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Site Updates -----
¡FREE DICTIONARY! If you purchase the complete course before March 15th, you'll receive a free Spanish / English dictionary! Click here to purchase or go to spanishprograms.com/store.htm to finally start learning Spanish.
Words of the Week -----
Words taken from Basic Needs, Section 1 of our Complete Course
(Click here to for more info)
| English | Spanish |
| Monday | I have to | Yo tengo que |
| Tuesday | You have to | Usted tiene que |
| Wednesday | He has to | El tiene que |
| Thursday | She has to | Ella tiene que |
| Friday | to run | correr |
| Saturday | to the post office | al correo |
| Sunday | to the bank | al banco |
Culture ----- Don't Throw Things!
I'm going talk today about something that Americans commonly do that is not done in the Latin American culture. I'm not sure if this happens in England or Australia (if someone from England or Australia would reply to this newsletter and let me know I would enjoy hearing from you). Anyway, if I were at home or at the office and needed a pen, or some tape, I would ask a co-worker for it, and they would probably toss or throw it to me. Likewise, at home if I needed my keys and my wife had them, she would probably toss them to me. This is a normal thing to do.
In Latin America however, the culture about throwing objects is very different. Let me explain to you exactly what happened to me. When I was living in Latin America, I was visiting a family in their home; they had invited me over for dinner. While we were waiting for dinner, about 6 of them and I were sitting in their living room chatting. We were having a great conversation and I was really enjoying myself. Then one of them asked me if I had a pen. Without giving it a second thought I pulled out a pen and tossed it across the room to the person who asked for it. Everyone gasped and the room went dead silent. ---- I suddenly felt my face turn red and asked, "Qué pasó" or in English "What happened?" I was startled by the situation and truly had no idea what was wrong. Finally, one of them said in a subdued tone, "You just threw that pen!" I answered carefully and said, "Yes, is something wrong?" They said "Here, it is very impolite to throw pens or things to people." I was astonished by this cultural difference and I apologized profusely. I then explained that it was a normal thing for us to do where I was from. They looked at me in disbelief, as if I had grown up without any form of education and then proceeded to show me, more than once, how to hand a pen to someone as if I had never done it before.
That day, I learned a valuable cultural lesson, a faux pas that, I'm sure, many foreigners commit. Hopefully you will learn from my experience.
When most native Spanish speakers come to the United States, they adapt to our culture and will usually get somewhat accustomed to our "throwing things" to each other. But, the next time you go to Latin America and someone asks for a pen, be sure to walk over and hand it to them.
¡Hasta luego!
David S. Clark -- President
U.S. Institute of Languages
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