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Katia
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Todd
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Argentina
Katia talks about her time in Argentina and her language background.
Katia: Yes. Actually I did think it was a very interesting country, a very good experience for me. I was there for a year and I went there to do an internship for five months but actually at the end of the internship, after the five months, they decided to hire me and of course I said yes I was very happy to stay a little bit longer in Argentina and learn about Argentina and the Argentinians.
Todd: Was this the first time you had lived in Argentina?
Katia: Yes, first time.
Todd: Now you also come from a Spanish speaking country, so was it easy for you to adapt?
Katia: Yes, regarding the language of course it wasn't a barrier. I was able to understand and they were able to understand me but I haven't been in a Latin American country for a while so that was a little bit difficult, but other than that it was not a problem.
Todd: Now when you speak Spanish in Argentina, can they tell instantly that you are from Mexico?
Katia: They can right away tell that I'm not Argentinian. Some will struggle a little bit to know where I am from. Usually they were in between I'm either Colombian or Mexican.
Todd: And for your work environment it was always in Spanish?
Katia: It was always in Spanish.
Todd: Now you speak many languages right? You obviously speak English fluently and do you speak Russian?
Katia: And I also speak Russian.
Todd: That's because your parents are Russian?
Katia: My mother.
Todd: OK.
Katia: My mother is Russian and my father Mexican.
Todd: And do you speak any other languages?
Katia: I speak a little bit of Japanese.
Todd: Wow. It's almost like you have one language from every continent.
Katia: No not really. Probably the Arabic is missing.
Todd: All right. So Arabic, now you lived in Morocco correct?
Katia: No, I only visited Morocco.
Todd: OK.
Katia: So I haven't lived in an Arabic country, nor African.
Todd: OK.
internship
I went there to do an internship for five months.
Students often do an internship at a company where they work for no pay to gain work experience. Notice the following:
- The local TV station offered me an internship.
- She's doing an internship at Dell Computer.
hire
They decided to hire me.
When we get hired, that means some one gives us a job. Notice the following:
- They said they weren't hiring now.
- We need to hire two more employees.
adapt
So was it easy for you to adapt?
When we adapt, that means we become comfortable with something new or different than we are use to. Notice the following:
- I was difficult to adapt to the hot weather.
- Companies must learn to adapt to the changing global economy.
barrier
Regarding the language of course it wasn't a barrier.
A barrier is something that makes it difficult to get what we want. Notice the following:
- The language barrier made it difficult to communicate.
- Was language a barrier?
tell
Can they tell instantly that you are from Mexico?
When we can tell something that means we know it is true by observation. Notice the following:
- I could tell he was nervous.
- The teacher could tell we didn't understand.
Vocabulary Quiz
barrier • tell
