What you shouldn't do...

[tetsuo]

Are there any specific things you shouldn't say in Spain, South America or do? Something the may hurt feelings? Like e.g. for example in the Netherlands you shouldn't joke about Germany and Netherlands in world war 2. Like in "how big are the Netherlands" - answer would be "half an hour with a tank" (answer by a German). A really bad idea.

Most travel guides do say: Don't discuss politics or don't criticize decision made bby politicians, royals etc.

[Villa]

Originally Posted by tetsuo

Are there any specific things you shouldn't say in Spain, South America or do? Something the may hurt feelings? Like e.g. for example in the Netherlands you shouldn't joke about Germany and Netherlands in world war 2. Like in "how big are the Netherlands" - answer would be "half an hour with a tank" (answer by a German). A really bad idea.

Most travel guides do say: Don't discuss politics or don't criticize decision made bby politicians, royals etc.

1. Don't use profanity/bad words in Spanish in polite company or around strangers. The Spanish profanity words have their place but not with strangers, women, children etc.. We Americans think it's so funny and cute to do this but Spanish speakers take it as an insult.

2. Don't talk against the Catholic Church. While in Mexico especially don't talk bad or against the Virgin of Guadalupe. This is a real no-no. Many American Protestants tend to be anti-Catholic but don't show it in Spanish speaking countries. Leave it for when you're in the U.S.

3. Don't talk against their class society which is obvious to Americans when we go down there. (If you watch novelas in Spanish you'll find that most of them have this as a theme about the difference of class society.) We have a class society in the U.S. but it is more obvious in Spanish speaking countries.

4. Don't just walk into a house without saying con permiso no matter how well you know the people. We would never walk into a house without knocking in the U.S. for example even when we know the people.

5. Don't walk away from a conversation without saying con permiso. Just walking way from a conversation
without excusing yourself is a no-no.

6. Don't talk against their governments. Let them do it. jajajaja=hahahaha...
We Americans for example like to talk against our government but generally
speaking do not like to hear foreigners talk against our government. Same thing
in other countries including the Spanish speaking countries.

7. Don't talk about how easy Spanish speaking girls are to have sex with.
Ironically this is not true and they think American girls are more liberal
in this sense. Sure there are places where you can go for this but the
general population is very prudish about this. Spanish speaking men in
general are very protective of their sisters/daughters for example and
you can get into trouble if you don't respect this. If your are staying in
a house in Mexico for example never walk into the daughter's/sister's bedroom.
I learned this one time while staying with a Mexican family in Guadalajara.
The one brother told me he went looking for some guys with a gun
who were bothering his sister. It's a matter of honor. Respect it.

[poli]

It never hurts to not use obscenity or profanity especially if you are new to the territory and don't yet know the rules. In general, Spain and Argentina are fairly libertine and obscenities regarding the sex act in an impersonal manner are very frequently used in everyday conversation. People who are too proper are considered as possible hypocrites. In Spain words are so relaxed that there's a family oriented sitcom on Spanish TV called Con el culo en el aire. That wouldn't happen in the US or Latin America in 2013. Profanities such as damning gods or mothers are less frequently heard.
The rest of the Spanish-speaking world is more conservative around women and children. Among men though those words are very common.

[tetsuo]

What's con permiso? Is it like "Am I allowed to leave the conversation for ... e.g. going to the toilet", regarding the house it would me I am asking for "being allowed to come in", right?

[Villa]

Originally Posted by tetsuo

What's con permiso? Is it like "Am I allowed to leave the conversation for ... e.g. going to the toilet", regarding the house it would me I am asking for "being allowed to come in", right?

Excuse me. Like in polite American/English society we would not just get up from the dinner table and walk off. We would say something like Excuse me I have to go to the bathroom. Or May I be excused?

So say your talking with a person or persons and you wanted to walk off to talk to somebody else or go some place else you would say, Con permiso.
If sombody is blocking your way and you want to get around them or pass between two people you say; Con permiso. Excuse me.

So you say "Con permiso and you might hear back "Pase Usted," or "Pásele." Also you might hear "Propio" in Mexico as I do in the Mexican novelas or "Adelante" is used there as well. Adelante=forward, go ahead.

You get all this and more watching soap operas in Spanish. I watch 4 a night.
It's so ironic that even among people who are of questionable moral values
such as drug dealers or maviosos you still have this high degree of politeness.
Same exact thing in the Italian culture. I lived both in Mexico and Italy. One
could argue who is more polite the Italians or the Spanish speakers.
At any rate it's just an unwritten rule that people are very polite in the
Latin cultures and if you are not it goes noticed.

[tetsuo]

Thanks for the explanation.

Great, now I can avoid some big trouble. Can you recommend a serie? Maybe it's a free one on youtube with English / Spanish subtitles? Would be great.

In Germany there's publisher that releases a book series called "Fettnäpfchenführer" (una guía para pifiar); okay, you name it some or a family (characters are faked) are going to a specific country, visiting and they are doing things of course. But they "pifiar" a lot. And anything else is explained then and how to avoid to "pifiar". Quite interesting. Have read about the USA, England, Japan and Thailand.

Because I am in a good moon right now. Here's the Spanish version, just to keep me up and learning.

Gracias para la explicación.

Estupendo, puedo ahora esquivar enfado grande. ¿Puedes recomiendas un culebrón? Quizás es un culebrón gratuito en el youtube con los subtítulos en inglés y/o español. Eso sería genial.

En Alemania hay una editorial que publica los libros con el título de libros "Fettnäpfchenführer" (una guía para pifiar). Vale, sabéis un hombre o una familia (los caracteres son falsos) vamos a un país, visitamos otras cosas y hacemos algo. Pero pifiamos muchos. Y entonces algo más es he explicado y esquivamos a pifiar. Muy interesante. Ya leo sobre Estados Unidos, Inglaterra, Japón y Tailandia.

[Premium]

www.telemundo.com
You can watch there Telenovelas for free, transcripts included.
I'm no fan of Telenovelas but it's a good way to learn the language. If you like German telenovelas, then you'll find it quite amusing. I find them utterly dreadful in every way.

[tetsuo]

I don't like telenovelas but I do it for specific purpose.

[Villa]

Originally Posted by tetsuo

I don't like telenovelas but I do it for specific purpose.

No lo sabrás tetsuo hasta que las miras durante un tiempo.
Una vez que veas la cantidad de español que se aprende mirando
telenovelas en español serás un fanático loco por novelas como yo.
Veo cuatro novelas en español todas las noches. De este modo
aprendo el idioma español sin estudiar. De hecho aprendo
más español mirando telenovelas en español que
estudiar día y noche el español. Tal vez vas a terminar gustado
las novelas, como yo. Y aprender mucho español en el proceso.
Sin mencionar la cantidad de cultura hispana que vas a aprender.
Es como se dice en inglés; "It's a win win situation."
Todos salimos ganando o Hay beneficio en cualquier situacion.
Bueno, la idea es esa.

[tetsuo]

Entiendo, no encontro episodos completos en telemundo y no encontro un pulsador para los subtitulos o un transcripción.