November 5, 2014
I can often tell how long a missionary has been in Mexico by
the words they use when they switch back to speaking English. I was talking with Elder Schaap the other
day. He was discussing all he is doing
and I laughed as he continually used two words.
These words are seldom used in English – one has rather a different
meaning. However, because so many
Spanish words are similar to English words, Elders who have been in the country
for a while use them when they start speaking English.
Capacitacion: The
name of the Language Training Center in Mexico is “Centro de
Capacitacion.” This equates to the
Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.
Therefore missionaries will often speak of “capacitating” (kah pass e
tate ing) when they start to speak in English.
“We need to capacitate.” “We are
meeting to capacitate.” “We will lead
the capacitation.” It took me several
months to even figure out what they were talking about! They mean “training.”
Disanimated: “She is
disanimated.” “The Elder is disanimated.” While this word exists in English, we usually
prefer to use the word “discouraged” or even “unenthusiastic.” This also took a while to figure out because
I always associated animation with cartoon characters. I would look at the Elder who was speaking and try
and figure out how an animation could become dis-animated.
I suppose (or rather hope) that I will likewise be making
these errors in the future.
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