Si necesitas un coche has venido al lugar adecuado.
"If you need a car you've come to the right place."

this term does not have the sometimes disparaging connotation of its English cognate, "adequate."