Don't "Dar Papaya" When You Are on the Streets!

Hey everyone, my name is Jervan Pravin Rampersad and I’m from Trinidad and Tobago. You may know me from Suba’s branch, or maybe you are my current student at the 45th Street branch. Either way, I am writing this entry to let you all know how much you have improved my cultural knowledge of Spanish, ironically through English classes. I will give you all a nice example, which is one of my favorite stories that I tell my other native English-speaking friends, when I talk about my ESL experience here in Colombia.

One place I’d like to begin is with the colloquialisms or slang that exist between English and Spanish. One time, while I was still working at Suba’s branch, I conducted a WeTalk session and proceeded to explain ‘social insecurity’ in my country. In our cultural exchange of how unsafe the streets are, we compared Trinidad and Tobago to Bogotá, …when a student commented, «…but teacher, it’s important not to give papaya with your phone on the street here in Bogotá.”

At first, I paused to contemplate, completely confused. I wondered, “Well, why is this kid talking about sharing fruits when we are talking about being robbed on the street?” Upon further discussion on the literal translation of the term “dar papaya”, I finally understood the context behind what the student meant, as we have the same cultural concept in English. In fact, English speakers express this by saying “don’t ask for trouble” (no pedir problemas) or “don’t make yourself a target” (no te conviertas en un objetivo), which is probably more literal than the Spanish equivalent, the arbitrary “dar papaya.”

My best recommendation that I can give to you all when you think to yourselves “How can I master English?” or any other language really, is that the answer is in the culture. The best way for you to understand language, in a way that it represents and properly translates your personality and thoughts, would be to understand the culture of your second language. I’ll close this blog by openly inviting you to my cultural Fridays at 4:50 pm and 6:20 pm, and maybe there, I can help you out with that task.

by: Jervan Pravin Rampersad

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