Spanish and Safiki

It´s interesting to speak Spanish with the Tsachila, since it is a second language for all of us. Within my host family, the adults will speak Safiki (their indigenous language) to each other, but use Spanish with the school aged children. The elementary school is bilingual, in name at least, but many of the teachers come from other communities and can only communicate in Spanish. It reminds me a bit of immigrant families I have known in the US. It always makes me a little sad to see a situation where children can´t really communicate directly with their grandparents. While Safiki doesn´t seem likely to go extinct any time soon, it definately is in decline and will require a concerted effort to maintain over the next generations.

Beyond that there are some differences between the Spanish here and in Mexico, where I first learned Spanish. There are two ways to say you in Spanish: the formal Usted and the informal Tu. In Mexico, I used Tu with everyone except the family grandfather. Here, I use Usted with anyone over ten years old. It´s not a big deal, but it changes the verb tense, and a lot of my quick responses need to be readjusted, so I speak slower and am often a step behind. I suspect the use of the formal Usted may have something to do with the power dynamic of the Spanish and mestizo speakers in relation to the Tsachila: Most of their initial interactions were so formal it shaped the way they speak to each other.

In Costa Rica last summer, I noticed a similar tendency to prefer Usted, especially among the well educated. Someone explained that Usted was their traditional way of speaking. If you used Tu a lot it implied that you were watching too many Mexican telenovelas (soap operas)!

There are also some interesting changes in word choice here. Words for bag, pocket or farm are all different from what I learned in Mexico. Safiki words creep in, especially for plants. Oddly, some words, such as those for backpack and excuse me, are different in Costa Rica, but back to the Mexican word I first learned. Usually people can understand me no matter which word choice I use. The difficulty usually lies in my not understanding their response because they have used the local synonym.