How To Be Charming in a Language You Barely Speak

"You exceeded my expectations!" the beautiful Brazilian girl beside me exclaimed, in her exotically accented English, to the barista in the gourmet cafe. The barista had created one of those cute little paintings with creamer on the surface of her latte, which apparently exceeded her expectations. That entire day, even after we finished our coffee and she left with an effortlessly enunciated ciao, I couldn't help but smile at how damn cute the way she talked sounded. I'd spent quite a lot of time around foreign accents and even hung out with a fair share of Brazilians, but something about hers was unique.

After seven months in Central and South America spent learning Spanish and making friends with travelers hailing from Iceland to Pakistan, I've finally figured out what made the Brazilian in the cafe so charming.

It wasn't the musicality of her native Portuguese tongue flirting with the Teutonic sounds of English; it wasn't because she could have passed for being Halle Berry's younger sister; her charm was in her usage of English expressions that captured the specific emotions of the moment.

Have you ever met a foreigner who was very charming even though they had a thick accent and made some grammar mistakes? A lot of times, it's because they know how to use specific English expressions to capture the emotional tonality of the moment. This makes perfect sense on an elementary level, we feel a great affinity for people who understand what we are going through.

If you speak or are learning a second language, you can use this to your advantage. Focus on learning and using expressions and phrases as opposed to grammar rules; it actually makes language learning fun and easier.

Humor: For some reason, people are a whole lot funnier when they tell jokes in their second language to native speakers of that language. I remember cracking up when my friend Eli responded to a bold claim in his thick Israeli accent, "Is that the truth, or the brother of the truth?" So be a little more daring in telling jokes in your second language, even if they are dumb or not original.

Colloquialisms: There can also be a lot of charm in using colloquialisms, expressions, words, or phrases specific to geographic areas, cities, states, and countries. Learning colloquialisms is a great way to connect with local culture; simply ask locals to teach you some popular sayings or expressions.

I do recommend that you use the SuperMemo flashcard app to commit these to memory

It's a free tool that synchronizes things to be remembered between your smartphone and a web app with a very clever algorithm to optimize the practice of vocabulary you're trying to enshrine in your memory.

SuperMemo

 

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Here are some useful expressions in Spanish; if you have some more, add them in the comments!

Expressions in Spanish

El placer fue an el Mio - The pleasure was mine

Todos los caminos yeavan hacia aroma - Everyone has to find their own way

Encantado! - Charmed to meet you!

Por supuesto - Of course!

No es cosa tuya - None of your business

Pura vida - Pure life! (Costa Rica)

Que Onda - Whatsup! (Panama)

Más vale tarde que nunca - Better late than never

Cruzando los dedos - Cross your fingers

Me estás tomando el pelo - You're pulling my leg

Yo también - Same here

Siéntete como en tu casa - Make yourself at home

Los leones no se preocupan por las opiniones de ovejas" - Lions do not worry about the opinions of sheep

¡Qué oso! - “How embarrassing,”…they say, “What a bear!”

Él le echó los perros - To flirt aggressively

Espero que podamos seguir conversando despues - I look forward to a continued conversation with you.

Suficientemente inteligente para bañar un oso sin mojar su pelaje - Clever enough to wash a bear without getting it's fur wet

Brilla con luz propia - Grace without effort

Caberniculas - Cavemen

Se cree la ultima coca-cola Del desierto - I'm the last Coca-Cola in the desert (Expression of stupid confidence)

Muy lindas y muy pobres, como las preferio - They (the women) are very beautiful and very poor, as I prefer them

Si es comodo, es decir que no es una adventure - If it's comfortable, it won't be an adventure

Hombre de todo terrano - Man of many talents

Dame el globo que para eso es mío. - Give me the world for it's mine.

Fui un esclavo de trabajo - I was a workaholic

Estoy haciendo una trabajo que me apacciona - I'm doing a project that I'm very passionate about

No somos seres humanos teniendo una experiencia espiritual. Somos seres espirituales teniendo una experiencia human. - We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.

He estado ocultando un secreto de ti - I've been hiding something from you...
Voy a continuar a ocultando lo - I'll continue hiding it from you...
Algunos veces cuando estoy dormido, babeo la almohada - Sometimes when I'm sleeping, I drool on the pillow
Puedo babeo en tu almohada... - Maybe I can drool on your pillow...

Algo vacano - Something cool

Paresco muy amable pero en realidad soy malo - I seem nice but really, I'm bad

Soy un experto en bailar salsa como un gingo. - I'm an expert at salsa dancing like a gringo

Aqua de coco es el segundo mejor cura para un rezaka, el mejor es el paracaidismo - Coconut water is the second best cure for a hangover, the first is skydiving

Por ellas, por las mamas de ellas, Que las hicieron tan bella as para poder pichar con ellas - For the ladies, for their mamas, who made them so we could peck them - A very cheeky toast!

Goterear - To get something for free

Anecdotista - Raconteur

Tu sabras la repuesta cuando apareca - You will know the answer when it appears

Yo me vengo - I will have revenge/I will come on you, a very cheeky double entendre

Ver un pelicula - To watch a movie
or
Peleculiar - To "Netflix and chill"

Ya te viniste - Have you come?

A joke I invented...

Hice una broma sobre este ciudad. ¿Quieres oírlo? ¿Sabes cómo hay huecos en las calles y aceras? ¿Sabes que la ciudad realmente instalados esos huecos? Se instaló para prevenir alcolholismo, porque si tomas a la cantidad que va a caer en ellos, pero si sólo bebe un poco de que va a caminar alrededor de ellas.

I made up a joke about this city, want to hear it? You know how there are holes in the streets and sidewalks? Did you know that the city actually installed those on purpose? They installed them to prevent alcoholism because if you're really drunk you might fall into them! But if you only drink a little you'll walk around them.

This turned out to be an unintentionally hilarious joke because in Spanish, the slang for "gays" is very similar to the word for "holes" - huecos - The joke takes on a whole new meaning. This becomes funnier when I explain my error in mispronouncing it.