Pew: Most U.S. Latinos speak Spanish, and those who don't are shamed by their own

[ellisonz]

Pew: Most U.S. Latinos speak Spanish, and those who don’t are shamed by their own

BY ALEJANDRA MOLINA
STAFF WRITER
SEPT. 20, 2023 10:36 AM PT

Soon after law school, Wendy Ramirez found herself teaching Spanish part-time to mostly white professionals while based in Washington, D.C.

As someone who felt “the shame” for not speaking “professional Spanish,” Ramirez gained more confidence in the language as she worked on immigration reform as a legislative assistant for then-Rep. Xavier Becerra and as she oversaw elections in Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala for the National Democratic Institute.

She decided it was time to help other Latinos who’ve struggled with Spanish, and issued a call-out on Facebook. From that emerged Spanish Sin Pena, an online space co-founded with Jackie Rodriguez — who previously worked at a health advocacy nonprofit supporting immigrant families — that goes beyond grammar and pronunciation as they help Latinos reclaim the language.

https://www.latimes.com/delos/story/2023-09-20/pew-most-u-s-latinos-speak-spanish-but-those-who-dont-face-shame-and-jokes-from-their-own

Under-considered issue. I had an ex-girlfriend who had this issue and and it is indeed a challenge to identity. De Los is the new Latino-news project of the Los Angeles Times. Being bilingual is definitely a plus on the job market as well at least here in California.

[Caliman73]

1. A great deal of Latino/Hispanic culture is wrapped up in the Spanish language.

There are multiple identities that Latinos have, especially if they were born and raised in the United States. Being of such identity myself, it is a real struggle. Spanish was my first language, primarily because my grandparents, with whom I spent considerable time as a child (both my parents worked), spoke only Spanish. I spoke little English when I went to kindergarten and I didn't even know my legal name, having been referred to only by my "apodo" or nickname.

As I went through the American school system, I used Spanish less, my parents spoke primarily English at home, my uncles and cousins also spoke English, so I lost some of it. Fortunately I was motivated to speak and I LOVED Mexican music so I had Spanish in my daily life. My wife, having come to the US from Mexico as a child and having a family that was monolingual Spanish speaking, has much better Spanish than I do. She also understands some cultural references from Mexico that I did not get, having grown up here.

There is a kind of subculture of Mexican-Americans that feel "caught in the middle" there was a scene in the movie Selena where Selena's dad is talking about how we are never considered American by people over here, but are also not Mexican enough for people over there.

Being bi-lingual is definitely a tool, but it is much more than that. Knowing and speaking Spanish is an anchor to the dual identity that Latino-Americans have whether we want that identity or not.

A funny side note (maybe), recently when at restaurants in my predominantly Spanish speaking town in California, people will start speaking to me in Spanish. I remember when I was younger, part of me would get offended when that happened, then I got used to people assuming I spoke English and speaking in English. Now, when restaurant workers and others start speaking to me in Spanish, I have a little tinge of pride thinking, "Huh, I guess I do look Mexican".

[stuck in the middle]

4. In the Atlanta airport...

…on our way back home to Iowa from Colombia, where my wife is from, a friend’s mother was traveling to Iowa with us, to visit her son, and a Japanese women came up to her and tried to speak to her in Japanese, because she is visibly Asian, and all she could say was “No entiendo”.

[brush]

2. Being bilingual is a definite plus. If I were Latino and my parents...

Last edited Thu Sep 21, 2023, 03:04 PM - Edit history (1)

or grandparents were first generation, I'd insist that they made me speak Spanish at home so as to become fluent myself.

I'm African American, grew up in Tucson, Az in a Mexican American neighborhood and went to school with mostly Mexican American classmates. I still regret that I didn't take Spanish as an elective in high school as living in Tucson I would've had plenty of chances to use it and keep in practice.

I took three years of Latin when I could've taken Spanish. My sister took Spanish all the way thru and on into college. She's an educator and was up for the principal's job at Pueblo HIgh School in a Mexican American neighborhood. She elected to do the interview in Spanish and got the job.

Being bilingual is a definite asset in the job market.

[exboyfil]

3. Did the Latin thing as well

I still kick myself for not applying myself in 8th grade when taking Spanish 1B (Spanish 1 was split into 7th and 8th grade). I signed up for both Latin 1 and Spanish 2 in 9th grade, but they rightfully put me back into Spanish 1 so I dropped it. I made a hash out of my two years of Latin as well. I wasn't a very dedicated student back then.

If I had stuck with it I could have had four years of Spanish with the opportunity to take additional courses as a Senior at a Jr. College in Spanish. i wish I had done that. My daughter actually did that taking a Spanish course in college while in high school after finishing Spanish 4 (she did it by taking Spanish 2 online over the summer).

[ellisonz]

5. I took French!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. The sad thing in this country is that foreign languages

don't typically get taught until high school.

The reason so many Europeans (and others) are so fluent in English is that they start learning it from the time they start school.

I'm also bothered by how many Americans are proud of never having taken a foreign language, or proud they've forgotten everything they every learned. Really?

There's a joke that goes: What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual.
What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual.
What do you call someone who speaks more than three languages? Multilingual.
What do you call someone who speaks one language? An American.