the language is a cause for concern. All too often, though, the typical North American considers language differences the only concern. Rather than consider the fact that a Brazilian or an Argentine sees the world from a different perspective than ourselves, the United States business rep is inclined to place all of the blame upon language. "They didn't understand me" is all too often used to mean "I didn't communicate clearly enough in their language." Rarely does the American businessman consider the possibility that every single word was clearly understood - but that the American and his Latin counterpart are listening to the same words in entirely different cultural contexts (Foster 84-87).
It is not a surprising misunderstanding: as indicated earlier, the traditions influencing North and South America overlap on several fronts. In both the United States and countries south Europeans took over control from the indigenous population. Inspired by Enlightenment ideals, the United States and most nations in Latin America fought free from European colonial masters within the same fifty year period. Immigrants from Europe have continued to feed intellectual and commercial life ever since, while mixed-race populations characterize all of the Americas. Moreover, with Mexico sharing our southern border and Hispanics comprising the largest minority in the United States, there is a tendency for people in this country to feel that they already "know" about Latin America (Havens 430-432).
That "knowledge" is, for all practical purposes, based upon false premises - for the European heritage both North and South America share is most definitely not the same. The United States, for all its "melting pot" cultural diversity, is founded upon north European, primarily English, traditions. Mexico and nations south were colonized by Spain and Portugal, Iberian-Mediterranean cultures of the southern European tradition. These are two ve...