Living in Spain brings you in contact with all kind of words that you normally wouldn’t pick up from television and music. Sure, I learned tío from Spanish television, and knew chaval, but now that I’m here I see and hear chaval (and its feminine form chavala) all the time.
Chaval simply means “youngster” or “kid”. But it’s often used to refer to another person that is of the same age (pretty much only among youngsters). For example, the expression “¡bua chaval!” is a common way to express suprise.
In English you’d simply say “dude” or “mate”. Please remember that the word chaval is pretty much only used in Spain.
Sentences
¡Chaval, no tires piedras a las ventanas!
Dude, don’t throw stones at the windows!
Está hecho un chaval.
He looks very young.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Ramses,
I am a current MaEd Candidate at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, U.S., and currently teach Spanish at high school level in SC.
As a part of the assignments for EDU 711 Reading: Theory and Practice, very well taught by Dr. Ernest Dishner, I am required to select a blog related to the broad field of literacy and/or the use of technology in K-12 classrooms.
I have to admit it was not an easy task to select a serious, meaningful blog. I find your blog really useful and interesting, and will be commenting a little bit on the variety of topics you deal with.
Teaching Spanish in the United States (or, America , as they call it) is not piece of cake. Things like the one you do in your blog help those in this hard profession to improve day after day.
Thank you,
Pavel
Hi Pavel,
Well, I’m a teacher in training and I know it’s not easy to teach nowadays (especially if you want implement technology in the classroom, which always meets a fair bit of resistance from the ‘older generation’).
Drop me a line (by comment or e-mail) if you want to share/ask something.
Hi Ramses,
Well, you are exactly right! Implementing (new) technology in the classroom may also pose new challenges we as teachers might not be prepared for. Actually, I have a couple of classmates who have not found it easy just to find a blog and post comments the same way as I have been doing with yours.
I consider however that including technology in today’s wide world of the foreign language class is not a choice but a must. Professor Dishner has proposed a wonderful course plan that includes the research–prior to class presentation–of diverse strategies for reading and writing, based on the textbook Developing Readers and Writers In the Content Aras K-12 (Moore et al, 5th Ed.). His plan also includes the creation of wikis, blogs, and how to effectively use them in the foreign language or content area classroom.
I am then at this time doing my final assignment for this course, which is reading and reflecting on the content of your blog, in order to write a brief reflective paper describing some of the most interesting things discovered in it.
I will definitely not hesitate to include by APA citation your valuable contribution to both my college assignments and my class instruction.
Pavel
Hm interesting word
The is a word in English language – chav. It means a working-class youth, especially one associated with aggression, poor education, and a perceived “common” taste in clothing and lifestyle. Probably comes from the Spanish chavel.
What do you think ?