The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1908-11-17
A LESSON IN SPANISH
I'M ~
How Tourists In Mexico Wrestle
With the Language.
A QUEER RESTAURANT ORDER.

WIlU tII6 kdtt9uduCs
A QUEER RESTAURANT ORDER.
The Way an American Woman Shock
cd . Waiter With Demand For
Dish That the Cook Would Not Pre-
pare
'sIts no wonder that men who go
from the States down to Mexico on
business do not get along better" said
a returned New Yorker. They don't
study Spanish as they should. In the
clubs half Of the stock stories are
about these half educated Americans.
ct 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 pa
dent papa with the wad.
"sLet me ORDER said the mater. I
want to use my Spanish And she pro-
ceeded to pull out handy book OF
conversation Let me see,' scanning
the menu; we want oysters, I'm sure.
A small fry for each would be just the
thing
Running her fingers through the
leaves, she found that 'chiquita' means
small and 5rita' means fry Perfect
" 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:
"tChiquitas fritas.'
aThe walters eyes bulged out, and
his Latin poIiteness got shock. oh,
no, sonora he cried as he backed
away; mo chiquitas fritasr
ssWhy notY returned the patron.
Don't you have 'emr 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.
i" Nice country where one can't get
fried oysters piped the woman. and
she added, 4 wonder whyr
"sYou can get 'em, ma'am,' said
mans raucoss 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.
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.
ut 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 the City of
Mexico. With bland smile she adj
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
the 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, 1t was a
compliment and such compliment as
is highly appreciated in any Latin
country.
with a deep bow the seryitor ex-
pressed his delight that his humble
yiands should have found appreciation
In the sight of the most excellent
sonora. It was expressed In the
choice phrases that so readily lend
themselves on such occasions through
the Castilian tongue.
But my lady didn't understand a
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,
but somehow she couldn't get the wait
er to do anything but bow and scrape
and smile.
"The puzzle was solved when the
proprietor, hearing the excited voices,
entered and learned that the lady
merely wanted to pay her bill Had
she known that not Como muchoT
but Que es la cuentaY ('What Is the
account?) is the correct expression she
would have been saved trouble and
modification
''Time and again United States con-
Euls have set forth In federal publica-
lions the advantages of 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 gen.
eral rule
"One 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, | guess, for
you can't find any Spanish novels on
the secondhand bookstore tables up
or down or across the city. The only
specimens have found have been
Spanish novels translated from the
French novels. 1t is strange, too, for
there are many excellent novels nova
days by Spanish writer's.
'tOf course an instructor Is needed
to obtain the correct pronunciation, but
on visiting Mexico with good. ready
knowledge of the language you can
soon acquire the needed pronunciation.
In fact, you have to do 1t in order to
get along"-New York Sun.