Originally posted by gnukid
I was at the beach in Barriles yesterday with friends and a woman pulled up to go kitesurfing, she asked "where ya'll from?"
"La paz" I answered.
She looked at us cross-eyed, who are mostly blond, and said "where?"
I said "la paz, it's the next big town up the road. Y'all should visit sometime."
She snapped back angrily, "I know where la paz is, I have lived here for 18 years but I don't speak spanish and I am not going to la paz!" - typical
ignorant arrogant North American.
Similarly, with my Mexican friends from various parts of the country, in every pueblo in Baja we visit, when we arrive, the locals always give a blank
look when asked for something by other Mexicans-"donde estan las ballenas? "que?", as in total lack of understanding. My friends from Mexico City can
not order a glass of milk in many of Baja's pueblos. The locals can not understand most other regional speakers. Many people become frustrated as
they speak spanish so why don't other mexican spanish speakers understand?
I try hard to adjust to local dialects having learned in pueblos, loud clubs and in school both here in baja and in the USA-I listen and watch the
speakers mouth and make similar movements and sounds, sometimes I use the marble mouth technique - to be better understood which works wonders.
Regional speakers use systematic differences in language in order to define, differentiate and discriminate social groups which would explain why some
people refuse to learn Spanish or English or if they do they have unique phrasing and pronunciation. Me puches pues, y'all -which means "the thorns
got me", y'all in Salvadorian but in Paceno I am still uncertain what it means but I gather it means, "well, they are bugging me."
I try to listen and repeat back the phrases and nuances using mirroring making similar mouth shape, body position and similar intonation, rhythm -
regardless of whether I understand at first, like teenage dating. Some people speak in a slow stuccoto manner, while others use a sing song method,
some (Cubanos) use 64th and 128th note syllables and others (Rancheros) 1/4 note syllables.
When I do mirroring right, often this results in near shock as family members think since I speak their exact language, they assume I must be a long
lost related family member resulting in a familiar conversation. Only when I ask a particularly unique question, usually of critical importance do
they reply, "que? no entiende?"
I do understand why people get a bit tired of this dialectical game but I also think it is funny, I realize it is possible that each of us have a
narrow window defined of our local dialect for our own affirmation and sense of community and many have little experience otherwise.
For me is it is rewarding and well worth the effort to try to understand what people are saying and make adjustments for their particular nuances.
Most often, after learning to speak spanish better and more flexibly, I have found when I thought someone was laughing at me they were not, they were
being nice. Without the effort to learn spanish you are missing out on lots of "understanding," lots of friends and many terrific jokes. Besides there
are probably only 100 words you need to know to break the language barrier. |
