Lesson-Gem Two:A Brief History/Leccion-Joya Dos: Una Breve Historia

Why is it the "Romance" language?.....Is there any romance in it?......
The term "Romance" comes from the “Vulgar Latin” (no it’s not a potty mouth Latina/o); rather it was the "nonstandard" form of the Latin language. Who knew?
I suppose one can make the connection (with Vulgar Latin); as something like, not the "formal" part of speech.

The other side to “Vulgar Latin” was Medieval Latin. So if one spoke in "Medieval Latin"; one was speaking" the conservative version" of the language. This “conservative” was used (for the most part) when writing and in formal contexts.

Keep in mind that in medieval literature of Western Europe; serious writing was usually done in Latin. However popular stories were written in the vernacular (mother tongue) and came to be called.....Yup you guessed it……….. "romances".

A side note: When my grandfather, Carlos Jose, studied law (looooooooooooong ago),my mama tells me that he did so in Latin.....So get this........He had to learn Latin (formal) first; before he could even study law!!!.......Ya know becuz law is so easy anyway........



I always hear people say that once you know Spanish (because it is a romance language); that you can pick other languages (or guys or chicks okay WAKE UP);from the same vain........Well?......

Look.........

The sentence- She always closes the window before dining (or having dinner)is written here in several romance languages. But I can only figure the sentence out in a couple of these. How about you?

Here it is in Spanish: Ella siempre cierra la ventana antes de cenar

Latin Claudit semper fenestram antequam cenat.
Aragonese Ella tranca/zarra siempre la finestra antes de zenar.
Asturian Ella pieslla siempre la ventana/feniestra primeru de cenar.
Bolognese (Lî) la sèra sänper la fnèstra prémma ed dsnèr.
Corsican Ella chjudi sempre u purtellu primma di cenà.
Catalan (Ella) sempre tanca la finestra abans de sopar.
French Elle ferme toujours la fenêtre avant de dîner/souper.
Galician (Ela) Pecha sempre a fiestra/xanela antes de cear.
Italian (Lei) chiude sempre la finestra prima di cenare
Milanese (Le) la sara semper sü la finestra prima de disnà.
Neapolitan Essa nzerra sempe 'a fenesta primma 'e magnà
Portuguese (Ela) sempre fecha a janela antes de jantar/cear.

The word "ventana" in Spanish (window) seems to appear in almost all these sentences as some form of "finestra".

Interstingly enough (for me anyway WAKE UP) I was able to "decipher" some of the words in these sentences. It would have been a lot easier for me if that darned "finestra", would have been replaced by the word "ventana", a word I know……I guess?.......

However I would have only understood pieces of information not the whole "Hallaca". What is an "Hallaca?" Glad you asked. Here it goes...

The Hallaca is a staple of the Venezuelan Holiday dinner dish. Yes my family is from Venezuela. And Hallacas are really yummy! And really only prepared for/around Christmas. They are a ton of work! So no I don't make them; so don't ask me for any orders........

The Hallaca is also the most representative icons of Venezuelan multicultural heritage. I like to think of it as Jazz....A little of this a little of that......

Hallacas are prepared with a "multicultural" array of ingredients that include: European ingredients:like raisins, nuts and olives, indigenous ingredients: corn meal colored with annatto seeds (natural plant extract used to dye foods) and onions. Also African ingredients: smoked plantain leaves used for wrapping. I love how the Hallacas look wrapped in the big plantain leaves!

Remember how I said food brings people together?..........

Okay so back to the "whole Hallaca" metaphor. When you learn Spanish in school (as a foreign language) you tend to feel as I do when I read all of these "romantic sentences".........Like" "I guess I know what there saying?"......"I can pick up some of it"........"I got one word"........hmmmmmmmmm? Kinda....Nope........

You can't "pick up" words here an there when your listening/having a conversation.......Ya know watta I mean?..........Like in Austurian the phrase : Ella pieslla siempre la ventana/feniestra primeru de cenar. If I read this or if someone was saying this to me I would get that: “She always window before dinner”......hmmmmmmm? What the heck does she do at the window before dinner? Does she jump out the window before dinner? Does she have a phobia about windows? Is her significant other coming from the window to shoot us both?.......See? It gets to be important to know.

Yes I can ask the person what she/he means; but I am not sure that I would get anywhere or where to start? Weeeeeell you might say; “You can use hand gestures and keep talking ;till one of you gives up and has dinner by themselves or with the window closed.....

To that I would say to you my dear amigos: “Would it not be better to know the entire conversation from the beginning?......

So this is what I want you to take away from this "lesson-gem" today: Don't settle. If you are taking a course on line or at a college.......Do not settle for this. Knowing half of what someone is telling you is like riding a bike with blindfolds on......Ya may get there eventually but you will be severely injured........How so?........

Tell ya next time........