The road sign above means ONE WAY but as we all know language can be interpreted in many ways. I am participating in Carmi's thematic photographic and today's signs are from México. I took these to show my estudiantes examples of the spanglish that is so prevalent in the US and across the border. For many linguists spanglish is a touchy subject which I won't get into here but I do think it is a neat way to see how a language is a living thing. As a profesora de español, I of course stick to no spanglish en la clase but that does not mean I don't ever use it or that I don't get a quick out of it. 
Would you like a DONA this morning?
One of my favorite signs from that trip was for CHINALOA. Sinaloa is one of the 31 states in Mexico. (hee hee! or ja ja as we laugh en español!)
Since it is the weekend, I will leave you with this sign. Do I have any takers? !Nos vemos el lunes si no antes!
¡Que se diviertan!
These are great signs! "Chinaloa", that is a funny one!
ReplyDeleteI agree, language is living, there is language that is "proper" for instructional purposes, but we all love to have fun with language. And they are bound to mix and blend, especially here in SoCal where we live.
That's what I love about the "Skippyjon Jones" books for kids. Lots of fun mixing and blending Spanish and English words. Makes the kids laugh, and the adults get a kick out of it, too!
Lovely!! My second thematic photo for "signs" is about Mexican business signs here in L.A. - all the artwork and hand-painting.
ReplyDeleteAs a child I lived in both Spain and Mexico, I learned the language as they spoke it on the street.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to high school in the states I took Spanish as my required second language. What a mistake that was! My teacher would pick on me to speak in front of the class then pick it apart on all that was wrong. Soon I wouldn't say anything as I knew it would be wrong and everyone would make fun of me. To this day I can't utter a word and I used to be fluent as a child.
Loved the signs!
I'll have 1 Coco Loco por favor... :)
ReplyDeleteI love your signs especially the ChinaLoa one! Best Chinese restaurant we ever ate was in Tijuana... think it was called the Golden Dragon?
Wishing you a lovely weekend!xo
I love the artistry in these signs. You can tell real people created them, as they have much more humanity embedded in them - their layout, language, colors - than anything I've ever seen up here.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe Canadians are just too reserved. Either way, I can always count on you to share something great with us.
love your pics...what does the spanish mean at the end of your post..after do i have any takers? I love spanish but never learned it in school. I had been to mexico a few times and picked up a wee bit. we learn french so some words are similar! it is such a beautiful language to listen to!
ReplyDeleteHa, that UN SENTIDO sign is hilarious... I love spotting literal translations.
ReplyDeleteThose were fun! I agree with an above poster...I used to live in Mexico and Switzerland as a child and spoke both fluently. It wasn't until HS Spanish and College french that I realized how "differently" I had learned!!
ReplyDeleteAnd as for me...a coco loco, por favor!
OK, now I need a cocktail.
ReplyDeleteDona! I love it. Totally sounds like my grandma trying to speak english! lol
ReplyDelete