If I'm going to talk about the culture in Costa Rica, I have to talk about "pura vida." This "take it easy" philosophy of life is alive and well in Costa Rica; and I think in the school as well. Maybe the pace of instruction has "pura vida" to credit (the 2.5 months:2 years ratio). Either way, in the education setting it certainly is refreshing.
I have also noticed, that both in and out of the schools, Costa Ricans are very formal. This probably won't make sense to those of you who don't speak Spanish, but, the usted form is often used even between family members. The usted form is a more formal way to address someone when speaking to them, whereas the tu form is informal. I have not noticed the tu form being used nearly at all...I have to keep reminding myself not to slip into it since it is the form we practiced the most in school and the form I am most comfortable with.
It seems that in the United States we put a lot more emphasis on the importance of names - perhaps this is a reflection on our emphasis on the importance of the individual. Here, names are not used very often in the classroom. The students call all of their teachers either "Miss" or "Mister"; rarely do I hear mine or any other teacher's name follow. When Floria calls on students in the classroom, she often does not use their names either - whereas in the states our professors always made a big deal about us being able to use and know our students' names.
I don't really have any conclusions to draw here...but these are some of the observations I have made over the past 1.5 weeks.
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That's really interesting, Kelsey - especially in comparison to my situation here. I'd have to agree with the take it easy philosophy, but the formality is very much the opposite. The tu form is used frequently, and names do seem important. Additionally, all the teachers go by their first names - so I am Miss Patience. The Miss adds some formality, though, I suppose. Teachers seem to try to use the students names - many of them go by nicknames, too. Anyway, I just thought the contrast was interesting. Thanks for sharing about your experience. I'm still trying to get a blog up and running.
ReplyDeleteI'm "Miss Kelsey" here too :) It's kind of weird...at times I like it, and at times I don't. I'm still not really sure whether I like it better or not than "Ms. Benton" haha.
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