Topics

Nov

Visual Wordplay for the Bilingual Brain

by Eva Boynton on November 14, 2017

A cartoon of a woman pulling a leg and hands grabbing her hair, showing how visual wordplay with Spanish and English proverbs tickles the bilingual brain. (image © Eva Boynton).

“Ouch! You’re pulling my leg!”
“¡Ay! ¡Me estás tomando el pelo!” (“Ouch! You’re grabbing my hair!”)
© drawing by Eva Boynton

Spanish and English Proverbs in Pictures

While living in Mexico, I heard phrases whose literal translations created odd visual images for me and confused my developing bilingual brain. For example: “Me estás tomando el pelo!” (You are grabbing my hair!”). My initial bewildered response? I checked to see if my hands were minding their business at my side.

With further explanation, I soon understood that such strange phrases were proverbios y refranes (proverbs and sayings), wise and colorful ways to make a point. In this case: “You are pulling my leg.” Read more...

Eva Boynton 3 Comments

Becoming Bilingual/Language & Culture/Proverbs & Sayings/Wordplay

Sep

A Tale of Two Jungles

by Eva Boynton on September 11, 2017

Trees in the jungle and a a city monument, symbolizing life in the jungle of Quintana Roo and the concrete jungle of Mexico City (images © Sam Anaya).

From the Mayan jungle to the concrete jungle
© Sam Anaya

Sensing Life in Quintana Roo & Mexico City

A symphony plays before me in an outdoor theater. The sun passes through a roof of leaves, tree branches crawl up and around the doorways, and rain delicately drizzles upon the earthen seats. This is the Mayan jungle in Quintana Roo, Mexico.

I had arrived here from another theater where sunlight illuminates towering structures and passes through glass windows. The red, yellow, and green of signal lights reflect in the puddles of afternoon rains. This is the concrete jungle of Mexico City. Read more...

Eva Boynton 2 Comments

Cultural Encounters/Mexico

Aug

Pink Transportation Takes the Wheel

by Eva Boynton on August 15, 2017

A woman wearing a pink scarf and driving a pink taxi, illustrating the opportunity for women to work for women's rights and gender equality with pink transportation (image © Hannah Arista).

Two percent of taxi drivers are female while sixty percent are passengers.
She Taxis empowers women to jump into the driver’s seat.
© Hannah Arista Photography

Steering Toward Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

PINK, PINK, PINK! Bubblegum, watermelon, flamingo, rose, pink panther, punch pink, and HOT pink are just a few of the rosy shades taking to city streets today. Together, all things pink create a public visual statement of solidarity with women’s rights.

A pink taxi in London, showing a pink transportation alternative to help women advance women's rights and gender equality (image © Ken/Flkr).

It sounds a little like the pink DIY-knitted “pussyhats” movement, right? But the wave of fuchsia, to which I refer—Pink Transportation—came before the worldwide flash flood of pink. Read more...

Eva Boynton 1 Comment

Stereotypes/Worldwide Sites

World Views: