Do some Dominicans play as if they don't understand or it it just me?

[miguel]

Cojelo suave.....

Chip,
I'm sorry, but I'm having difficulty understanding what you're saying :cheeky:

Don't worry, though. When I was living in Santiago for an extended period, I found myself going blank on some of the most common English words at times. Or, the word would simply sound odd. I guess it happens when you aren't as immersed in your native language as you are at home.

ps: see my post 19 above in case you missed it.

Come on man, stop being a "Rompe Bolas" for such minor things, we don't need another one (the spot is already filled by me, hehehe).

Hey Chip00, "Alaska" is great!!.

 

[Musicqueen]

Well....in my case...Spanish is my first language...and in DR it would be as if I was speaking CHINESE...

I guess people expected me to speak English, so everytime Tony and I went out and I would ask for something let's say in a restaurant, the waiters would look at Tony as if they didn't understand what I was saying...and he would repeat the exact same thing I had said and then they got it!!!

It used to drive me crazy!!! One time I told this girl..."Look, I am talking to you in Spanish...you don't need to ask him"...She WAS playing dumb...you could tell by her face...the little B****!!!!

MRS. MQ

 

[Rocky]

everytime Tony and I went out and I would ask for something let's say in a restaurant, the waiters would look at Tony as if they didn't understand what I was saying...and he would repeat the exact same thing I had said and then they got it!!!

That is exacalacally it.
Gringo/gringa face syndrome.
If you don't look like you're going to be able to speak their language, they predispose themselves to not hear you or process the information.

 

[mountainfrog]

Get Used to It

.... the waiters would look at Tony as if they didn't understand what I was saying...and he would repeat the exact same thing I had said and then they got it!!!

Dear Mrs. de Tony,
This country is a man's world.
Men place the orders...

m'frog

 

[Rocky]

Dear Mrs. de Tony,
This country is a man's world.
Men place the orders...

m'frog

It certainly is a patriarchal society here, but, but, but... How can a waiter tell the difference between a froggy and a frogette?

 

[mountainfrog]

The Language of the Gods

....If you don't look like you're going to be able to speak their language, they predispose themselves to not hear you or process the information.

You must be talking about French people... irate:

m'frog

 

[CFA123]

If you don't look like you're going to be able to speak their language, they predispose themselves to not hear you or process the information.

Well said. That got me to thinking, similar things happen in the U.S. to non-native English speakers. There's a group of people that will simply dismiss in advance what they assume will be a non-productive conversation. :ermm: I've seen it happen. And if it's obvious that I'm with the person, they will look to me to translate the 'english to English' for them.

So, perhaps it's not just a Dominican thing :ermm:

 

[mountainfrog]

Lady Frog

.... a froggy and a frogette?

Well, the educated waiter would know....

Urban Dictionary: la belle frogette

m'frog

 

[Chip00]

Well said. That got me to thinking, similar things happen in the U.S. to non-native English speakers. There's a group of people that will simply dismiss in advance what they assume will be a non-productive conversation. :ermm: I've seen it happen. And if it's obvious that I'm with the person, they will look to me to translate the 'english to English' for them.

So, perhaps it's not just a Dominican thing :ermm:

Hmm - good point. I seem to remember when I was at graduate school that I had some foreign friends that I hung out with and they had trouble communicating with some people, especially the locals as it was a country town(Clemson) and weren't that used to talking to people with limited communication skills in English.

Also, the fact that I am so damn white (or maybe just damn ugly?) probably throws people off from the getgo here in the DR.

 

[miguel]

Pero se te olvido.....

Don't forget something, PEOPLE:

MOST Dominicans can "smell" a foreigner from a mile away!.

It's the norm, when a foreigner, male or female, is accompanied by a Dominican (whom they also can 'smell' from a mile away), the Dominican is the one ordering their food. Perhaps SOME think the foreigner can't speak
Spanish.

Haven't you witnessed a foreigner trying to order something going "ahhh ahhh, what's this, what's that" and then having his/her sankie/sankiette order for both of them?.

Now, I may not sound Dominican but I do think I look Dominican, and there have been cases when I, accompanied by Dominican friends, even if they hear me speaking Spanish, they go straight to one of my friends and ask "que USTEDES van a ordenar", without even looking at me.

I don't make a big deal about it because I know it's the norm. A lot of Dominicans associate "foreigner" with "don't speak Spanish".

Trust me, within minutes, they find out who REALLY is in complete control.

Or as soon as the bill comes, hahahaha!.

 

[azabache]

I'm not trying to hijack the thread but.....while everyone is on the subject of communication and language usage...I'd like to ask if anyone (besides me) has noticed this: Very frequently if I ask a direct question to someone in the DR it's hard to get a direct and straight answer. For example, if I ask someone where Ramiro's grocery store is located they'll tell me something like "Oh, there's a better grocery store at such & such a location". Sometimes I have to ask the same question three times to get a straight answer. Why do they answer like this? Drives me nuts.

 

[Chip00]

I'm not trying to hijack the thread but.....while everyone is on the subject of communication and language usage...I'd like to ask if anyone (besides me) has noticed this: Very frequently if I ask a direct question to someone in the DR it's hard to get a direct and straight answer. For example, if I ask someone where Ramiro's grocery store is located they'll tell me something like "Oh, there's a better grocery store at such & such a location". Sometimes I have to ask the same question three times to get a straight answer. Why do they answer like this? Drives me nuts.

That definitely is a Dominican thing. My wife does this to me over and over and over. I think it stems from the Dominican trait to be helpful to a fault.

 

[miguel]

De verdad....

That definitely is a Dominican thing. My wife does this to me over and over and over. I think it stems from the Dominican trait to be helpful to a fault.

What, are you telling me my buddy, Dennis James Callahan, here in "Alaska", is Dominican?. Holly cojones Batman, that moron didn't tell me!. LOL.

 

[Chip00]

What, are you telling me my buddy, Dennis James Callahan, here in "Alaska", is Dominican?. Holly cojones Batman, that moron didn't tell me!. LOL.

I said it was a Domincan thing, not an "exclusive" Dominican thing!!!

You might want to brush up on that English pal!!!!! me make jokey!hahahah!

(where's AZB when I really need him?)

 

[miguel]

Mira pa' ya.....

I said it was a Domincan thing, not an "exclusive" Dominican thing!!!

(where's AZB when I really need him?)

Talk about "frog jumping", hahahahaha!.

Our buddy, AZB, hopefully will join us soon. He is taking care of some personal matters.

Please, let's not keep hijacking this thread anymore. I, for one, don't want the boogyman coming to get me, hehe!.

 

[El Tigre]

This is not chatter central. Stick to topic or this puppy will be ~GONE~ or I will chop chop.

Muchas gracias.

 

[Chip00]

I thought I share a funny story of what happened in PP.

Me and my cunado, born and bred here in the DR, never been abroad and doesn't know English from Sam Hill went out looking for lunch for the rest of the gang who were at the beach. We stopped at a Parador on the highway to Santiago close to the Zona Franca and just as I was getting in line a friend calls from the US and we chat for a minute in English.

Ok so I finish talking and the lady who serves the food asks me what I want and I kindly reply "La Bandera".

She replies "no entiendo".

Whereupon I say "La bandera Dominicana, arroz, habichela y carne."

She looks at me knd of weird and then calls over a person to "translate" whereupon I tell him the same thing in Spanish and he tells her the same thing in Spanish.

I then ask him - "why doesn't she know what "La bandera" is?

He replies "maybe because your Spanish is not good?".

OK I'm a humble guy so no problema - anyway we left there because we also needed to stop by a different parador to get some roasted chicken.

So he calls a chica and starts asking her questions and I call another chica and place my order. Anyway the chica takes my order jiffy quick but my poor cunado is having difficulty with explaining what he wanted to the chica he was talking too.

Whereupon I said what's the problem "you need me to translate, haha?

And my cunado says, "you might as well becasue this girls doesn't seem to understand what I want to order".

So finally I DID translate for my cunado and we got his order place jiffy quick too.

I think I have realized that it is true with dealing with some Dominicans that if they even think that you are a foreigner much less hear you speaking another language that they would rather assume that you don't speak the language well than even bother to take the time to listen to you!!

 

[Chris]

I think I have realized that it is true with dealing with some Dominicans that if they even think that you are a foreigner much less hear you speaking another language that they would rather assume that you don't speak the language well than even bother to take the time to listen to you!!

Each time you say this, I am a little puzzled ... as I can honestly say that I've never experienced someone deliberately 'not understanding'. So, I wonder how this works. Thinking it may be a gender difference, I just asked my husband about his experience and he does not relate either. My experience has always been that the Dominicans will respond to you in terms of how you put yourself forward - immaterial of bad Spanish, no Spanish or fluent Spanish. With badly accented Spanish, I've seen some Dominicans turn away, shaking their heads .. but only if they feel somehow disrespected.

There is also a difference - in tourist areas, where the Dominicans are used to dealing with tourists, one often gets disrespect and you have to almost earn respect back, and put yourself on the map as distinctly different from a tourist, by dress and by demeanour. In the backcountry or the city, I've never felt deliberately misunderstood ... and believe me, I've made some crazy bloopers with the language.

So, I'm struggling to understand your experience here.

 

[Chip00]

Each time you say this, I am a little puzzled ... as I can honestly say that I've never experienced someone deliberately 'not understanding'. So, I wonder how this works. Thinking it may be a gender difference, I just asked my husband about his experience and he does not relate either. My experience has always been that the Dominicans will respond to you in terms of how you put yourself forward - immaterial of bad Spanish, no Spanish or fluent Spanish. With badly accented Spanish, I've seen some Dominicans turn away, shaking their heads .. but only if they feel somehow disrespected.

There is also a difference - in tourist areas, where the Dominicans are used to dealing with tourists, one often gets disrespect and you have to almost earn respect back, and put yourself on the map as distinctly different from a tourist, by dress and by demeanour. In the backcountry or the city, I've never felt deliberately misunderstood ... and believe me, I've made some crazy bloopers with the language.

So, I'm struggling to understand your experience here.

Well I struggled too but after reading some of the responses from the other posters that live here I do know that it happens and feel more or less satisfied with their answers.

Also, I don't know that if this is relevant but I have been living over here in a year now and I have to talk to Dominicans in their language on a daily basis as no knows English here(well not exactly, In 15 months here in Santiago I've met maybe 5 to 10 people) so therefore it maybe just that I have had a lot of exposure. If you haven't spent a lot of time living here that may explain why you haven't encountered this yet.

 

[miguel]

Yo tambien......

Each time you say this, I am a little puzzled ... as I can honestly say that I've never experienced someone deliberately 'not understanding'.

You know what Christa, me too.

I think that people are not understanding Chip00 because in fact he can't be understood. Perhaps his "Dominican" is NOT as good as he thinks.

I have never, EEEEEEEEEVER, had a problem with Dominicans not understanding what I or my friends say to them in Spanish.

And let me tell you, some of my friends' Spanish is worse than my Chinese!!.

Oh well.....