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To read a friends acount of how he met and Married his wife, follow this link:

http://www.latinadominicana.com/pages/rubiostory.html

They met at a Pizza place. Sounds pretty social to me!

... in response to Meeting Latinas in Social Settings succe..., posted by Ralph on May 14, 2001

europeans have the luxury of one month to 5 weeks of vacation.  thus, the opportunity to find a wife is better than the US with our measly 2 weeks.  as you know Ralph, the Euros like the dark women.  

these guys don't use agencies as far as I know for the most part.  the MOB is more targeted towards the American man where time is of the essence.

... in response to quite a few europeans marry latins too, posted by traveler on May 15, 2001

Two weeks ????? That is crazy !!! how do the companies get away with only giving you that ???

... in response to Re: quite a few europeans marry latins t..., posted by Rich on May 16, 2001

dfd

... in response to quite a few europeans marry latins too, posted by traveler on May 15, 2001

I wound up trading O.T. for comp-time. The couple of times I did stay at Latin-Love, there were several Europeans staying there. Most came from Germany & Holland. The Germans have quite a presence in Cali, with their Embassy located there. Yes, most of these fellows preferred the tan & darker ladies. None of them tried to Salsa...LOL! A couple of the Euro's pulled me to the side & asked my opinion on some of the difficulties in a interacial relationships. I told them, that's something they should have considered before coming & dating these ladies.

Peace..Hoda

... in response to Sell your soul for more vacation time......, posted by Hodajr on May 15, 2001

Go to one of the german beer festivals - they go mad

... in response to quite a few europeans marry latins too, posted by traveler on May 15, 2001

Some of what you say is true. Many Europeans do use agencies though. I am jealous of the 5 weeks vacation time.

I was travelling quite a bit for work, including weekends and such, so they were quite understanding when I needed a brief vacation every month!

I went to the DR 14 times last year. Usually for only 3-5 days, but some for longer. This year I went once to pick up some documents from the Consulate.

We'll have to find a new vacation spot for a while.

... in response to good points, posted by Ralph on May 15, 2001

hey man,

can i ask what took you tom the d.r. 14 times in one year? i have been there once for 10 days with a former girlfriend(american, this one), and i liked the country, but i was not overwhelmed by the place.

personally, i prefer cuba, even with all the b.s. travel restrictions. i just think that it is a much more beautiful country, but maybe i'm missing something about the d.r.

i checked your profile and saw that you live in san antonio. good food in that town. i was there about a year ago with another girl (argentine, that one) and we had a real nice time... but it's a long way to travel to the d.r. from texas for that many weekend trips!!! what drew you there?

i'm in south fla. it's not like this is such a great place to live, but the proximity and ease of travel to l.a. is a lot to give up. everything is just a short flight away. also, lots of latinas and european babes right here in town. tuff to give up!

anyway, any info on special stuff about the d.r. would be appreciated.

thanks, bret

... in response to Re: good points, posted by bret on May 15, 2001

they have really great bodies and can really shake their booty.

... in response to Re: good points, posted by bret on May 15, 2001

Well, first of all I lived in NY at the time so the DR was very easy to get to. Very convenient even for short trips.

I started out going once every 6-8 weeks. My friend was also traveling there  a bunch and his GF lived there, so I had friends there.

The 14 times last year was after I met my wife. I wnet down at least once a month then.

If I had lived in San Antonio back then, it would have certainly been less frequently. I got a promotion at work, and moved to SA. I like it here as well.

If you have any specific DR questions, feel free to ask!

... in response to why DR 14 times?, posted by Ralph on May 15, 2001

Hi Ralph,

As I have some of my five weeks to use up (I feel sorry for all you guys from the US !!! )  I'm thinking of possibly going to DR this August, September just to relax travel around a bit ,speak some Spanish , partake in the local brew and if I meet a few girls then great !

Is this a good time to go ? Do Dominicans have an accent to their Spanish ? (I remember in peru I had some problems understanding )

Any hints or tips greatly appreciated !

Cheers

Rich

... in response to Re: why DR 14 times?, posted by Rich on May 16, 2001

dominican Spanish is fast and some letters are cuttoff or not pronounced especially the "s" and "d"

gracias becomes gracia

terminado becomes termina'o   apagada  apaga'a

the "tu" form is probably much more frequent than in Colombia.

the Colonial area of SD is gorgeous.  Cabarete is a nice beach.  the area from Barahona towards Haiti is beautiful although somewhat isolated.  Samana' is beautiful.

Punta Cana is a great resort but only would recommend it if you took someone with you.  

Sosua and Boca Chica have nice beaches but they are very touristy and somewhat seedy needless to say.  Boca has a better beach and is close to the capital.

... in response to Dominican Spanish, posted by Traveler on May 16, 2001

Man, when I worked with the Marielitos, we had interpreters (mostly native Spanish speakers, but a few of us 'learned in college' types) from Texas to Argentina and all points in between. We could make the Cubans understand us, but only the Puerto Ricans could understand the Cubans, at least not without telling them 'slow down and quit SHOUTING'

... in response to Almost sounds like you're saying they sp..., posted by michael bb on May 17, 2001

mmd

... in response to Dominican Spanish, posted by Traveler on May 16, 2001

Traveler - believe me I am far from being an expert on Spanish in Colombia, but I believe the "tú" form is used pretty frequently in Colombia.  At least that is my experience.  

I have one very good teacher from Argentina, an older woman who almost exlusively uses the "usted" form.

... in response to Re: Dominican Spanish, posted by Edge on May 16, 2001

i spent 6 months in argentina, and my experience is they almost never use the usted form, unless refering to someone much older and very well respected....grandparents, foreign dignitaries etc.

they never use the "tu" form. what they do use is the "vos" form (verbs are conjugated differently, also) and almost always, for everyone.

"vos" is a special, informal way of speaking among friends that is distinctive to argentina (like "tu" in other countries). i have heard that they use it in el salvador also, but i can't say for sure, 'cause i haven't been there! i have never heard the "vos" form in any other spanish speaking country that i have visited. (let me emphsize, "that i have visited and know personally")

i have never been anywhere where they use "usted" very often in casual conversation (maybe spain? but i don't know, 'cause i haven't been there.)

i remember when i first started with spanish, i made a point of using the formal "usted" so as to not offend anyone with my desecration of their language, but it didn't take long for the to tell me....."look, usted is for your parents, don't call me that and especially don't use it with any women you are after! it's like talking with an american woman and calling her ma'am. it just ain't right!

maybe the argentine woman is teaching you "usted" rather than "vos" because "vos"  is not used very much outside of argentina, and she is preparing you for whatever spanish speaking country you might visit.

my experiences are, it's "tu" 99% of the time  (or "vos" in argentina) and "usted" when you meet her father for the first time. but when he relaxes and becomes comfortable with you, just go with the flow and use whatever form they use in the house (which will be "tu").

if you keep using "usted" when they use "tu", it can make them feel like your not comfortable in their presence.

anyway, back to argentina! one of my personal favorites, and the accent is the one i like the most. almost all of the latin world talks about how arrogant are the argentines, but i can say that this is something that i never experienced personally. even in buenos aires, (whose residents everyone compares to the parisians) i was treated with respect and patience.

and the accent also! man i just love it, especially when she has black hair and dark eyes!

well, sorry for rambling on, but you got my motor running with the argentina thing.

uh? i can't remember what your post was about, sorry!

bret

... in response to Re: Re: Dominican Spanish, posted by bret on May 16, 2001

Honduras, Paraguay, and Uruguay.  I'm not sure about Chile or the Andean Countries.  However, its use is nearly as wide spread as "tu"  

... in response to vos is also the common form in Guatemala..., posted by Traveler on May 17, 2001

uruguay, yes for sure, 'cause it basically the same people and culture as argentina. it's just across the rio anyway!

i went to chile two times to renew my visa and did not hear it used there, but let me stress, what i heard personally! i don't always hear everything. but i'm close!

i didn't hear 'vos' in costa rica, but it was a few years ago and i didn't speak any span. when i arrived, so they my have been using it here and there and i didn't get it 'cause my perceptions were all clouded by the s.m.o.k.e.

when i told my tica profesora that i was leaving for argentina, she began to prepare me for the trip with 'vos'---nice lady, she was!

... in response to Re: Re: Dominican Spanish, posted by bret on May 16, 2001

Bret - I may be wrong but isn't "vos" the plural form of the
informal "tu"?  I understand exactly what you are saying regarding using the "usted" form. I have also heard that they use "vos" in El Salvador and I believe Espana.  This particular lady from Argentina is an older woman, but very classy and extremely kind and nice. She is also one of the better Spanish teachers I have come across because she has been one for many, many years.

It sounds to me, Bret, that you wish you were down there now in Argentina listening to those wonderful accents.

Yo tambien!!

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Dominican Spanish, posted by Edge on May 16, 2001

no, "vos" is singular like "tu". also, in argentina, when they address to a group of friends, they say "ustedes", like everywhere else. now, why it is never "usted" for the casual in a singular setting, but "ustedes" among a group of casual friends, i really don't know. i think it's just the way the language is structured. "ustedes" is the only plural expression for both formal and informal. it's just one of those things, i guess!

i would ask many things of my friends down there, and they just shrug their shoulders and say "acepta la frase". so it's don't ask why, just do! and that has been my policy all along. i just follow and pick up on the accent and style that they use, whatever country i'm in.

now, there is a vosotros. but i don't know anything about it, nor have i ever been to a country where they use it.

there is one hombre that posts her under the name of "traveler", and i think his spanish is really good, so maybe he could answer the q.'s about vosotros.

i speak spanish, and it is respectable for a blue-eyed georgia breed gringo, but i would never claim to be fluent. fluency is something you have if your last name is latin, and for the few that actually attain that level through study, but there aren't that many. and anyone who thinks the opposite should learn first, then comment! of course, if one assumes that fluency is asking where the bathrooms are, then he is a lost cause anyway.

this girl i know was here from buenos aires for 3 months  (she speaks no english) and we had a few miscommunications but nothing too bad. however, if my spanish had been any less functional than it is now, then it would have been tuff to communicate and the time we spent together would have been less fulfilling. one just can't understate the importance of speaking a common language! and the only way to get there is study and practice, study and practice... staring into eachothers eyes only goes so far.

i believe you when you say she is a very classy lady! it's a very sophisticated society; everyone is very fashion concious and worldly. and man 'o man, talk about beautiful women!

i lived in mendoza, which is the wine producing region in argentina, and had a wonderful time in the vinyards, eating and drinking, and casually passing the time.

ask her about red wines, asado and alfahores(it's a chocolate desert). the argentines are very proud of their beef and can go on and on about the various cuts and types of sausages.

i know what it is like to study with a professor, and how after a while you can run out of things to talk about, so if she has been away for a long time, she is sure to get nostalgic about the food and wine. hey, maybe if you get her going about argentina, she will give you a tango lesson.

well, gotta get back to work. though, it looks like after this conversation, the day is shot! hell, all i can think about is red wine.

bret

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Dominican Spanish, posted by bret on May 16, 2001

with Maria, who is the older woman from Argentina I was writing about.  It is kind of interesting, but maybe because she is from the "old school" she tends to use "ustedes" alot.

From time to time she does tell us about growing up in Argentina.  I gather it was a very strict, regimented type upbringing.  You had to dress conservatively, etc.  It was a more militaristic society due to Pinochet being in power.

I will ask her about the wines, etc.

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: I have a class tonig..., posted by Edge on May 17, 2001

and in argentina, they had those bastard militares from, oh lets see, i'm guessing here, but from the mid '70's to about '82 or '83. nasty bunch for sure.

after las malvinas/faulkands disaster, the military bunch got tossed and a man named raul alfonsin came to be the freely elected president, then carlos menem, and now some dim wit named de la rua.

if there are any brits still posting her, they might care to expand on the las malvinas/general belgrano stuff. or, maybe not!

but your right, it is a formal society, and i'm sure in her day, it was very strict!

bret

... in response to pinochet was chile!, posted by bret on May 17, 2001

Growing up in the 70's and 80's wouldn't make Maria an 'older' woman....perhaps he meant Peron?

... in response to Re: pinochet was chile!, posted by michael b on May 18, 2001

oops! sorry if i misjudged her age, but 'edge' refered to her as 'the older women from argentina' in an earlier post. maybe he just meant older, like me maybe. in which case i apologize to the lady from argentina.

you may be right about the pinochet/peron confusion. the difference was, of course, that peron was not a military man and was, along with his wife, beloved by his countrymen, even if their ecomomic policies did bring the country to the brink of destruction and left the nation vulnerable to the rise of los militares.

bret

... in response to Re: Re: pinochet was chile!, posted by bret on May 18, 2001

Peron was a Colonel in the army when he started his coup, aint theat a military man?

... in response to Re: Re: Re: pinochet was chile!, posted by Michael B on May 18, 2001

you are absolutly correct, sir!!! i relent.

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Dominican Spanish, posted by bret on May 16, 2001

vos is used frequently in Central America and southern south america.  it essentially takes the place of "tu" in informal conversation.  You would "vos" your buddies, "vos sos feo"

but you would probably "tu" your sweety.  "tu eres bella"

vosotros is used extensively only in Spain.

someone already gave a brief explanation on "vos"  but I just need to point out that "vosotros" is the plural of "vos" not tu.  "tu" was actually the original form of the formal .

vos also has its own verb conjugation:

vos sos     tu eres

vos tene's  (accent on the last e)   tu tienes

vos come's (accent on the last e) tu comes (accent on first e)

usted came from the very formal and respectful "su merced" (your mercy) it then was tranformed into usted.

... in response to VOS and VOSOTROS (Spain)  and su merced ..., posted by Traveler on May 17, 2001

I prefer to stick to tú, so I do not have to learn another verb conjugation along with tú, me alegro it is not widely used.  But I am glad you guys explained it so well, if I do come across it.

... in response to Re: very interesting Professores...., posted by Edge on May 17, 2001

uhh? you might want to check out a post a little bit farther down the line concerning 'tu' y 'vos' and with whom to use them!

the conjugations with 'vos' are not difficult at all to learn, and concern only the 2nd person, informal.

... in response to VOS and VOSOTROS (Spain)  and su merced ..., posted by Traveler on May 17, 2001

dd

... in response to VOS and VOSOTROS (Spain)  and su merced ..., posted by Traveler on May 17, 2001

ddf

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Dominican Spanish, posted by bret on May 16, 2001

Creo que tu tienes razón.  Voy a explorar que me dejiste acerca de vos y vosotros.  Pienso es interesante.

The ole Traveler dude that speaks Spanish well is ole Malandro.  He spent many years in Central America and then PR.

On my last visit to Colombia, my novia told me that Argentine beef/BBQ style was very popular there in Colombia.

Luego.

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Dominican Spanish, posted by Edge on May 16, 2001

tu (with an accent, but I don't have that font turned on right now). Anyway, 'tu' is the same as 'vos', but similar to the English 'you' and 'thee', depends on where you are which one they will say, but you may say either one and they will understand you. As for 'tu' (or vos) verses 'Usted' (or Ud. or Vd. the abbreviation varies with local style), Usted is formal (or polite) and tu is familar...and when to use each one also varies from country to country and the activity you are in and the situation etc. Seems (to me anyway) that in the lst 20 years they have really lightend up on using the familiar much more than they used to, my theory is that it happens that way because of TV advertising...where once the advertising plan was 'we shall explain the benefits and features of our product and we dare not insult our potential customers by using the familiar, after all, we seek a business relationship, not a courtship' now the method seems to 'let's have a vinyet (check my spelling), a short play, between good 2 friends using and discussing our product (1st housewife "Mary, I can't beleive you're still using brand X, don't you know about new improved brand Y?)' and try to make the viewer feel like she is housewife 3 of the set, and the way to do that is to make everything said in informal.

Vosotros (hardly ever used) is the plural of tu. Literaly, it is a compound word, 'vos otros'--you others (or ya'll in Texas), as nosotros is  'nos otros'--us others.

More than you wanted to know? And remember MOST of my Spanish (after college) has been with Mexicans (except for working with the Cuban refuges and that darn Tica I was married to)..so experience in other countries is bound to vary. Kind of like we all speak English in New York, Boston, Texas, England, Ireland, Scotland and Australia, right?

... in response to vos, tu, vosotros etc. (long, got carrie..., posted by michael bb on May 17, 2001

in some areas you don't use "tu" with others of your same sex hardly at all.  tu is for flirting, lovers, and spouses, and used by men with women in general (about your age or younger)

"tu" used with someone of your same sex can be thought of as fag talk so to speak.

... in response to also, in some areas "tu" is th..., posted by Traveler on May 17, 2001

ouch!!! thanks for the tip. i'll remember just to stick with 'vos' all the time, unless she is slippi'n outta her panties, then i'll pull the smooth switch to 'tu'.

i like the sound of vos sos feo anyway!

bret

... in response to vos, tu, vosotros etc. (long, got carrie..., posted by michael bb on May 17, 2001

hey man,

nice job on the research. that's the first description of vosotros that i have ever heard. maybe it's because practically nobody uses the darn thing.

i think i have had a habit in the past of just going along with whatever style/accent and not asking too many questions. my bad!

anyway, enjoy studying with la porten~a; i'm assuming that she is from buenos aires? the land of the lovely ladies!!!

what happened with the tica? if you care to get into it? i spent 6 months in san jose studying spanish, and i think it is a nice country, but they never seemed all that interested in me or conversing or any thing else north american (and who can blame them?) i know, of course, that part of the problem is the massive amount of tourism they get. they just seemed to want to do some business, and then go home to their families. again, who can blame them. after 6 months i left costa rica and headed for mendoza, argentina, 'cause i had friends there from a trip i had made there about 10 yrs. earlier (i spoke no spanish at that time).

anyway, is there anything we can learn about the tica? but, only if your interested in offering advice on the subject!

hasta la vista bro,   bret

... in response to Re: vos, tu, vosotros etc. (long, got ca..., posted by bret on May 17, 2001

Oh, she's still around, we just aren't married anymore (after 16 years and 2 children). I don't know if I want to post 'ALL Costa Ricans are this way because my ex-wife did so and so.....' because she isn't 'typical'---she had been in U.S. for 5 or 6 years and already had a BA from a major U.S. university before I ever met her, plus her family is rich and big in politics down there. I will say that all in all, I wouldn't go looking for ANOTHER Costa Rican to get married with, so draw you own conclusions from that.

... in response to Re: vos, tu, vosotros etc. (long, got ca..., posted by bret on May 17, 2001

oops, sorry, it looks like i confused you with another person that made several posts on vosotros. my mistake!

thanks for the info anyway.

bret