warning: spending time in spain can cause severe loss of english skills

when caroline and i lived in salzburg and spent so much time with the spanish boys, we noticed our english-speaking abilities took a turn for the worse; a very big, very bad turn for the worse. 

you see, the boys speak english and speak it well (relatively speaking), but…

well, anyone who speaks spanish should be familiar with the articles, “la, el” and “un(o), una”.  these articles translate, in a literal sense, to “the, the” and “one, one” respectively.  there is no direct translation for the article “a” and the boys, therefore, have never really mastered use of the article “a”. 

as a result of this, they say things like, “you are looking like one princess!” or, “we can eat one meal and then make one siesta” (oh, and in their version of the english, the verb ‘make’ can be interchanged with a surprisingly wide variety of other verbs).

caroline and i, during our most recent trip to spain, noticed that we had, once again, begun to sound nothing at all like native english speakers.

an example?

i was editing a video on my computer and caroline wanted a preview before i had applied the finishing touches.  i denied her request by saying, “no, i am making one suspense” to which she replied, “that is one annoying.  you are one make me mad”. 

after these fragmented sentences -- which we’d spoken so naturally – had fully registered with us, we looked at each other, horrified, and said, “oh, no… it’s happening again”.  

what’s funny is that, while this strange ‘spanish boy language’ may sound like nonsense to an outsider, the boys totally ‘got’ it.

during our hike, for instance, caroline and i noticed a cute boy sitting on a ledge outside the alhambra.  i commented to caroline, “i see one well-dressed individual!” and she added, “i see one ‘like’ ”.  sergio, having overheard us, turned around and said, “okay, okay, give me your camera, i’ll take a photo of you and the boy”.

^^  caroline, me, and one ‘like’ ^^