According to the National Public Registry of a Latin American country, the names “María” and “José” are the some of the most common first names in Spanish. “Luz” (female name) and “Juan” are likewise very popular names. It is thought that these names are used with the most regularity due to the religious nature of Latin Americans; both names are very prominent in the Bible.

In English, there are some names that are still used but may be considered somewhat old-fashioned or maybe a little less popular. A certain first name I am thinking of is “Olga”. We don’t often hear that name as much any more and it’s not on the “top ten” list of most popular names. The interesting point is that in Spanish, the name “Olga” is a commonly heard name. It is not considered outdated and is actually fairly popular and well-liked.

Here is an example of some of fun outdated first names that most Latin American kids wouldn’t want to be named. A few close Latin American amigos told me about these names. These names are “Tiburcia” and “Anacleta”. There is also a male counterpart: “Tiburcio” and “Anacleto”. Now that you have this powerful and possibly dangerous knowledge, you need to be cautious. I wouldn’t recommend going around calling people these names. There are still individuals that have and use them that could be offended.

Next let us examine a few crossover names from English to Spanish. This is not necessarily an all-encompassing list and some of the crossover names have been debated, but here they are:
Female Names Male Names
Spanish English Spanish English
María Mary José Joseph
Catalina Katherine Juan John
Débora Deborah David David
Elena Helen Adán Adam
Blanca (literally means “white”) Blanch Alejandro Alexander
Esperanza Hope Alfredo Alfred
Estela Estelle Andrés Andrew
Eva Eve Benjamín Benjamin
Inés Agnes Bernardo Bernard
Leonor Eleanor Carlos Charles
Margarita Margaret Ceaser César (common Spanish name)
Marta Martha Cristián Christian
Matilde Matilda Cristóbal Christopher
Milagros Miracles Santiago James
Mónica Monica Eduardo Edward
Natalia Natalie Enrique Henry
Noemi Naomi Estéban Steven
Olimpia Olympia Federico Frederick
Perla Pearl Felipe Phillip
Priscila Priscilla Geraldo Gerald
Raquel Rachel Guillermo William
Rebeca Rebecca Marcos Mark
Rita Rita Mateo Matthew
Rosalina Rosalyn Miguel Michael
Rut Ruth Pablo Paul
Sara Sarah Pedro Peter
Silvia Sylvia Ramón or Raimundo Raymond
Sofía Sophie Ricardo Richard
Susana Susanna Roberto Robert
Teresa Theresa Tomás Thomas
Verónica Veronica Wilfredo Wilfred
Viviana Vivian Víctor Victor

Spanish Nicknames
Finally, we willl take a look at some Spanish nicknames that people are often called because of their name. For example, I have an Uncle Richard and we often call him “Dick”. Another English example of this is when “Robert” is addressed as “Bob”.
Spanish Nicknames
Spanish Name Spanish Nickname
Adela (f) Adelina
Ana (f) Anita
Carlos (m) Carlitos
Carla (f) Carlota
David (m) Davico
Rosario (f) Charo
Consuelo (f) Chelo
Jesús (m) -common Spanish name Chucho
Concepeión (f) Concha
Concha (f) Conchita
Eva (f) Evita
Gracia (f) Graciela
Juana (f) Juanita
Juan (m) Juanito
Eduardo (m) Lalo
Dolores (f) Lola
Guadalupe (f) Lupita
Manuel (m) Manolo
Ignacio (m) Nacho
Francicso (m) Paco or Pancho
José (m) Pepe or Pepito
Pilar (f) Pili
Enrique (m) Quique
Rosa (f) Rosita
Sara (f) Sarita
Margarita (f) Margaret

Moral of this Story: Names are very important in any language. If you have not already looked, see if your name crosses over to Spanish.

Sneak peek at next week: “Spanish Names – Part II”

¡Hasta luego! (”Until later!”)
David S. Clark — President / Director
To learn Spanish, click here!

We talked briefly last week about eating different parts of the cow so that no food is wasted. This week I want to tell you about some of the interesting/unusual things I ate while living in Latin America. If it makes your stomach weak, just realize that you’re only reading about it; I had to actually eat them.

As I have mentioned previously, when eating at someone’s house in Latin America, as I did 3 meals a day for two years, you should eat all of the food your host/hostess serves you or they may become very offended and hurt. I quickly realized, by painful experience, that I couldn’t even give the food to a friend and have them eat it – I had to eat all of it myself. As I learned more about Latin American culture regarding food, I made one food rule for myself that helped me get through the initial culture shock. The rule is, “when eating an unrecognized food, do not ask what it is”. Sometimes I implemented a slight variation to this rule, “Don’t ask what it is for at least an hour or two after eating it”. This rule helped keep my mind focused, my stomach less weak, my plate empty and my hosts happy.

Here are just a few of the interesting things I ate in Latin America that I wasn’t exactly accustomed to. We often ate cow stomach. To me, it tasted a lot like what edible rubber might taste like. It was usually cut into little pieces about the size of a coin; on one side it was smooth and rubbery, and the other side had fibers similar to those on a bath towel. It took me several times of eating it to get used to it, but then it was tolerable. We also frequently ate cow heart, liver and other interesting looking meats that I never dared ask what they were.

We had soup almost every day for lunch during the two years I lived in Latin America. It was hot soup even though it was around 100 degrees outside without air-conditioning inside. Many times the soup had an actual chicken’s foot in it! The first time I saw a chicken’s foot in my soup, I was shocked and thought it must be a joke until I saw everyone else eating their chicken’s foot without even thinking about it.

Now I will briefly educate you on the fine art of chicken-foot eating. You first pick up the chicken foot in both hands, and then nibble the skin/meat around each bone. This process can usually take quite a while, so if you get chicken’s feet in your soup, be sure to plan your time accordingly if you have time constraints. The great thing about chicken’s feet is that if you’re watching your figure, you don’t have to worry; you can have as many chicken feet as you want without having to worry about calories – there isn’t much to a chicken’s foot.

While we’re on the topic of chicken, in Latin America I learned to eat every last bit of chicken from the bones; then I learned to bite the bones in half and suck out the marrow. When I first got married (back in the United States), and my wife saw me do this. She thought I had gone crazy and wanted to send me to a psychotherapist. I really had to convince her that I was okay and explain why I bit the chicken bone in half and sucked out the marrow.

Some other interesting things I ate were guinea pig, pig’s feet and pig intestines stuffed with shredded pork cooked in boiled pig’s blood. Although the cultural differences in food were difficult to get used to, I came to enjoy these differences and soaked it all in. For me, it became quite a culinary adventure!

I loved every single bit of culture learned in Latin America. Now, on to you as readers – please let me know about some of the interesting foods available in your region of the country or part of the world.

Moral of the Story: Some cultural differences can seem different, strange, or even weird, but they are just that – differences. Remember, just because someone does things different or eats different things, it doesn’t make them “weird or unusual”. Instead of saying, “Wow – that’s weird!” try saying instead “That is different.”

Sneak peek at next week: “Spanish Names”

¡Hasta luego! (”Until later!”)
David S. Clark — President / Director
To learn Spanish, click here!

After living in Latin America for two years and becoming accustomed to their way of life, I was shocked when I returned to the United States and had dinner with my family the first night I was back. It was reverse culture shock for me. I could not believe how much food they wasted—by throwing it out. If they couldn’t or didn’t want to eat all of their food, they just left it on their plates and all of it went down the very hungry and ever-ready food disposal never to be seen again. It is interesting to me that I used to do the same thing at mealtime before spending two years of my life living among the Latin people. In Latin America, because of economic conditions and lifestyle, they usually eat every piece of their food.

In a way, I wish everyone from more developed countries could have the chance to visit Latin America and live with the people of the poor pueblos. If they did, I believe we would have a changed world. I think people would be less greedy and appreciate what they have much more—they wouldn’t take so many things for granted. I think people of more developed countries would also gain more compassion for the less-fortunate. The mentality of not wasting food has now become part of my life here in the United States—I am more conscious of the things that I have. Sometimes I’ll be eating a meal with my wife and when she is finished, there will still be some food left on her plate. I will usually eat it for her because, after living in Latin America, it’s hard for me to see food go to waste. (I have to exercise a lot to burn off all of the extra calories from eating her food as well as mine – I have an indoor bike I enjoy riding often.)

In certain parts of Latin America, I saw many little children crawling around on dirt floors, putting rocks and dirt in their mouths hoping it was food and I saw some literally starving to death. What an extremely heart wrenching experience it is to see real people and little children dying because of the lack of food—especially when you know there is so much food in other parts of the world. I can’t even explain what it does to you to see someone in that terrible condition.

My life has been changed forever after being with people living in this type of difficult situation. When I was a little boy, my mother always told me to eat all of my food because there were children starving in China. I never realized the full extent of her seemingly “nagging” phrase until I actually saw children dying of starvation in third-world countries.

Please give me feedback and let me know your thoughts.

Moral of the Story: What can we do to help? There are humanitarian aid programs we can donate to which help children who don’t have food to survive. Most of us have plenty, or we probably wouldn’t be on the internet reading this blog, and it can mean so much to give to those less-fortunate than us. I would love to hear from you if you decide to donate to a humanitarian aid organization or even to your local food bank. If you need a suggestion of humanitarian aid associations, let me know and I can recommend one or two that give a very high percentage directly to those in need.

Sneak peek at next week: “All Parts of the Cow!!? – Part II”

¡Hasta luego! (”Until later!”)
David S. Clark — President / Director
To learn Spanish, click here!

These three words when used together form a very small portion of Latin American culture, but in a way you might not have guessed. These specific three words are said when someone sneezes! If you sneeze once, Latin people will say “Health!” If you sneeze a twice, they will say “Money!” and a third sneeze in a row brings “Love!”

I have allergies and generally when I sneeze, I sneeze about 6 or 7 times in a row! Usually I catch Latin people off-guard because after “Health!”, “Money!” and “Love!” they run out of things to say.

Sometimes people in Latin America will just say “Health!” and forget the rest (especially if you sneeze a million times). However, many are eager to wish you all three: “Health!”, “Money!” and “Love!” every time you sneeze.

You might think it sounds a little peculiar to say “Health!” when someone sneezes, but if you think about it, it makes a little more sense than the phrase we say in English — “Bless you!”. In the dictionary, the word “bless” means “to consecrate by religious rite or word”. It’s almost as if we’re trying to bless someone religiously when they sneeze when we say “bless you”. The Spanish version makes more sense to me; you are wishing someone good “Health” so they can get well and avoid more germ-filled sneezes. So, why do they add “Money” and “Love” to multiple sneezes? I’m not exactly sure, but if you wish someone “Health”, you might as well add “Money” and “Love” and offer them the complete package—because who doesn’t want health, money, and love!

Just remember how to say them in Spanish, one sneeze = Health – “Salud” [saw-lood]. Two sneezes = Money – “Dinero” [dee-neh-row]. And, a third sneeze = Love – “Amor ” [Ah-more].

Now for the interesting part for me, I would love to know what people around the world say when someone else sneezes—please comment if you know.

Moral of the Story: This week’s topic is a fun little cultural phrase that people say when someone sneezes. Be daring and try it out the next time you hear a Latin person sneeze!

Sneak peek at next week: “Don’t Waste Your Food – All Parts of the Cow!!?”

¡Hasta luego! (”Until later!”)
David S. Clark — President / Director
To learn Spanish, click here!

I learned a great lesson that day which was again re-emphasized when I later lived in Latin America. Latin people will usually share even the smallest amount of possessions and food that they have. Many invite you to dinner or meals when they scarcely have enough food to feed their own families. If you become friends with them, often they will give you gifts or just about anything they have. They are a very generous and giving culture. Of course there are exceptions, but this is generally what I experienced while living there.

I learned this cultural lesson of sharing in Latin America the hard way. In Latin America, they don’t eat very much sugar and I have a huge sweet tooth. After living there for a month or two, I developed an incredible craving for anything with a good amount of sugar. I wrote my parents and had them send whatever they could that contained sugar. They sent a box of Jell-O Pudding® which was one of my favorite dessert snacks.

I was so excited to finally receive something sweet and delicious, that when the Jell-O Pudding® arrived, I couldn’t wait to eat it. Since many apartments in Latin America don’t have kitchens, including the one I lived in, I went to the home of our pensión (Spanish word for the native family we paid to make breakfast and dinner for us). They gave me some milk to use, and I mixed up the Jell-O Pudding®. I was in heaven! Two months of cravings had finally come to an end! The family that lived there wasn’t around when I ate it. I did share some of the pudding with a native friend I was with, but I failed to offer any to the family who had so generously given me the milk to make the pudding. The family came into the room just as I was finishing the last bite of the Jell-O Pudding®. They all asked excitedly, “So do we get to try some of your American dessert?” A feeling of shame and embarrassment came over me as I realized that I had selfishly devoured all of the pudding without offering to share any with them. The situation was actually worse than I had realized; in their culture you should always share whatever you have – especially food. I felt horrible and vowed always to share from that point on—especially with Latin Americans.

It was a great cultural lesson for me, and one that I have tried to adopt into my life here in the United States. After that experience, I have always offered to share my candy, food or things I have bought with Latin people (and Americans). I have tried to be very careful not to purchase anything in front of them unless I could share it with them. And they, because of their Latin culture, have done the same for me.

To give you another brief example of this cultural difference, I had a native Latin friend who didn’t have much money but loved to buy ice cream cones and would always offer to buy me one when he bought his. As you immerse yourself into the Latin culture, it’s important to accept their offers to share with you, but also to share with them whenever you get the chance.

This is a great trait to develop, regardless of the country or culture you live in. It’s something that is simply nice to do and will help win you more friends. Please let me know if any of you around the world have had experiences similar to this.

Moral of the Story: If you don’t want to offend Latin Americans, don’t buy things or eat food in front of them unless you offer to share with them. Remember that their culture is to share, give, and be generous.

Sneak peek at next week: “Health!, Money!, and Love!”

¡Hasta la vista! (”Until I see you again!” [Literally: “Until the sight!”)
David S. Clark — President / Director
To learn Spanish, click here!

This type of interruption doesn’t seem to happen too much in the United States as in Latin America. This seems to be because just about everyone in the United States has a telephone and people usually call each other before stopping by. In many Latin American regions, especially in the lower-income pueblos, a very small percentage of the population owns a telephone because of the cost involved. Phone calls are normally charged by the length of each call whether local or long distance. In the United States, a set monthly phone bill gets you all the local calls you want, regardless of the length, for the cost of your set monthly price. However, extra fees are sometimes incurred for long-distance calls. Because of the scarcity of people with telephones in Latin America, people frequently stop by homes unannounced and sometimes while they’re eating. I assume that because of this practice, and because of the Latin American emphasis on food, there has been a Spanish word invented for this exact scenario.

If you stop by someone’s home while they’re eating and you aren’t, you should say either “¡Provecho!” or “¡Buen provecho!” which means “Enjoy your meal!” The word “provecho” literally means “profit” or “benefit”, and “Buen provecho” literally means “Good benefit” or “Good profit”.

People generally say this phrase with a light-hearted attitude almost as if to say, “Go ahead and keep eating and don’t worry about me”. To continue the situation a little further, if you are eating and someone says “¡Buen provecho” to you, you can answer them by saying “Servido” which means “Served”. By saying “Servido”, you are basically saying, “Feel free to take a seat and have some if you’d like.” Although that is the real meaning, I don’t recall ever seeing anyone in this situation ever take someone up on the offer and sit down to eat with the family after they had already started a meal.

Remember, the next time you see Latin-American people eating and you are not, be sure to say “¡Provecho!” or “¡Buen provecho!” to them. Also, if you are eating, and someone says “¡Provecho!” to you, be sure and say “Servido” to them, and be ready to offer them food; just in case they take you up on your generous offer.

Moral of the Story: A large part of Latin American culture is based on food. Without a lot of instant food available to the people in the lower-income pueblos, they spend a lot of time in food preparation. Because food is such a large part of their lives, it’s important to learn proper mealtime etiquette. Just remember, “¡Provecho!” or “¡Buen provecho!” and “Servido”.

Sneak peek at next week: “Share your food – especially Jell-O Pudding®”

¡Hasta la vista baby! (This is actor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous line meaning “Until I see you again baby!”)
David S. Clark — President / Director
To learn Spanish, click here!

John and Jane Doe, who are obviously married and model citizens here in the United States, also have their names on government and employment forms as they show us, by their perfect examples, the correct way to fill out those difficult forms. Some of us tend to get frustrated as “John” and “Jane” seem to be the epitome of perfection in our society, and we are just the “average Joe” never quite able to reach their high level of perfection.

By the way, “John and Jane Doe” have a less than perfect son named “average Joe”. Joe despises filling out forms and got “Bs” and “Cs” in school rather than “As”. Like his parents, however, “average Joe” also seems to be everywhere in the United States. Whenever we give examples to people about common things that occur in life, we refer to “the average Joe”. We say things like “Let’s consider ‘the average Joe’ in this certain situation”, and so on. Like his parents “John” and “Jane”, he is also very popular in our American culture.

Now we’ll change the topic a little and talk about Latin America. When I was living in my first Latin American town, I always heard about a man named “Fulano” [foo-lawn-oh]. Everyone seemed to know him, but I never had the opportunity of meeting him. After a little while, I learned that his full name was “Fulano de tal” (Fulano of such). As time went on, and I lived in several more cities, everyone still talked about this “Fulano” guy. After some time of being immersed in my new language and culture, I finally realized that “Fulano de tal” is a long lost relative of “John and Jane Doe” and their son “average Joe”. I think he is their third Latin American cousin twice removed whose parents fled from America in the late 1800s after the Gold Rush. He has since traveled throughout Central and South America and seems to have the genetic makeup of all three of his distant American relatives.

I also came to find out that “Fulano” has two brothers named “Mengano” and “Zutano”. They just so happen to be first cousins with “Tom”, “Dick”, and “Harry” from the United States. So, when people refer to any “Tom, Dick, and Harry” in the United States, they can also refer to their cousins “Fulano, Mengano, and Zutano” in Latin America.

It was fun to learn that “John and Jane Doe” and “The Average Joe”, exist in Latin America in the form of “Fulano”. Just out of curiosity, for international blog readers, is there a “Fulano” type character in your country?

Moral of the Story: Next time you are talking to someone in Spanish and they mention “Fulano”, you will know that they are talking about “The Average Joe”, “John or Jane Doe”, or just plain “so and so”.

Sneak peek at next week: “Provecho / Servido – Manners While Someone is Eating”

¡Que tengan buena semana! (Have a Great Week!)
David S. Clark — President / Director
U.S. Institute of Languages
To learn Spanish, click here!

¡Hasta luego! (Until later!)
David S. Clark — President / Director
To learn Spanish, click here!

In the United States sarcasm is very widespread and is used as a common, daily form of communication. Such as, if a friend or family member purchased a new shirt that was obviously a little strange, you could tease them by saying “Nice shirt!” Of course, when you say “Nice shirt!” what you actually mean is, “Wow, that shirt is a little wild or strange.”

In Latin America, people usually aren’t accustomed to hearing or using sarcasm with one another. For example, one time I was working with a native Spanish speaker who was wearing a very interesting sweater. It was definitely out of the ordinary and somewhat strange. I said, “Nice sweater!” He then looked at me with a thoughtful look and said “Thanks”. He didn’t understand the fact that I was using sarcasm with him. He thought I was serious and was giving him a nice compliment about his unusual sweater.

As I lived in Latin America for two consecutive years in different countries, I began to get used to this new attitude of not using sarcasm. It took quite a while, but pretty soon I didn’t use sarcasm at all. Because of the lack of sarcasm in Latin America, it seemed to me that there was generally more respect among people there.

Then, after two years of living among the natives and adopting this new mentality of not using sarcasm, I met up with an American. We were put on a project where we had to work together every day for about month or so. He had just arrived in Latin America and wasn’t used to the language or the native culture (without sarcasm). Many times, I found myself getting offended when he used sarcasm with me. I had become so immersed into the native Latin culture that I found his sarcasm offensive. It took me several weeks to get back into the swing of things and realize that he wasn’t actually trying to be rude or mean. He was just using a similar type of sarcasm that I had used previously when living in the United States.

Now, I’m sure some of you may be saying, “I know some Latin people in the United States who are sarcastic”. If you do, it’s most likely because they have already begun to adopt some of our cultural behaviors. Just remember that most native speakers living in Latin America usually don’t use sarcasm.

Moral of the Story: When visiting Latin America, whether it is for business or pleasure, it’s important to know about their mentality on sarcasm. On the other hand, even though many Latin people living in the United States may have adopted sarcasm and use it frequently, still be careful when talking to them because sarcasm still may offend them. Although a world without sarcasm was very different to live in and get accustomed to, I grew to love it and found the people to be very respectful towards each other.

Sneak peek at next week: “Rest Homes in Latin America?”

¡Hasta luego! (Until later!)
David S. Clark — President / Director
To learn Spanish, click here!

This week I want to discuss a myth about speaking Spanish as well as some techniques to instantly learn hundreds of Spanish words.

Many Americans mistakenly think you can just add the letter “o” to English words and those words instantly become Spanish. Although this does work once in a great while, more often than not it doesn’t work at all and just causes confusion. I have heard several Americans in Latin America use this flawed technique and suffer from a large communication gap.

Here are a few techniques that do work most of the time, but there are exceptions. All of these techniques involve suffixes (word endings):

1. “-ive” = “-ivo”: active (activo), passive (pasivo), relative (relativo), intensive (intensivo), massive (masivo). Partly because of this “ivo/ive” technique, people try to ineffectively put an “o” on the end of any English word to turn it into Spanish

2. “-ly” = “-mente”: recently (recientemente), actively (activamente), relatively (relativamente), effectively (efectivamente). This technique (”ly/mente”) isn’t as reliable in taking words from English into Spanish but can help you better decipher the meaning of written Spanish words.

3. “-ssion” = “-sión”: session (sesión), passion (pasión), depression (depresión), aggression (agresión)

4. “-ction” = “-cción”: action (acción), attraction (attracción), fiction (ficción), reaction (reacción)

5. “-ty” = “-dad”: university (universidad), activity (actividad), intensity (intensidad), ability (abilidad)

6. “-tion” = “-ción”: activation (activación), penetration (penetración), station (estación), vacation (vacación)

Moral of the Story: When you really need to guess a Spanish word, these techniques can be useful. They can also be very handy in helping you decipher written messages. However, you need to remember that that are many exceptions to these techniques. Unfortunately they aren’t fool-proof.

Sneak peek at next week: “El sarcasmo”

¡Hasta luego! (Until later!)
David S. Clark — President / Director

Click here to learn Spanish!