Learn Spanish Abroad - Latin American Culture

Latin America, which consists of Central and South America, has important and obvious differences within its countries, but still there are some common habits and similarities within the Latin American culture.

The whole of Latin America speaks Spanish, except for Brazil where the national language is Portuguese. In all Latin American countries you can expect a 30-minute delay, because the attitude toward time is less rigid than among North Americans. When you are setting times for appointments, ask "la hora inglesa, o la hora espanol?". Translated this means "the English hour" ("on time") or "the Latin hour"("If I say 7 o'clock, don't be surprised if I don't show up until 7:30 or even later")

Another very important fact in the Latin American culture is that Latinos will usually stand closer together during conversations. So don't be surprised of casual touching and, of course, the abrazo , or embrace, among good friends.

Differences in culture

But Latin American culture includes more than just customary practices. Also high culture (literature, high art) and popular culture (music, folk art and dance) as well as religion play an important fact. For more information about culture in Latin America choose a country:

Argentina Bolivia Chile Colombia Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador Al Salvador Guatemala Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama Peru Uruguay Venezuela