Monday, January 26, 2009

Amelia Bedelia and Spanish Lessons

We’re several days my father-in-law’s visit, and some of you have been nice enough to inquire how it’s going. I’m feeling a little like Amelia Bedelia – intentions are good…execution leaves a little to be desired. And let’s just say it doesn’t help that the kids make fun of me every time I start doing charades.

Here are a few Spanish phrases that could’ve come in handy so far:


Espero que te gusten las sábanas de “happy face”. Las opciones eran esas o pingüinos. I hope you like smiley face sheets. It was either that or penguins.


Te recomiendo que no veas debajo de la cama. I highly recommend not looking under the bed.


No, yo tampoco sabia que las perras hacian eso. I didn’t know girl dogs did that, either.


No le hagas caso al perico, dice mentiras. Don’t listen to the bird. He lies.


No le hagas caso a la Tortuga, no habla bien español. Don’t listen to the tortoise. His Spanish is no good.


No le hagas caso al pescado, no tenemos ningun pescado. Don’t listen to the fish. We don’t have a fish.


No, las cosas normalmente no son como ahora. Algunas veces es mucho peor. No, it’s not always like this around here. Sometimes it’s much worse.


At least I knew enough to take Amelia Bedelia’s approach, and baked a big applesauce cake. I know Amelia Bedelia baked a lemon meringue pie, but I don’t have a lemon meringue pie recipe. I still remember hearing this book read aloud for the first time when I was in first grade. The reader, a big kid who had to be at least in third grade, pronounced it lemon MER-in-gyoo pie. But back to my point: no matter how you say it, you can smooth over a lot of rough spots with awesome baked goods.

15 comments:

ICQB said...

My favorite phrase (and the only one I know) in Spanish is, "Yo quiero elado." Which means, "I want ice cream."

Kelly Polark said...

Funny! Delicious food transcends all language barriers! You seem fairly fluent in Spanish, no? I just started the Rosetta Stone program for Spanish. I'm liking it a lot. I actually got it for my nine year old, but decided to do it, too.
I love Amelia Bedelia books!

Adrienne said...

ICQB - That's a handy phrase...you could survive with that (unless you're lactose intolerant).

Kelly - I'm afraid not...my husband translates for me :(
I should check out the Rosetta Stone course.

Anonymous said...

Those are slightly off-putting phrases--esp. the "don't look under the bed!" Ha! You crack me up!
My boys love Amelia Bedelia--nonsense is fun.

C.R. Evers said...

LOL!!! You never stop cracking me up! Please tell me you didn't do the charades for the phrase re: girl dogs. LOL!

Please keep us posted for both your sanity and our amusement. ;0D

Suzie said...

Those are some great phrases. Though in truth I never trusted that bird anyway

Bish Denham said...

LOL! Yup, food goes a long way in helping everyone feel comfortable.

Rena Jones said...

I'm glad to hear it's going good, Adrienne. LOL @ the bird lying. Don't they all? And yeah, Rosetta-Stone is an awesome language program.

Polly and Meek said...

Oh Amelia! That takes me back to my childhood.

Meek

Adrienne said...

Green Girl - I should have mentioned he's staying in my son's room...

Christy - Ha! That would be a spectacle!

Suzie - You are a smart cookie.

Bish - That is a universal language :)

Rena - Yeah, we're enjoying ourselves, despite the usual nuttiness.

Meek - Thanks for visiting! That is a blast from the past, isn't it?

PJ Hoover said...

Hilarious list of translations!

Kimbra Kasch said...

I love Amelia and homebaked goodies so you'd have me under your spell.

Rebecca Ramsey said...

You are hilarious.
And Amelia is one of my favorites!
What a fun post!

Brenda said...

I don't want to know what the female dog was doing...grin...

These sound like great conversation pieces...grin...

Mary Witzl said...

These cracked me up -- especially the ones about the penguin/happy face sheets and the dog.

And why oh why did you have to mention applesauce cake AND lemon meringue pie? I have been doing so well up to this point!