Are We All "Americans"?

Hello! It's been a while since I've written on this blog, but I've been on a long trip. I finally have a little time to blog again, so I'd like to talk today about the use of the word "American." 

Two flags, but are they two American flags? Photo by Ryan Sitzman.

Who or what can be considered "American," at least in English? This is one of the most common questions/complaints I get in my English classes. As you probably know if you have friends from the USA, we often refer to ourselves as "Americans." I was recently listening to a Grammar Girl podcast that talked about this very issue. You can see the transcript or listen to the podcast here. The episode is great listening practice, of course, but some of the English is a bit advanced, just so you know.

In the USA, as well as much of Canada, Europe, and other regions, we learn that there are 7 continents, and that North America and South America are two different continents. However, in Latin America, schools teach that North and South America are combined, and that the continent is called "America."  As a result, in Spanish you can refer to anyone or anything from Alaska to Argentina as (an) "americano/a." This is a small difference in names, but it can cause bigger problems in cultural communication. 

If I refer to myself as an American in a class in Costa Rica, some of my students complain and say something like, "We are Americans, too." Sure, that's true. But they're also Costa Ricans. Or in South America, they're also Argentinians, Venezuelans, Peruvians, etc. The USA is at a bit of a disadvantage because there's not a word that can describe the people from the country, at least not in English (estadounidense works OK in Spanish, but there's not an equivalent in English).

Another issue that comes up in classes is the use of the word "North American." In Costa Rican Spanish, "norteamericano" is often used to refer to Americans and Canadians, but only sometimes Mexicans. It's a confusing term, especially if you're talking to a person who learned that Central America is part of the North American continent. I tell my students that according to geographers in the USA, Costa Ricans are also "North Americans"! Even if you eliminate the "norte," it doesn't necessarily make things less confusing or controversial. Just try calling a Canadian or a Mexican an "americano" and you'll see what I mean.

Basically, this is my message to my Costa Rican students and other readers in Latin America: If a person from the United States of America calls himself or herself an "American" when speaking in English, please don't take offense. They're not saying that you aren't Americans, too, but there's just not an English word that lets us describe our nationality in another way. If both English and Spanish speakers keep this in mind, it can help us avoid some cultural and linguistic misunderstandings.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

False Friend: Groserías vs. Groceries

Good evening, and welcome to Word Wednesday! Today we'll look at another False Friend. If you're not sure what a False Friend is, check out this post (and go here for a list of the False Friends we've already talked about). Today we'll look at the difference between groserías in Spanish and groceries in English. 

This is our refrigerator right now. I'd say it's about time we bought some groceries!

False Friend: groserías vs. groceries
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
groserías	groceries	In Spanish, groserías are bad words: "No me digas groserías!" ("Don't say bad words to me!") In English, groceries is a word that refers to all the food you buy at a store or supermarket: "We're almost out of milk, and we need to buy more pasta, also. Let's go to the store to buy some groceries." Notice also that the "c" in "groceries" is pronounced like an "sh," like in the word "she," at least in American English.

This is pretty easy to remember, and it's not that commonly confused --but when it is, it's pretty funny! Now that I think about it, I'll have to do a series on bad words in English and Spanish, since there are some that are very similar, but they're less serious or offensive in one language or the other. So stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

False Friend: Discusión vs. Discussion

Are these birds having a discussion? An argument? Read on to find out! (Photo Credit)

Hello! Today we have another False Friend to discuss. If you're not sure what a False Friend is, check out this introductory post. Today we'll be looking at the difference between discusión in Spanish and discussion in English. Like most False Friends, they look very similar and in fact sometimes there's no difference in meaning. Still, there are some contexts where they mean different things. Let's look:

False Friend: discusión vs. discussion
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
discusión	discussion	In English, a discussion is usually the same thing as a conversation. It can be positive or negative, depending on the context. In Spanish, a discusión is usually a negative thing. In other words, if you use this word, it indicates that people were possibly yelling and getting very angry. Basically, it's like a verbal fight. If you want to say discusión in English, try to use a word like "an argument" or even "a fight." Those are closer to the meaning in Spanish.

I'll be posting more False Friends in the days and weeks to come, but if you have any suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day full of interesting discussions--but hopefully no arguments!

Introduction: False Friends

A sign for a "night club" in Costa Rica. Read this post to see how "night clubs" in Spanish and "nightclubs" in English are different! 

There's a common English phrase that I like: "With friends like these, who needs enemies?"* It means that sometimes the people who we think are our friends, are the people who hurt us most. This can be applied to language learning when talking about cognates, or specifically false cognates. 

Cognates are words that look identical or very similar in two languages. For example, the Spanish word "actor" is identical to the English word "actor," and their meanings are the same. Only the pronunciation is a little different. So, we could say that "actor" and "actor" are cognates. (Click here for a nice list of many English-Spanish cognates.)

False cognates --also called "false friends"-- are pairs of words that look similar, but in fact have different definitions and meanings. One example that causes problems for a lot of people is the word "once." In Spanish, once means "eleven," but in English, "once" means "one time." Another example is "actual." In Spanish, actual means "current," but in English, it means "authentic" or "real."

I notice my students getting confused by false friends very frequently. As you know, I already have a Common Errors section in this blog, but since false friends are quicker and more specifically related to vocabulary, I decided to start a False Friends page on this blog. I'll post more of these false friends and their explanations occasionally, but if you want to have a quick list now, you can check different extended lists here, here, and here.

So, here's our first False Friend: "night club" in Spanish vs. "nightclub" in English:

False Friend:
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
"night club"	nightclub	Obviously, "night club" isn't really a native Spanish word, but it's used frequently, at least in Costa Rica. BUT, there's an important difference. If you go to a night club in Costa Rica, you're going to what's called a "strip club" in English, where strippers take off their clothes for money. In English, a "nightclub" is a place that normally serves food and alcohol in the evenings, and usually provides a place to dance. It's very similar to a "disco" or a "dance club." If you go "nightclubbing," it means you go out  dancing in the evening.**

I'll try to post more False Friends in the future, and you can find them by clicking on the "False Friends" tab at the top of this blog. If you have any questions or suggestions for additional False Friends, I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks very much for reading, and have a great day...or night; and if you're going to a night club, be careful!

*Apparently, this phrase may have originally come from German, since there's also a similar phrase in German: Mit solchen Freunden braucht man keine Feinde mehr.

**"Nightclubbing" is also the name of a song by Iggy Pop.

Language in Bilingual Couples and Families

My wife Angela and I. Or should I say, "Mi esposa Ángela y yo"?
Or even, "Meine Frau Angela und ich"?

As you may know, I'm from the USA, so my native language is English. I'm married to a Costa Rican named Angela, and her native language is obviously Spanish. One question that people ask us a lot is "What language do you speak at home?" The answer is that we alternate between the two languages, but sometimes people are surprised at how infrequently we switch languages: once a year.

That's right, every August 25th (the way we chose that date is a more complicated story) we change languages. So about two weeks ago, we ended an English year and started a Spanish year. There are some advantages and some disadvantages to this approach.

I've heard of some couples or families that switch between languages every month, week, or even every day, but I think that would be a bit too confusing. The way we do it, once you start a new language year, it's very unlikely that you'll forget which language you're supposed to speak. As a result, one person can really work on building up his or her fluency. You can also avoid falling into a "Spanglish" trap wherein you speak a mixture of two languages, which can be confusing for you or some onlookers (or in this case "onlisteners," I guess).

There are also some disadvantages. In the case of Angela and I, we usually prefer to not speak our native language. In other words, I prefer our Spanish years, and Angela prefers our English years since we both want to practice a language that's foreign to us. With this approach, one of us has to go for most of a year with little practice in the target language. We do still speak English with my friends and family and Spanish with Angela's. Also, while living in Costa Rica many daily interactions out of home are in Spanish, but we both speak mostly English at work, so at least there's always some practice of both languages.

One big question mark for the future is what we'll do if we have kids. As I noted in my articles about naming customs (USA here and Costa Rica here), we don't even know what last names our kids would have, and we're also unsure how to best raise a bilingual child. I've heard that it's best if each parent always speaks his or her native language with the children so the children don't mix up the two languages. But if we had a kid and it were a Spanish year, for example, it would maybe be weird for me to speak English with the kid and Spanish with Angela, all in the same conversation. I guess we'll cross that bridge if/when we come to it.

What about you? Are you in a bilingual or multilingual family or relationship? Do you know anyone who is? How do you handle it, or how would you handle it if you were? Wow, we have a great opportunity here to practice conditional tenses! 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Different Countries, Different Names: Costa Rica

The Jiménez Coat of Arms. Jiménez is one of the most common last names
in Costa Rica, and it's one of my wife's two last names. Image: Wikimedia

I've been wanting to write a post about naming customs in different countries, since it's a common conversation topic with my students and also with my friends and family back in the U.S. I know that this sometimes depends on the individual person and/or family, but from what I've noticed, names in Costa Rica and in the U.S. follow patterns, but they're different in a few important ways. Today we'll look at Costa Rican naming patterns, and in a few days we'll look at patterns in the U.S. If you have any observations, comments, or corrections, or if you're Costa Rican and your name follows a different pattern, I'd love to hear from you!

Names In Costa Rica

Almost everyone in the country has four names. There is a national ID card called a cédula for people over 18 years old, and the cédula generally has a person's four names. In normal social interactions, though, people often introduce themselves with only one or two names, or even a nickname. Let's look at an example of a typical female name in Costa Rica:

María Andrea Rodríguez Campos

(By the way, I just invented that name, but I would bet money that there's at least one woman in Costa Rica with that exact name!) So, in our example, María Andrea is this woman's name/s (nombre/s in Spanish). Since María is one of the most common first names in Costa Rica, it's often not mentioned, and sometimes it's abbreviated "Ma." as in "Ma. Fernanda." There aren't many "rules" for the two names, and parents usually choose to name a child after a relative, or they just choose a name that they think sounds good (even if it often doesn't!). Occasionally parents even give their children a third name, often related to religion. Common examples are (name 1) + (name 2) + de Jesús / de la Trinidad / de los Ángeles / del Carmen / etc. Oh, and a quick note: "María José" is a girl's name, and "José María" is a boy's name. That always caused me problems at first! 

In this example, Rodríguez Campos is the woman's last name/s (called "apellidos" in Spanish). This is where it gets confusing if you're not used to these naming customs. The first last name, "Rodríguez" in this case, is from the father. The second last name, "Campos," is from the mother. If María Andrea gets married later in her life, she will almost certainly not change her last names. Occasionally, especially in the past, a woman might add her husband's last name at the end after "de"; For example, if María Andrea married John Schneider, she could call herself "María Andrea Rodríguez Campos de Schneider," but this custom is pretty rare these days, at least in Costa Rica. You may have noticed, however, that the Argentinean President, Christina Fernández de Kirchner, followed this practice, so it may be more common in other countries or in certain situations.

A note: there are some very common last names in Costa Rica, such as Rodríguez, González, Jiménez, Araya, or Hernández; these are the "Smiths" and "Johnsons" of Central America, apparently! In some cases, a person's mother and father may have the same first last name, even if they're definitely from different families. If that happens, say with two parents with the first last name "Rodríguez," then their kids would simply be named "(name) + (name) + Rodríguez Rodríguez." 

As a result of these naming practices, in a hypothetical nuclear family consisting of a mom, a dad, a daughter, and a son, there would be three different last name combinations. The father would have his two last names, the mother would have her two last names, and the kids would both have the father's first last name followed by the mother's first last name. Does that make sense, or are you as confused as I was when I arrived here?

So how do you address a Costa Rican person? Well, if you're asking for someone on the phone or in person, it's common to ask for him or her using one or both names and the first last name. In our example, you'd ask for "María Andrea Rodríguez" if you didn't know her personally. If you knew her personally and knew that she preferred to be called "Andrea," then you might also ask for "Andrea Rodríguez." If it were an informal situation and you knew her personally --and you knew that she didn't object to the title-- you might possibly ask for "Doña Andrea," but this can also lead to problems. Doña (Don for men) is a title of respect paired with a person's first name, but it often is used only for older and/or married men and women. My wife Angela, for example, hates to be called "Doña Angela." I personally wouldn't mind being called "Don Ryan," since it makes me think of The Godfather's "Don Corleone" or the legendary lover "Don Juan," but the connotations aren't as positive or interesting with Doña. So be careful with that one!

As always, there are probably numerous exceptions to these rules, but from what I've noticed, the broad majority of Costa Ricans' names follow these patterns. Like I mentioned before, no matter where you're from, I'd love to hear any comments you might have about this article.

Thanks for reading, and in a couple of days we'll look at naming customs in the U.S.A. 

Have a great day!

Common Error: Use of third-person verbs

It's "Mistake Monday" again, so let's look at another common error! This one is definitely common; in fact, it's probably one of the top three most common errors I notice with my Spanish-speaking students.

The technical name for this type of error would be "forgetting to conjugate third-person verbs," but if that's too nerdy for you, just remember that this problem comes up when you have "he," "she," "it," or a name as the subject of your sentence. Let's take a look:

Common Error: Use of third-person verbs
DON’T say this:	Costa Rica have many nice places to visit. She go to her mother's house every Sunday. Every time he see her, he bring her flowers.
WHY?	-This is a very common error, but just because it's common, doesn't mean it's OK. You have to add an "-s" or "-es" to the end of third-person verbs. -When you change a verb, you conjugate it. If you don't conjugate your verbs, people will probably understand you, but they'll know you're not a fluent speaker.
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-“Costa Rica has many nice places to visit.” -“She goes to her mother's house every Sunday.” -“Every time he sees her, he brings her flowers."

So, today's common error was very easy to correct, wasn't it? If you have any comments, questions, or other suggestions for common errors, please leave a comment below or fill out the contact form. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Podcasts

Podcasts are one of the best listening tools available for language learners. If you've not heard of a "podcast" before, it's basically a sound file that you can listen to on your computer or any device that can play a sound file (like an ipod or a cell phone). Podcasts are convenient because they are often short and focus on one aspect of language, and they can normally give you exposure to authentic language, including vocabulary and different accents.

You can listen to or watch podcasts directly on a program's internet page, or you can manage them through itunes, like I do (it seems easier to me that way). Still, if you prefer to go to the pages, I'll provide a link to each of the podcasts below.

There are many, many podcasts out there, so if you have any additional suggestions to add to the list below, I'd love to hear them. I'll list a few language-learning podcasts below that I like to recommend to my students, as well as some that I enjoy listening to in my free time.

--Podcasts to Learn English--

BBC Learning English

In my opinion, the BBC Learning English site is one of the best overall resources for learning English. The site is produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation and is updated very frequently. There are many pages on the site to check out, but they also have a wealth of downloadable resources like podcasts, pdf files, and even videos. The whole site is like a little city full of English fun so if you're serious about practicing your English skills outside of class, be sure to check out this site.

--Podcasts to Learn Other Languages--

BBC Foreign Languages

While you're looking at the BBC, be sure to check out its site for other foreign languages. This site is great because it has news, audio, video, and even language courses for various other languages like German, Spanish, Chinese, and quite a few others. They have dedicated sites for larger languages, but also basic phrases for 36 different languages! You could spend weeks or even months browsing the pages there and becoming smarter!

German Language: Deutsche Welle

Deutsche Welle is sort of like the German equivalent of the BBC. It has a lot of news, culture, and entertainment shows that it broadcasts around the world. Also like the BBC, it has language learning resources. So, if you're tired of studying English, try German! Then you'll wish you had stayed with English!

Deutsche Welle - Langsam Gesprochene Nachrichten

I've spent a good chunk of my life learning German, and it's nice to listen to the language to keep it fresh in my head. If you don't have much German experience, though, their program Langsam Gesprochene Nachrichten ("Slowly Read News") could be a good place to start. As its name implies, it's a news program, but the presenters speak nice and slowly.

Deutsche Welle - Fokus Amerika

This is an almost-daily news program that focuses on stories and issues related to North and South America. It's about 10 minutes per show, and I find it to be pretty interesting, especially as something to listen to while in the car. There are also similar shows for other world regions like Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Germany.

Deutsche Welle - Deutsche im Alltag - Alltagsdeutsch

This is definitely geared to people who have interest in the German language. Each 10-minute episode focuses on a specific topic (something "Colors," or "The Cologne Dialect") and interviews people about the topic. Then they dissect the language to find idioms and interesting phrases, and also discuss etymology. I like it, but if you're not a nerd, you might not dig it.

Swedish Language: Sveriges Radio

Sveriges Radio - Klartext

This is sort of like a Swedish version of a news show for language learners. It's definitely not as slow as the German show from Deutsche Welle, but it's definitely clear ("Klartext," as you can probably guess, is Swedish for "clear text"). I really enjoy listening to this daily, 10-minute program when I'm driving in the car or walking around. It's also a good "confidence-booster," which is great when you're learning a language!

Sveriges Radio - SRI Radio Sweden

OK, this is actually in English, but that's OK. It's still a generally good news show, with an obvious focus on issues related to Sweden. It's normally around 30 minutes; often, I only listen around 5 or 6 minutes, when they talk about the weather. Then I exclaim something like, "Wow! Today in Stockholm, the sun rose at 8:45 AM and set at 2:45 PM! Crazy!"

--Fun/Entertaining Podcasts--

Radiolab

Radiolab? Isn't that the British lounge-pop group that sounds vaguely French? No, that's Stereolab. Radiolab, on the other hand, is an excellent podcast about science in everyday life. Its regular episodes are around an hour long, and its "shorts" are about 15 minutes. Both are excellent, educational, and highly entertaining. They're also good for language learners because the spoken English is very clear. This is probably my favorite podcast.

This American Life

If you life in the USA, you've likely heard (or at least heard of) this radio show. It claims to be the most popular weekly podcast in the U.S.
In each hour-long show, they focus on a specific theme and present three or four short stories related to that theme. It's supposedly about "normal" people, but because of the way it's presented and the high production values, it's quite entertaining. Check it out!


I've also just started checking out a couple of podcasts my brother Paul recommended to me. They seem good so far, although they're not really about learning English (but one's about Spanish):

(Update, 1/24/2011: I've checked them out now. The Coffee Break Spanish is indeed quite good for beginning to intermediate learners, and I liked it quite a bit. The other two were quite entertaining, but I should say that both --but especially the SModcast-- were pretty vulgar. SModcast was especially explicit in parts. In any case, neither of those seem very ideal for language learning, but if you're a native speaker who's into pop culture, you may enjoy them.)

The Complete Guide to Everything
SModcast
Coffee Break Spanish

If you have any luck or problems with any of these podcasts, I'd like to hear from you. Also, if you have other recommended podcasts, especially for language learning, then please comment. Thanks for reading!

(Image Credits: I took the picture of the headphones. All other images from the respective podcasts' sites, except for the black and white SR logo, which is from Wikipedia.)