Puerto Rico Culture Essay

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Puerto Rico is a rich melting pot of cultures, with some of the strongest influences coming from the Taino Indians, Spain, and Africa. Puerto Ricans are people who regard themselves as citizens of a distinctive island nation in spite of their of their colonial condition and United States citizenship. Although English and Spanish are the official languages, Puerto Rico is overwhelmingly Spanish speaking, despite the fact of the government’s efforts to eradicate Spanish or foster bilingualism. Even though Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, the people there own culture and customs that have evolved over many centuries. The communicative culture of Puerto Rico does not only focus on the actual spoken language, but in fact, it on…show more content…
According to Jared Romey some examples of slang words and phrases used by Puerto Riccans are “¡A juyir, Crispín!” which equates to “let’s get the heck out of here!,” “A lo loco” meaning “like crazy” or “done without much thought,” and “¡Ea diablo!,” an exclamation, roughly equivalent to the American English expression “Oh, My God!” or “Holy Shit!”. In addition to the use of slang words, proverbs are also used. Some of these proverbs include, Tener algo en la punta de la lengua (On the tip of the tongue), El que vive de ilusiones muere de desengaños (Out of touch with reality), Visteme despacio que voy de prisa (Patience is a virtue) and La práctica hace el maestro/La práctica hace Milagros (Practice makes perfect). The use of slang and proverbs is mostly seen between family members, friends, and acquaintances, but once an individual reaches communication outside their friends and family the communication becomes a little different, more formal. This type of formality is not only seen in Puerto Rico but also everywhere around the world, in which people often show respect for the elderly and use the more formal way of communicating when speaking to individuals such as, lawyers, doctors, teachers, and

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