Culture in My City

Written Speech

The culture in my community is mostly Mexican, or Hispanic. That is what I did this project on…

In Mexico, culture and tradition are seen as central to life and society. Mexican people are large, warm

and vivacious individuals with an incredible zest for life. Mexican society and culture is one of the biggest part of

all Mexicans. The families are at the center of the social structure. Outside of the major cosmopolitan cities,

families are still generally large. The extended family is as important as the nuclear family since it provides

a sense of stability. Mexicans consider it their duty and responsibility to help family members. For example,

the will help find employment or finance a house or other large purchase. Most Mexican families are extremely

traditional, with the father as the head, the authority figure and the decision-maker. Mothers are greatly revered,

but their role may be seen as secondary to that of their husband.

Exchanging proper greetings is considered very important in Mexican cultural circles. Handshakes are viewed as being

the standard greeting and before even attempting to ask a question or make a request, it is important to shake hands

and exchange greetings. You are also expected to address all members of a group individually - greeting a group of

people in the collective sense is viewed as being both lazy and rude. Even if your Spanish is incredibly poor, Mexicans

will greatly appreciate any effort that you make to speak the language. A quick Buenes dias will go a long way to earn

you respect in the eyes of local residents. In major towns as cities most locals will be able to speak English proficiently

and it is only in the more rural areas that you may encounter a few language barriers. When engaging in conversation

with locals, keep your English grammatically correct and avoid using colloquial terms and idioms which are viewed as

being unnecessary and impolite....