NOMADAS GLOBALES ARGENTINA: Does "SI" mean "YES" in Argentina?

When I deliver intercultural trainings, my audience (travelers, expats and international students living in Buenos Aires) usually show a special interest in sharing their experiences on first interactions with Argentinos. A few of them are funny tales and stories of success, but many are chronicles of frustrating encounters, where communicating effectively with Porteños feels like trying to complete a 1000-piece puzzle and always missing the last piece. Expats claim that there is a kind of magic force preventing them from connecting with their Porteños collegues, flatmates or partners.

So why is that?

Sometimes it is the lack of motivation to mix with Porteños that leads to failed interactions. In other cases, Spanish still sounds like Mandarin Chinese to many NewComers who struggle with the local accent and the fast-speaking style of Porteños.

But when the motivation is there, and they have learnt to say more than “Si, gracias” in Spanish and “Qué Buena onda” in Lunfardo´s Buenos Aires slang, there is one more box to consider in BA expats´ checklist: communication style.

A frequent complaint is that locals "just don’t know how to answer a question straight to the point". Is it because all Porteños have suddenly lost their train of thought? Well, some of them possibly, but ... everyone?

Others moan that Porteños usually don´t say what they really mean. Does "Sí" mean "Yes" in Argentina? Or Spanish rules changed and “Sí” now means “Maybe not, but I won´t tell you that”?

The challenge is a bit more profound, and way more interesting to explore!

Cultures differ significantly on many dimensions, being one of the most important ones the level of directness and indirectness. Differences between these two poles account for a large number of cross-cultural misunderstandings.

According to Edward Hall, one of the most respected US Anthropologists and Cross-Cultural Researchers, cultures can have high-context and low context communication patterns.

In a low context culture (such as USA or Germany), communication tends to be direct. Most of the information is in the words and there is no need to read between lines. People say what they mean and they mean what they say.

On the other hand, in high-context cultures (such as Japan, Southeast Asia or China) most information is transmitted indirectly. It is usually implicit in the physical context (such as body language), while very little is contained in the verbal, explicit message. If telling the truth threatens harmony, then the truth should be adjusted or disguised. Preserving relationships and avoiding loss of face are main concerns. So if you forget to read between lines, you will be missing the largest portion of the message of your indirect counterpart.

Having said this – are you now ready to go one step farther in your appreciation of Argentinos´ communication style? Where do you think that Argentina stands between the low-context/ high context cultural orientation?

And last but not least - what kind of communication patterns do YOU have?