Voices en Español

Peace Love Happiness Friends 63/365

Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography

Here’s a little (tongue-in-cheek) quiz to measure just how enganchado you are on the Spanish language. Apologies to comedian Jeff Foxworthy for riffing off his signature phrase.

1. Spanish accents

a). You can tell the difference between an Argentine accent and an Uruguayan one. (20 points)
b). You can distinguish a Latin American accent from an accent from Spain. (10 points)
c). Wait a minute…there’s more than one accent? (0 points)

2. Family

You don’t have children but if you did, you would name them María Jesús and José María.

a). Yes (20 points)
b). No (10 points)
c). Kids?? Who said anything about having kids??! (0 points)

3. Reading Habits

Your idea of a little light reading in Spanish is:

a). Anything written by Jorge Luis Borges or Julio Cortázar (20 pts)
b). 20 Minutos, BBC en Español, People en Español, etc. (10 pts)
c). The menu at a Tex-Mex restaurant (0 points)

4. Behind closed doors

If the Real Academia Española put out a swimsuit calendar of linguists, you’d:

a). Buy two copies: one to keep at home, the other for your cubicle at work. (20 pts.)
b). Buy one copy but keep it hidden in a drawer. (15 pts.)
c). Flip through it once but not buy it. (5 pts.)
d). The Real Academy? What’s that? (0 pts.)

5. Entertainment

When watching movies in Spanish you:

a). Read the book first in Spanish so that you can properly critique the film afterwards. (20 pts.)
b). Read the subtitles. (10 pts.)
d). Who me? Watch movies in Spanish? Are you kidding me? (0 pts)

Scores:

100: Scary! You have an intense, bordering on obsessive, interest in the Spanish language. Sure you’re not the reincarnation of Miguel Cervantes?

80 to 90: Congratulations! You would’ve had a perfect score but drew the line at buying a pin-up calendar of RAE linguists.

10 to 70: Excellent. You’re a normal, well-adjusted student of Spanish with a reasonable level of interest in the language.

Less than 10 points: Spanish really isn’t your thing, is it? No pasa nada, amigo.

How’d you do? What are the signs that someone is hooked on Spanish? Leave your scores (and comments) below.