Anybody speak fluent Spanish???

Hi Rebecca. Your spanish is good. you were very very close. I am going to try to translate it as accurate as I can... My first language is spanish. " If you come when everything (the process) is already advanced, you will have to spend less time before living with the children, which for sure the judge will decide it will be in one month. Remember that may be just you would have to stay here (not both). I hope it helps. Good luck. Pat

Ya know, I live in Florida where everyone but me speaks Spanish. I just *had* to be defiant and take French in school instead. LOL Now when I try to read or decipher Spanish, I try to speak with a French accent or actually think in French, then English. I seriously need to take some kind of Spanish course. Anyway, my real point was Derek's aunt is an official translator in Panama; I emailed her that quote just to see what she says, just for fun, since I see Pat already translated it for ya. I think you are NUTS for carrying on important dialogue in a foreign language. Ok, maybe I'm just a lil jealous that you can! hehe :) Robin

Thanks so much, Pat. That does put a different spin on things...It would appear our attorney is telling us to wait until the process is further along before traveling, so that when we do travel, we won't have to wait long to get the children. ??? Robin, my decision was actually a more practical one. Sure, I'm getting great practice with the translation, but I was also having trouble understanding some of our attorney's English phrases. Language translation isn't as easy as people think, especially when the cultures don't share idioms and phrases. ;) So I figured that if she wrote to me in her own language, I could always have it translated if I couldn't understand it myself. That way I wouldn't miss out on the important details that might get lost in her translation. Thanks again! Rebecca :)

Yes Rebecca, the idea you wrote is what I understood. It is better to travel when the process is advanced. Some words have a different meaning depending on the context. You can PM me any time you need help with spanish, I will be very happy to help you. It seems you are going to be a mom very soon. Congratulations, i am very happy for you. I hope my turn comes soon!! Pat

Hey, chickadee. I was just teasing ya about communicating in Spanish. I'm just jealous because I can't speak it and regret that I chose French purely *because* everyone in school was taking Spanish...stupid rebellious teen thing, look where it got me! LOL Derek's grandma doesn't speak a lick of English (even after several courses of it) and talks to me a 100 miles an hour and I feel helpless to understand her. It's now become a family joke. The family laughs at me because she talks your head off and they just walk away becuase she's a nutty old gal who never shuts up, so I rarely get help. They leave me to stand there smiling and nodding. hahaha The only thing they've ever told me she's said to me was that I had a china doll face and should stop smoking. I know she's said a ton more than that because she loves to talk. LOL I got a response from Aunt Luz (she's an official translator for Panama) and here's what she said: Quote Regarding the translation you request, it is better to give me a bit more, because out of context it is sometimes hard to grasp a valid interpretation. Nonetheless, I believe the following adheres pretty much to the Spanish: Your stay will be reduced and is commensurate with the date in which you arrive, which should be when everything (the process) is well advanced, before the period you will be allowed to have (temporary custody) of the children, which the Judge (generally) determines to be one month. Remember that perhaps both of you should not remain here (the whole time), just you. I've providing extra words in parenthesis that hopefully clarify the thoughts. Lawyers usually are very verbose confusing simple issues as much as possible, with the aggravating factor that many cannot write. I imagine your friend was asking for an estimated timeframe that they'd have to remain in Panama, and he couldn't really give her a definite reply, and did not contribute helping which would be that he'd tell them when "everything" is "well advanced", yet insinuating somehow that they themselves (the prospective parents) will be to blame if they come too early and have to stay longer...... Say hello to everyone - we are praying for you guys and a speedy response to your request. Tia Luz Unquote Sounds like the lawyer wasn't really much help, can't pin her/him down. Typical, eh? ;) Robin

Oh, Robin, that's funny!:D Your Aunt Luz is right on the money!!! It has been difficult to get any definite time frames for anything, but like others are finding, these are very difficult to predict. So I suppose everyone (attornies and agencies, too) are generalizing more. As I posted before, our attorney keeps reminding us: "One step at a time." ;) The thing about my Spanish that I think is going to be a rude awakening for me when we meet our children (and talk with the orphanage personnel, judge, DNA director, etc.) is that I feel fairly confident that I can read Spanish and write it, but boy do I have trouble keeping up with the spoken word!!! I've been watching soap operas and news programs (like "Primer Impacto") on Univision hoping I would get used to the pace, but they speak SO FAST on these shows! Plus, I miss quite a few of the words and phrases because the letter "s" is often dropped, and by the time I figure that out, the actors have moved on! :rolleyes: Hmm...I wonder if our city's Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has any kind of "Spanish As A Second Language" program that I could check out? I'd like to get experience with everyday conversation so that I'll feel more comfortable speaking Spanish instead of just reading/writing it. By the way, has your husband or his family taught you any "travel phrases" (i.e., "Where is the bathroom?" "How much does it cost?"), etc.? If not, I created a handy little set of brochures (in Microsoft Word) with these kinds of phrases if you or anyone else is interested in them. (I printed them on our color computer and then had them laminated and folded so they'll fit into our passport/plane ticket carriers. :) Thanks again, both of you for the help! Rebecca

Rebecca, I found and started taking a free online Spanish course (you do it at your own pace, all the lessons are there for you to access at your leisure). I forgot the link, but will definitely go digging for it soon. Derek won't teach me any Spanish at all. Yet he plans on teaching our children. I don't know why he won't, but he won't even speak to me in Spanish, I think he's a lil embarassed bc he's not as fluent as he thinks he should be? No telling what the man's reasonings are. He doesn't write Spanish, has trouble reading it, but can speak and understand it for the most part. Even tho he's Panamanian, Spanish isn't his first language. He said his maid taught him, which I thought was odd because everyone else is totally proficient. I would LOVE to have a copy of your cheat-sheets! I've been looking at Spanish education software on Ebay but if I can find that link to do the online course for free again, I'll let everyone know. I could not believe it was free because it was so detailed and extensive. We should have pop quizzes or something to make learning or refreshing Spanish fun while we wait...and wait...and wait. :) Robin

Hey, Robin, if you can find that Web site for the FREE online lessons, that would be great! My husband has practically no time when he's home (he's currently taking two college courses, 3 days/week...ugh!), but he often has down time at work AND Internet access. Hee hee... I'll see if I can figure out how to attach the brochures when I get back from dinner. ;) Later, Rebecca

I'm pretty sure this is the site, altho it looks different and does offer "premium" stuff. But the free section is pretty comprehensive. [url]http://www.studyspanish.com/freesite.htm[/url] Robin

Robin, I wasn't able to attach the brochure since I saved it as a .doc file (it's not a picture file, but it does have pictures in it, so I couldn't save it as a .txt, either!) If you PM me your offline e-mail address, I'll send it to you. Rebecca

Well, I'd gladly PM ya my email addy if your inbox wasn't full! hehe