Spanish Language and American Regard Spanglish Essay Example
Spanglish: low culture versus high culture?
There are numerous critics of Spanglish among both Spanish-speakers and American-English-speakers. It is commonly assumed that Spanglish is a jargon: partly Spanish and partly English, "with neither gravitas nor a clear identity" . It is spoken by many of the approximately 35 million people of Hispanic descent in the United States, who, "no longer fluent in the language of Cervantes, have not yet mastered that of Shakespeare" 3. The defenders of pure Spanish are alarmed by the fact that Spanglish is advancing "with speed and movida", as Leticia Hernandez-Linares puts it, because they see this hybrid of two different languages as a threat to traditional Spanish. Diez Vegas says that Spanish-speaking people have to preserve Spanish, which is, in his opinion, "one of the most beautiful existent languages" rather than betraying to for Spanglish, which is "a bad-sounding monster" 1. Roberto González Echevarría, a professor of Hispanic and Comparative Literature at Yale University, agrees. "We're going to end up speaking McSpanish, a sort of anglicized Spanish. I find it offensive the United States' values and cultural mores, all of that are transmitted through the language filter into Spanish culture", he said in his interview for The Washington Times.
If the Spanish-speaking world is afraid that their native language is going to die out giving in to "the invasion of English" , US critics have no such fear regarding English. However, they find other reasons to protest against Spanglish. Those who stick to political correctness say spreading of Spanglish can "hamper the advancement of Hispanics who may not learn proper English" . For them, Spanglish is a trap that leaves Latinos poor and in the barrio. Spanglish is a deterrent to success. Although, many native-born American regard Spanglish as a way to reject American culture and feel that Latinos should pay more respect to the nation they have chosen to be their home.
There are numerous critics of Spanglish among both Spanish-speakers and American-English-speakers. It is commonly assumed that Spanglish is a jargon: partly Spanish and partly English, "with neither gravitas nor a clear identity" . It is spoken by many of the approximately 35 million people of Hispanic descent in the United States, who, "no longer fluent in the language of Cervantes, have not yet mastered that of Shakespeare" 3. The defenders of pure Spanish are alarmed by the fact that Spanglish is advancing "with speed and movida", as Leticia Hernandez-Linares puts it, because they see this hybrid of two different languages as a threat to traditional Spanish. Diez Vegas says that Spanish-speaking people have to preserve Spanish, which is, in his opinion, "one of the most beautiful existent languages" rather than betraying to for Spanglish, which is "a bad-sounding monster" 1. Roberto González Echevarría, a professor of Hispanic and Comparative Literature at Yale University, agrees. "We're going to end up speaking McSpanish, a sort of anglicized Spanish. I find it offensive the United States' values and cultural mores, all of that are transmitted through the language filter into Spanish culture", he said in his interview for The Washington Times.
If the Spanish-speaking world is afraid that their native language is going to die out giving in to "the invasion of English" , US critics have no such fear regarding English. However, they find other reasons to protest against Spanglish. Those who stick to political correctness say spreading of Spanglish can "hamper the advancement of Hispanics who may not learn proper English" . For them, Spanglish is a trap that leaves Latinos poor and in the barrio. Spanglish is a deterrent to success. Although, many native-born American regard Spanglish as a way to reject American culture and feel that Latinos should pay more respect to the nation they have chosen to be their home.