In Spanish speaking countries it is interesting to find that many of natives greet each other with a hand shake or kiss, even when there are large amounts of people present. In America, it is typical to just wave at people and greet them with a quick hello. Although both cultures are intertwined down here in Texas, it seems kind of funny to me that we don't practice more Spanish culture and tradition. Sure we have the food, dancing, and art, however, introductions in both cultures are still vastly different.
One of the overlapping cultural aspects is the language. There are many words that we use from the Spanish language including burrito, casa, chipotle, gringo, etc. These words are called loan words because they are borrowed from the other culture. Cognates, on the other hand, sound similar to english words, making it easy for us to figure out the English meaning. This shows up alot in the Spanish language and helps make learning Spaninsh alot easier. Spanish learners should be aware of false cognates though, these are which look like American words, but do not mean the same thing.
It was funny to learn that in the differing Spanish countries, there are different dialects of Spanish. This is sort of similar to America, where each state kind of has its own slang and dialects of English. I enjoyed learning that, because it seems true for most cultures. I look forward to learning more similarities and differences between the Spanish culture and the American culture.
- Chandni
1 comment:
I am fascinated with the Hispanic culture. Something as simple as the roll of the tongue makes me excited to speak Spanish. The language is difficult, though. For example, in English, the adjectives come before the noun whether it describes the amount, size, color, etc. In Spanish, when you are describing the amount of something, the adjective precedes it and when the adjective describes the color and size of the noun, it comes after it. Thus rule makes it hard sometimes to form sentences in its correct order.
Another aspect of Spanish that I love is the level of intimacy and affection. When Hispanics greet each other, they usually do so with hugs or kisses on the cheek. With North Americans, the normal greeting includes a "Hello", a hand shake, and if it's an extremely informal greeting, then we hug. According to Ms. Zambrano, Hispanics find it necessary to say "hello" and "goodbye" to everyone they know if they are in a personal setting such as a party. Someone who doesn't do this is considered impolite.
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