While I was living in Latin America, for three months of the two years I was there, I ate breakfast every morning with the Silva family. They were native Spanish speakers and lived in a small city that was called Vista Alegre (happy view). Every morning the mother of the household would wake up very early to go to the bakery and pick up fresh rolls for us to eat. They were always delicious.

Quite often she would also make a breakfast drink that is called “kwaw-care”. They appeared to  be made out of cooked oatmeal, chocolate, and milk. I grew to deeply love my regular morning drink of “kwaw-care” and really looked forward to it. I had not heard the word “kwaw-care” before and tried to look it up in the dictionary but could not find anything even remotely close. I then looked up the word for oatmeal and it was “avena” [ah-ben-ah].

I continued drinking my “kwaw-care” for the next few months and quickly it became a “household” word for me. I would go to breakfast at the Silva’s and most eagerly await my daily dose of “kwaw-care”.

It was not until I was about to move on to another city that I finally solved the great mystery of what “kwaw-care” really was. I was in the Silva’s kitchen and saw the mother preparing “kwaw-care” and all of the sudden it dawned on me! She was taking the oatmeal out of a box of “Quaker Oats” and that is how they pronounced “Quaker” — “kwaw-care”! I suddenly laughed out loud and began to lovingly tease the family a little bit about it. I asked them why they did not just call it “avena” since that was the real name for oatmeal. They did not have a good answer.

The more I thought about it, I realized that it must be a common language phenomenon that happens all the time all over the world in different cultures. With certain consumer products their brand names become so familiar that people begin to inadvertently use them as the actual name for the product. For example, if I have a cut, I use a bandaid™ (which is actually a brand name). Or, if I might have a cold, I use a Kleenex™ regardless of whether it is actually that brand or not.

So, the next time you are in Latin America and someone makes you “kwaw-care”, you will know exactly what it is!! If any of you have other examples in English or from other countries, please write in and let us know about it.

P.S. – If anyone out there working for Quaker Oats™, Kleenex™ or the Bandaid™ company reads this, we’ll gladly accept advertising money from you. We will even send out a follow-up newsletter so everyone is sure to know about your products!

To learn more about speaking Spanish, please visit our website www.spanishprograms.com

To learn more Spanish words, please visit our website www.spanishprograms.com

Trips to Latin American countries can be amazing experiences. At the same time, they can provide you with a wonderful opportunity to practice your Spanish and learn a lot culturally. Here are a few handy travel tips to help you get the most out of your trip to Latin American and avoid potential problems. For a complete set of travel vocabulary (including: Rent-a-Car, Bank, Exchange Rate, Hotel, Shopping and Medical Emergencies), please look up section 12 of your complete Visual Link Spanish™ course; there are both interactive computer lessons as well as audio CD lessons for use in your car. If you perhaps do not have the complete course, click here for more info, or to purchase. Now, let’s move on to our travel tips:

1. Take every occasion you have to speak with the natives. Since you have been studying with our course, you have most likely learned great deal of Spanish up to this point. Speaking to native speakers is a very important step towards higher fluency and will help boost your level of Spanish like nothing else.
2. Try to put your money in a hidden pocket; under clothes is preferable. Money belts that go underneath the clothes are particularly ideal. In some areas, pickpockets can be a very common occurrence and this guideline could save you a lot of money! If you must carry a purse, be sure to keep both hands on it in all public places. Remember, money belts are really ideal to keep your money safe.
3. It is best not to wear expensive jewelry or watches; you may not come back with them. Relatively harmless pick pockets may possibly become somewhat aggressive if they see you have a nice watch or jewelry. Inexpensive jewelry can be a great solution to remedy the problem. When I went to live in Latin America, I bought an very inexpensive $10 Casio digital watch that lasted the entire two years I lived there. As you can well imagine, nobody really wanted to take a “$10 Casio”.
4. If you decide to drive or rent a car, be sure to carry money if you happen to be stopped by the police. In the United States, it is illegal to give police officers money to let you off, but in Latin America it is more or less expected. The amount to offer can vary region to region, but I would suggest carrying at least three ten-dollar bills.
5. Do not ever leave your luggage or valuables unattended. Keep track of your things because if you lose something, it is gone forever.
6. For the most part, most tourist locations are really very safe, but it you go off the beaten path, be sure to stay in well-lit areas at night.

  To learn more about speaking Spanish, please visit our website www.spanishprograms.com

To learn more Spanish words, please visit our website www.spanishprograms.com

To learn more Spanish words, please visit our website www.spanishprograms.com

In English, when we say “She is young” or “She is a youth”, it means that “she” is most likely a teenager or younger. (Those in England and Australia, please let me know if it is different there.) In Spanish, when you say “She is a youth”, it means that “she” can be anywhere from age 1 to age 29.

To demonstrate this point, when I was living in Latin America at age 19, I was talking to some people and began to tell them a story. I started off the story by saying, “When I was young.” Much to my surprise, they all started laughing and said, “You are still young!” I said “What do you mean, I am still young.” This made them laugh even more and said “You’re young.”

Because it was a cultural difference, at first I did not understand what they meant — in my opinion, I wasn’t young anymore. During the next couple of months of observation, I realized that when a native Spanish speaker talked about a “young person”, or “being young”, or “a youth”, they were referring to someone who was either a child, a teenager, or even into their late twenties.

Another example of this is from when I was in my late twenties; I went to a company called Autoliv to give some ESL (English as a Second Language) placement tests to native Spanish speakers. I was about to test a Spanish speaking lady who was perhaps in her 50’s. She was smiling and seemed to be a very happy and sociable person. When she came to sit down at the testing table, she said “Hola joven” [oh-law ho-ben] – or in English “Hi youth.” I said “Hola” to her and we began the session. As we continued, she continued to call me “joven” (young person or youth) about 6 or 7 times. She would say things like “OK joven”, or “muy bien joven”, or “está bien joven” and so forth. It is quite common for Latin people in their fifties or older to call people in their twenties or younger “joven”.

The moral to this story is this: In Latin America, until you hit age 30, you are younger than you think. This is a fun little tidbit of culture that I wanted to share with you this week.

To learn more about speaking Spanish, please visit our website www.spanishprograms.com

For more Spanish Words, please visit our website www.spanishprograms.com

Last week’s newsletter we focused on sweeping dirt in Latin America and the reasons they do it. I love when we get responses from you (our readers). Last week Deborah responded by e-mail with the following message:

“Dave: In poor areas in Mexico I saw family wash hanging out and was so impressed at how the whites are so white. Families built homemade speed bumps in front of their homes to keep cars from going too fast and kicking up dirt. The dirt is so fine and dusty that all their work washing clothes would be for not if they didn’t either sweep and wet the dirt, or build speed bumps.

I enjoy your travel observations. Deb”

Thank you so much for your comments Deborah!

I just wanted to do a quick follow-up with last week’s newsletter and talk a little more about the activities that are done on the dirt roads in the pueblos. Since cars rarely pass by in the lower-income pueblos, the streets are converted to a sort of play place for young children and teenagers. In most of Latin America, as soon as a little boy can walk, they learn to kick a soccer ball. In fact, they seem to be almost everywhere in the streets kicking soccer balls and playing soccer. When the very little boys are not playing soccer, they like to play with marbles or with string tops called trompos [troam-poes]. Girls likewise use the streets for a play place. As soon as they are around age of say eight or nine, in many regions, they play volleyball in the streets. They set up nets from one side of the narrow streets to the other and if any cars happen to pass by, they simply lift up the net.

It is fun to watch the culture of the Latin streets and see everything all the events that goe on. The boys and girls are quite good at soccer, volleyball, marbles, and “trompos.” In fact, the first time I tried to play soccer with them, to my surprise, they kicked the ball right between my legs. I was a little embarrassed as everyone laughed at me, the “Gringo”, who did not know how to play soccer very well. Needless to say, I practiced my soccer playing and now enjoy it very much.

The sports played can vary region to region. For example, in the Dominican Republic, many of the boys participate in baseball instead of soccer. However, soccer is still the most widespread sport throughout Latin America.

To learn more about getting to know someone better or conversing about sports and hobbies, be sure to learn “Section 8 – Becoming Acquainted.” If you do not have the complete course yet, and would like to order it, we have a current sale going on at: www.spanishprograms.com/store.htm

To learn more about speaking Spanish, please visit our website www.spanishprograms.com