Estar deseando + Infinitive vs. Ya + Querer + Que + Subjuntivo

Question

I hope this might serve a beneficial purpose. I just had a conversation with someone in México (also a degreed Spanish teacher). During the conversation I thought I would tryout the new phrase I learned here; I used the phrase "Estar deseando + infinitive in our conversation: "Hija, estoy deseando pasar tiempo contigo en La Navidad."  She advised that, while she understood what I was saying, it is not commonly used there and it sounded a bit odd, as if I was translating exactly from English. She wondered if was mostly used in Spain. She advised that Spanish speakers in México are more likely to use - admittedly, colloquially-  "Ya + verb Querer:"Ya quiero que pase tiempo contigo en La Navidad." This translates to: "I am looking forward spending time with you at Christmas."   As for the phrase "Tener ganas," she agreed that it could mean " looking forward to," but in México it is more associated with " I feel like ( doing/ having something)."

Answer

Hola ArmandoThanks for your message. I looked into this use of "estar deseando" and after asking people from different nationalities from Latin America, some of them find this structure quite common - it sounds as if it may be less preferable in Mexico and they might use ya quiero que... more often and more naturally as your teacher said. As for "tener ganas", yes, she's right, it conveys more the idea of "I feel like doing something" - this is also what we state in the lesson. Saludos cordiales.Inma

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Is this lesson aplicable for Spain Spanish too? I didn’t find a note on this to be just for Latin America. But from my limited knowledge, it seems like Spain Spanish will use apetecer instead of tener ganas de

Answer

Hola Ashlyn
This is a standard lesson for both Spain and Latin America. 
You can also use "apetecer" with the same purpose:

Me apetece tomarme un vino.
I feel like having a glass of wine. 
¿Te apetece ir al cine?
Do you feel like going to the cinema?

Saludos