Girl does not really mean niña

True, it doesn´t.  According to its most common definition a GIRL is a female child from birth to young womanhood (around 21 years old). That means that Kristen Stewart (in the pic) could be called a girl just one year ago since she was born in 1990 and is (at the moment this article was written) now 22. And pretty much this also applies to boys so a boy is a boy until he is 21.
In our culture NIÑA is not the same. A NIÑA can be called that until her first period and then she becomes an ADOLESCENTE or a CHICA (we calculate that at some point between 11-12 years old). We also use this age to indicate when a boy is no longer a boy. That is why we find the names of certain superheroes silly, such as Supergirl, who is usually drawn as to be in her late teens or Robin, the Boy Wonder, who is usually a middle teen. For us The Backstreet Boys and The Spice Girls were a little old to be called Boys or Girls respectively. 
So a  NIÑA is really a LITTLE GIRL and a NIÑO is a LITTLE BOY. This is yet another case that proves that knowledge of the culture is essential to the English  teacher if we want to explain all these things to our own students.


Comments

Racionalista said…
I remember that you told us that but I didn`t know how to say niña in english. I have a question so, why at school they teached that girl means niña if it really is not?, because girl is not at least a related word with niña.
August 8, 2012 at 9:48 AM
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