idiom translation pls.
Replies: 15 - Last Post: Jul 1, 2012 11:55 AM Last Post By: leylyagain
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1
I would say "va tal" is not a standard response to "¿Qué tal?" It is more of a response that makes a point of repeating the key word of the question. So my translation to English would be:-How is it going?
-Just the way it is going.
The forum at www.wordreference.com may be a better place to ask.
4
one of the ok responses to que tal is . . . que tal. It is one of those verbal stroking things we do that only requires that you respond, not that you give any real information. If I said que tal to someone and he responded va tal, I'd figure him for a wise ass trying to be cute.I'd translate "que tal" as "how you doing" rather than "how's it going" because there is a closer translation for "how's it going" which would be "como le va."
7
Replying to #6, no, I haven't either. That's why I asked. The phrase came up on an on-line teaching site (www.coffeebreakspanish.com, I think). At first I thought they were saying "fatal" but decided it must be "va tal". I want to know because I teach beginning Spanish to seniors as a volunteer, and I thought the website would offer my students good listening and speaking practice. Can't use the site as a resource for them if I don't understand what they're saying, though!10
OP, have you tried http://lomastv.com/ ? Ten bucks a month for English subtitles, versus whiskey tango foxtrot.11
there is no such thing as "va tal" , in Mexico we pronounce V sound exactly as a B , in english, V is kind of closer to our F, so it most had been Fatal, which could be a more possible answer. there's also no such thing as answering to Que Tal? with another Que tal ..could happen but if your friend is a parrot13
Thanks, everyone. I think I'll just not recommend the coffeebreak site, and avoid the whole issue! BTW, the "v" is generally pronounced like "b", but purists say that the sound is more like a breathy English-type "v" (halfway between a v and a b) when the "v" is in the middle of a word. Think "aviones".14
yeah, spanish spoken in other countries V is like you say but in Mexico we don't make any distinction among B and V, if not ask the italian taxi driver searching for Via Babeno, when it was Via Baveno He almost kills my husband ahhahaI went to coffeebreak and it was kind of freaky with all accents mixed hahah, not wrong just funny. I think you should stick to one accent and use the one that they will be encountering more often,if they are in the States then mexican spanish would be the best for them, cause other countries use different words, idioms, I mean why get them into all the vos, vosotros etc if they are going to los cabos, just guessing here cause you are in the Mx forum
