Translating Between Cultures
I've spent my summers going to visit my family in Argentina since I was four. This past summer I was presented with a new situation: two of my cousins who are close to my age were going to join me. They are my cousins from my dad's side of the family and while they had met some of my Argentine relatives in the past, this was the first time they were going to Argentina with me. I knew this summer was going to entail a lot of translating since they do not speak Spanish fluently. While they both took Spanish in high school, the class did not prepare them well for conversing with natives. Argentines speak very fast and their dialect is slightly different then what one might typically learn in school.
What I had not expected was that I would need to translate between the two cultures. I had to quickly adapt the way I normally interacted with people to make sure they understood everything and felt comfortable. I personally think everyone in Argentina is super friendly and warm but I also have been going there for the past 12 years. My cousins had never been immersed in another culture in the way they were being immersed that summer. I have a group of friends who I always hang out with when I am there. While I have had years to build relationships with them, my cousins had never even met them. At first, they had trouble interacting with Argentines, who ask a lot of personal, direct, and intimate questions. Since the presidential elections had happened recently when we went, when you first meet someone the second question they might ask you (after your name) is what do you think of Trump. While I was very used to this, I could not force my cousins to answer a question they were not comfortable with. I also had to avoid responding on their behalf even though I knew their answers. This was especially hard because answering a simple question about where they live is so much faster if I just answer for them. Instead I had to translate the question and the response.
There were many different cultural customs and nuances they experienced. For example, in Argentina, it is a custom to give two kisses (one on each cheek) to everyone when you arrive or leave somewhere. This custom could be seen as especially awkward if you do not know the person at all are and are not used to being so close to someone you do not know. I knew this would become even more difficult once we started interacting with people that I also had not met before. Usually I could introduce them but when we were in big group settings, it became more difficult. I decided to always ask myself questions such as: would be comfortable in that situation? What do they need to know ahead of time? I found the best way to prepare my cousins and help them get to know Argentines was to make sure they felt comfortable in every situation.
What I had not expected was that I would need to translate between the two cultures. I had to quickly adapt the way I normally interacted with people to make sure they understood everything and felt comfortable. I personally think everyone in Argentina is super friendly and warm but I also have been going there for the past 12 years. My cousins had never been immersed in another culture in the way they were being immersed that summer. I have a group of friends who I always hang out with when I am there. While I have had years to build relationships with them, my cousins had never even met them. At first, they had trouble interacting with Argentines, who ask a lot of personal, direct, and intimate questions. Since the presidential elections had happened recently when we went, when you first meet someone the second question they might ask you (after your name) is what do you think of Trump. While I was very used to this, I could not force my cousins to answer a question they were not comfortable with. I also had to avoid responding on their behalf even though I knew their answers. This was especially hard because answering a simple question about where they live is so much faster if I just answer for them. Instead I had to translate the question and the response.
There were many different cultural customs and nuances they experienced. For example, in Argentina, it is a custom to give two kisses (one on each cheek) to everyone when you arrive or leave somewhere. This custom could be seen as especially awkward if you do not know the person at all are and are not used to being so close to someone you do not know. I knew this would become even more difficult once we started interacting with people that I also had not met before. Usually I could introduce them but when we were in big group settings, it became more difficult. I decided to always ask myself questions such as: would be comfortable in that situation? What do they need to know ahead of time? I found the best way to prepare my cousins and help them get to know Argentines was to make sure they felt comfortable in every situation.
Yeah, I can imagine that having to help people adapt to another culture can be really difficult, especially if you're doing it all the time. It really makes you think about stuff that you take for granted as normal. And I'd guess that having to do that constantly gets annoying really quickly. But it seems like you handled it well by putting yourself in their shoes.
ReplyDeleteThis was really interesting to read. I like how along the way, you realized some adaptations you had to make to accommodate your cousins in Argentina, such as translating for them and helping their immersion into the culture.
ReplyDeleteReading this made me think of my own experiences in China. Every time I've travelled back, I've always had someone "guiding" me — much like what you did for your cousins. I never realized how stressful it is to translate for people, not just with language but also culture. Come to think of it, it's definitely a hard task and I admire you for taking on the challenge.
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