Language again

Matt you should still give me credit for doing this post. It was insightful and from a specific conference lecture that Ashley recommended that we listen to. So here it is again.

I listened to "Where's my Babel Fish" yesterday and have been thinking a bit about language in general. First off I think it's great that we were given a list of slang and profane words and phrases to help us understand a little bit better what is going on. In addition, I have been thinking a lot about language from doing the translation work for my consent and assent forms. There are so many words that are just not common in Spanish. For instance some of the exercises and equipment that I will be using just are not common words in Spanish- at least not for a common person. I think I could say the same thing for English sometimes. If I start talking about lateral flexion of the I.S. joint, most people are not going to understand what I'm talking about. This is also something that I have seen when I work in the physical therapy clinic. The PT will explain certain structures of the body or procedures using words that I just learned in my anatomy class last semester. So, I am sure that the patient does not quite understand what he is talking about. This is just not too helpful for that person. This is something that I will need to be careful of when I am in the field. Common words for me may be uncommon to the people I will be living with. Even Spanish words that I have learned in class may actually be rarely used in rural Mexico and there will be other words that the people use for what I want to say. I imagine I will have frequent headaches while I am there trying to understand what is going on. So while this difficulty and problem is inevitable, I hope that it will not hinder me too much in my field study experience. In fact, I am excited to figure out how the people living in the rural areas outside of Irapuato speak and communicate differently than I have imagined here. It will be neat to learn some of the appropriate words and phrases that are unique only to Mexico and even only to Irapuato and the Ranchos.
In addition, it is not only language that differs between cultures, but as Liann described, there are concepts and ideas that vary greatly. Some ideas in American English just do not exist in India. I anticipate that there will be some similar difficulties that I find in Mexico. I am especially interested to find out the differences in their understanding of health and physical activity and then see how these differences in ideas bring about differences in behavior. At the end of Liann's discussion she mentions that she wishes she had emphasized the qualitative data more because it helps interpret the significance of the quantitative data so much more. This is something that I have been thinking about. I hope that three months in Irapuato is sufficient time to shed some light on the cultural reasons for physical differences between Mexico and other areas of the world.