Sometimes you can miss the meaning of a sentence even when you understand all of the words in that sentence, because it has an i
nterpretation beyond the literal meaning. Expressions like these are called idiomatic expressions.
For example, in English people might say that it is "raining cats and dogs." This does not mean that pets are literally falling from the sky. It is an idiomatic expression, meaning "it is raining very hard."
There are many expressions like this in Spanish, that can require cultural or contextual understanding to use or comprehend.
Using idioms is a great way to practice conversing with a native-speaker like confidence. Incorporate idioms when you can, and when appropriate to do so.
This is a two part activity.
Part 1: Do an internet search for Spanish idioms, and note 5 of your favorites in the box provided below. Include the five idioms you learned in Spanish, write their literal meaning in English, and their figurative meaning in English.
For example,
Expresión Idiomática: Te estoy tomando el pelo.
Literal Translation: I'm taking your hair/the hair.
Figurative Translation: I'm just kidding; I'm messing with you.
Part 2: Then, write a short dialogue with a minimum of 5-10 lines using one of the idioms you selected showing its meaning in context. The reader must understand the meaning of the idiom based on the context clues in your dialogue.
Example,
Carla: ¡Oye, Luís!
Luís: Sí, ¿qué necesitas Tía?
Carla: Ten cuidado porque encontré un escorpión en tus zapatos.
Luís: ¡Ay no!
Carla: Te lo saqué y lo eché, no te preocupes.
Luís: Uff, gracias.
Carla: Y ya lo comiste por almuerzo.
Luís: ¡Tía Carla!
Carla: JA JA JA te estoy tomando el pelo, Lu.
You will be graded on (a) message organization, (b) control of target grammar structures, (c) accuracy of mechanics, (d) control of target vocabulary, (d) and task completion per the World Languages Writing Rubric.
