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2011 Edition August E. Flanagan

© 2011 Lenguajero.com

Spanish in Colombia A Basics and Beyond guide to learning ColombianSpanish. Phrases, examples, and extensive resources.

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INTRODUCTION 3

improve by providing you with recommendations or authentic materialsthat I know will help your Spanish reach the next level. Specically, books,

music, and movies that I have enjoyed while living in Colombia andlearning Spanish mysel.

Finally, I didn’t want to hand you a 300 page book and say “OK, now justmemorize all these phrases and you’ll speak decent Colombian Spanish.”Instead, Spanish in Colombia: Basics and Beyond was designed to be short,un, and inormative, while leaving plenty o room or personal explorationinto the language.

Spanish in Colombia: Basics and Beyond is presented in six acts:

Act 1 - Five Reasons to Visit Colombia Now 

Act II - The History of Spanish in Colombia

Act III - Modern Spanish in Colombia

Act IV - Colombian Slang

Act V - Los Artes - Books, Movies and Music from Colombia

Act VI - La Comida Colombiana 

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The History o Spanish in Colombia

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Spanish explorers rst landed inColombia in 1499 and by 1508 theconquest o the country had begunin ull. The city o Santa Marta wasounded in 1525 and Cartagenade las Indias ollowed in 1533. In1535 Gonzalo Jiminez de Quesada

ounded Santa Fé de Bogotá, whichbecame the capital o the Viceroyaltyo New Granada (an area thatcomprised present day Venezuela,Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama, andpart o Brazil).

For those who are interested in reading more about the Spanish conquest,

and what Latin America was like beore the arrival o the Spaniards I highlyrecommend the ollowing books:

- 1491: New Revelations o the Americas Beore Columbus- Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History o Latin America

At the time o the Spanish conquest hundreds or perhaps even thousandso tribes o Chibchan and Carib speaking natives lived along both the

Caribbean coast and urther inland. The two largest groups o tribes wereknown as the Tairona and the Muisca. While both o these groups werelarge, highly organized societies the Spanish conquest and the spread o diseases wiped out the vast majority o these indigenous people.

Unlike in other Latin American countries where the indigenous populationwere used as orced labor (such as Mexico or Peru), the overwhelmingreduction in population caused Europeans to begin sending large numbers

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Eating/Drinking/Going Out

 Agria/Amarga - Beer.Me da una agria por avor. - Can you get me a beer please.

 Tinto - Small cup o black coee, usually served rom a thermos.¿Quieres un tinto? - Do you want a coee?

 Antojarse - To crave.Se me antoja una amarga bien ría. - I’m craving a really cold beer. (Literally“A cold beer is giving me a craving.”)

Jartar - To eat or drink too much.Anoche nos uimos a jartar agria en el bar. - Last night we went out anddrank too much beer at the bar. 

Estar entonado/jalado/fncho - To be drunk.Anoche Diego estuvo entonado. Tuvimos que llevarlo a casa. - Last nightDiego was really drunk. We had to take him home.

Guayabo - Hangover.No voy a rumbear esta noche porque tengo que trabajar en la mañana y quiero evitar un guayabo. - I’m not going out tonight because I have towork in the morning and I want to avoid a hangover.

 

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Embarrar - To mess up, to get in trouble.He embarrado y dejé mis papeles en la ofcina, y tengo que presentar mi 

inorme mañana. - I screwed up and let my papers at the oce, and I haveto present my report tomorrow.

Estar teso/a - To be hard/dicult.Esta clase está muy tesa para mi. - This class is really hard or me. 

Ser teso/a para algo - To be very good at something.Natalie es bien tesa para las matemáticas. - Natalie is really good at math. 

Estar berraco - To be hard to deal with (a situation). To be pissed o (aperson)Mi clase de quimica ísica está berraquísima. - My physical chemistry classis super hard.Estoy berraco porque tuve que pagar más impuestos que nunca. - I’mpissed o because this year I had to pay more taxes than ever beore.

Ser un/a berraco/a - To be awesome, worthy o admirationJuan es un berraco. Estudia para su maestría y hace trabajo voluntariopara ayudar a los niños en su barrio con su tarea. - Juan’s awesome!He is studying or his Master’s and he volunteers helping kids in hisneighborhood with their homework. 

Ser en la olla - To be broke, without money.Despúes de la Navidad soy en la olla porque compré tantos regalos parami amilia. - I’m broke ater Christmas because I bought so many gits ormy amily.

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La Comida Colombiana 

For those o you who like to eat, Colombia will not disappoint. As with thecultures the ood varies greatly rom region to region. The one thing that itall has in common is deliciousness.

My own experiences have taught me that ood and the traditions thatsurround it are integral to understanding and orming bonds with any newculture or community. Below is a list o some o the most popular andunique Colombian dishes. Try ‘em all!

 Ajiaco - This rich chicken soup will cure whatever ails you. It includeschicken, potatoes, corn, cream, capers, avocado and guasca, an grownthroughout the Americas that gives the soup its distinct favour. I you lookor guasca in the United States it is oten reerred to as “gallant soldier”.

Arepa - You’ll have these served with almost every meal you eat. It is abread made rom cornmeal, similar to a thick pancake. It is normally eatenwith butter, and dipped into soups, stews, or anything saucy on your plate.Along the coasts it is common to buy large arepas stued with chicken orcheese rom street vendors. 

Arroz con Coco - This common side dish o the Caribbean coast o Colombia is one o my avorites (and it’s easy to make too). Simply cookwhite rice with coconut milk, water, salt and sugar. You can mix it with redbeans and serve as an accompaniment to sh, or just eat it on it’s own.(Author’s Tip: I love to squeeze a quarter o resh orange on top and thenadd some hot sauce (hogao) or a quick delicious snack.)

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