Querida Abuela,

Mi papa me dice que Ud. no se siente bien, y lo siento que no puedo estar alli con Ud. Yo se que yo no he sido el nieto mejor; no he llamado y no he viajado a Mexico por un tiempo, pero todavia le quiero mucho. Quiero que Ud. sepa que yo prometo estar alli temprano para pasar el tiempo con Ud., ya que soy mas viejo y probablemente le comprendo mejor. Le echo de menos tanto y no puedo esperar verse temprano.

Amor,
Joel

Querida abuelita,
Mi papá me dice que estás muy enferma, y siento mucho no poder estar contigo. Sé que no he sido el mejor nieto, no te he llamado y no he ido a México en mucho tiempo, pero todavía te quiero mucho. Quiero que sepas que prometo que estaré ahí pronto para pasar tiempo contigo, y que ahora que tengo más edad probablemente podré entenderte mejor. Te quiero mucho y espero verte pronto.
Con mucho amor,
Joel.

Great translation above….just needs some tweaks…

” todavia la quiero mucho.”

“ya que soy mayor” (mayor is older/mature for younger people….viejo is for old men.)

“y probablemente la comprendere mejor”

“le extrano _ y espero _verte pronto.”

@DarlingRhadamanthus “Más mayor” is redundant, akin to saying “more older”. “Echar de menos” is correct.

Jelly Max Gutierrez is Mexican living in Mexico, so he can get it right for that country, accents and all. Also, I can ask my husband to write it out, but I am not sure when he will seee my email. He is Mexican also. http://www.fluther.com/users/max_gutierrez/

Thanks @bob_ I didn’t catch the “mas”....by the way, I would go with @bob’s translation…it’s less formal, clear and to the point. And you are right, the “h” should be dropped. So, I did away with it altogether.

I was just trying to chip in…..to help. And the “extrano” has an accent over the n…don’t have it on my computer….just go with @bob’s translation.

(Though @KTWBE did a nice job, too.)

@JLeslie My translation is Mexican (as I’m a Mexican living in Mexico).

I agree Bob’s is less formal. I wouldn’t use Ud for my grandmother.

@bob_ Oh, haha, then I would definitely go with your translation.

@DarlingRhadamanthus you mean tilde. Tilde over the n.

I am of Mexican descent, not living in Mexico (or even in the States) and have not spoken Spanish in ages to anyone even though it was my first language. So, I’m working with limitations, here. lol

!Si…TILDE….!! THANK YOU….could not for the life of me….even remember that!

I need to be around my peeps soon or I will forget how to dance if I’m not careful

This is what my husband said. He basically took @bob’s and edited it.

Querida abuelita,
Mi papá me dice que estás muy enferma, y siento mucho no poder estar contigo. Sé que no he sido el mejor nieto, no te he llamado y no he ido a México en mucho tiempo, pero todavía te quiero mucho. Te prometo que estaré ahí pronto para pasar tiempo contigo. Ahora entiendo tus sentimientos mucho mejor. Te quiero mucho y espero verte pronto.
Con mucho amor,
Joel.

My husband said there were a lot of que’s in the sentence he changed, and that in Spanish he would not use edad/age as we might in English, that within the sentence it is implied. I italicized the sentence he changed solely so you can find the change easily.

@bob_ what do you think? Do you agree with the changes?

@JLeslie I don’t think they’re incorrect, but I’d stay with my version :)

Well, is she from the city or the country? if from the city JLeslie’s version is perfect. But is she from the country I would only change little things:
Querida abuelita,
Mi papá me dice que está muy enferma, y siento mucho no poder estar con usted. Sé que no he sido el mejor nieto, no la he llamado y no he ido a México en mucho tiempo, pero todavía la quiero mucho. Le prometo que estaré ahí pronto para pasar tiempo con usted. Ahora entiendo sus sentimientos mucho mejor. Le quiero mucho y espero verla pronto.
Con mucho amor,
Joel.

Remember that if you don’t talk to her that much or know her RESPECT should be noted and not get personal. Trust me, if she is from the country this is better. But you really can go @JLeslie version.

My husband is from Mexico City, so it makes sense. I am not sure what city @bob_ lives in? This is one of the reasons I thought it important the person translating was from Mexico, and not another country, but as @mrmijunte points out that even within Mexico it could make a difference. Same is true in America in English, and I would guess most countries.

I’m sure, no matter what, your grandma will love the letter and any effort you make.

@jamzzy I was thinking that since you know some Spanish, you would know whether to use a more formal structure and the use of usted. I assume you are around Spanish enough to know what would be expected in your family.

As a side note, it is interesting that cities generally are less formal. I find that to be true in the US also. In the south and places more rural people you hear and expect the use of ma’am and sir and more formal terms of addressing someone. In large cities like NYC, Chicago, and others most people are on a first name basis, and are not as caught up with rules and expectations of what diliantes respect verbally. I realize this is a written note, but I think the generalization still applies.

Yes, you are right about tú/usted. You should use the one you’re used to.

@JLeslie I’m from Monterrey.

I haven’t really been on fluther for some time, and I saw that I did not update everyone on this or thank anyone. I just wanted to let everyone know I am super grateful for everyone’s help and was incredibly touched that so many people wanted to help. Although this might be 3 years late, thank you all for helping me.

PS my grandma is doing great I went to visit her last summer :)

So glad to hear your grandma is doing well! Thanks for the update.