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A Mug's Game!
English, pint-size 'dimple' mugs may be found in some bars and these can go by at least two names and one of them is readily confused with the name for a jug. Sometimes the dimple mug goes under the term "tanque grande" and other times it is referred to as a 'jarra' (looks easy doesn't it? But, not only do you have to roll those 'rs' but you have to pronounce that initial 'j' like the guttural sound on the end of the Scottish word 'loch.' For practise I would suggest inventing a fictitious place in Scotland called Loch Arrah …running the two words together a few times and then just dropping the 'lo' at the beginning. Here, language and culture become a tangled mess because of the assumption I told you about earlier concerning ordering large amounts of beer.
Mugs & Jugs
The term 'jarra' may be used to describe both a large glass for one person and a jug that Spanish people consider the right size to sit in the middle of a bar table with at least two people sat at it.
Here's where the complexity gets a lot of fun. If you order a 'jug' for yourself then you may just get a large glass …but if you're thirsty or just want to order the drinks once during your meal then ordering a jug of beer for two gets around this: "Una jarra de cerveza para dos" (oona kharra day thair-BAY-tha parra dos) …but remember your 'o' and 'a' sounds (no straying into English pronunciation).
Half measures
This exhaustive master class of beer ordering is nowhere near over - and there is at least one refinement to be added in the case of the many bars that have just wine glasses and a couple of jugs behind the bar. You may not want an entire litre of beer but not want to keep shuttling back and forth between the bar and your table with a succession of wine glasses of beer …so order HALF a jug "media jarra" (MAYD-ya kharra).
Froth!
You're not used to getting short measures are you? You might get a little peeved when the beaming barkeep serves you with a pint glass or jug of beer that is at least one third head. Put aside your anger and consider again the fact that there is no such thing as a standard measure of beer in Spain and then add the fact that the Spanish people actually believe that beer is somehow better with all that froth - you'll discover how wrong you were about the Spanish barman trying to swindle you out of some beer when you ask for it with a small head (poco espuma "PO-ko ay-SPOOM-a) …he might purse his lips because he considers this a little unusual and even have to wrestle a little with this unfamiliar task, but he will still give you what you want without complaint. With few exceptions all you need to know to get what you really want is how to ask.
If you think you will go back to the bar for more then don't pay straight away - nobody Spanish does this - pay when you leave.
One last thing, the BBC publish an excellent pocket-sized phrase book on most major European languages. The phrase book includes a very handy dictionary and step-by-step phonetic pronunciation guides. The phrase book misses out all of the specialist stuff I have put in here concerning the ordering of beer (but it covers many more common situations and includes names for things like ice, wine and other drinks)
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