General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Who will/would The Donald pick for VP? [View all]SheilaT
(23,156 posts)Susana La Tejana's grandparents came to this country from there. I have no idea if she herself speaks Spanish but that language is not only widely spoken here but even more widely understood. I took three semesters of college Spanish back in the '90s, and was about as good as you might expect from that amount of study. For about eight months after I moved here I worked outpatient registration at the local hospital, and my passive Spanish got REALLY good. My active Spanish also improved a great deal.
However, never make the mistake of assuming that someone with a Hispanic surname or appearance actually speaks the language. Just like any other immigrant group succeeding generations tend to lose the original language they came here with. In NM Spanish has been retained somewhat longer simply because of the concentration and constant influx of Spanish language speakers. Almost any job where you'd deal with the public, it helps a great deal to speak the language, and there are jobs for which it is required.
added on edit: no one here would call her crazy mama. Susana La Loca, maybe. The other really does sound offensive, even though I don't care for her at all.