Jcal

hey, could i have help translating a quick email to a friend?

"Hey, how are you? I'm doing fine. I must say, i DID enjoy myself, and look forward to returning to Ecuador. I will be helpless though. . . without martina my spanish is non existant!! Sorry I took so long to respond, it's hard when i can't speak spanish. . . at all! hope you had a good new year. miss you!
take care!"

ps. in spanish, do they still end letters with, "xoxox" and it means the same thing? id imagine so, but im not really sure.

magictoaster

This is my best attempt at translating your email. I must say, I've taken the liberty of not writing a direct translation, but rather, how I think it would sound most natural.

As far as XOXO is referred, here in Puerto Rico it means the same... but it's a gringo-ish thing to do. Most of the time we write TQM, which stands for "Te quiero mucho" (Anyone want to elaborate on the word "Querer"?). I'm not sure if it means the same thing in Ecuador, though.

I'd suggest being weary of words that express affection like "miss" or "love", there's a linguistic and cultural gap between how it's used in English and some Spanish speaking cultures. Using them as freely as in English can send wrong messages.

In any case, here's the translation:

Hey, ¿cómo estás? Yo estoy bien. A la verdad que me divertí mucho, espero regresar a Ecuador. Pero estaré indefenso...¡¡sin martina mi español no sirve!! Perdona que demoré tanto responder, ¡las cosas se dificultan cuando uno no habla nada de español! Espero que hayas pasado un feliz Año Nuevo. ¡Te extraño!
¡Cuídate!

Jcal

hey! thanks so much

lauracipolla

magictoaster:
very interesting comments.
now mine: 1) the "XOXO" is absolutely "American" -and not used at all in Argentina, let me tell you. TQM and variants can be used, but "Con amor", o "Besos" o "Un abrazo" would be the natural way to end a VERY FRIENDLY letter/email here. (excellent comment on cultural differences: we Latin Americans send love and kiss people so much!!!), 2) about the letter: I don't like the phrase "A la verdad" in your translation. is that correct in Puerto Rico? here we'd say "A decir verdad" or "La verdad es que..." (much more natural); "Martina" is a name, right? (capital M...). 3) the word "querer"... you meant to ellaborate on its translation? different meanings? some philosophy, maybe? I think we need a new thread for it. would you start it? I promise to follow you!

laura

Moyses

please explain me this... XOXO is only between a female and male relationship? "besos" and "con amor" is strictly only in family or Courtship, "abrazos" apply for friendship

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I'm learning English... thanks for your patience ... and if you correct my mistakes I'll be very grateful

SandraT

Moyses: Besos y abrazos (xoxo) is not strictly for a female and male relationship, be it English or Spanish. The words depend more on the relation between the persons, close friends, colleagues that get along well, etc.
Con amor applies more but not necessarily and only to love relationships. Although in Spanish we use a lot more : Con cariño and this is more general used.
Laura: I believe there is already a thread on "querer, amar, etc". You can do some search and if not satisfied with the responses, you could start another one. I'm in...just in case

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[Have a nice day!!!
♥ Sandra T ♥