Professional Documents
Culture Documents
and México
ENGLISH
7° IUQ
MARIA TERESA SAVEEDRA | YARED RUBY BAÉZ VELÁZQUEZ
Yared Ruby Baéz Velázquez IUQ 7°
have to invest in language training. They have most definitely succeeded since they
now have projects on almost every continent.
Differences Between Spanish Food and Mexican Food
Very different! These two foods could not be any more different, actually. Mexican
food staples are corn, chili, beans, tomatoes, fruit and meat. Each region of Mexico
has their specialties, like shark and octopus in the Yucatan region. Corn is mostly
found in the famous, warm Mexican tortillas and tamales, which are filled with just
about any vegetable or meat and dipped in one of the many salsas, from mild to very
picante. Or as my grandfather says, picosa. When I said chilies, you didn’t think I
meant just one, right? Just a few of the chiles you will run into in Mexico are: mulato,
cascabel, poblano, serrano, and of course, the one we all know and love, the
jalapeno.
Spain food features a delicious Mediterranean diet: olive oil, fish, vegetables,
legumes, fruits, some poultry and some dairy. As you can see, the Spanish diet hits
heavier on the Omega-3s, and contains more of a variety in their vegetables while
Mexico leans heavily on corn and beans (what could be found locally, of course).
Spain, surrounded by water, logically gets a large amount of its food from the sea
and the olive trees that flourish in Spain. Just like in Mexico, every region in Spain
has its own specialties, like the empanadas from Galicia, or the spicy Basque-style
chicken from Basque country. Of course, no matter where you are, you can get the
famous Jamón ibérico.
Mexican Spanish and Spain Spanish Differences (Why!?)
The Z and the C (before e or i) in both languages are pronounced very differently.
You can immediately tell if someone is from Spain due to this letter difference. In
Mexican Spanish it sounds like a regular English S sound. Using Spain Spanish, it
sounds like someone speaking English with a lisp (or, the TH sound in English), but
it’s not a lisp – that’s how it’s pronounced.
Why did this happen? Well, this would be the same answer as to why Brits do not
pronounce the H and Americans do. Over hundreds of years and many thousands
of miles, groups of people change a spoken language over time. The resulting
change is very different from the group that is far away. This is the simple evolution
of a language.
In Medieval Castilian Spanish, just as in Medieval Olde English, words were spelled
differently. Interestingly, Spanish used to use the same letter used in French, the ç,
called a cedilla, to spell words like plaça, which is today spelled like plaza (but still
using the TH sound where the Z is).
Communication Styles in Mexico & Spain
Yared Ruby Baéz Velázquez IUQ 7°
I have lived in both of these countries so I can most definitely tell you that even
though Spain brought a lot of people over, they did not bring their communication
style. Or, at least, it didn’t stick. I found the Mexican people to be overly polite (for
my blunt American style of communicating), indirect, long-winded (again, for my
blunt taste), and sugary sweet (I also lived in the bustling city of Boston, and liked
the direct communication style there). They were most definitely polite.
Spain, on the other hand, does not have any of the above characteristics, and I do
not mean that in a negative way. They say the truth, even if it may sting a little.
Spaniards are direct, but at the same time diplomatic – not rude, but frank. They are
quite gregarious and will talk a lot, and possibly loudly to show their feelings about a
particular topic.
Similarities are seen in the formal nature of communicating in public, and the respect
given by not using first names, but rather Mr., Mrs., etc.
Cultural Differences Between Mexico and Spain
Based on one Mexican’s journey to Spain , the largest differences he found were: 1.
The people 2. The flow of life.
When you arrive in Mexico City, you realize quickly that it will take possibly an hour
to arrive at your hotel from the airport. During this drive, it will be quite chaotic, people
will be running to cross the street, motorcycles fly between cars, and the flow is quite
fast. Of course, the capital is the main area where you’ll encounter life at this speed.
In Spain, it seems more calm, organized, serene, and CLEAN. This Mexican tourist
also found that the general way of being was in timidating. Remember, we said that
the Mexican culture was more affable, polite and less frank. So the strong character
(not rudeness!) of the Spaniards was more in your face than Mexicans, or even
Americans, are used to.
Vocabulary Differences Between Spain & Mexico
Just like an American traveling to Britain, there are stark vocabulary differences
between Spain and Mexico. Asking for a fag in the U.S. might make some eyebrows
raise. In the same way asking where the l00 is might get you an introduction to a
large, trucker named Lou! The same happens in Mexico and Spain. There are
hundreds of differences, but here are just a few:
Los servicios vs el baño (the bathroom).
Vale in Spain expresses ‘okay’ or agreement. This is not said in Mexico.
Tio or tia in Spain expresses guy or gal, but the dictionary meaning is uncle or aunt.
Boletos (Mexico) versus billetes (Spain) both mean tickets.
Computadora (Mexico) versus ordenador (Spain) both mean computer.
Yared Ruby Baéz Velázquez IUQ 7°
Reference:
https://fluencycorp.com/differences-between-spain-and-mexico/