![]() ![]() What I did not know is that the Mexican Spanish I had learned in high school would do me no good in Costa Rica. Embarking on this adventure, I felt confident in my knowledge of Spanish. After high school I chose to study abroad in Costa Rica for a year. I have found this to be true from my own experience. Being aware of cultural context allows you to give the correct meaning to each new word and use it accurately in real life situations. It is important to understand cultural differences when learning a foreign language in order to use the words correctly in different situations as well as in different countries. Or, the word “capulla” which translates to “bud” (flower) in most Spanish speaking countries, however in Spain it is used as an insult to call someone an idiot or jerk. In Mexico it is used to describe a short period of time, whereas in Spain it means a long period of time. For example: the Spanish word “rato” translates to “while” or “bit”, but is used differently in different countries. Many times the words’ meaning is quite the opposite in the context. Much like in English that is a contextual language, in Spanish too, the same word may have various meanings depending on where it is used. The more you know about a culture, the more you will understand the language, and the more you will be able to converse with the natives, while avoiding offending someone or embarrassing yourself. The best way to dive in head first is to immerse yourself in the culture. It’s time to look further than textbooks, books on tape and/or dictionaries. It helps to see and understand how native people live, interact and talk with one another. Learning cultural context also helps in engaging with a foreign language at a different level than just flipping through a dictionary. Cultural knowledge lays the foundation that make it easier to learn not just the words, but expressions, phrases, idioms and their accurate meaning. ![]() Understanding the culture of a target language expands your engagement in the language, and is especially necessary in order to communicate well with natives. ![]() While these are important factors in learning a foreign language, one of THE most critical aspects is still missing. Some may argue that it is the “simple” act of memorizing hundreds of vocabulary words, verb tenses, basic grammar rules, and practice enough to learn it all. How do you learn and understand a language? The interrelation between language and culture coincidentally helps improve one’s ability to translate because it is a way of enhancing the true meaning of something, instead of just translating it word for word. Throughout hundreds and thousands of years, languages have continuously evolved alongside the culture they belong to, making it clear that in order to learn a foreign language, one must also gain an understanding of its culture. Every culture has some form of language used to communicate and all languages belong to a culture proving that the relationship between the two is inseparable. Language is an important component of culture. I should stress, again, that this would only be with very, very close friends.Does language exist without culture? Or does culture exist without language? The answer to either of these questions is no, one cannot exist without the other. People may also use insults to be slightly passive-aggressive to very close friends to show their slight annoyance but in order to not make a big deal out of it, “You did it wrong, dips***. I don’t know if you’ve seen “Mean Girls” but when Regina George says, “Boo, you whore” she’s not trying to be overtly insulting (only playfully so) but her friend, Karen, takes a lot of offense showing that Regina feels they’re close enough that Karen won’t take offense but Karen doesn’t feel the same way. It would be helpful to know what the word is to know for sure. Yes, even egregious words can be if you’re emotionally close enough. "You idiot, how could you ever think that I disliked you!?" However, this ONLY applies to very good friends where there is mutual understanding present. Sometimes very close friends address each other with insults. "Dude, you forgot the keys at home? You're such a bum head! "You were supposed to take the pizza off the polystyrene base you walnut!" Unless the words used are harmless, funny: idiot, moron, stupid, retard etc., I would not call it affectionate. Well, if they are literally using the typical insult words e.g. ![]()
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