Spaniards vs. Americans

This video-article is part of an advanced listening activity for advanced learners of English.

  

The video in two parts on Youtube:

Spaniards vs. Americans - Differences and Similarities

Hello, my name is Steven Starry from MadridTeacher.com and I’m going to talk a little bit about what I see are the differences between Spaniards and Americans. Now, as a disclaimer I’ll say that there are a million more similarities than differences and even though I’ve lived in Spain for a total of around 27 years and I have a degree in Sociology, I really don’t feel like I truly understand the Spanish people or Americans even. And actually like a Woody Allen character, "the older I get, the less I understand."

Now, as preparation for this video, I went around asking all the Spanish people I know in my Spanish family and in my English classes what they thought the difference was between us. Besides that, these conversations were based on my 27 years of occasionally thinking and talking about these differences. Of course, all of those points aren’t true for everybody any more than it’s true to say that every Spaniard dances flamenco and fights bulls.

Basically, Spanish people say that Americans are more patriotic (generally speaking, Spaniards don’t feel at all patriotic), warlike (as a country), violent (everybody has a gun or five), fatter (everyone who visits the States comes back and talks about it), religious (everyone needs to believe in God and there’s a televangelist on every corner), colder, more distant and lonelier. (You can refer to Roy Orbison about that one.) Also, they said that Americans dress more casually in companies and speak a lot more, but not about anything important like feelings and relationships, and they definitely don’t give away any business secrets. Rather, no-one will teach you the steps to take in any business deal, which is also true in Spain as far as I’m concerned. Also, they say that Americans are more obsessed with money. They’re also more ambitious and take their work more seriously, generally doing their work better. Americans are also bigger consumers (consuming too much energy and resources) and pride themselves more on the amount and quality of their property than Spaniards. Americans also tend to show it off more, while Spaniards tend to hide it more, behind fences, and so on. Maybe that's because they're more afraid that somebody is going to steal it. They also say that a Spaniard who shows off too much stuff probably just has too many bills to pay. That's a saying here. Also, they say that Americans are more afraid of the law and the police, which they say isn’t true in Spain. And that this is especially true when it comes to having to have civil liability insurance for everything. Also, they say that Americans are better organized and more practical, and that the bureaucracy works better. But, that this isn’t true when it comes to the public health care and social security system, which is better in Spain, in my opinion, far better. Also, Spaniards think that Americans eat out a lot more and that they don’t eat very healthily. I.e. pizzas, hamburgers, hot dogs, all that kind of food.

There are far too many points here to be able to talk about it or all of it more at length in this video so I’ll just focus on a couple or a few of what I think are the most important ones for me:

Number 1 is Spain is less fragmented

I think that American society is a lot more fragmented and that Americans are less family and community oriented, which might account for some of the earlier “distance” and “loneliness” comments. Americans don’t think twice about moving across the country or even around the world like me because there’s often less in the way of “social relationships” or a feeling of “community” to hold them back. Americans regularly kick their children out of the house when they turn 18, while you can still find Spaniards at home at the age of 35. Spaniards will laugh at this, but they'll admit it, right? But, they'll also say that it’s partly because of the high cost of housing, which costs around maybe 300,000 euros for a little apartment in Madrid, a tiny little apartment. But, I’ve seen a few Spaniards who even have their own apartments (and even a very popular one with a lot of money) living at home with mom and pop instead because they need the social interaction. They need the family, community, . . . They're lonely in their house, you know, they don't want to be alone. Also, Spaniards don’t like moving across the country too far away from their families, and even though a lot of Spaniards around Spain have had to move to the big cities to attend a university and find work. It’s surprising how many Spaniards in Madrid have a home-town to “religiously” go home to on vacation every summer for the month of August. So, there’s a feeling of “community” in Spain that goes beyond the Sunday afternoon backyard BBQ culture we've got in the States. Because of this, Spaniards will pay a lot more for an apartment to live in a certain neighborhood near their family than Americans will, while Americans are far more likely to commute 50 miles every day if necessary, but this is becoming more and more true here in Spain as Spain becomes more and more Americanized. And this about the apartments is especially true if they get the apartment for half price or a fraction of the cost.

Another point is Spaniards are less judgmental and this is really important

I think that Americans are far more judgmental than Spaniards about a lot of things. And what I mean by this is that I think that Americans have a stricter set of interior rules about what’s “right” and “wrong” and that they tend to be harder or harsher on people whom they deem to not meet those standards. These standards differentiate more radically between winners and losers, people with good jobs and people with bad jobs, well-to-do people and poor people, fat people and thin people, born-again-Christians and whatever, childish mamma's boys vs. mature people, intelligent people vs. dumb people, cheaters and liars vs. honest people, and so on and so on and so on.

So, for example, if an American called me a dumb, fat, childish guy, the level of the emotions of "cruelty," "hate," "derision" and/or "fear" felt by him/her would always be far stronger than what would be felt by a typical Spaniard. In fact, I seriously doubt a Spaniard would be able to say something like that with a straight face. They might spit out a hateful remark in a moment of passion, but they rarely build that momentary hatred into their lives in a big way, like they don't hold a grudge as easily as an American will.

Conversations with Spaniards are much more relaxed and freer. In fact, I rarely feel challenged or called out in conversations with Spaniards about my beliefs or my way of life, or anything. If a Spaniard thinks me stupid, childish, fat or overly dependent on my mamma, they will usually be more assertive rather than aggressive about how they approach me. They might suggest I wise up, grow up and do a bit of exercise, or they might just drop an indirect comment or question like, "you've put on a few pounds, haven't you?," "you didn't know that sugar comes from beets?!" or something like that. So, the questions and comments are rarely as loaded with the aforementioned emotions, ok? Americans would think or say in addition to the comments and questions, they'd say something like: "you fat pig," "you stupid moron" and "you childish mamma's boy!" That would be in there and that feeling would be stronger, ok? than a Spaniard. A Spaniard just doesn't feel it generally in the same way as an American.

Americans are far more likely to judge people harshly depending on the people they're with at the moment also, ok? or even those who they've just had casual contact with once. And because these things, I think that Americans are generally far more worried about what the other guy’s thinking even to the point of restricting who they hang out with lest some of that “stigma” rub off on them. Spaniards, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about what you think of them personally.

Spaniards are freer for all things good and bad

I think people are more relaxed in Spain about a lot of things, you know, sometimes too much so. This is true, for example, when it comes to Spanish “picaresque” and their point of view on “rules.” And, I sometimes think that all Spanish people cheat. As a high school teacher once, it came as a shock to observe 35-40 students cheating on an exam. Even the knowledgeable ones were cheating! It’s also a bit tiresome to always have to double-check your change whenever you buy something in a shop or something. And playing board or card games with one of these very-common types of people can be really boring to Americans and other northern Europeans as well if we can’t appreciate the finer points of cheating. The very popular Spanish card game of “mus” elevates cheating to an art, for example. The point of the game is to be the best team at signaling each other, you know, as to what cards you have in your hand, (Mus on Wikipedia) you know, you play in partners, in teams.

This type of thing is true at every level of society. It’s really common to go to a store to look for a product that they’ve advertised and not find it. (They’ll say it’s sold out.) If you go to purchase a cheap trip that a travel agency’s advertised, you’ll find it’s already sold out as well, or that it’s really not that cheap once they’ve added on all the taxes, fees and whatnot. Spanish people are never embarrassed by their being caught out while cheating in any way and feel quite comfortable about laughing about it with their friends and family. A point that wouldn't be true in the States. You'd keep it to yourself. You might cheat, but you'd keep it to yourself. Spanish people are also quite accustomed to being subjected to this cheating or to this picaresque at every turn at work, you know, or wherever.

The root idea in this is the Spanish is the idea or the concept of “caradura,” which translates directly as “hard-faced” (maybe it's something similar to poker-faced), but which means something like: “somebody who’s got a little bit of nerve.” This is a positive thing here. Every Spaniard admires a slick “caradura” and if someone manages to get a job in which they only have to work 4 days a month (always changing) for an average salary of 1,200 euros, they’re considered a bit of a local hero. Of course, the work ethic isn’t as well-developed in Spain as it is in the States, and it’s especially noticeable to me as an English teacher regarding their study habits. In the States, you’ll regularly find 60 or (Note: There are technical problems in the Youtube video here) 70 year-old people finishing off their Doctorates. This is a bit alien to Spaniards, although you do find people with 20 degrees, very rarely. Work and study isn't as important to them and to their sense of identity. Spanish people like to say that they "work to live, and not to work." Or, "not live to work." They work to live, and not live to work.

I think this is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, life is more relaxed in Spain as people don’t criticize the untalented as much, the “losers” for example. But, neither do they reward the talented as much either (except when they’re soccer players). You’ll find companies that take barely competent workers rather than ones who can actually do the job even if they just have to pay a few hundred euros more a month. You’ll regularly come across highly trained engineers, for instance, who are working for a fraction of what they would make in the U.S. or U.K. Employers here just cannot conceive of the economic value of high-level competence.

So to summarize, Spaniards always assume I stay in Spain because of the good cooking and the sunny climate – they know better than to think that it’s for the money – but, the fact is that I prefer to live in Spain despite the bad points because life is better in every way for common folk like me. Life in the U.S. is only good for the very few “winners,” and is much harder and sadder for the vast majority of “losers.” (Health insurance, case in point.) In Spain, the social and family side of life makes everybody a winner in some way.

I just want to remind you that I'm an English teacher, not an expert on the subject. If you want to find an expert, go read a book. Thank you very much for watching. My name is Steven Starry from MadridTeacher.com. I hope you'll watch another video in the future. Bye, bye.

Vocabulary list: (in this context)

1. disclaimer – descargo de responsabilidad
2. even though, although - aunque
3. degree - título
4. truly - verdaderamente, realmente
5. even - incluso
6. besides that – aparte de eso
7. of course – por supuesto, claro está
8. warlike - bélico
9. lonely - solitario
10. give away – regalar, dar
11. business deal – acuerdo de negocios
12. as far as I’m concerned – hasta donde yo sé
13. consumer - consumidor
14. to pride – enorgullecer
15. to tend to – tender a
16. show it off – presumir de algo
17. fence - valla
18. bills – facturas, gastos
19. civil liability insurance - seguro contra terceros
20. which might account for – lo cual podría explicar
21. hold somebody back – retener a alguien
22. kick somebody out – poner a alguien de patitas en la calle
23. turn 18 – cumplir 18 años
24. instead (of) – en vez de
25. go beyond – ir más allá
26. backyard – jardín trasero
27. BBQ - barbacoa
28. commute – hacer el viaje al trabajo y de vuelta a casa
29. judgemental - sentencioso
30. harsh – duro, severo
          harshly - severamente, con dureza
31. deem - juzgar, considerar
32. meet standards – llegar al nivel
33. dumb - tonto
34. cheater – tramposo
35. liar – mentiroso
36. derision – desdén, burla
37. with a straight face – sin reirse
38. spit out - soltar
39. hateful remark – comentario odioso
40. hatred - odio
41. hold a grudge - guardar rencor
42. call out - retar
43. assertive - firme y enérgico
44. approach somebody – dirigirse a alguien
45. wise up - espabilarse
46. grow up - madurar
47. beet - remolacha
48. aforementioned - anteriormente mencionado
49. moron - imbécil
50. casual - ocasional
51. hang out with somebody - ir con alguien (informal)
52. lest - no sea que
53. stigma - estigma
54. rub off on somebody – pegarselo a alguien
55. I couldn’t care less – me trae sin cuidado
56. picaresque - picaresca
57. knowledgeable - con mucho conocimiento
          knowledge - conocimiento
58. tiresome - pesado
59. double-check – comprobar dos veces
60. the point of something – el sentido / proposito de algo
          point of view - punto de vista
          to the point - hasta el punto
          to appreciate the finer points of something (expression) - apreciar los puntos más refinados de algo
61. to signal somebody – señalar a alguien
62. sold out – existencias agotadas
63. whatnot - quien sabe que más
64. catch somebody out – pillar a alguien
65. keep something to yourself – guardar algo para uno mismo
66. to subject somebody to something – exponer a alguien a algo
67. at every turn – a cada paso
68. the root idea – la idea fundamental
69. slick - de mucha labia
70. to finish off something – acabar algo
71. a double-edged sword – una espada de doble filo
72. to reward somebody - premiar, recompensar
73. conceive of something - concebir de algo
74. assume - dar por hecho

Speaking activity:

American vs. Spaniards Speaking - Practice the topic on this speaking page.