noventa y cinco porciento – 95%
es Católico – is Catholic
una mayoría – a majority
durante el verano – during the summer
más tarde – later
primero vamos a hablar – first let’s talk
acerca de – about
Navidad – Christmas
Noche Buena – Christmas Eve
tan pronto como – as soon as
termina de hablar – finishes speaking
medianoche – midnight
para la familia – for the family
ayudante – helper
ya que – since
la cena Navideña – the Christmas dinner
es un pavo tradicional – is a traditional turkey
el dinero suficiente – enough money
dinero – money
pollo – chicken
juegan con sus regalos – play with their gifts
generalmente duermen tarde – generally they sleep in
para la Nochevieja – for New Year’s Eve
y como la Navidad – and like Christmas
una muñeca grande – a large doll
ropa vieja – old clothes
muñecas grandes – large dolls
en las calles – in the streets
y las queman – and they burn them
para mucha gente – for many people
la persona vieja – the old person
una persona nueva – a new person
cualquier parte del mundo – any part of the world
familia a familia – family to family
región a región – region to region
como regalo de Navidad – as a Christmas gift
si ordenan antes de las 2:00 – if you order before 2:00
para nuestra oferta actual – for our current sale
Because about noventa y cinco porciento of Latin America es Católico, Christmas is as widely or even more widely celebrated than in the United States. Also, because una mayoría of Latin Americans live south of the equator, for them Christmas is actually durante el verano. As you will see más tarde, these influence some of their holiday traditions. (more…)
cuando sacamos fotos – when we take photos
la persona que saca la foto – the person that takes the photo
no tengo idea – I have no idea
la palabra – the word
es una tradición – it’s a tradition
personalmente – personally
no hay – there’s not
en sus fotos – in their photos
en sus caras – on their faces
para fotos – for photos
a la historia – at history
gente aquí en – people here in
cuando miro fotos de – when I look at pictures of
de un grupo tan serio – from such a serious group
h ace años – years ago
abierta – open
era difícil – it was difficult
con la tecnología – with technology
licencias de conducir – driver’s licenses
amigos latinos – Latin friends
me dijeron – they told me
una persona seria – a serious person
una multa – a ticket
en vez de – instead of
la próxima vez que – the next time that
una persona latina – a Latin person
hay que darse cuenta – it’s necessary to realize
antes de dejar – before leaving
en ciertas regiones de – in certain regions of
mucha gente – many people
en las paredes de sus casas – on the walls of their homes
muchas fotos – many photos
mucha gente – many people
en vez de tener – instead of having
pinturas – paintings
si alguien tiene – if anyone has
háganos saber de eso – let us know about it (command form)
como siempre – as always
diferencias culturales – cultural di fferences
a veces – sometimes
una explicación lógica – a logical explanation
su cultura – their culture
es importante – it’s important
Here in the United States, cuando sacamos fotos, whether informally or at a photo studio, la persona que saca la foto usually exclaims, “Say Cheese!” This is supposed to make us smile until the photograph can be taken. No tengo idea as to why we actually say la palabra “cheese” except that es una tradición to get people to smile. Personalmente, when I think about a piece of cheese, it makes me rather hungry, not want to smile.
In Latin America, no hay “cheese” en sus fotos. When pictures are taken, Latin Americans usually have a somewhat serious look en sus caras. They don’t often smile para fotos like we do here in the U.S.
A brief look a la historia
If you look at fotos taken around say 150 years ago, gente aquí en the U.S. didn’t smile much either. Cuando miro fotos de my ancestors, I wonder how I could have evolved de un grupo tan serio. It’s been explained to me that they frowned, or looked serious, en fotos hace años because the camera aperture had to be abierta for such a long time to take a foto; era difícil for them to hold a smile that long – so they frowned.
Con la tecnología being up to date, people still sometimes frown or look serious para fotos in Latin America – especially on licencias de conducir. I questioned a few amigos latinos about this and here’s what me dijeron. They said that on licencias de conducir, you want to look like una persona seria so if the police stop you, they will not think you’re a goof-off or a trouble-maker and give you una multa. In portraits, it was similarly explained that you want to be viewed as a persona seria en vez de a joker.
La próxima vez que you see a portrait of una persona latina, before you pass judgment thinking they must be a very serious, non-funloving person, hay que darse cuenta that it is part of their culture to look serio en fotos, and don’t judge a book by its cover.
Antes de dejar this theme, another interesting thing I have noticed en ciertas regiones de Latin America is that mucha gente, en vez de tener a wedding photo, would have a wedding painting hung en las paredes de sus casas. I didn’t see muchas fotos hanging up in people’s homes, but there were ample amounts of pinturas.
Si alguien tiene any other interesting information about fotos in Latin America , Please visit our blog to share your thoughts! Click here! We would love to hear your feedback. Also, como siempre, I would love to hear from our international subscribers about diferencias culturales with fotos in from your countries.
Moral of the Story: A veces people do things differently than Americans, and there may not always be una explicación lógica for it other than it’s part of su cultura. Also, es importante not to take ourselves too seriously. We can do this by learning to have a laugh at some of our own diferencias culturales.
Sneak peek at next week: “Amigo Week!”
¡Hasta luego! (“Until later”)
If you would like to learn Spanish, click here!
David S. Clark — President / Director
The Spanish word “tacaño” translates to “tightwad” or “cheapskate”. This is one of my very favorite gestures used in the Spanish language. Maybe it is because I grew up in a financially tight home and I can easily relate to it. When I was growing up, because of income, my parents would often take my five sisters and me, I didn’t have any brothers, to McDonald’s only two or three times a year. We usually only had enough money to perhaps get a half a hamburger each if we were lucky. We never had enough money for fries or a soda. I also walked uphill both ways to school barefoot in the snow during a blizzard (just kidding about the school and barefoot part). (more…)
