help with a christmas card

Hi,

My husband and I spent a month working with street kids in Cusco this summer, and we would like to send them a card for Christmas. Unfortunately, our spanish level is rather low, so we were hoping that someone here would be kind enough to translate our message.

Here's it is:

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We hope you are all doing well. We are back in Canada, but even though we are far away, we haven't forgotten you, and we miss you a lot. We would like to wish you and your families a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. We have a little gift for you, we hope you like it.

With lots of love,
******************

Thanks in advance!

We hope you are all doing well. We are back in Canada, but even though we are far away, we haven't forgotten you, and we miss you a lot. We would like to wish you and your families a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. We have a little gift for you, we hope you like it.

With lots of love,


Deseamos que estén todos bien. Nosotros estamos de regreso en Canadá, pero a pesar de que estamos lejos no nos hemos olvidado de ustedes y los extrañamos mucho. Queremos desearles a ustedes y a sus familias una muy feliz Navidad y un feliz Año Nuevo. Tenemos un pequeño presente para ustedes, esperamos que les guste.

Con mucho amor,


I don't know what's customary in Perú, in Argentina we usually write "feliz Navidad y próspero Año Nuevo" on Chrismas cards. But I wouldn't use "próspero" in this case, since it's rather formal. Besides, it means "thriving", and it might sound a bit insincere (or at least unrealistic) when addressing to street kids. If you don't want to repeat "feliz", you can say "un excelente Año Nuevo", "un maravilloso Año Nuevo", etc.

Hope it helps!

It's a nice gesture, I hope they like the gift!

Thanks so much Moni! We really appreciate this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Moni

"Nosotros estamos de regreso en Canadá, pero a pesar de que estamos lejos no nos hemos olvidado de ustedes y los extrañamos mucho."

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"Nosotros estamos de regreso en Canadá; pero, a pesar de que estamos lejos, no nos hemos olvidado de ustedes y los extrañamos mucho." Just a slight change ;)

Moni, why did you translate "present" to "presente" instead of "regalo". I understand that presente is a word in Spanish and that it means present, but wouldn't regalo be more common, especially among street kids?

Smeggo: It's my pleasure to be able to collaborate on such a noble endeavour.

Gentle: You are very right, the semicolon is more appropiate there.

Hpf: I was in doubt, since in Argentina we use "regalo", but I don't know what's customary in Perú. I used "presente" just because I vaguely remind that world as more usual in "neutral Spanish". Maybe "regalo" is the right choice.

In Spanish we don't necessarily have to use the personal pronouns all the time. Sometimes it makes the sentences too long. I would suggest to eliminate a few personal pronouns...even if the audience is kids.

Deseamos que estén todos bien. Estamos de regreso en Canadá, pero a pesar de que estamos lejos no los hemos olvidado y los extrañamos mucho. Queremos desearles a ustedes y a sus familias una muy feliz Navidad y un feliz Año Nuevo. Les tenemos un pequeño presente y esperamos que les guste.

an I also think "presente" is ok although maybe it's better to use "regalo" in this case. I am positive kids understand "regalo" better than "presente". ;)

de acuerdo con SandraT en que convendría (para hacerlo más natural) eliminar algunos "nosotros" en este caso...

en cuanto a "regalo" o "presente"... qué tal "obsequio"?

I've just written up the card, and I'm going to send it off tomorrow. Hopefully it will make it in time for Christmas.

Thanks to everyone for all the help!!