Suffering a typical 9-5 existence, Jared's foray into lunch-hour Spanish shook up his mundane life. He quit his job, stopped by briefly to school, and then left the US...for 14 years. Early stumblings in real-world Spanish taught him that a cola isn't just a soft drink, "bicho" doesn't always mean a bug, and "boludo" may be heartfelt or middle-finger felt. Twelve countries, three startups, two bestsellers and a Puerto Rican wife later, he's still confounded by how many Spanish words exist for "panties."
Their personal experiences highlight common confusions of every-day Spanish. With the views of a native Spanish speaker and a gringo who picked it up as an adult, they constantly find entertaining and controversial lessons on how to communicate in Spanish. The Speaking Latino books and website are a consequence of Jared's bumblings in Spanish, crossed communications with Diana, repeated bouts with culture shock, and confusions over the correct words for popcorn, gasoline, pen, bus, underwear, traffic jam and drinking straw. One of the strangest things for him to accept while learning Spanish was why he spent years in classes, and yet a large portion of the words he learned didn't do a bit of good in the real world. It still amazes him that depending on where you are (chiringa, barrilete, papalote, papagayo, pandorga, chichigua, cometa or volantín) all mean the same thing: kite.
