Talking the lingo in Rio: Chatting with your new Spanish speaking friends about Taekwondo

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This article is a series of language learning posts by ParaSport News.  The goal is to provide sport fans some very basic sport and Paralympic vocabulary so you can talk with the world about disability sport at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio.

Spanish is spoken 470 million native speakers world wide.  As an official or default language in 20 different countries, you are almost certain to run across people who speak it.  The language is almost completely phonetic and easier for English speakers to learn than Portuguese.  If you speak it slowly, most Portuguese speakers will be able to understand you.  Spoken in  Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela, United States, Puerto Rico,  Andorra, Belize, Gibraltar, Philippines, United States, and Western Sahara, some of these countries also have deep Paralympic traditions and knowing it will help you keep up with a lot of medalists.  Spain is 8th all time on the Paralympic medal table.  Mexico is 24th.  Argentina is 29th.

 

While Taekwondo is not on the Paralympic program until 2020, preparation is always useful because you might run across Spanish speakers who have Taekwondo as a second sport or are potential hopefuls for Tokyo.

 

General disability words:

• parálisis cerebral – Cerebral palsy
• sordo – Deaf
• discapacidades – Disabilities
• pies – Feet
• manos – Hands
• Síndrome de Rett – Rett Syndrome
• silla de ruedas – Wheelchair

Sport specific words:

•  deporte paralímpico – Paralympic sport
•  deportistas de alto rendimiento – High performance athlete
• Paralímpica – Paralympic (feminine)

Taekwondo specific words:

• Adaptaekwondo – Adaptive taekwondo
• paraTaekwondo – ParaTaekwondo
• Federacion de Taekwondo de la Comunidad Valenciana – Federation of Taekwondo of the Community of Valencia
• Federación Internacional de Taekwondo – International Taekwondo Federation
• Federación Mundial de Taekwondo – World Taekwondo Federation
• rojo –  red
• negro – black
• azul – blue
• verde – green
• equipo – equipment