Job Discussion Forums

[Brady]

I have developed one verbal hiccup here in Mex that i really notice, and i hate that i say it, but i can't stop. When I understand something or someone I always say "Ahhh OK" It sounds really dumb to me but i can't stop saying it!

[MELEE]

[Gregor]

[Luna Chica]

Hey brady, I didn't even realise I did that until you pointed it out. I say "ahhh ok" all the time. And I also now say "oh really?!" with the accent that my partner uses.

I think you also absorb body language too. To my son I motion for him "ven" with my fingers facing down rather than facing up as we do in Australia.

I also found after being in Japan that I did little bows to people in shops and elsewhere when saying thank you. I have managed to get myself largely out of the habit of that one, but it creeps up every now and again.

[Guy Courchesne]

Oh yeah, gesturing is a whole other area of language to absorb.

The one I would use in Canada to express 'expensive' or 'money' is to rub your index finger against your thumb. In Mexico, they use what I took a picture of below. I use this now all the time, even when talking to foreigners.



Well, something like that...

[samizinha]

After living in Brasil I had a few choice words that I went home with.
Isto (iiiiisto, or this one) always popped up when I went to order things.
I would also sometimes say, that's animal (que animal!), que locoura, and que saco (that sucks, not the prettiest of terms in Portuguese). I loved that "players" were called "little chickens".
I'm back in Canada for holidays right now, and Mexican jargon has followed. I find myself constantly agreeing with someone or saying yes by wriggling my index finger up and down.
I've also had to stop myself from saying vale, sale, creo que si, and ay when I hurt myself...

[cartago]

When I call a friend of mine on the phone if he's not there his father says " no nos encuentra." I always thought it was a funny expression even after I found out that it's common at least in Costa Rica and now I say "se encuentra......" when I ask for someone on the phone. It just sounds strange to translate it literally, like someone is lost and and hasn't been found.

I also find it strange how some non-Spanish names are common in Latin America. I've met three people so far named Randall here in Costa Rica but I can only recall one person I've met with that name back home in the USA. Also I met someone named Percy who's from Peru and I was told that's a very common name in Peru.

I don't ever really mix English with Spanish unless I'm speaking to someone who knows both well and even then I don't do it much and never with native English speakers.

[citruscinders]

For me, "mas � menos." A variety of uses. Love it.

[nomadamericana]

I always... like hourly find myself shaking my finger side-to-side which is a common gesture for 'No' or 'Don't bother me'.

Also... another common gesture I use and have taught several of the middle school kids I work with in the US is the sign for 'ojo'... where you pull down the outter corner of your eye with your pointer finger. It means watch out, i'm watching you, or be careful.

I picked both up in Argentina.

[flax]

I tend not to mix languages because I find it frustrating when it's so perfect for the situation but the person won't get it! Only if they're spanglish like me.

I do pick up gestures though. In Chile they put their right hand in an L shape at their chin and push it towards their mouth to mean MENTIROSO! chamuyento! "liar! you're full of crap." I also can't point, ever. I use my chin and lips to try and indicate what I'm talking about.

The figure shaking is my favorite. it seems SO rude but the micro and colectivo drivers vigoursly waggle their index figure "no i'm not stopping". it feels like being dumped at first.

[Guy Courchesne]

Marca.

I caught myself today saying 'mark' instead of brand or type. That's my favorite mark of beer.

[guerrita]

for me, i can't shake the hand gestures i picked up after spending many months in both mexico and bolivia.

in mexico, you can agree with someone by wiggling your index finging up and down. (this would be like if you are eating or drinking and can't say it verbally, you would make the gesture.) i always do this back in canada and people have no clue what i mean.

in bolivia, the universal sign for "no hay" (there is none, there is nothing) is to hold you hand open, fingers pointing up and shake it quickly from left to right. people use this for EVERYTHING in bolivia - if you're looking for someone but they aren't there, if you are asking for food but there isn't any left...everything where you can say "no hay" you can shake your hand like this.

i love these habits although i can't make myself understood with them in canada...it's a little piece of my travels brought home with me which i love!

[Gregor]

The hand signals are harder to stop doing.
To this day, there are two that I still use, to the point of insisting that the people around me learn them (they really have no choice, because they take the place of verbal communication, say, when I'm on the phone or in a meeting or something. At first the people I do these things to think, "WHAT??" But after a while of having these gestures thrown in their faces and otherwise completely ignored, they get the message...and realize that I am NOT ignoring them at all.

The two I use the most - sticking the index finger up in the air and wiggling it back and forth, meaning, "No, no, no!"
More useful than that one, though, is holding about a centimeter between my index finger and thumb. This means (I think everyone in Latin America knows this), "Wait a second. Don't go away, but I just gotta do this ONE THING."

[jessicah632]

[Guy Courchesne]

I guess you could say either. Marca would be more techincal, like saying brand. Tipo, like saying type of...