Books

How we speak among friends is like a secret code made up of hundreds of references, like where we grew up, the school we went to and the TV programs we watched, and it’s constantly changing. This makes learning the art of conversation in a foreign language tricky since there are some things no amount of reaching for our dusty, bilingual dictionary will tell us, such as, for example, the difference between “collons“ (balls) and “collonut” (awesome). No Fotis! (no kidding!), a new Catalan–English slang dictionary published by Pons Idiomas, has the answers to both of the above, and much more. The third slang dictionary in a series (after Italian–Spanish and French–Spanish), the idea behind this pocketsize book is to equip guiris for Catalan life outside the classroom. All those swear words, exclamations, and jokes you couldn’t find in your textbook have been scrupulously researched and compiled, and are ready to rescue your social life. There is also an English to Catalan section, to help translate your favorite English expressions and move past the stiff formality of the classroom and into the bar or club. One thing that even a book as up-to date as No Fotis! doesn’t do, however, is guide foreigners on how and when to use these Catalan slang words. So be advised: whip out your new Catalan teenager impression at your own risk.

www.ponsidiomas.com