[Vlad The Inhaler]

because too many children can't read

But they speak Spanish better than Queen Isabella.

.

[Tax-chick]

Not really. Even children from Spanish-speaking families speak a pretty basic Spanish, more like an American high-school student than an educated adult from a Spanish-speaking country.

I know this because I can always talk with elementary-school kids or Mexican housewives in Spanish, but when I run into, say, a retired professor of French from the University of Bogota, all I can do is smile and nod and say, “Yes, Sir, you’re absolutely right!” “Por cierto, Senor, dice Usted la verdad!”

[rey]

“But they speak Spanish better than Queen Isabella.”

Actually not. Many of the Spanish speaking immigrants are poorly educated and do not speak or write well in either language.. When asked if I was bilingual, I used to joke I was bilingually illiterate (actually multilingually). It isn’t a joke now.