Chilean Slang and Body language
That was until all the information about Chilean "Slang" came out. I'm more nervous now about it due to me not being able to understand the "Slang" that Chileans use. But, I feel like I will be able to handle communication due to my mediocre knowledge of Spanish.
I think what scared me was the first video when the guy who was talking mentioned how even "How are you" in Chilean Spanish is different. To be in a situation where someone asks a simple question in Spanish, which I learned the first day in Spanish class, and not understand them because they use different grammar and vocabulary is very uncomfortable. So three things that could happen if someone asked me this on the streets of Chile could be:
1. Ask them to repeat themselves and see if you understand. Maybe, they add context to the question such as "¿Te gusta chile?" Since I know that I'll answer to the best of my ability.
2. If I really don't understand what they are saying, I will just say "Lo siento, yo no hablo español." Maybe they think I am a native and expect me to know Spanish, but its okay to look like a tourist and say "I just don't understand."
3. Ask a Spanish speaker to translate!
I feel like this is really respectful and, hopefully, not taken in a rude way.
So, my boyfriend doesn't even know where Chile is located, so I think it's really fun to tell him all these facts and culture differences that Chile has compared to the United States. Trying to teach him some of the slang was very interesting. We both laughed as we tried to point our lips to places, but soon I'll be doing this instinctively. That's the interesting part, I will be doing these things when I come back when I previously laughed about it.
I barely know any Spanish as I have not taken any classes since elementary school! That's great that you are fairly confident in your Spanish skills! I thought it was so interesting that Chileans use so much slang! It makes their way of speaking very unique and different which I like a lot! One really has to pay attention and study their language before they can fully understand it. The best things in life require effort and speaking Chilean Spanish is an amazing feat to possess! They don't make it easy but that just makes you respect the language so much more!
ReplyDeleteI had a similar experience with my mom laughing about body language and slang that we find odd, but is very normal to them! My mom also mentioned that I will probably come home pointing at things with my lips and she said "well at least then I know where you learned it from"! I am excited to see if we notice some of the slang and body language that we have seen in the videos used by our host families or by other people we interact with!
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