Yo Tarzán

Have you seen this film? There’s a lot of Spanish we can learn from it!

All foreign films in Spain are dubbed into Spanish. And Tarzan was no difference. The funny thing about this film is that when dubbed, Tarzan used a simplified Spanish form that will make your life much easier. So for the time being, let’s speak like Tarzan.

We have already learnt SER, ESTAR, TENER and some ideas with the verb LLEVAR. They changed according to each subject. (Yo soy, tú eres… etc.)

But Tarzan didn’t come to Spanish classes, so he never learnt how to do this, and he would just put the verbs straight away.

So if you just follow the structure above, you can create any message in Tarzan Spanish. Tarzan Spanish is used daily in jokes, films, cartoons… people find it funny and they will reply accordingly once you use it.

Yo QUERER una cerveza por favor

Nosotros TRABAJAR en la oficina

La niña DEBER estudiar mucho

Los turistas BEBER mucho en los bares

Los 22 verbos más usados (a selection of 22 very common verbs)

1. Ser (to be)
2. Estar (to be)
3. Tener (to have)
4. Hacer (to do/make)
5. Decir (to say/tell)
6. Ir (to go)
7. Ver (to see)
8. Saber (to know)
9. Poder (to be able to/can)
10. Querer (to want)
11. Creer (to believe)
12. Venir (to come)
13. Dar (to give)
14. Llamar (to call)
15. Pensar (to think)
16. Vivir (to live)
17. Sentir (to feel)
18. Deber (should OR owe)
19. Comer (to eat)
20. Trabajar (to work)
21. Beber (to drink)
22. Pedir (to order OR request)

Ejercicio:

Escribe lo que quieras en Español de Tarzán (write anything you want in Tarzan Spanish)

CAPERUCITA ROJA (Little Red Riding Hood, alternative version)

Caperucita VIVIR en el bosque con su madre y con su perro. Su abuela NECESITAR comida urgente, entonces Caperucita LLAMAR a restaurante chino. Caperucita SALIR a pasear a su perro y ella VER al Lobo. El Lobo es muy guapo, el Lobo es el repartidor del restaurante chino.

-Hola, Caperucita, QUERER VENIR a casa de tu abuela?
-Sí, yo IR a casa contigo en la moto.

Entonces ellos ENCONTRAR a Guardia Civil por el camino, y ellos TENER problema porque el Lobo no TENER seguro de la moto.

Por eso ellos TENER que pagar una multa y no PODER llevar la comida a la abuela. Pero la abuela LLAMAR a pizzeria y COMER una pizza con champiñones.

Some very useful Spanish words:

Vale – OK
Friolero – Sensitive to cold
Pues – Hmm, then, since, well…
Bueno – Similar to vale
Venga / Vamos – Come on
Mira – See, used for calling someone’s attention or to express surprise
Dígame – Tell me (used when we pick up the phone)
Perdón – Excuse me or sorry
Vergüenza ajena – to feel embarrassed about someone else
Madrugar – To wake up very early in the morning