The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-10-04
THE TOURIST IN MEXICO
Samples of Spanish as She Is Spoke
by Some Americans.

"It's no wonder that men who go
from the States down to Mexico on
business do not get along better, I" said
returned New Yorker. "They don It
study Spanish as they should. In the
clubs half of the stock stories are about
these half educated Americans.
1T was in a restaurant where only
Spanish is spoken that a party of
American tourists assembled. There
were a woman and her two daughters
and of course the attendant and patient
papa with the wad.
90 Let me ORDER said the mater.
1 want to use my Spanish and she
proceeded to pull out handy book of
conversation. Let me see, scanning
the menu, we want oysters, I IN sure.
A small fry for each would be just the
thing.
Running her fingers through the
leaves she found that 'chiquita' means
small and 'frita means fry Per-
feetly simple. 'Chiquita fritas' would
mean small fries. She held up her
fingers to Indicate four, and said com
plaeently to the expeetant and polite
waiter:
sChiquita fritas.'
The waters eyes bulged out and his
Latin politeness got a shock. ooh, no,
Sonora, he cried as he backed away,
no ehiquitas fritasl
Why nOt9' returned the patron,
don t you have 'emg' For in her sur
prise she had fallen back on her YER
nacular. Then she remembered her
role and consulted her book.
Nothing doing No end of gesticu-
lations on the part of the waiter.
Nice country where one can't get
fried oysters piped the woman, and
she added Il wonder why?'
80 You can get 'em, ma am, said a
mans raueous voice at an adjoining
table. He continued: 'You ordered
fried babies, and they don't serve 'em
in this part of the republic. The word
chiquitas'' means babies, a term of
endearment, but you re all o. K. as to
the fritas. If you had asked for 90 s
tras fritas, - the order would have gone
through all right
looked daggers at the stranger, who
was a New Yorker, and had lived in
Mexico for twenty years.
cit was the same sort of woman
continued the traveller, "who tried to
air her Spanish by asking the amount
of her bill after she had taken her
dinner in a restaurant in Mexico City.
With a bland smile she addressed the
tending to ask, How much2'
"Now. the word como not only
means how, but also Il eat, so that
the woman had remarked to the wait
er, i eat a good deal This was as
much as TO say that the dinner was
so good that she had eaten all, or
more than she ought. In fact, it was
compliment and such compliment
as is highly appreciated in any Latin
country.
"With a deep bow the servitor ex-
pressed his delight that his humble
viands should have found appreciation
in the sight of the most excellent Sc
nora. Itswas expressed in the choice
phrases that so readily lend themselves
on such occasion through the Castilian
tongue.
''But my lady didn t understand
word of the lingo She meant bust
ness and she repeated in louder tone.
Como muchO2 Como mucho9' She
was sure of her correct Spanish, but
somehow she coudn t get the waiter to
do anything but bow and serape.
tThe puzzle was solved when the
proprietor, hearing the excited voices.
entered and learned that the Iadv
merely wanted to pay her bill. Had
she known that not Como mueho?'
but 'Que es Ia cuenta2' what is the
aecOunt) is the correct expression she
would have been saved trouble and
modification.
"Time and again United States Con
suls have set forth in Federal publ
cations the advantages of a real knowl-
edge of Spanish to the business man.
The need is growing more emphatic
with every day, as our relations in
trade are growing with Mexico daily.
But | guess that Federal publications
don't hit the people at large, as a
rule.
cone of the easiest ways to learn
a foreign language is to read good nov
els in that tongue. You get so inter
ested in the story that you Just have
to go on to the end to learn whether
the hero and heroine come out all
right.
"Students of Spanish don't adopt
that method in New York. I guess. for
YOU can't find any Spanish novels on
the secondhand book store tables up
or down or across the city. The only
specimens / have found have been
oh IL