I was interested in some of the things that helped her to learn English. The main thing that she mentioned was being in an English school setting (as mentioned before). She said that she had an English teacher (who actually spoke Spanish) who forced her and her classmates to speak English all of the time. This teacher did not allow any of the Spanish speakers to speak Spanish. At the time they all thought that she was a really challenging teacher and many of the students did not like her, but once they left her class they all realized how much they had actually learned.
This teacher would explain the words that the students didn’t know in other English words, she would also have the students explain the words for themselves.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Comida Mexicana is better than Mexican Food
Time and time again I have heard, “Oh Mexican food here is Americanized. It is not real Mexican food.” So I asked my C.P. what is SO different about the Mexican food, if there was a difference at all. The first thing she said was, “The tortillas have different tastes.” And then she moved on to, “It is really just so different.” She also mentioned that American-Mexican food is less spicy. She also said that when her mom makes the food that she used to make in Mexico (with the same recipes) they taste different, good, but not the same. It sounds like she enjoys her vacations back to Mexico and the real Mexican food.
Yo hablo español yand I speak English
I then asked her several questions about becoming and being bilingual. When she arrived in the United States from Mexico she entered a local high school second semester sophomore year. Upon arrival she did not speak any English whatsoever. She was learning English while taking all of the general high school classes in English, during this time she depended solely on those who could translate for her. This became a problem when she had a teacher who was unwilling to bend his rules for those who did not understand him.
Also during high school she ran into girls who were mean to her because she only spoke Spanish. This led us to a conversation about the irony of that situation: these girls were making fun of her for learning her second language by immersion, while they probably were unable to speak a second language themselves.
I asked her if she could tell that she had a ‘Mexican accent’ and she said that sometimes she could tell and sometimes she couldn’t. When she sees English words that are also in Spanish (or are similar) she has a tendency to pronounce them as she would in Spanish...which makes sense...
We then discussed the ups and downs to being bilingual. She, unlike Gloria Anzaldúa, did not really see any downsides to being bilingual. She mentioned it being handy to be able to speak both Spanish and English at work because often people come in who are unable to speak English. She has also been able to help translate outside of work. She mentioned that her sister does not speak English and my C.P. has translated for her in many situations including things such as doctor visits.
When I asked her about the pervasive monolingualism in this country she said that she believes that it is very important for people to learn English for conversational purposes, work purposes and just simply because it is the language most readily spoken in the United States.
She feels that having been in an English school setting for several years now is what has really helped her English skills. Unfortunately, not everyone who comes to this country has the opportunity to attend school, so that is not an option for everyone.
I asked her if she felt offended when non-native Spanish speakers speak Spanish to her. She said that when she was first learning English and that would happen she just figured that whoever she was speaking to could not understand her English. She did not think it was demeaning.
Also during high school she ran into girls who were mean to her because she only spoke Spanish. This led us to a conversation about the irony of that situation: these girls were making fun of her for learning her second language by immersion, while they probably were unable to speak a second language themselves.
I asked her if she could tell that she had a ‘Mexican accent’ and she said that sometimes she could tell and sometimes she couldn’t. When she sees English words that are also in Spanish (or are similar) she has a tendency to pronounce them as she would in Spanish...which makes sense...
We then discussed the ups and downs to being bilingual. She, unlike Gloria Anzaldúa, did not really see any downsides to being bilingual. She mentioned it being handy to be able to speak both Spanish and English at work because often people come in who are unable to speak English. She has also been able to help translate outside of work. She mentioned that her sister does not speak English and my C.P. has translated for her in many situations including things such as doctor visits.
When I asked her about the pervasive monolingualism in this country she said that she believes that it is very important for people to learn English for conversational purposes, work purposes and just simply because it is the language most readily spoken in the United States.
She feels that having been in an English school setting for several years now is what has really helped her English skills. Unfortunately, not everyone who comes to this country has the opportunity to attend school, so that is not an option for everyone.
I asked her if she felt offended when non-native Spanish speakers speak Spanish to her. She said that when she was first learning English and that would happen she just figured that whoever she was speaking to could not understand her English. She did not think it was demeaning.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Me gusta your blog mucho!
In Southern California Spanish and English are commonly intermixed. My Conversation Partner said that it is common for her to hear a mixture of the two languages. (A concept that many English speakers refer to as Spanglish.) She said that it does not bother her. Many Spanish/English speakers will mix Spanish and English in their daily lives.
She also said that when she returns to Mexico for a visit she hears the people (who do not speak English) using more and more English vocabulary, such as nice, bye, cool and party. They also have begun to write SEE instead of Sí, when saying yes.
She also said that when she returns to Mexico for a visit she hears the people (who do not speak English) using more and more English vocabulary, such as nice, bye, cool and party. They also have begun to write SEE instead of Sí, when saying yes.
Spanfanishfa
My conversation partner and I were discussing ‘Pig Latin’. This was something that she had never heard of before. Sadly I was never very good at ‘Pig Latin’ so I had a hard time trying to explain and speak it. I asked her about any children’s language games that she may have played (or known about) in Mexico. Right away she said. “Kids used to add ‘f’ to everything.” I asked if she could give me an example. She used the Spanish word for ‘purse’ which is ‘bolsa’ she said that with this ‘f’ ‘bolsa’ is ‘bolfolsafa’.
We took a sentence from a pervious conversation (Tu quieres aqua; You want water) and put it into this ‘F Language’, and I sat there for a while trying to wrap my poor brain around the Spanish with the added ‘f’s.
‘You want water’ came out something like:
tufu quifieferefes gufuafarafa.
What is being done is an addition of an ‘f’ and a repeat of a vowel after each syllable. This language game did not have a name, the kids used to simply say, “Lets speak with the ‘f’”
She also told me about a language that she preferred over the ‘F Language’. This also did not have a name, but it was a language game that she used to play with her cousin. She never heard anyone else use this “language”, she felt that maybe her cousin had just made it up.
The game is: replace all of the vowels with ‘i’, which has the same sound as the English ‘e’.
Using the same ‘bolsa’ and ‘Tu quieres aqua’ we find this language looking a lot like this:
‘Bolsa’ = ‘Bilsi’
‘Tu quieres aqua’ = ‘Ti qiiris igii’
She said that this was much easier for her to do than the ‘F Language’, but she did not know anyone beside her cousin who spoke it!
We took a sentence from a pervious conversation (Tu quieres aqua; You want water) and put it into this ‘F Language’, and I sat there for a while trying to wrap my poor brain around the Spanish with the added ‘f’s.
‘You want water’ came out something like:
tufu quifieferefes gufuafarafa.
What is being done is an addition of an ‘f’ and a repeat of a vowel after each syllable. This language game did not have a name, the kids used to simply say, “Lets speak with the ‘f’”
She also told me about a language that she preferred over the ‘F Language’. This also did not have a name, but it was a language game that she used to play with her cousin. She never heard anyone else use this “language”, she felt that maybe her cousin had just made it up.
The game is: replace all of the vowels with ‘i’, which has the same sound as the English ‘e’.
Using the same ‘bolsa’ and ‘Tu quieres aqua’ we find this language looking a lot like this:
‘Bolsa’ = ‘Bilsi’
‘Tu quieres aqua’ = ‘Ti qiiris igii’
She said that this was much easier for her to do than the ‘F Language’, but she did not know anyone beside her cousin who spoke it!
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