Moon in Sagittarius

indian samosas? brilliant

chinese bao? incredible

austrian knoedel? amazing

polish pierogi? showstopping

korean mandu? spectacular

italian ravioli? iconic

tibetan momo? outstanding 

american fritters? killer

Requested by anon ✨Listen while studying

Note: anon asked for expressions to use in Spain, so this list focuses on that country. Some other countries may use different expressions. Most of these can be used at fancy restaurants✨

First of all let’s talk about vosotros / ustedes:) The recommendation is to use usted/ustedes if you are a waiter/waitress, it shows respect. It’s pretty much mandatory for elder people, no matter the type of restaurant. The only time I’d say to drop formalities is when you feel like the group of people in a table are younger than you, so that it feels more familiar. But overall, usted/ustedes is your option✨

✨at the entrance✨

Una mesa para [1,2,3…] Table for 1,2,3…

¿Para cuántos? For how many?

¿Para cuántas personas? For how many people?

¿Cuántos serán [esta noche / hoy]? How many will you be tonight / today?

¿Para dos? For two?

¿Tiene/tienen reserva? Do you have a reservation?

Tendrá/tendrán que esperar 10 minutos. You will have to wait for 10 minutes

¿Me da su nombre por favor? Can I have your name?

Su mesa está lista. Your table is ready

Por aquí, por favor. This way, please.

✨at the table✨

Bienvenido(s) a La Rosa Escarlata. Mi nombre es __. Welcome to La Rosa Escarlata. My name is __

Yo seré su camarero/a esta noche (use ‘velada’ for fancy). I’ll be your waiter/waitress tonight

¿Cómo estamos/están esta noche? How are we tonight?

Déjenme decirles la especialidad de hoy. Let me tell you today’s specials. 

¿Puedo traerles algo para beber? Can I get you something to drink?

Aquí les dejo el menú / la carta. Here I will leave the menu

¿Necesitan más tiempo para decidirse? Do you need a little time to decide?

¿Y para usted, señor/caballero? And for you, sir?

¿Qué le puedo traer a usted? What can I get for you?

Volveré con sus bebidas. I will be back with your drinks

¿Están listos para pedir? Are you ready to order?

Vaya, lo siento, se nos ha acabado la mayonesa. Oh, I’m sorry, we are out of mayo.

Dejen que recoja sus platos. Let me collect your dishes

¿Puedo ofrecerles la carta de postres? Can I interest you in our dessert menu? 

Les traeré la cuenta. I will bring the check/bill. 

✨Extra: be familiar ✨

¿Qué tal, familia? How are you (to a family)

¿Todo bien, caballero? Is everything good mister?

Por su puesto, señorita. Of course, miss. 

✨at the kitchen ✨

I don’t know how to translate the next haha I’ll try to explain. Not everyone uses these expressions, but they’re also not that uncommon, especially in big restaurants that are not franchises, etc. 

Marcha, vale! For when you go to the kitchen to “shout” the orders

“4 de patatas, 2 de huevos” After saying “marcha vale” you go and shout the actual order “4 of potatoes, 2 of eggs”. 

Marchan los segundos de la 4 Ordering the kitchen to start doing the mains of table 4

Pase el primero de la 1 Ordering the kitchen to pass you the starter of table 1 or telling the kitchen you are grabbing the starter of table 1

¡Oído cocina! / ¡Marchando! Something you may hear by the chefs when they’ve heard you and start working on it.

For anon: depending on the region of the restaurant you’re gonna work at, remember to study the typical dishes of that region. Barcelona’s most popular sandwiches may not be the same as Madrid’s. And learn about types of coffee!:)  

Tip: learn all food vocabulary and also notice that menú and carta are not the same. Menú is the specialty/discount of the day and carta is the full menu.

Bakery, sweets and pastries in Spanish 🍰

At a Spanish Restaurant (as a costumer)

Sorry I didn’t posted for a while, I was busy spending time with cats.

This post has been a long time coming. I’ve had a lot of conversations with friends on this topic lately, and I realize that these important conversations don’t happen very much in our online communities. There are three main things I’d like to address.

1. Environmentalism absolutely must do a better job of reflecting intersectionality.

I’m a member of the activist community at my school and in North Carolina in general. This means that I do everything I can to show up for black lives, trans lives, Muslim lives, native lives and more. I see intersectionality in everything I do and work hard to educate myself as a white, middle class person. I am part of the Divestment Student Network which cannot divorce these environmental issues from the social issues they impact. Environmental racism is real. The same systems of oppression that are creating environmental catastrophe are also hitting queer people, women, and poc the hardest. This cannot, must not, be forgotten. I believe that it is easy to talk about environmental issues in a way that centralizes narratives about landfills, marine life destruction, facts about carbon footprints, and endangered animals. Often times, the human side of things is left out, and those narratives must be just as important. We all suffer as a result of climate change, and certain populations suffer first and most. Our narratives should strive to be more inclusive.

2. The environmentalism movement absolutely must recognize that it takes enormous privilege to be zero waste, vegan, minimalist, etc.

I had a friend point out to me recently that they admired my lifestyle choices, but felt that certain things were exclusive to them because they lived with disability. They had a perspective that I had never considered and really appreciated hearing. I often see people in this community push back against these statements and argue about the ease of “simple swaps” or “lazy veganism” but this just silences and closes out those voices even more. This seriously needs to change. I love figures like the Vegan Bros because they don’t think purity should ever be the goal of veganism. The goal should be drawing people in to this community as much as possible, and listening to the very real challenges and barriers that people face. For example, buying high-quality, long-lasting clothing plainly is not an option for people of low income, and buying second-hand is nothing new or revolutionary when that’s what you’ve always done to get by. This needs to be acknowledged. Most importantly though, shutting down marginalized people when they express their struggles needs to stop, because we should be trying to draw a wider circle to grow as a movement.

3. I come from a place of privilege, which makes it my responsibility to be better and do everything I can to dismantle systems of oppression.

This post has been a long time coming. I’ve had a lot of conversations with friends on this topic lately, and I realize that these important conversations don’t happen very much in our online communities. There are three main things I’d like to address.

1. Environmentalism absolutely must do a better job of reflecting intersectionality.

I’m a member of the activist community at my school and in North Carolina in general. This means that I do everything I can to show up for black lives, trans lives, Muslim lives, native lives and more. I see intersectionality in everything I do and work hard to educate myself as a white, middle class person. I am part of the Divestment Student Network which cannot divorce these environmental issues from the social issues they impact. Environmental racism is real. The same systems of oppression that are creating environmental catastrophe are also hitting queer people, women, and poc the hardest. This cannot, must not, be forgotten. I believe that it is easy to talk about environmental issues in a way that centralizes narratives about landfills, marine life destruction, facts about carbon footprints, and endangered animals. Often times, the human side of things is left out, and those narratives must be just as important. We all suffer as a result of climate change, and certain populations suffer first and most. Our narratives should strive to be more inclusive.

2. The environmentalism movement absolutely must recognize that it takes enormous privilege to be zero waste, vegan, minimalist, etc.

I had a friend point out to me recently that they admired my lifestyle choices, but felt that certain things were exclusive to them because they lived with disability. They had a perspective that I had never considered and really appreciated hearing. I often see people in this community push back against these statements and argue about the ease of “simple swaps” or “lazy veganism” but this just silences and closes out those voices even more. This seriously needs to change. I love figures like the Vegan Bros because they don’t think purity should ever be the goal of veganism. The goal should be drawing people in to this community as much as possible, and listening to the very real challenges and barriers that people face. For example, buying high-quality, long-lasting clothing plainly is not an option for people of low income, and buying second-hand is nothing new or revolutionary when that’s what you’ve always done to get by. This needs to be acknowledged. Most importantly though, shutting down marginalized people when they express their struggles needs to stop, because we should be trying to draw a wider circle to grow as a movement.

3. I come from a place of privilege, which makes it my responsibility to be better and do everything I can to dismantle systems of oppression.

Cannes 2017

When you’re betting on Cannes it’s always best to bet against the women. That logic held up this year as the Cannes 2017 lineup was announced and the Competion titles i.e. the films that compete in the main program that are the most watched and are eligible or the main awards, and only 3 of the 18 films were directed by women. Since the 70s that’s been pretty much par for the course for Cannes when the number of films directed by women have hovered between 0 and 4 in any given year. Still it’s a huge disappointment given the amount of acclaimed women directors who have movies being released in 2017.

The three women who had films that made it into the main competition, Sofia Coppola, Naomi Kawase and Lynne Ramsay, are worthy additions to any festival line up and were expected to show up at Cannes having all had films that have competed for the Palme d’Or before as well as all having served as jury members in the past.

But Agnès Varda who is a French legend who last showed up at Cannes in 2015 to accept an Honorary Palme d’Or for her body of work, showed up Out of Competition, an especially bizarre choice given her long history with the festival and the fact that, at 88, this might be the last film she makes.

It’s also disappointing not to see Cannes adding any new female talent in their main competitive slot while making room for them in their less prestigious categories. Cannes is a festival that likes to keep it in the family, so to speak, by inviting back the same directors again and again. And when they keep passing over female talent that means that the problem Cannes has with women directors is one that’s going to keep continuing for decades.

Here are the female directors and their films, announced for Cannes so far:

Competition

The Beguiled - Sofia Coppola Radiance - Naomi Kawase You Were Never Really Here - Lynne Ramsay

Out of Competition

Visages, Villages - Agnès Varda & JR

Un Certain Regard

Jeune Femme - Léonor Serraille Western - Valeska Grisebach After the War - Annarita Zambrano Beauty and the Dogs - Kaouther Ben Hania The Desert Bride - Cecilia Atan and Valeria Pivato

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

They - Anahita Ghazvinizadeh Sea Sorrow - Vanessa Redgrave

70th anniversary events

Top of the Lake: China Girl - Jane Campion & Ariel Kleiman Come Swim - Kristen Stewart

OK, I think that by now everyone knows that I’m Serbian and that Spanish isn’t my native language. That is why I get many questions about how did I manage to learn Spanish so well. First of all, I prefer the term ‘’study’’ rather than ‘’learn’’, because as a philologist I don’t really believe that it is possible to ever entirely learn a language, not even your mother tongue. A language is a thing that is constantly evolving, changing and progressing and as soon as you start to see your knowledge as something you don’t have to upgrade anymore, you lose your ‘’touch’’ with the language. It happened with my English when I started learning Spanish and I’m still trying to get my English mojo back so… Don’t make that mistake. Every language requires constant practice. That is the truth. Now, let’s cut to the chase. How? Well, there are many different ways and we all have to find the one that suits us best. My forte have always been the languages, I have always hated working with numbers and I used to fail my Math exams A LOT. So yes, some of us have the natural talent when it comes to languages. The others will just have to compensate the lack of talent with some extra work, that’s it. Studying a language is basically not giving up. Because, like most things, once you have a foundation it gets easier and easier to built on it. That is why you have to make sure that the foundation is good and strong, or you’re risking that the entire project crumbles down as you go. So, let’s start with… The foundation 

When taking up a new language, I like to assess my level of that language first. Sort of an own placement test, per se. How well do you understand it? Are you able to make a conversation or you just know some random words? Have you ever had any contact with the language? You have no clue what so ever? Whatever it is, it is very important for you to be realistic about the knowledge you possess. When I started studying Spanish, I had a years long experience of Latin-American soup-operas behind me. I loved watching them as a child. Combine that with the talent I have for languages and you have a very good starting position right there. I was able to understand quite a lot before I even tried to get into studying it. However, I lacked the knowledge about grammar. So, you can’t say that my foundation was the previously described ‘’good one’’. I had to go back to the beginning and start with some pretty basic stuff before I could continue building up on what I already knew. I know people who study only the grammar in the beginning. I personally think that kills all the fun. I love grammar but a language is so much more than some conjugation rules. Now, I’m learning Italian and I’m following my old Spanish program… Which kind of combines basic grammar and a bit more advanced vocabulary since I’m not a total beginner. If you are, I strongly advice to get to at least A2 level buy investing some money. My vote always goes to presential courses over the internet based ones- I would only choose the latter if I wouldn’t have the time or the language I want to learn offered in the centers nearby. It is very important to start off on the right foot, it will definitely pay off later on and you will be able to continue studying on your own in no time. If you do have some basic notions about the language however, feel free to make the plan that works best for you. 

The grammar  It is important, I’m not going to lie. A lot of people claim to love learning languages but they hate the grammar. Without the grammar, it is impossible and if you try to avoid it in the beginning it gets harder and harder to catch up as you keep advancing. I’m against certain methods that claim that the best way to learn a language is learn all the grammar in the beginning and get to the fun part later. Many people give up trying to do it like that and it is more than understandable. So, like I said in the paragraph above, what works best for me is combining some basic grammar with some more advanced vocabulary (because I have always had some knowledge of the language when I would decide to officially start studying it). What do I mean by basic grammar? Well, you can choose what is important for you. I do it like this: 1. The tenses: I start with the most used present, past and future one. Then I do the imperative. Then I deal with the more complicated ones as I go. Reading the texts (especially the newspapers) you can get quite a good idea about which of them is used often and which one is kind of a more ‘’formal’’. If you read poetry you will often find some archaic forms of speech that you should probably leave for latter on. So, start simple. Don’t go into the subjunctive the first time you see it. Remember, a good, strong foundation and later you can build as many floors as you want. A weak, bad foundation and it will come crumbling down eventually. 

Extra tip: learn the irregular verbs by heart. Don’t put it off. Make a list and read it at least twice a day and practice by writing it down. As sooner as it gets automatic, better. 

2. The gender and the plural: I like to do these two together. I learned it like that in school in both Serbian and English, so I kept that practice. These two features you will be using a lot in everyday speech so you might as well get it over with right away. I’m kind of focussing on the languages that descended from the vulgar Latin, because in English the gender will not represent a problem… But it is kind of a big deal in Spanish. It is relatively simple and logical, with some exceptions. The plural is always easy. The plural is our friend.

3. Interrogative pronouns: I insist that many people have no idea how important they are when it comes to language learning. I have learned 30% of my current Spanish by asking ‘’What is that?’’. It is very important to know how to ask the right question. 

4. The pronunciation rules: for now, Spanish seems easier than Italian in this aspect. It is obviously very important to know how to pronounce correctly in order to be understood. Learn the rules. Read aloud. A LOT. Record and listen to yourself. Be impartial. Another thing I like to do: install the keyboard of the language you are learning if you have a smartphone. You should have the option to dictate to your phone unless you’re learning a language like my native one xD But with English, Spanish, Italian, Russian etc. you’re covered. So, ‘’dictate’’ to your phone and see if the words that it’s writing down are the once you think you’re pronouncing. You’ll be surprised. But it’s a very good exercise. 

5. The linguist typology: ‘’The phrase making’’ is how I call it. When you read, pay attention to the order of the words in the phrase. It might not be like you would order them in your native language or some other language you know. And of course, knowing to make a sentence is very important. These are my priorities. You can follow them or you can choose your own. There is a lot of good material on the internet to use, but make sure it is reliable (not a forum etc.). When you are ready, get a good grammar book written in language you’re learning. Have a notebook and write everything down. You memorize your own handwriting better than a printed text. 

The vocabulary 

Tends to be the fun part. You can learn and expand your vocabulary in countless ways:

1. Movies and TV shows

The basic one. Start with the subtitles in your own language or another one you understand well. Move to the subtitles in the language you’re studying, that way you can also improve your writing. Again, make sure the subtitles are good because today anyone can subtitle a movie to make a few bucks. Of course, this way you also listen to the language so you work on your comprehension and your pronunciation. And the best thing is that it actually improves your vocabulary. 

2. Music

A bit more relaxing and a great way for your ear to ‘’get used to’’ the language you’re working on. Analyze the lyrics. I had the luck when it comes to my Spanish to have by my side a person who showed me (and keeps doing so) some great Spanish artists I didn’t know of (Love of Lesbian, Supersubmarina, Nacho Vegas etc.). He would also explain to me the meaning of the words, the context or the idioms we would find. So try finding a cute guy that is a native speaker of the language you’re learning because it might turn out to be the love of you life :P If not however, you can find all the explanations on the internet. 

3. Duolingo and similar apps

Yes, everyday we have more applications that promise to help you master any language. If you have to pay for them, I would say it is a wasted money. Money of them, however, are free to use. The one I like to work with is Duolingo. It will not make you bilingual. However, it’s quite repetitive so you’re bound to memorize well quite a few phrases and words. I’m still exploring it and I recently found quite a good forum on the Italian language there. There are photos for every new term you learn, so you will be able to memorize it that way also. Quite a few tests. You practice some basic translation also… And you work on it everyday. So yes, I recommend using these apps as reinforcement of sorts but not as a basic learning material. 

4. Books and articles

To start with, you should go with some recent newspaper articles. You can get a lot from those. Choose a topic you are interested in, read it out loud dictating to your phone to check your pronunciation, write down that unknown words and search for them in the dictionary, try writing a brief summary on what you read in order to practice your spelling… Later on work with extracts from books or books as a whole. 

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