Communication Clash | Rant Control | Salt Lake City Weekly

Communication Clash 

Pin It
Favorite

Gustavo Arellano’s syndicated Ask a Mexican column took on the issue of “proper” Spanish on May 26, with a court-interpreter reader bemoaning the “dumbing down” of the Spanish language by so-called bilingual professionals and native Spanish-speakers themselves. He also asked, “Do Latino immigrants really need to master English?

Curri BarcelA3 says yes, and asks immigrants to take it further: “Now is the time for Spanish speakers to not only show that they can speak proper English, but also speak and write proper Spanish and invert the roles, being [that] Spanish is the new business language, and make all English speakers learn Spanish.”

Commenter Maria, a first-generation American from Miami, disagreed with this tack. “As the population changed, everything about Miami changed. It became a hostile territory. Rather than becoming an international, multilingual city, many areas were closed off to English speakers. ... The last thing America needs are ‘foreign countries’ with their own agenda inside our own borders.”

Rant Control agrees with Christina Green, who brought it back to the question of language itself. “The use of colloquial Spanish is not what this court interpreter is debating, but rather the butchering of a beautiful language and the subtle discrimination that comes with [it] ... all Hispanics must be ignorant so you need to talk to them as such.”

Pin It
Favorite

Speaking of...

More by Rachel Piper

Latest in Rant Control

  • A Hard Decision

    D.P. Sorensen’s May 26 satire column “Putting Circumcision to a Vote” examined the recent controversy over a San Francisco ballot measure that would ban the circumcision of males under age 18.
    • Jun 8, 2011
  • Facing the Music

    Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday was May 24, and City Weekly music blog contributor ...
    • May 25, 2011
  • Redesign Renders Ranters Speechless

    The usually vocal City Weekly online commenters were silent this week—no doubt dazzled by our new site redesign, which launched May 12 ...
    • May 18, 2011
  • More »

© 2024 Salt Lake City Weekly

Website powered by Foundation