mariposa monarca

miércoles, 1 de abril de 2009

Sí, cómo no – sí como no – no April Fool`s Joke
Some people have told me they consider Mexicans hypocrites and – or – liars. They base this judgement on episodes where they asked someone here a question, received and answer, and found out that the person “had not told the truth”. Please think again. I know that any dictionary will translate “yes” into “sí” in Spanish, and “no” is the same word in English and Spanish, although the pronunciation is a little different. What I learned, and what I am sometimes reminded of, is the fact that to say “no” to a person is considered impolite and even rude by many Mexicans. I am aware that this can have consequences for me, if I take a “yes” at face value. Last week, I got off at a subway station where I had never been before. I was standing next to a huge round open space where three avenues with six lanes each merge and separate again trying to decide in which direction I should go. I asked a passerby “Excuse me, is this Avenida X?” The person replied “yes” and continued. A followed her indication, but this “yes” and the way she had said it did not quite convince me. So a hundred or so meters down the street I asked another person “Excuse me, which street is this?” She replied “This is Avenida Y”. This information, as it turned out, was accurate. I went back to the corner, looked at the map and found Avenida X. So what happened? It occurred to me that they way I had asked the first question did not really give the person the space to think about it. Her “yes” was, so it seems, the most appropriate answer for her. I was reminded, once again, that “yes” does not always translate as “sí”.

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