Tag Archives: society

in english

Language and national character

After reading this book and some other materials for my intercultural management I’ve been able to slightly refine an old idea I had about how different languages express and modify the characters of the people that use it. Even though I’m not a linguist I think it’s relatively accurate for some, for others I might as well get grilled. Comments are more than welcome.

  • English: good for business and action-oriented. Also good for fantasising.
  • Italian: temperamental.
  • French: philosophical.
  • Finnish: communicate the largest amount of information in the shortest amount of words possible. Also good for creating words.
  • German: precise, pünktlich.
  • Portuguese: playful, but at the same time rather melancholic.
  • Spanish: baroque, but also depends on the speaker. Spanish speakers use it in a much more direct way than, say, Mexican speakers (because their culture is much more direct).
  • Dutch: I’m having my first class today, so maybe I’ll be able to tell you something in a year.

Could a Japanese speaker please explain what does no mean?

in english

Brussels the melting pot

The city where I’m now based is truly a melting pot. Walking accross the street you can listen to 10 different languages, and if you’re not used to it (as opposed to actually craving it like I did) I suppose it can be a little overwhelming. The difference with, for example, France, is that all the different communities tend to live more or less together, which isn’t easy, but requires tolerance from everybody involved. To give an example, on Friday I was partying with the Erasmus exchange guys, who come from Spain, Finland, France, England and Poland. On Saturday I was out with a French friend who has lived in Finland, New Zealand, Ecuador and now here. On Sunday I was with some Mexican friends walking through downtown, and this week I plan to have a beer with a British friend who was in Japan and is working here now. Another good friend of mine (Kiwi, but lives in Singapore) told me the other day that my pictures in Flickr make Brussels look like a more interesting place than he thought of given the impression he had from the news, and I have to say that he’s right, this is a much more interesting place than it is regarded of. As long as it stays so in the right ways everything is fine.

en español

Sobre Naturalizados y demás

La verdad es que me siento bastante enojado al ver la reacción en los medios noticiosos mexicanos, en algunos blogs y foros en los que participo sobre el famoso tema de los “naturalizados” en la Selección Mexicana de Futbol.

Sí, originalmente nacieron en el extranjero, y sí, los modos del Director Técnico del equipo tal vez no han sido los más adecuados (además, al ¿pobrecito? no le ayuda que sea extranjero), pero esta gente eligió de manera consciente adoptar la nacionalidad mexicana. No fue algo que se les dió de inmediato por el simple hecho de nacer en territorio nacional, sino que ellos mismos, aunque hayan nacido brasileño y argentino respectivamente eligieron por su libre albedrío ser mexicanos.

Eso, para mí, los hace tan mexicanos como el de enfrente. ¿O qué, es que como nación queremos que los estadounidenses les den todas las facilidades a nuestros connacionales para que se establezcan en el que actualmente es su territorio, pero no podemos aceptar que vengan extranjeros al nuestro y se asimilen a nuestro país?

Ahí se los dejo de tarea.