Languages provide different resources to show respect towards the listener. Both Spaniards and English people are surprised at the much greater use of the words 'thank you' and 'please' in English compared to Spanish.
In Spanish we tend to use other linguistic resources to show respect. One resource that we have in Spanish that does not exist in English is the existence of two forms for the 2nd person - a formal one (usted/ustedes) and an informal one (tú/vosotros).
When Spaniards speak in English, particularly when they are not yet fluent in the language, they tend to forget to use 'please' and 'thank you' the way that English people do. Thus, they appear to be impolite.
Similarly, when English people speak in Spanish they tend to use 'please' and 'thank you' as often as in English, surprising Spaniards by their formality. This formality seems distancing to Spaniards and they sometimes even find it offensive that the English person seems to be close to them in some regards, but still has to express gratitude formally in some petty matters.
Welcome to my blog. Here I want to discover what it is like to have two languages in everyday life. The section on inter-cultural communication derives from a challenge I had from one of my teachers at my MA to record the cultural differences I observed between England and my native Spain, and to consider the reasoning behind the different behaviours. The section on languages and emotions (teresabamforth.blogspot.com) derives from a conversation I had with my father (see the first post).
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