Cultural Differences in Interpreting Spanish Conversations

Last week, we talked about the importance of non-verbal communication and the common gestures used in Spanish (including regional and national varieties used in Latin American countries). Today, we’re going to march into the stormy world of intercultural interferences and the embarrassing situations that these can cause.

Cultural differences

When we’re in the classroom with our students, the focus of class is usually centered on Spanish grammar (as it’s correctly used) and building relevant vocab. We often skip right over one little topic that seems quite obvious to us as Spanish speakers, mistakenly assuming it’s irrelevant. I’m talking about the way different cultures react to certain circumstances and situations, and how the listener perceives those reactions.

The following are a few examples, born out of personal experience, that prove just how much this topic can influence the way our speech is understood.

Role-play activities

One good example arises when we do role-play activities with our students to practice asking and giving permission. One person is in an office with the door closed and a Spaniard knocks. The person inside says out loud “Pase”. Usually, the student who’s outside opens the door and enters after hearing the courteous response. If we want students to have a more Spanish experience, we have the outside student knock again until the person inside again says “Pase, pase”, which clearly implies that for Spaniards, the repetition of words, although apparently unnecessary, is relevant. Then we can switch the situation around and set a scene in which a student is invited to a Spaniard’s house for coffee, and the student asks if he or she can smoke a cigarette (something that is, fortunately for our health, less and less frequent). If the host responds to the question “Perdona, ¿puedo fumar”, with an indifferent sounding “Si”, then the guest should know NOT to light up the cigarette, as the affirmative adverb here is used as a polite way of saying no quiero que fumen en mi casa. Only when the host answers by saying “Si, si; fuma, fuma…” should the guest understand that the request has been approved.

Socially correct

Another phenomenon that reminds us of the importance of the subject of intercultural communication is the unwritten social rule among Spaniards which states that you usually reject something the first time it’s offered for the sake of courtesy. Although it’s a silly gesture really, it’s socially accepted. We can only accept when the host offers the item again – or not even then – if we want to be even more socially correct. 

Years ago on a trip to Germany, I went to visit friends of mine from Munich. When I got to their house, they kindly offered me a beer, to which I said no – I still hadn’t switched gears from my Spanish way of thinking. Upon hearing my negative response, my friends smiled (perhaps a bit confused, as they were likely aware of my great appreciation for Bavarian beverages) and didn’t offer again! There I was dying for a beer after walking all over Munich, and I had to sit there empty handed and thirsty just because I didn’t understand that for them, the social theater of the negative – repeating an offer – accepting the offer, was not important.

These experiences remind me of the importance of spending time in class to, at the very least, bring up the subject in a way that at least lets students be aware of how correctly interpreting a conversation in Spanish may depend on knowledge of social rules and cultural differences.