Phone call

[poli]

Chaval is used in Spain and probably nowhere else. From watching old movies I learned that Americans used the word sister (and little sister) to someone who was not a sibling frequently in the 1930's and 40's. This use pretty much disappeared here except among Evangelical Christians.

[Rusty]

Hermanita is a dimunitive. It can be used to mean a younger sister, but it can also be a tender way to refer to an older sister.

[Jane]

Originally Posted by geeper

She calls me hermanito but I am 10 years younger than her. Would it be appropriate for me to call her hermanita? BYW, I wrote a letter instead of calling.

Geeper, that would be hermanita... because, the last I checked, you´re a lady. Or am I mistaken?
Hermanito refers to a younger brother.
She can call you hermanita since you´re younger, but I don´t think you can refer to her the same way, unless as a term of endearment, since the word in itself is dimunitive

[geeper]

I'm male.

[Jane]

Originally Posted by geeper

I'm male.

Ooops!!!
Sorry... my mistake.

[geeper]

No problem, I have set it in my profile so there will be no question in the future!

[Jane]

Originally Posted by geeper

No problem, I have set it in my profile so there will be no question in the future!

Perfect!
Sorry, again.

[Elaina]

Originally Posted by geeper

She calls me hermanito but I am 10 years younger than her. Would it be appropriate for me to call her hermanita? BYW, I wrote a letter instead of calling.

Sometimes, in some cultures the use of the diminutive is only a term of endearment and not necessarily to denote older, younger, etc. That's how I have come to see it.

[Tomisimo]

Originally Posted by Elaina

En la frase......

Este es Geeper.......¿Qué consideras Spanglish?

I wouldn't necessarily call it Spanglish, but it's something that is used in Spanish, due to English influence. In English I say

"This is David, can I speak with X".

In Spanish, that's not the normal way of saying it. You would say:

Soy David, ¿me permite hablar con X?
Habla David, ¿me permite hablar con X?
Este es David, ¿me permite hablar con X?

The third option is understandable, but is not natural.

[CrOtALiTo]

Hey como estas hermano, ciudate.

[Planet hopper]

The -ita suffix is taken as friendly, as english uses the word tiny, doesn't matter if she's older

[Planet hopper]

Este es _________
Is used when you are introducing someone to a third person, not in the context we are talking about, which (to me) sounds more like when you answer to a knock on the door and say Who's that? It's me
In Spanish we would say ¿Quien es? Soy yo, never ese soy yo.
It feels deviant to me, spanglish-like, maybe more common in central-south america.

[Rusty]

Este es ... is not used in Central America. They use soy or habla.

On the telephone:
Hola.
-Hola. Soy Magda. (Habla Magda.)
¡Magda! ¡Que bueno oir de ti!