Controversial combination of Spanish and English making its way into mainstream

AP via Boston.com ^ | 11/03/2002 | Deborah Kong

[GeneD]

In the wacky cartoon world of the ''Mucha Lucha'' wrestling school, Buena Girl is trying to help her friend gain weight in preparation for his match with three big ''brutos.''

''And now for the ultimate in buena eats! El Masked Montana's mega torta!'' she says, stuffing an enormous sandwich into his mouth.

[Ben Hecks]

Maybe Esperanto will make a comeback.

[Cultural Jihad]

Muy interesting. Gracias por la post.

[BenLurkin]

This change in the language is inevitable. For better or worse, this is how history treats languages.

This is why so many words in English are French in origin and have the same or smilar meaning as a word from Anglo-Saxon . [eg. Prison (French) and Jail (A/S).]

Not saying its good, just syaing it will come to pass.

[Cicero]

If enough people speak it, it will happen. English is far richer than it would otherwise be because it contains elements descended from Latin, Anglo-Saxon, Norman French, a little bit of Danish, and several other languages.

By comparison, pure French is an impoverished language with a very small vocabulary.

So, no use trying to lay down the language law. Either it will happen, or it won't. Most likely Spanish will begin to enter American English one familiar word at a time, amigos, and people will hardly notice.

[Wonder Warthog]

"This change in the language is inevitable. For better or worse, this is how history treats languages."

Yeah, verily and forsooth! However, American English (and to a lesser extent British English) are pretty "open-armed" about adopting new words/phrases from other languages and cultures. This is in MAJOR contrast to other languages/nationalities who spend major time worrying about "linguistic purity" and fighting the (as you say) inevitable.

[MoralSense]

I'm a big supporter of English-immersion in the classroom. But I have also pointed out (in columns for American Enterprise and the American Prowler) that we shouldn't be surprised when Americans speak the other main language of the Western hemisphere.

Spanglish will be like early 20th Century Yiddish. It's a way of getting along for a while, and then it will disappear. Nothing to worry about, and meantime, it's charming and fun.

[Prodigal Son]

I'm learning Spanish now and enjoying it- great language. It's surprising how many more things I can say after only 6 two hour classes than I could after a similar time frame when I was learning German- and this while I lived in Germany and had Germans to practice on everyday. I just wish native Spanish speakers didn't speak so quickly.

I think at this point this Spanglish thing would simply confuse me.

[LO_IQ]

I just wish native Spanish speakers didn't speak so quickly.

I just wish the Scottish didn't speak so quickly ;-)

First time I went to Scotland, I had a translator with me, a Scottish guy who had lived in the US.

I felt relieved when I went to Spain. Spanish was so much easier to understand!

[185JHP]

You may think so - pero you don't know!

[MissAmericanPie]

I understand you can learn spanish quick by immersing youself in the language. How about those of you so hot on learning the language of these "migrant voters" move there and immerse yourselves??

[LO_IQ]

I moved to Miami and learned in 6 months hanging around with the locals. I speak almost as good as Jeb Bush, our bilingual governor.

I'm working on my Creole now ;-)

[Prodigal Son]

I just wish the Scottish didn't speak so quickly ;-)

Tell me about it. When I first moved here I'd have to ask people in Glasgow two or three times what they said- and that was just in the McDonalds... I'm all right with 'em now. I like the way some of 'em pronounce the "ow" sound- Down=Doon, House=Hoose, Out=Oot...

[Prodigal Son]

You may think so - pero you don't know!

LOL! The first sentence I ever learned to say in Spanish was "Estas Embarazada" (Are you pregnant?). In the Army, in many of the health clinics in the xray room they would always have the dual language sign hanging up so expectant mothers would be sure to tell the technician (I was in the xray room a lot in the service- had five reconstructive knee surgeries).

Whenever I was in a good mood and I'd come across a bunch of Latin Soldiers speaking Spanish (and if I knew them) I'd waltz up and say "Buenos Dias! Estas Embarazada?" They'd always get a kick out of it.

[MissAmericanPie]

I had a customer try to get me to speak Spanish...once. She made the mistake of asking, "Don't you want to learn?".

[Chi-townChief]

It seems like this Spanglish has been around for quite a while longer than the author thinks; kind of like Pidgin English.

[LO_IQ]

I will sometimes get annoyed if I ask a question in English , and the person answers in Spanish to me.

I understand Spanish, but I think the person who starts an interaction--whether a phone conversation or a question at a store--has the right to expect the same language spoken in return. I also agree that in the US, English must be the presumed language of business unless the customer asks otherwise.

Sometimes, Spanish-speaking clerks switch languages without realizing how irritating it is.

Since I have lived most of my live in large cities, I'm used to listen to foreign sounds, and I'm too curious not to learn the language spoken around me. That's why I learned Spanish and I'm trying to learn Creole (Haitian French) now.