Identity and Belonging:Discovering our roots

Where do we come from?

We investigated about our family names’ origin. The results are shown in the graph below:

Our culture has been largely

influenced by foreign communities

in many different fields like: - LANGUAGE

- FOOD

- ARCHITECTURE

- MUSIC

- DANCES

- FESTIVALS

- RELIGION

Spanish is our mother tongue. But, there areslight variations in pronunciation, entonation andaccent along the country.

English is taught in all schools in Argentina as aforeign language. And that’s why there areschools of English in every city. French, Italian andPortuguese are also taught in some schools.

There are also native languages like‘Guaraní’, ‘Quichua’ and ‘Aimará’ in some parts ofour country.

LANGUAGE

Argentinians are distinguished from other LatinAmericans by their use of "che". It comes fromthe language used by the Mapuche and means"man". For example, an Argentinian might say,"Che, vení" ("Hey you, come here") to getsomeone's attention.

Another important difference between theArgentinian way of speaking Spanish and theSpanish spoken in Spain is the use of "vos"instead of "tu" ( you ) and a very strongpronunciation of "y" and "ll" as "sh".

OUR SPANISH LANGUAGE

* The ‘lunfardo’ is an argot of the Spanish languagewhich appeared in Buenos Aires at the end of the19th century. It integrated a lot of words andexpressions from languages and dialects spokenfrom immigrants, notably Italians, Spaniards andFrench.

* Some of these words are still used nowadays. Forexample:

- Laburar (to work, from Italian lavorare – to work)

- Toilette (bathroom, from the French toilettes –

bathroom)

- Mina (female, from the Italian femmina – female)

LUNFARDO

Argentinian food was influenced by other cultures over the world. In addition to our typical dishes, we eat:

Pasta, pizza, Milanesas a la napolitana (from Italy)

Paella (from Spain)

Sushi (from China)

Hamburguers (from the USA)

Sausages (from Germany)

FOOD

* European influences can be found everywherein the Argentine architecture. The city of BuenosAires and other metropolitan areas havearchitecture that is European in style, while theless populated places and preserved areas of themajor cities reflect a style of the colonial times.

ARCHITECTURE

There are two kinds of traditional Argentine musicthat represent two distinct regions:

• For the foreiners, tango, representative

of Buenos Aires, has become the musical

symbol of Argentina as a whole.

• Folklore is typical of the interior of

the country and reflects the colonial

period and its gaucho, or cowboy style.

TRADITIONAL MUSIC

Other types of music are also listened to in our country:

- cumbia

- regaetton

- reggae

- electronic music

- rock

- soft music

OTHER TYPES OF MUSIC

Apart from our traditional dances:Chacarera Malambo Tango Zamba Pericón

…dances from other cultures havebecome quite popular in Argentina:

Reggaeton Arabic dance Salsa Merengue Hip Hop

DANCES

We celebrate many festivals which are typical from ourcountry like:

- The National Festival of Folklore

- The Snow Festival in San Carlos de Bariloche

- The Carnival of Gualeguaychú

- La Vendimia Party

- The Livestock show

- The Harvest of Fish Festival in Mar del Plata.

FESTIVALS

However, some foreign festivals have gainedpopularity lately, for example:

- Halloween

- Saint Patrick’s Day

- Chinese Lunar New Year’s Day

FOREIGN FESTIVALS

In our country the Roman Catholicism, which was brought by the Spanish when they colonized America, is the main religion.

The Evangelical church, the Islam, the Judaism and the Protestantism are also present in our country.

RELIGION

Connecting ClassroomsEdition 2013

E.E.S.T. Nº 6 – 4º ‘A’

San Nicolás - Buenos Aires - Argentina