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…)
como mencioné – as I mentioned
se saludan – greet each other
es importante saber – it’s important to know
diferencia cultural – cultural difference
saludos – greetings
mujeres – women
mejilla – cheek
hombres – men
un abrazo – a hug
diferentes saludos – different greetings
cuando se saludan (a) – when they greet
¿qué pasa cuando – what happens when
pero la mujer – but the woman
brazos – arms
frecuentemente – frequently
ha sido creado – has been created
la respuesta correcta – the correct answer
es – is
tan común – so common
parecía – it seemed
casi diario – almost daily
más tarde – later on
unas pulgadas – a few inches
el codo – the elbow
dedos – fingers
por arriba y abajo – up and down
fuerte – strong
movimientos – movements
cargando – carrying
la primera vez – the first time (more…)
I have heard it said that of all the words in a language, our own first name is one of our most favorite and pleasant words to hear. We all enjoy being called by our first name. Using first names is an unwritten necessity of becoming good friends with someone. One of the most uncomfortable situations for me was when I when to my ten-year high school reunion and I couldn’t remember the first names of people I had been acquaintances with. It was also uncomfortable for them when they couldn’t recall my name.
According to the National Public Registry of a Latin American country, the names “María” and “José” are the most common first names in Spanish. They’re followed by “Luz” (female name) and “Juan”. It is thought that these names are the most common due to the religious nature of Latin Americans; both names are very prominent in the Bible. (more…)
Last week we talked briefly about eating different parts of the cow so that no food is wasted. This week I want to tell you about some of the interesting/different things I ate while living in Latin America. If it makes your stomach weak, just remember that you’re only reading about it; I had to actually eat them.
As I have mentioned earlier, when eating at someone’s home in Latin America, as I did 3 meals a day for two years, you should eat all of the food your host/hostess serves you or they may become very offended and hurt. (more…)
Culture: Don’t Waste Your Food – All Parts of the Cow!!?
In many of the lower-income pueblos in Latin America, resources to purchase food can be scarce. Latin America mostly consists of developing or so called third-world countries. Because of their low economic resources, Latin people usually don’t waste any food. In-fact, many will go to extremes to eat a lot of interesting parts of the cow, pig and other animals that most Americans have never even thought of eating.
After living in Latin America for two years and becoming accustomed to their way of life, I was shocked when I returned to the United States and had dinner with my family the first night I returned. It was reverse culture shock for me. I could not believe how much food they wasted. If they couldn’t or didn’t want to eat all of their food, they just left it on their plates and all of it went down the hungry and ever-ready food disposal never to be seen again. It is interesting to me that I used to do the same thing at mealtime before spending two years of my life living among the Latin people. In Latin America, because of economic conditions and lifestyle, they usually eat every piece of their food. (more…)
Every culture in the world (at least all that I know of) values “Health”, “Money”, and “Love.” If any of you readers out there know of a culture that doesn’t value health, money, or love, I’d love to hear about it.
These three words used together form a very small piece of Latin American culture, but in a way you might not have guessed. These words are said when someone sneezes! If you sneeze once, Latin people say “Health!” If you sneeze a twice, they say “Money!” and a third sneeze in a row brings “Love!” (more…)
When I was around 10 years old, living in the United States, I went to a movie with a friend. I didn’t have money to purchase food at the snack bar, but my friend seemed to have an unlimited supply with him. He bought a large drink, large popcorn and big bag of licorice but didn’t offer to share any of it with me. He went through the entire movie eating in front of me but never offered me one single thing to eat or drink. I don’t remember anything about the movie, but I do remember that this friend didn’t share even one single piece of popcorn with me.
I learned a great lesson that day which was again re-emphasized later when I lived in Latin America. Latin people will usually share anything with you, even if it is the smallest amount of possessions and food that they have. Many invite you to dinner or meals when they barely have enough food to feed their own families. (more…)
In the United States as well as in Latin America, it is impolite to eat in front of someone else who is not eating also. But, what do you do if you if you stop by someone’s home while they’re eating? If this happens to me, I usually say something like, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your dinner”, or “Sorry to bother you during dinner time.”
This type of meal-time interruption doesn’t seem to happen as much in the United States as it does in Latin America. This seems to be because just about everyone in the United States has access to a telephone and people usually call each other before stopping by. In many Latin American areas, especially in the lower-income pueblos, a very small percentage of the population owns a telephone because of the cost involved. (more…)
