Answers
Sep 09, 2014 - 05:28 PM
I saw that in level 1 of Portuguese also. You'd be surprised how many people think they are the same fruit.
Sep 09, 2014 - 05:46 PM
I think the images were taken from the Spanish course. In most of the Spanish speaking world, and definitely in Mexico (the program teaches what I consider to be Mexican Spanish), there is no distinction between a lemon and a lime. Indeed, most of the lemons where I live in Argentina are actually green but taste like a lemon... Maybe this isn't so much a mistake as it is cultural?
Sep 09, 2014 - 09:47 PM
@Ayden - The following is taken from Wikipedia: For several decades, since at least the 1950s, Mexico has been the world's largest producer and exporter of limes,[1][2][3][4] and especially of lime oil.[2][5]
The two popular varieties of limes grown in Mexico are the Mexican or Key lime (Citrus aurantifolia) and the Persian lime (Citrus latifolia, simply called "lime" in the US);
You may be right that there isn't a cultural distinction, but there definitely is a horticultural one. I would think that Mexican Spanish should have words that distinguish between lemons and limes considering they are the world's largest exporter of limes.
The two popular varieties of limes grown in Mexico are the Mexican or Key lime (Citrus aurantifolia) and the Persian lime (Citrus latifolia, simply called "lime" in the US);
You may be right that there isn't a cultural distinction, but there definitely is a horticultural one. I would think that Mexican Spanish should have words that distinguish between lemons and limes considering they are the world's largest exporter of limes.
Sep 09, 2014 - 11:36 PM
@ Ayden - Since you live in Argentina, do you know if they have different words for limes and lemons? The reason I ask is because I posted once before that in my Portuguese (Portugal) dictionary it lists O limão for lemon and A Lima for lime. There was a native Brazilian who had never heard of limes before (at least as we know them in the U.S.). For most lemons, they turn yellow when fully ripened, and limes can actually turn yellow when fully ripened. I think that leads to some confusion. It is definitely confusing for Fluenz users who live in the U.S. to see pictures of what look like limes being called lemons. Then again, the satsumas on my mother's tree start off green before becoming a nice orange color, but taste delicious even when green. Now I'm just green with envy for those living in tropical climates with access to such varieties of citrus!
Oct 03, 2014 - 06:22 AM
Hi Jason
Sorry to confuse you. "Zitrone" is most definitely always a lemon. So we have changed the picture for a hopefully much clearer one. And the new images will be available in the next update.
Eric T., unfortunately, it's not quite as clear cut in Portuguese as you can see from Ayden's comments. In Brazil you will mainly find limes and struggle to come across lemons. Both are translated as "O limão". So the way to distinguish it is to add "Siciliano" if you want to refer to a lemon: limão siciliano. That's why we gave you both translations - lime and lemon - in Portuguese level 1 session 4 for "O limão".
You can find a short article about the lemon/lime/limão issue written an English guy living in Rio including photos here: http://eatrio.net/2012/05/lemon-lime-...
Sorry to confuse you. "Zitrone" is most definitely always a lemon. So we have changed the picture for a hopefully much clearer one. And the new images will be available in the next update.
Eric T., unfortunately, it's not quite as clear cut in Portuguese as you can see from Ayden's comments. In Brazil you will mainly find limes and struggle to come across lemons. Both are translated as "O limão". So the way to distinguish it is to add "Siciliano" if you want to refer to a lemon: limão siciliano. That's why we gave you both translations - lime and lemon - in Portuguese level 1 session 4 for "O limão".
You can find a short article about the lemon/lime/limão issue written an English guy living in Rio including photos here: http://eatrio.net/2012/05/lemon-lime-...
Oct 03, 2014 - 10:58 AM
Thanks. I knew that lemons (as we know them in the U.S.) are rare south of our border, but I also knew there had to be some vocabulary used to differentiate the two. If a Brazilian friend came to the U.S. and saw lemons and limes next to each other in the grocery store, there must be a way to verbally distinguish between the two (other than pointing and saying this/that one).