Guest guest Posted April 18, 2002 Report Share Posted April 18, 2002 Hi, This is a social work perspective: I love the difference between the use of usted and tu. If you know someone quite well you may use the informal tu but for those you don't know that well and also to show respect for elders I would use usted. Those of us from the older generation of Anglos were taught that you always address an older person my their last name as a sign of respect. I would use the person's last name if you are referring to someone in a hospital, clinic, etc. If I was very familiar with the person I might use their first name only in private with them. Also I also refer to folks in a clinic/hospital setting as clients--probably from client advocacy even if they are a patient. In the research arena we refer to individuals as participants or respondants. Age, familarity, level of education (folks with their MD's, PhD I would use their first name if they are a close co-worker, but still refer to them as Dr. in the presence of others. That's my take. >Terms to Define Folks from Latino America. > >I truly enjoyed and learned from the recent discussion on terms to define >folks from Latino America. It became an ensemble performance. > >Apart from " defining, " how do we address folks and refer to them? Let's >assume like a clinic, health center or hospital. Do we use first name or >last name? How do we handle this with co-workers? > >For settings outside health care (social, legal, research, etc), how does >this work? > > V Bletzer. Arizona State Univ. > > > >To Post a message, send it to: Groups > >To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: > -unsubscribe > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 18, 2002 Report Share Posted April 18, 2002 I admire all the responses and the willingness of so many to learn. Gracias keep those minds open. Suerte Hermanos. Abdon Ibarra, Jr., JD Immigrant Services Director Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government 200 E. Main Lexington, KY 40517 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 19, 2002 Report Share Posted April 19, 2002 " folks " can have a pejorative meaning as well. Some would say it's condescending. It's generally not used that way intentionally, but cam tend to characterize someone as poor, in need, helpless, limited, etc. ----- Original Message ----- From: " Kathy Pitts " <kpitts@...> < > Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 12:14 PM Subject: Re: [ ] terms and names > Hi, This is a social work perspective: I love the difference between the > use of usted and tu. If you know someone quite well you may use the > informal tu but for those you don't know that well and also to show respect > for elders I would use usted. Those of us from the older generation of > Anglos were taught that you always address an older person my their last > name as a sign of respect. I would use the person's last name if you are > referring to someone in a hospital, clinic, etc. If I was very familiar > with the person I might use their first name only in private with them. > Also I also refer to folks in a clinic/hospital setting as > clients--probably from client advocacy even if they are a patient. > In the research arena we refer to individuals as participants or respondants. > Age, familarity, level of education (folks with their MD's, PhD I would use > their first name if they are a close co-worker, but still refer to them as > Dr. in the presence of others. That's my take. > > > >Terms to Define Folks from Latino America. > > > >I truly enjoyed and learned from the recent discussion on terms to define > >folks from Latino America. It became an ensemble performance. > > > >Apart from " defining, " how do we address folks and refer to them? Let's > >assume like a clinic, health center or hospital. Do we use first name or > >last name? How do we handle this with co-workers? > > > >For settings outside health care (social, legal, research, etc), how does > >this work? > > > > V Bletzer. Arizona State Univ. > > > > > > > >To Post a message, send it to: Groups > > > >To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: > > -unsubscribe > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 19, 2002 Report Share Posted April 19, 2002 My comment also as a social worker: The use of usted and tu is pretty much what Kathy described. However, there might be some difference depending on what country and culture in Latin America you are from. In some Latin American countries ( Ecuador, Guatemala, etc) you mostly use usted even referring to your parents (mama, usted...). In Caribbean countries (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic), tu is widely used. It is of course more informal than the usted. As a matter of fact, you might refer to a Cuban as usted, and they might ask you to call them tu, " chico, no me digas usted que me hace sentir viejo. " I would start always with usted, and get a feel for or ask the patient what would they prefer to be called. Ana Anders, LICSW Senior Advisor on Special Populations National Institute on Drug Abuse National Institutes of Health 6001 Executive Blvd. Bethesda, MD 20892 Ph. 301-443-0441 Ph. 301-435-0919 (direct) Fax 301-480-8179 E-Mail aa96o@... -----Original Message----- From: Kathy Pitts [mailto:kpitts@...] Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 1:15 PM Subject: Re: [ ] terms and names Hi, This is a social work perspective: I love the difference between the use of usted and tu. If you know someone quite well you may use the informal tu but for those you don't know that well and also to show respect for elders I would use usted. Those of us from the older generation of Anglos were taught that you always address an older person my their last name as a sign of respect. I would use the person's last name if you are referring to someone in a hospital, clinic, etc. If I was very familiar with the person I might use their first name only in private with them. Also I also refer to folks in a clinic/hospital setting as clients--probably from client advocacy even if they are a patient. In the research arena we refer to individuals as participants or respondants. Age, familarity, level of education (folks with their MD's, PhD I would use their first name if they are a close co-worker, but still refer to them as Dr. in the presence of others. That's my take. >Terms to Define Folks from Latino America. > >I truly enjoyed and learned from the recent discussion on terms to define >folks from Latino America. It became an ensemble performance. > >Apart from " defining, " how do we address folks and refer to them? Let's >assume like a clinic, health center or hospital. Do we use first name or >last name? How do we handle this with co-workers? > >For settings outside health care (social, legal, research, etc), how does >this work? > > V Bletzer. Arizona State Univ. > > > >To Post a message, send it to: Groups > >To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: > -unsubscribe > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 19, 2002 Report Share Posted April 19, 2002 One other twist to the tu-usted issue as it applies to Cubans. After the Revolution, the government made some efforts to discourage the use of usted in everyday discourse, since it was perceived as anti-egalitarian and hierarchical. I don't think that it was ever completely successful, though. After all, it's pretty hard to promote so fundamental a grammatical change, esp. since tense is the glue that structures every social interaction in Romance languages. But it would be interesting to find out whether tu is more common among Cubans than among other Hispano-Caribbean people. R. Duke, Ph.D. Social Anthropologist Hispanic Health Council 175 Main Street Hartford, CT 06106 USA/EUA 860.527.0856 miked@... www.hispanichealth.com > -----Original Message----- > From: Anders, Ana (NIDA) [sMTP:aanders@...] > Sent: Friday, April 19, 2002 10:25 AM > ' ' > Subject: RE: [ ] terms and names > > My comment also as a social worker: > The use of usted and tu is pretty much what Kathy described. > However, there might be some difference depending on what country and > culture in Latin America you are from. > In some Latin American countries ( Ecuador, Guatemala, etc) you mostly use > usted even referring to your parents (mama, usted...). > In Caribbean countries (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic), tu is widely > used. It is of course more informal than the usted. > As a matter of fact, you might refer to a Cuban as usted, and they might ask > you to call them tu, " chico, no me digas usted que me hace sentir viejo. " > I would start always with usted, and get a feel for or ask the patient what > would they prefer to be called. > > Ana Anders, LICSW > Senior Advisor on Special Populations > National Institute on Drug Abuse > National Institutes of Health > 6001 Executive Blvd. > Bethesda, MD 20892 > Ph. 301-443-0441 > Ph. 301-435-0919 (direct) > Fax 301-480-8179 > E-Mail aa96o@... > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Kathy Pitts [mailto:kpitts@...] > Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 1:15 PM > > Subject: Re: [ ] terms and names > > > Hi, This is a social work perspective: I love the difference between the > use of usted and tu. If you know someone quite well you may use the > informal tu but for those you don't know that well and also to show respect > for elders I would use usted. Those of us from the older generation of > Anglos were taught that you always address an older person my their last > name as a sign of respect. I would use the person's last name if you are > referring to someone in a hospital, clinic, etc. If I was very familiar > with the person I might use their first name only in private with them. > Also I also refer to folks in a clinic/hospital setting as > clients--probably from client advocacy even if they are a patient. > In the research arena we refer to individuals as participants or > respondants. > Age, familarity, level of education (folks with their MD's, PhD I would use > their first name if they are a close co-worker, but still refer to them as > Dr. in the presence of others. That's my take. > > > >Terms to Define Folks from Latino America. > > > >I truly enjoyed and learned from the recent discussion on terms to define > >folks from Latino America. It became an ensemble performance. > > > >Apart from " defining, " how do we address folks and refer to them? Let's > >assume like a clinic, health center or hospital. Do we use first name or > >last name? How do we handle this with co-workers? > > > >For settings outside health care (social, legal, research, etc), how does > >this work? > > > > V Bletzer. Arizona State Univ. > > > > > > > >To Post a message, send it to: Groups> > > > >To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: > > -unsubscribe > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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