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Below you will find parallel text in English and Italian

Mira mi Camaron! - From Short Travel Stories for English Learners

I wish I would have known

by Camille Hanson

BONUS! Audio of the story (in English)

English

I wish I would have known

Language learning is always an adventure, especially learning the slang words. When learning Spanish in Mexico, I learned some slang a little too late. It was late one evening and I was out with my American friends who were also learning Spanish.

A guy approached our table selling us little shrimp keychains made of cord and beads. My friend Ryan felt bad, because it seemed to be the man’s only job, and so he overpaid the guy for one of these keychains.

In our taxi on the way home, I got the hilarious idea to show our keychain out the window to anyone we passed by. So Ryan was showing the keychain, and of course, I wanted to too. So I shouted out the window, “Look at my shrimp, do you like the colors?”, laughing thinking it was hilarious. People looked and laughed, so I thought they thought it was funny too.

The next day, I was telling the story to my Mexican co-workers at the local cafe, where I volunteered. They were like, “Camille, do you know what shrimp is slang for?” Of course I didn’t. “Penis,” they told me.

My cheeks instantly burned 5 shades of deep red. I was so embarrassed. I had been telling all the lovely Mexicans to look at the beautiful colors of my penis. Sometimes, we learn the hard way, but at least I can laugh about it now.

Keywords

Slang words off the street used particularly to a certain region or city.

Keychain a small chain for holding keys.

ITALIANO

Magari lo avessi saputo prima

L’apprendimento delle lingue è sempre un’avventura, specialmente imparare le parole gergali. Quando stavo imparando lo spagnolo in Messico, ho imparato alcuni slang un po’ troppo tardi. Una sera era tardi ed ero fuori con i miei amici americani che stavano anche loro imparando lo spagnolo.

Un tizio si avvicinò al nostro tavolo e ci vendette dei piccoli portachiavi a forma di gambero fatti di corda e perline. Il mio amico Ryan si è sentito male, perché sembrava essere l’unico lavoro di quell’uomo, e così ha strapagato il tizio per uno di questi portachiavi.

Nel nostro taxi sulla strada di casa, ho avuto l’idea esilarante di mostrare il nostro portachiavi fuori dal finestrino a chiunque passasse. Così Ryan stava mostrando il portachiavi e, naturalmente, volevo farlo anch’io. Così ho gridato fuori dal finestrino: “Guardate il mio gambero, vi piacciono i colori?”, ridendo pensando che fosse esilarante. La gente guardava e rideva, così ho pensato che anche loro pensassero che fosse divertente.

Il giorno dopo, stavo raccontando la storia ai miei colleghi messicani nel bar locale, dove facevo volontariato. Loro mi hanno detto: “Camille, sai cosa significa “gambero” in gergo?”. Ovviamente non lo sapevo. “Pene”, mi hanno detto.

Le mie guance arrossarono immediatamente con 5 tonalità di rosso intenso. Ero così imbarazzata. Avevo detto a tutti gli adorabili messicani di guardare i bei colori del mio pene. A volte impariamo a nostre spese, ma almeno ora posso riderci sopra.

Keywords

Slang words parole di strada usate in particolare per una certa regione o città.

Keychain una piccola catena per tenere le chiavi.

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