Lost in Translation: How to Avoid Confusion and Communicate Effectively in Intercultural Relationships ♫ 12

Speaker 1: 1:43

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Host: 3:00

Hola mi gente, bienvenidos. Welcome to episode 12 of the Learn Spanish Con Salsa podcast. Learning Spanish goes hand in hand with learning about Latino culture. As we learn the language, we meet new people, make friends, and may even start dating outside of our own culture. In these friendships, sometimes things can get lost in translation. So in this episode, we're going to talk about intercultural relationships with Maribel Quezada-Smith, host of the podcast Diferente. Maribel is a creative entrepreneur who has spent too much time hopping between cultures, never truly feeling like she fit in anywhere. She finally gave up her ideas of who she thought people wanted her to be and embraced her authentic self. Maribel's passion is to inspire people through meaningful content and stories. She earns her living as a television producer, writer, and marketing consultant. Now we touch on a lot of things in this episode from dating and relationships, to making friends that have a culture that's different from your own. So I really hope you enjoyed this conversation and get some insight on how to better communicate and connect with people across cultural lines. Entonces, vamos a empezar. Let's get started. Hola Maribel, bienvenida. Thank you for joining me on the Learn Spanish Con Salsa podcast.

Maribel: 3:27

Gracias Tamara. It's such a pleasure to be here with you today.

Host: 3:31

Maribel, can you start off by telling us just a little bit about what you do and your background?

Maribel: 3:36

Of course. Well, my background is Mexican, so I'm originally from Mexico City and I've been living in the United States since 1996, so quite awhile and I learned English when I was young, when I was going to school in Mexico. So I became bilingual pretty quickly and just kind of, you know, had to straddle two different cultures for my whole life. So I came here when we were 12 and I always felt like I was an outsider and I was a little bit different than everyone else, which ironically, I, most of the time didn't like obviously, like a lot of kids, so I would push that away. I would try to act like whoever I was around or try to fit in as much as I could. And then as I got older I realized that that wasn't going to work for me because I was fighting who I really was and it wasn't allowing me to grow as a person. So eventually I decided to just stop with the BS and just embrace my authentic self and let my real personality shine through. And that's how I got to meet you because now I have a podcast called Diferente where we have that perspective of sharing different stories and ideas, um, and embracing our unique selves.

Host: 4:51

Very cool. Yes, and I know I found your podcast looking for just different things as I'm a podcast junkie, like a lot of us podcast hosts are. We also love to consume podcasts. So I, I found your show as well and I definitely recommend everyone check it out to just listen to some interesting stories and different perspectives. Now I want to talk about relationships because I know that's your zone of genius.

Maribel: 5:11

I don't know about genius, but I'll try.

Host: 5:15

So many of our listeners may have started out learning Spanish through either music or Latin dance or when traveling abroad on as you learn a language, you also meet people, you make friends and even started dating across cultural lines. So this is a great opportunity to connect with people and learn about where they're from and how they see the world, but it can also have its challenges or sometimes people look at someone from another culture and they think, ooh, they're exotic. Or they think that everyone that looks the same way also thinks the same way. So my first question for you is, how do stereotypes play a role in intercultural dating and relationships?

Maribel: 5:51

Well, I'm married and I married a guy who was not from my culture. My husband is African American. So I can honestly say that yes, the stereotypes do play into relationships when you're dealing with intercultural relationships because sometimes we come with a predisposition, like when I met my husband, he, he used to say that I was Spanish. He used to call everyone of Hispanic background Spanish and that's completely wrong as you know Tamara, because you're very well traveled. So you don't call people from Mexico Spanish because we're not from Spain, so only Spanish people who are from Spain are called Spanish and that was something that we had to, you know, learn or he had to learn and there were other things and he told me when he was growing up in Kentucky, the Mexican people that he knew were just not like me or my family. They were not necessarily educated in the sense of like college degrees or master's degrees. They were not necessarily the affluent people in the town. So he had this completely different perception of my family or my background. And he had to learn a lot as we got to know each other. So the stereotypes kind of played in a little bit. But thankfully they weren't a deterrent to us getting to know each other. I just had to keep an open mind and understand that he came from a different culture and he came from a different perspective. So we just kind of have been learning together.

Host: 7:17

What are some of the ways that you've overcome those, those challenges? Because I know sometimes like you said, you have these preconceived notions and relationships are hard enough as it is just being to humans coming together. When you throw in all these other things, you know, it can make it more complicated. So what are some ways that you found were some strategies to sort of overcome some of those differences or roadblocks?

Maribel: 7:38

When it comes to intercultural relationships, I would say just like in any relationship, communication is key. I hate to sound cliche, but it's true. So if you don't understand something that the other person is doing that might be related to their culture, I would say ask before you assume. And that was something that my husband and I discussed early on in our relationship. We said, you know, anytime that we don't understand something about one another or where we might be confused about what the other person is saying or doing, we're going to ask questions instead of just assuming that the person is doing something wrong. And so that's what I would say. I would always start with a question instead of judging someone, ask them why they're doing something or why they make the decisions that they're making.

Host: 8:25

Right. Definitely. I mean, I think keeping the lines of communication open and not just sort of like you said, assuming um, or even I think sometimes assuming that the person has a bad intention, it might just be true ignorance and not exactly, you know, what that negative connotation of ignorance that we say like, oh, they're ignorant. But no, they may really just not know

Maribel: 8:43

Yeah.

Host: 8:44

Just like your example with um, you know, you said that he referred to everyone as Spanish. Like the language is also the nationality, the culture, and the people...just like, oh, you're Spanish. But I was going to ask you another question about that since you mentioned, you know, your husband being a black man from the US, but what's something that you had to explain to him about your culture that you thought was obvious or that he just didn't get right away?

Maribel: 9:05

That's a very good question. You know what? I think one thing that he was very surprised of is that we are all different colors and have different looks to us. So in Mexico people don't all just look like I do or they don't all just look like Selma Hayek. We all have very different looks and skin tones. I have cousins who have green eyes and blonde hair and they're first cousins, so you would never think that when you see me, but that's, you know, that's the reality of the Mexican people are very diverse when it comes to, I guess you would say race in the United States, but in Mexico people don't really define it that way. So that was something that he didn't really expect and he was kind of surprised by.

Host: 9:49

Yeah. That's interesting that you mentioned that because I think that's one of the biggest misconceptions people have about Latino culture in general is one just like assuming, oh, there's just this one Latino culture and there's no diversity within it. It doesn't matter what country you're from, you just all speak Spanish.

Maribel: 10:04

Oh yeah, no.

Host: 10:06

And also like you mentioned, I think media feeds into that because when you watch telenovelas, you see the light skinned Mexicans, right, that's what we would call it here, right?

Maribel: 10:14

Yeah, Sofía Vergara, yup.

Host: 10:16

Exactly. So we do have this misconception like from Puerto Rico, we're looking at J, Lo and Marc Anthony, we don't know there's black Puerto Ricans, so we do have this misconception, but I think the media feeds into that. So I want to switch to talk about kind of what you had to adjust to you because you moved from Mexico to the US and I'm sure through the process of getting to know your husband and you also had to meet his family. What's one thing that you wish you knew about your husband's culture before you met his parents?

Maribel: 10:44

You know, that's funny that you asked that because I don't feel like I had to learn as much. They don't get me wrong. There have been things that I've had to learn along the way, but I had a lot more exposure to his culture because I grew up here, so from the age of 12 and on, I was friends with people of his culture. I dated people of his culture, so I didn't really have as much of a culture shock when I have a lot of really good friends who are also black and so I just kind of felt like I fit in and that was really great, but there have been some things along the way like phrases or cultural meaning to things that I've learned, especially like traditions and things like that that I've had to learn, but nothing terrible

Host: 11:31

There is one story that I have that was kind of embarrassing. It's very embarrassing, but my husband likes to tease me and he's. He makes see sometimes say things to me or says things around me that are inappropriate in a public setting to say like not politically correct. Right. He like, he'll use terms that heel that he thinks is like fine to use with me, but then when I use them with other people, people look at me like I'm crazy and I'm not talking about the n word.*laughs* OK, I was about to say he set you up.

Maribel: 12:08

He set me up, straight up, because he was like, in Kentucky, you know, I don't know if you're familiar, but there's a little bit of that country culture. So people use the term"mixed breed" sometimes and it's not a good thing, I've learned, to use that. Well he jokingly, you know, they'll throw it around jokingly. Well he made me believe that it was okay to say that, that our children, if we have children, they would be mixed breed. And I said that to one of my friends who happens to be black. I was having a casual conversation with her and I just threw it in like, yeah, you know, because when we have kids they'll be mixed breed and she looked at me like I had said she was gonna die like""don't you ever say that again? And I was like, are you kidding me? He said it was okay.

Host: 12:52

That's funny. Yeah, he set you up. I'll cosign on that, he set you up on that one. So back when you were dating, what's the dumbest or most offensive thing anyone has ever said to you when they found out where you're from?

Maribel: 13:05

Along the course of my life, there have been a lot of dumb things said to me, uh, when people find out that I'm from Mexico, I have to say, not always in a mean way or meaning to be hurtful. Just kind of out of ignorance. I think one of the dumbest questions that I'm ever asked is basically, can you drink the water? Like that's probably one of the dumbest question I've ever had when they asked me that about Mexico because for some reason I think in the states there's this misconception that you can't drink water in Mexico, but that's not true. You can drink water. You just want to make sure it's filtered water. Like you don't drink the water out of the tap. You make sure that you're drinking out of the filter which every house has most or in. If they don't, they'll have one of those jugs that you can buy of clean filtered water. You can't just unfortunately you cannot drink tap water and maybe that's what they meant, but it just comes off very ignorant in kind of like sad to me that people still have that question.

Host: 14:09

Well yeah, and it's also that that would be the first question that they would have. I mean, I would think from a cultural perspective, there's so many more interesting things to ask about them. Like can I drink the water if I go to Cancun? Like I feel like there's better things to ask.

Maribel: 14:21

Yeah, I know I've been asked that several times and then also questions like, oh, do they still ride on donkeys? And. But that was years ago now I feel like people are a lot more exposed now because the Internet has made that possible, but when I was growing up to 12, 13, 14, those were the kinds of questions that I would get. And honestly there were mostly for kids who are from kids who had never been out of the country. So I can't really blame them.

Host: 14:45

Yeah, and I think that's interesting too because one of the things that really helps get rid of some of those misconceptions and stereotypes is by having those conversations, right? Sometimes you don't know until you ask and just like you had the experience with mixed breed. You have the experience of saying something that may not be appropriate and then we kind of get lost in, oh man, okay, now I know better, but at first you just you. It's just an honest question. You might not realize how ignorant it sounds until you actually come out of your mouth with it. So I think sometimes getting out some of the things that we don't want to say or we kind of say in our heads. I'm think actually saying it out loud is the only way to get rid of it and dispel some of that ignorance is to say it. Even though you know you might be embarrassing, but then you'll learn from it.

Maribel: 15:29

No, and I totally 100 percent agree with you because that's the point. You should be allowed to have conversation and open dialogue about things with people. Otherwise, you'll never learn, so I try not to take things too seriously and I try not to take offense to things when people ask me questions that may or may not be a little bit ignorant or maybe sound a little hurtful. My goal now is to say, okay, where are they coming from with that question and come back to them with a question like, why do you ask that? Or what makes you think that? That's interesting that you say that. Can you elaborate on that? Instead of just getting defensive because if I just get defensive, they're never going to learn and they might just be genuinely curious.

Host: 16:09

Right, exactly. And sometimes, you know, like I said, that's the only way to really to get it out in the open is to actually say it and then you can kind of start the process from there.

Maribel: 16:18

Yeah, just hoping that you don't say it around someone who can beat you up.

Host: 16:23

*laughs* So just kind of one, one last question about um, intercultural relationships. What piece of advice would you give to someone who is thinking about dating or even just having, you know, more friendships and closer friendships with someone who's from a different culture or from a country in Latin America and they don't really know how to approach it. What would you say to someone who's interested in learning more about people and maybe dating and making more relationships within the Latino community, but they're a little bit nervous about how to start or what to say.

Maribel: 16:54

I would say don't be afraid to reach out and ask questions. So when you're first getting to know someone, it's just like getting to know someone who's in your culture. You're asking them questions about where they are from, how they grew up, where they went to school, whatever. It's the same kind of process is just about being open minded and keeping in mind that some of your questions might come off a little bit hurtful. So just understand that there might be a little bit of a breakdown in communication. And so you have to continue to be very open and willing to accept new ideas also because that's the other thing, like you're not gonna meet someone who's going to be exactly like you. Well we're never going to do that period no matter what culture you're in. But regardless you're, you have to understand that you are meeting someone who's coming from a different completely different background than you are. So be very open minded and be open to receiving new ideas and new knowledge and don't shut them down just because they don't mesh with what you believe in. Yeah, definitely. And I think one of the things that's really difficult for those of us from the US to really wrap our minds around is that there really are different world views in the Latino community. So just like there are within the US. But for some reason we don't repeat. I guess we lose sight of that, you know, we sort of think that, oh, people just see things the way that we do here and we don't realize there's another way to see the world.

Host: 18:19

Like you mentioned race earlier, that's a huge example of that I've noticed and I've had to learn over the years that in Latin America, the way race treated and colorism is different than it is in the US. It doesn't mean it's better or worse, it's just different and when we approach it with their kind of, you know, black and white, you know, United States kind of view of race, we can get really confused and we can also make a lot of mistakes and judging people, like you mentioned the whole color thing and having cousins that have green eyes and someone might look at that and go, well that's not a typical Mexican. They're supposed to look this way, but we don't. We don't really have that exposure. And until we actually got meet people, we're not going to ever really understand it. So you make a great point there.

Maribel: 18:59

Thank you. And that's a key point. Like you got to travel. If you really want to get to know people of other cultures, then you need to travel because that's the best way to get to know other perspectives and understand. Even get to know yourself a little bit better, but also understand other points of view.

Host: 19:15

Okay. So Maribel, now I want to switch gears and talk about language. So, um, you mentioned you grew up in Mexico but you also learned English in school. So what do you think is the biggest or advantage that being bilingual has given you?

Maribel: 19:29

It's been a huge advantage. I mean learning the language when I was a kid was imperative to my success in school, in the United States because if I had to come here and start from scratch I probably would have been way behind and they might've made me repeat grades or something like that. So when I came here it was funny because they put me in the regular English classes. Um, well I don't know if you remember this, but in middle school I came here in middle school they used to have you take English, reading, science, those kinds of classes. And the English and reading classes, they had two levels. The beginner or the regular and the advanced English and reading for I guess kids who were learning faster and they put me in the regular one. Well I was bored and so eventually they realized that I could do better and they moved me on to the advanced, and I was fresh, you know, arrived. It was my first year here, so they made an assumption at the school that I couldn't really speak English well enough to be in the advanced class, but I actually ended up in the advanced classes and that was always my, my forte, my forte was always English and reading comprehension. If it hadn't been for the fact that I did learn it since I was four years old, I probably wouldn't have had that situation happen and I would have been behind. So yeah, it's been a huge advantage and I always also say that the practice was imperative also. So in Mexico I didn't just go to school and learn one hour of English. I went to school and learned half the day in English and half the day in Spanish. So we were truly immersed in a bilingual environment and then the other thing that really helped was having native speakers teaching us. So in one of my schools it was British teachers and another one was, it was American teachers and the last year that I was in school in Mexico, which was sixth grade, I was blessed to have this teacher from Boston and her name was Julie. She was amazing because she only spoke to us in English because she didn't speak Spanish. So there was no way around it. We had to communicate with her in English and I think that was the year that really turned me around and was the probably the main reason why I was so successful in school when we came here.

Host: 21:46

Yeah. And I think having that immersion experience is really powerful, but there are things you can do, I think to immerse yourself and force yourself to learn the language even as an adult. So I think mentioning that because most people think that, oh, you can only learn a language to fluency when you're a child and if you didn't start when you were four years old then you're out of luck and you're basically never going to reach fluency.

Maribel: 22:09

Right, of course not. Of course not. But it really, definitely. It definitely helps to learn when you're younger, but you're right. No, there's, there's no reason why you couldn't learn a language as an, as an adult. And I'm actually learning right now. I've learned some Italian and I want to learn French.

Host: 22:26

Do you find that you mix up Italian with um, with Spanish, you probably don't because it's your native...

Maribel: 22:29

Yeah.

Host: 22:30

Oh, you do? OK, because it's your native language. I was thinking it wasn't as hard for you. I started learning Portuguese and because so many of the words are similar.

Maribel: 22:38

Yeah.

Host: 22:39

My brain got so confused by the time I got back from Brazil and I was only there for about 10 days. When it got back to the US, I was speaking Spanish with a Brazilian accent and it was so confusing to everyone. They were like, where are you from? Like, no, but where are you from? So, I just had to put a pause on Portuguese.

Maribel: 22:57

Yeah, sometimes I get confused with the endings. So in, in Spanish, you know you have like the feminine and masculine endings to a lot of words. And in Italian you do too, but they also have other kinds of endings. I feel like they have more variations so it's actually a little bit confusing at times. And I've said some words more so leaning towards Spanish than Italian, but the great thing about Italians is that most of them speak either English or Spanish. So when you go there, you're, you're all right if you're speaking English or Spanish or good.

Host: 23:33

I also like to encourage our listeners by telling stories about making mistakes when you speak two languages, because when you're bilingual sometimes you can mix things up or even forget something really basic and one of the languages you speak. So can you tell us a story about your most embarrassing or funny moment when speaking either English or Spanish?

Maribel: 23:51

Oh yes, I have many, but the one very embarrassing moment that I can think of right now when I was again, sixth grade or sixth grade when I was in seventh grade coming to the United States and I'm living here for the first time, I was in English class and we were talking about where we wanted to go on vacation or where we'd like to go on vacation and I said,"I love going to the bich.""Yes, the bich is my favorite, and the whole classroom was like,"What?!" of course all the kids started cracking up. The teacher's looking at me all embarrassed, like feeling sorry for me, but at the same time just kind of trying to keep the kids in order. Like"I think you meant beach, right? Is that what you meant?" And I said,"yeah. I said, bich, that's what I said." So, my accent got me in trouble a lot of times with words like that. I still sometimes say things and people are like, what? But it doesn't bother me as much. I've learned to understand that that's just who I am, but that was one of those words that I had to really put an emphasis on when I would pronounce it. Love was another word I used to say"lub" because my, in Mexico, the B as in boy and the V as in victor are the same. They sound basically the same, or at least in Spanish. And so I would get those words, I mean those two letters. I would use them the same interchangeably. And so when I said"love," I'd be like"lub." So that one I've conquered but I still sometimes get other words mixed in with my accent. They sound like something totally different. Like my mom used to say"shit cake" instead of"sheet" cake and we, I mean that's like a story that we've, we will forever tell because it's the funniest thing in the world or being a cake on the phone and she's like,"I want a shit cake."*laughs* You can just picture the other person on the other line is like,"What the heck, is this a prank?"

Host: 25:54

Yeah. And I always like to let people know that because it is just part of language already, I mean you have to learn to laugh at it, laugh at yourself and not take it too seriously. Um, and also use it to learn from because like you said, you have to work on those things but they won't come to light until you make the mistake and people are laughing at you. But that's part of the fun of language learning.

Maribel: 26:12

But can I say something? You should not be embarrassed when you're learning a language. It's totally okay to mess up. I think that's one of the biggest issues that Americans have. And, and I can say that because I met many Americans who have told me this, they are embarrassed to speak another language because they don't feel like they're smart enough. They feel like they sound dumb when they speak. There's this ego thing that's preventing them from moving forward in their learning. And I don't know why that is, but it seems to mostly happen in the United States with people from here. It's like this, I don't know what it is, like a cultural thing that says you can't mess up and you, you are allowed to mess up and when you are learning a language and you tell someone,"Estoy aprendiendo" you know, I'm just learning, can you speak slowly? No one's going to be mad at you for that and no one's gonna make fun of you. They might laugh when you say something that means something different and we'll all get a kick out of it, but we're not laughing at you. It's just funny.

Host: 27:11

Right, I mean I think that's true. A lot of people have that hang up, but I, you know, I saw a quote one time about language learning and it said an accent is a badge of honor, you know, so if you're speaking a language with an accent means that it's not your native language and that there is some bravery required to do that, to get over yourself and to get over the fact that you're not going to sound super intelligent when you're in the learning process. So it's definitely a process.

Maribel: 27:37

Absolutely. Yeah. And I think there's a misconception like just because somebody has an accent and maybe it's a very thick accent, it does not mean they're not intelligent. I mean my father has a very thick accent and he's one of the smartest people I know. And so because that is the notion in the United States, like when people come here and they speak with an accent or a heavy accent, they're made fun of constantly on television and all over the place. Then I think that's why many, a lot of Americans think that that's what's gonna happen to them.

Host: 28:05

That's interesting that you mentioned that. That definitely is part of the culture. As an American, I started to realize when I traveled to Latin America that I was more uptight about things like, um, I remember the first time I went to Puerto Rico with my son, we were in Puerto Rico. He was a baby and someone called him"gordito." And I was like,"Oh my God, they're calling my son fat?!" I know he drinks a lot of milk, but that's so mean. I got so offended and then I had to realize it's okay, it's really is not that serious. They're just joking around, people use nicknames like that all the time.

Maribel: 28:39

Yeah. It's totally different in Latin America the way we use those words.

Host: 28:43

Yeah, but in the US, if you were to call a child a fatso or"little fatty" they'd be like,"Oh my God, you can't say that. He's pleasantly plump. You can't say..." Like we definitely have a lot more political correctness I think in our culture and it's definitely something I've had to adjust to as well. Especially when it comes to things like race. Like the first time I heard the word negrita, I was like"huh?!"

Maribel: 29:04

Oh... And it's like a loving thing in Latin America. Like, I mean Celia Cruz who is an afro or was an Afro Latina, may she rest in peace, she called herself"La Negra."

Host: 29:13

Right. But it was like the, that word or even just like the root of that word is so charged in the US. Our history, like even hearing it, I knew it was Spanish. I know"negro" is the color black in Spanish, so, but it just felt like...it took me a while and I still have to process sometimes like, okay, we switched languages. It's okay. It took me a while to get used to things like that because they can be pretty jarring when that's not your culture, but I think we also have to learn to accept those things that hey, it's actually okay. Right. We have to just accept things for what they are instead of hoping that there'll be the way that our culture is and our world view is. Okay, so now it's time for our quick fire round where I ask you five questions in Espaniol for you to answer off the top of your head. So Maribel, lista?

Maribel: 30:02

Si

Host: 30:03

OK. Numero uno.¿Cuál es tu canción favorita?

Maribel: 30:06

Vivir Mi Vida.

Host: 30:07

Es uno de mis favoritas tambien. Numero dos.¿Cuál es tu palabra favorita? Puede ser en ingles o español.

Maribel: 30:17

Amor. En ingles y espanol, los dos."Love" y"amor."

Host: 30:27

Porque tenias que aprender como decir"amor" en Ingles.*risas*

Maribel: 30:28

Por muchas razones, Pero siempre ha sido una palabra importante para mi.

Host: 30:30

Y numero tres.¿Cuál fue laúltima cosa que leíste, miraste, o escuchaste en español?

Maribel: 30:43

Club de Cuervos en Netflix. Es muy buen show, I highly recommended it.

Host: 30:49

OK, muy bien. Numero cuatro. OK, esto es un poquite diferente. Saca tu teléfono y traduce elúltimo texto que recibiste al español.

Maribel: 31:04

Mi esposo me mando un mensaje, mientras tu y yo placticabamos, y dice"ue se te antoja hoy para cenar?"

Host: 31:15

Y, la ultima pregunta. Esto es una pregunta al azar.¿Que es algo que te gustaría intentar pero aún no has hecho?

Maribel: 31:15

¿Que es algo que me gustaría intentar y no he hecho? Son muchas las cosas que me gustarian intentar, pero uno de ellas es dar un TED talk.

Host: 31:25

Ah, es como tu"bucket list" como decimos en ingles.

Maribel: 31:37

Si.

Host: 31:38

¿Y cual seria el tema?

Maribel: 31:38

Valor.

Host: 31:38

Y, creo que esto es todo. Gracias Maribel, thank you for participating in the quick fire round. Now as we wrap up, how can folks get in touch with you on social media or find your podcast?

Maribel: 31:47

Well, thank you for asking. So on social media they can find the Diferente at diferente underscore podcast on Instagram or at the Fed into podcast on facebook. Also the website is www.diferentepodcast.com and as your listeners probably know, the"diferente" is spelled with one f. It's almost like different, but just one F and with an E at the end and yeah, that's how you can get ahold of me.

Host: 32:16

Awesome. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us on the Learn Spanish Con Salsa podcast.

Maribel: 32:20

Thank you so much for having me. This was awesome. This was really fun.

Host: 32:29

I hope you enjoyed that conversation with mighty bell and I hope that you will continue to meet new people and not be afraid to ask questions. Um, that's the best way to really make sure that you're not offending anyone and really get to connect with people beyond just the superficial level. So definitely ask questions, clear up some of those misconceptions so you can really learn more about not just the Spanish language but also about Latino culture and the people who speak the language. Our next episode is going to be another song breakdown, so you may be familiar with episode one where we did a breakdown of the song Despacito, and also episode eight where we talked about how to express yourself in the future tense in Spanish, using the lyrics from the song Voy Pa'lla by Anthony Santos. So I think we're due for another song breakdown, but this time we're going to talk about el subjuntivo, which is the subjunctive in Spanish, and the next episode is going to be cien por ciento, 100 percent in español. Now, I would recommend this episode for more intermediate learners. So if you are a beginner tackling the subjunctive might not be on the top of your list right now. You might not even know what it is I'm talking about, but it is a way to express your hopes and desires in Spanish and there's actually a different verb conjugation and actually it's considered a mood that you would use. So if you're a beginner, you might want to skip next week's episode, but definitely go back and check out episode one and episode eight so you can get a better idea of how you can learn Spanish con musical. Alright, so that is it for this episode of Learn Spanish Con Salsa, and como siempre, as always, I hope this has taken you one step further from being a"principiante" or beginner to bilingual. Adios.

Speaker 1: 34:26

Thank you for listening to the learn Spanish, a podcast at learn Spanish.