Thread: How Do You Say "The Cat Sat On The Mat" In Spanish

VDARE.COM - http://vdare.com/bevens/050602_spanish.htm

June 02, 2005

How Do You Say "The Cat Sat On The Mat" In Spanish?
By Bryanna Bevens

Several years ago I participated, along with other California State Assembly staffers and members, in a literacy promotion program for elementary students in the California public school system.

I visited a second-grade classroom in Fresno. Before I sat down to read a book to the kiddies, I took the abbreviated tour of the facilities.

A chart on the wall demonstrated the proper use of contractions:

You are = you’re

I am = I’m

We were = we’re

I looked quizzically at the teacher and asked "You sure about this last one? Shouldn’t it read we are?"

Speaking with an exceptionally strong Mexican accent, the teacher assured me that I was wrong: "Oh no, it’s we were."

I know I have an inane tendency to fixate on minutiae. But come on.

"Not to be a pain, but I am positive it’s we are" I said.

Then she said (and I really wish I was making this up) "I’ve been teaching English for four years nowâ€â€

How Do You Say "The Cat Sat On The Mat" In Spanish?

I have no idea and don't care.
I am an American in the United States. We speak English here.
If you want an answer to the question, go back to Mexico and ask.

And if you are going to teach English, then you should KNOW English.

If you don't know that (we were = we’re) is incorrect, then you should go back to 7th grade--not be TEACHING English.

As if the teachers for whom English is a primary language were not bad enough... now we gotta have teachers for whom English is a SECOND language.

Thank God I pulled my kid outta public school this year (his 7th grade year). I gotta tell ya, I could not be happier, nor could he. He just took his diagnostic tests, and he went, in 6 months of private school, from a 5th grade reading level to ninth grade level, and from D's and F's.. to straight A's.

That's pathetic...we're = we were. Good post.

Aprenda el inglés y asimÃÂ*lelo a la sociedad americana después de que usted haya hecho un ciudadano desatado legal de los estados.


Translation: Learn English and assimilate to American Society after you have become a legal Untied States Citizen.

How do you say "The cat jumped back over the border?"

Originally Posted by dataman

How do you say "The cat jumped back over the border?"

El gato saltó detrás sobre la frontera