cultural norms, reflection & table manners

Cortesía y normas culturales en América Latina nombre__________________
Observations from the role-plays. What did you notice?

(Please do not read on until after you’ve written your own observations.)

Saludos (greetings). In Latin America, here are a few norms to keep in mind:
Formal greetings: buenos dias, buenas tardes/noches. ¿Cómo esta/n?
Informal greetings: Hola ¿Qué tal? or…
¿Cómo estás? ¿Cómo te va? = How (for you) is it going?

¿Qué tal? has a few interpretations:
1. What’s up/how’s it going?
2. How about (it): ¿Qué tal la comida? How’s the food? ¿Qué tal tu mamá? How’s your mom?
3. How was (it): ¿Qué tal la fiesta? How about the party/How was the party?

When you see a companion, workmate, family member, or another person you know for the first time in the day, greeting is automatic. Not to greet that person is very confusing to a Latino/a. It might be taken as an insult. In Fact, if a Latina is never exposed to US or other cultures, she might not even realize it’s a cultural thing, instead, believing it to be a “natural” thing in common to all human beings.

Physical contact: Besos por la mejilla (kisses on the cheek), abrazos (hugs), dar la mano (giving handshakes), tocar la espalda (pat on the back)

male-male contact and male-female contact
In most Latin American cultures, physical contact is very common and accompanies greetings. A male will give a handshake to other males he knows, often with a light pat on the back. “Bear hugs” are less common. A male will kiss his female companions on the cheek, with no romantic implications by anyone. A kiss on the cheek or at least a hand-shake is common for when you are introduced to someone for the first time. Careful: The word “introduce” in this case translates to “presentar”, not “introducir”, which can have other unintended implications. A kiss on the cheek will sometimes happen even between students and teachers, crossing genders. Shocking! Maybe. Normal? Let’s just call it a “norm”, leaving out value judgments.

Female-female contact
The same norms as above hold true between females, with one exception. Females will often kiss their female companions on the cheek. Again, this is with no romantic implications.

Reflexión: Impacto cultural Culture shock
Whose culture do you follow when two cultures mix? Does it matter where you are? What if you belong to a foreign culture? What if you are in your home country but surrounded by people of another culture? What do you think is the right thing to do? How long do you think it takes to understand another culture if no one tells you directly? How might Latinos and Americans misunderstand/missjudge each other?








reglas de etiqueta en la mesa (Table manners)
Table manners are an important part of Hispanic cultures.
1. At the beginning of the meal, it is common to say ‘buen provecho’ which roughly means ‘enjoy the meal,’ similar to ‘bon apetite’ in French. It can also be shortened to ‘provecho’ and still means the same.
When someone says ‘buen provecho’ to you, you can say ‘buen provecho’ back to that person if s/he is participating in the meal, otherwise you can say ‘gracias’.

2. If you want to leave the table during a meal or at the end of the meal, it is common to say ‘con permiso’ or simply ‘permiso’ which in this context means the same as ‘perdón’. Literally it means ‘with (your) permission’. If someone else says ‘permiso’ to you, you may respond with ‘siga’ if that person is your elder, or ‘sigue’ if that person is your age or younger. This comes from the verb ‘seguir’ meaning to continue, go ahead or follow. Another way of saying ‘go ahead’ is ‘adelante.’ Also common in México is to say ‘pásale’.

3. Table conversation. If you are guests in a Latin American home, and you feel shy or reluctant to converse in Spanish, what will you do? Imagine that you and an English speaking friend just decide to talk to each other in English through out the entire meal, how will that make your host family feel? Having your Spanish-English dictionary with you will be one way to try to communicate with your host family, even at the dinner table. Making the effort to communicate is always appreciated.

4. How many ways can you say you like the food? Here are some:
¡Que delicioso! ¡Que sabroso! ¡Que rico! ¡me gusta!

5. Another common courtesy at the end of the meal is to simply say ‘gracias’ before getting up to leave the table, particularly to the one who served or cooked the food.

Normas de despedida (norms for good-byes)
Saying good-bye in Latin America is also a common courtesy. To show good manners, one says good-bye to the entire household when leaving, even if that means going into the kitchen where someone might be washing your dishes, etc. Here is a review of some of the common “good-byes”:
Adiós- literally comes from ‘to God’ or ‘Go with God’. Even non-religious people use this now.
Chao- This was borrowed from Italian ‘ciao’, but is now a part of common Spanish.
Hasta luego- until later
Hasta pronto- until soon (see you soon)
Nos vemos- (we) will see each other
Cuídese- take care (of yourself). Formal form. Comes from Cuidar +Reflexive pronoun.

Aplicación, future tense, simplified form:
¿Qué vas a decir? ¿Qué vas a hacer? What are you going to say? What are you going to do?
Answer the following questions with complete phrases ¡en español! Practice using the structure we’ve studied: Voy + A + infinitive verb

1. ¿Qué vas a decir antes de la comida? ____________________________________________
2. ¿Qué vas a decir cuando otra persona dice ‘buen provecho’?_____________________________________________________________
3. ¿Qué vas a decir si quieres ir al baño durante la comida? ______________________________________________________________________
4. ¿Qué vas a decir cuando terminas la comida? ______________________________________________________________________________
5. ¿Qué vas a hacer cuando sales de la casa en América Latina? (salir- to leave/go out)
______________________________________________________________________________
6. ¿Qué vas a hacer si tu familia anfitriona (host family) te da la mano? (hand shake)
______________________________________________________________________