The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1908-11-20
A LESSON IN SPANISH
How Tourists In Mexico Wrestie
With the Language.
A QUEER RESTAURANT ORDER

ed q Waiter With a Demand For a
Dish That She Cook Would Not Pre-
pare.
IT'S no wonder that men who go
from the States down to Mexico on
business do not get along better" said
returned New Yorker. 'eThey don't
study Spanish as they should. In the
clubs half Of the stock stories arc
about these half educated Americans.
at was in a restaurant where only
Spanish is spoken that a party Of
American tourists assembled. There
were woman and her two daughters
5 and, Of course, the attendant and pa
Kent papa with the wad.
LET me order said the mater. 4
want to use my Spanish And she pro-
ceeded to pull out a handy book of
4 conversation. Let me see,' scanning
the menu; we want oysters, I'm sure
4 small fry for each would be just the
thing
Running her fingers through the
leaves, she found that 'chiquita' means
-smaiP and frita' means fry Perfect
I y simple. 'Chiquita fritas' would
! mean small fries She held up her
fingers to indicate four and said com
placently to the expectant and polite
waiter:
'Chiquitas fritas.'
The walters eyes bulged out, and
.(his Latin pcliteness got a shock. oh
no, senora,' he cried as he backed
away; no chiquitas fritasF
why notg returned the patron
Don't you have emp for in her sur
/ pEise she had fallen back on her yer
naeular. Then she remembered her
role and consulted her book.
Nothing doing. No end Of gesticu-
iations on the part OF the waiter
Nice country where one can't get
3fried oysters piped the woman, and
she added, I wonder whyY
You can get 'em, ma'am,' said
mans raucoCs 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,
term Of endearment, but you're all o.
Z. as to the fritas. If you had asked
for "ostras fritas" the order would
have gone through all right
"And she ordered 'em, though she
looked daggers at the stranger, who
was a New Yorker and had lived in
, Mexico for twenty years.
at 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 restaurant in the City of
Mexico. With a bland smile she ed
dressed the head waiter with Como
muchoY intending to ask how much
Now, the word como not only
means how but also I eat so that
sbe woman had remarked to the wait
er, I eat 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 a
compliment and such a compliment as
is highly appreciated in any Latin
country.
with a deep bow 4he seryitor ex-
pressed his delight that his humble
viands should have found appreciation
in the sight Of the most excellent
n4Sa. It was expressed in the
choice >ahEaseS- that so readily lend
themselves on such occasions through
4 the Castilian tongue
But my lady didn't Understand
word Of the lingo She meant bust
ness, and she repeated in a louder
tone: Como mucho? Como mucho:
She was sure of her correct Spanish
sut somehow she couldn't get the wait
er to do anything but bow and scrape
and smile.
'sTbe puzzle was solved when the
proprietor. hearing the excited voices
entered and learned that the lad,
merely wanted to pay her bill HAD
she known that not Como mpcho:
but Que es Ia cuentaT C'What is the
.aecount?) is the correct expression she
would have been saved trouble and
Modification
esTime and again United States con
suls have set forth in federal publica
. tons the advantages Of a real knOwl
edge of Spanish to the business man
The need is growing more emDlati-
with every day. as our relations in
trade are growing with Mexico daily
4 But I guess that federal publications
don't hit the people at large as a gen
eral rule
Gone Of the easiest ways to learn Il
foreign language is to read good nov
els in that tongue. You get so inter
ested in the story that you just have &,
20 on to the end to learn whether tie
hero and heroine come out all right
"Students of Spanish don't adopl
hat method in New York, guess. for
on can't find any Spanish novels on
he secondhand bookstore tables up
az down or across the city. The only
5ecimens I have found have been
spanish novels translated from the
French novels It is Fange, too, for
fhere are many excellent novels nova
7ays by Spanish writer's.
aOf course an instructor is needed
q obtain the correct pronunciation. but
an visiting Mexico with 4 good, ready
.~--fo1T 20 of fhn TauoTToon Won oan