Share your response to "Do you speak Mexican?"

Question

Have you, like me, ever been asked this?

Frankly, when I am, my response is more like a reaction: "That's an incredibly ignorant question, Bubba," I find myself wanting to reply.

But I mind my manners and just smile and say, "Did you mean to say, 'speak Spanish?'"

Or, I could shoot back, "Yes, I do, just like you 'speak American.'"

Then, I'd pause.

And ask: "Oh, by the way, how's your Navajo coming along?"

• jejeje - 0068e2f4 Nov 20, 2009
• lol, you'd be surprised. I've heard people claim that they "speak American" before.... - cheeseisyumm Nov 20, 2009
• Yup, told ya'll, how sad, I even lost rep, first time ever, I didn't know it could happen. Anyways, I hate ignorant people, and anyone who asks that question is very stupid. That statement makes me so angry. - DJ_Huero Nov 20, 2009
• good question volponecito...contreversial too. - DJ_Huero Nov 20, 2009

Answer 1

HI sofia,

The saleslady didn't even flinch. She was actually really nice to me, and sold me my very first Spanish-English dict.

This is the attitude I like. Why get bothered with a word...after all when they say do you speak Mexican, one knows they mean, do you speak Spanish.

By the way, if you quote somebody, Izan I left a comment, do not forget to post the name with the quote. One cannot know who said what easily.

• I was quoting you, right? My question about colours and def. articles? Sorry, I should've put your name. - sofiasonja Nov 24, 2009

Answer 2

First time I went to Mexico, I walked into a bookstore and asked for a Mexican-English dictionary.

The saleslady didn't even flinch. She was actually really nice to me, and sold me my very first Spanish-English dict.

As soon as I walked out of the store, I realized what I said. To say that I was embarrassed would be the understatement of the year. I almost went back in to apologize.

My point is: I don't think I'm an ignoramus (though I felt like one, then). It was just a classic case of the "foot-in-the-mouth" disease. It can happen to anyone...

Answer 3

Here in New Mexico people make sure you know they are of Spanish descent, not Mexican. Everytime I move in the United states I learn of a new group I am supposed to condescend. I loved living in Louisville, KY. The Ohio River separates Indiana and Kentucky. Supposedly people from Indiana were less than, Same thing between Alabama and Mississippi, North and South, Navajos and Puebloan or Navajos and Anasazi ancestry, Vietnamese and Chinese eyefolds and what ever else people want to cite as a difference implying superiority.

I have no single word for what causes this universal trait in humans but it is ignorance every step of the way.It is a lesson that humanity is continuously challenged to learn and we will only learn well if we empathize with though not condone this universal flaw of human nature.

If someone is unsophisticated in their understanding of language and geography I would hope I could give them the correct information and just move on if they don't get it.The world will offer them another opportunity for review of the concept.

Now I am going to study some Mexican.

Answer 4

Anger roots from the ignorant ones who also say "wetbacks" (that's a quote don't repremend me please) should go back to there country.

The only problem I see with this is that you are taking this quote and applying it to an entire culture as though the people who use words like "wetback" to describe a group of people were representative of their entire society. These people don't represent me, and I don't view my own society or culture as a homogeneous mixture of people. I don't think that it is a healthy thing to lump people into groups. Castigating everyone who makes a social faux pas (such as by thinking that in Mexico they speak Mexican) into the group of "ignorant Americans" is just as xenophobic and destructive as any offense named thus far. The knife cuts both ways.

That strikes anger in me when you purposefully insult my intelligence and make a mockery of a culture.

By these words, it seems like the chip was placed on your shoulder long before anyone had a chance to knock it off. I am pretty sure that neither racial nor cultural epithets were an invention of the "ignorant Americans." I have heard these words used by ignorant Americans, but I have also witnessed the same type of vitriol amongst immigrants of different origins. When I was young, I worked alongside a group of people comprised mostly of immigrants from El Salvador and Guatemala and quickly found that this same type of prejudice existed here. Those from Guatemala would call the Salvadorans "tres veces mojados" in reference to the fact that they had to cross three boarders to get to the United States. The murderous rage that these two groups leveled at each other was truly sad to see. Getting to know each of these people as individuals, as an outsider, free of the same prejudices they felt towards each other, I could see that these people shared more in common with each other than they realized. All except one of them had made harrowing journeys on their way to America. During their journey, most of them had suffered violent atrocities at the hands of unscrupulous people willing to take advantage of their desperate conditions. Every last one of them claimed to have made the journey for their families who they had to leave behind and who they missed desperately. Each of them drank a bit more than they should have to ease some of their suffering. Each of them only spoke a word or two of English. Each was a hard worker. Each was friendly. Each could show kindness. Each was a man. Yet the hatred with which each spoke of members of the other group seemed limitless. It was always that the other group was "lazy" or "ignorant" or "jealous." It was as if they only chose to see the differences amongst themselves rather than similarities - accentuating the negatives in each other rather than the positives.

I don't condone nor do I participate in this type of hatred, and in most places I try and have tried to play the peacemaker. To me it's hypocritical to scream in rage when someone stereotypes "your" group of people only to turn around and in the same breath stereotype another group. Stop talking in terms of "those other people." We are all people, and we are all more similar than we are different. Stop highlighting what sets us apart and try to find something common that can bring us together. If you be against stereotypes then don't perpetuate stereotypes, if you be against racial hatred then don't perpetuate racial hatred and if you be against treating others as inferiors then climb down off your horse and realize that we are all the same, but don't just be against it when it is convenient or beneficial for your own interests.

Speaking of climbing down...I think I'll come down off my soapbox now.

• Good timing, Izanoni! Your soapbox was beginning to become a bit too high. (Just joshing...) - 0057ed01 Nov 20, 2009
• Izan, who said this????? - Heidita Nov 24, 2009

Answer 5

Ahuevo Mexican it deffinetly a language. All the Mexicans I know speak it. Jajajajaja Its no reason to get angry. Some Mexicans will tell you that they speak Mexican spanish is different. Spainish is uaually considererd the language of Spain and in mexico what they speak is a type of spanish which is Mexican.

Answer 6

I would probably look at the person the same way that I might look at a four year old who has not yet acquired an understanding of such things. I might chuckle a little to myself and then politely correct them.

Which was my intention, we laughed it off and told the guy that all people here spòke Spanish.

Anger? why would you get angry about such a silly thing?

• Anger roots from the ignorant ones who also say "wetbacks" (that's a quote don't repremend me please) should go back to there country. These are people I encounter more than I care to, and they purposefully embrace their ignorance and want others to... - DJ_Huero Nov 20, 2009
• suffer their ignorance, and don't care who they offend, and don't care to learn from their short-comings. That strikes anger in me when you purposefully insult my intelligence and make a mockery of a culture. - DJ_Huero Nov 20, 2009
• Unfortunately, DJ Huero, you are spot on in regards to people's ignorance and their desire to remain so. It doesn't stem from being unlearned in an educational sense but from living a sheltered life with little experience of other cultures. - aloshek Nov 20, 2009
• It is so sad that many, if not most Americans have forgotten their heritage. (My family originated in Scotland on my dad's side and in Wales on my mother's. Several of her great-great uncles (gulp!) slipped across the border from Canada - 0057ed01 Nov 20, 2009
• We are all people...we are all ignorant. - Izanoni1 Nov 20, 2009

Answer 7

I think that the people who are reacting with such violent approbation about this are taking this way to seriously. I simply cannot understand the anger that accompanies this topic. If someone were to ask me whether being from the US I spoke American or not, I would not become enraged by such a question. I would probably look at the person the same way that I might look at a four year old who has not yet acquired an understanding of such things. I might chuckle a little to myself and then politely correct them.

What I wouldn't do is shoot flame out of my eyeballs and let my head explode simply because there happens to be a person in the world who still doesn't know that American is not a language - English is. I am not sure where Spanish or any other language is different. If someone is unfamiliar with a fact (whether the fact be what language is spoken in a country), it makes very little sense to persecute them for their ignorance.

If you were to incorrectly name the particular language spoken in some African nation and were verbally accosted because of this, I doubt that you would feel that this type of treatment was reasonable. I think that you should not get so bent out of shape when people make mistakes like these. The world needs more ambassadors and fewer unyielding dictators ready to throw in irons any person foolish enough to make a mistake in their presence. If you really want to battle ignorance then be an ambassador for the language not a dictator. Peace

• Wow! Amen to that! - Carlos-F Nov 20, 2009
• Actually, I think there are some political undertones from people in the US when they say 'do you speak Mexican' than when someone from another country asks if you speak American. I could be wrong, though. - chaoninja Nov 20, 2009
• I hope the tone of my original comments weren't inflammatory, Izanoni. I, too, am surprised by the emotion in some posts here. Mostly, I'm rarely angered by almost any display of ignorance. After all, I was once a "redneck" from Appalachia. - 0057ed01 Nov 20, 2009
• This is, though, a serious topic. Arizona passed by referendum what amounts as "English Only." In a state with nearly 30% of whose population is Hispanic and another 10% Indian. An outrage, in my opinion. - 0057ed01 Nov 20, 2009
• How about also being an ambassador for total acceptance of diversity, which is the "message" I take from Izan's comments. - 0057ed01 Nov 20, 2009

Answer 8

Well, to me worse happened.

I was in Mexico with a friend and we were asked, speaking Spanish to the guy of course:

Where are you from?

so we answered: From Spain.

Oh, he went,:

What language do you speak there?

I was so stunned I could not say a word....does not happen to often jeje

• Holy Moly! Thats ridiculous! - Sprewett09 Nov 20, 2009
• Don't they speak more than one language in Spain? I could be mistaken but I thought that, depending on where the person is from, they might speak Spanish, Catalan, Bosque, Asturian or Galician. Is this not the case? - Izanoni1 Nov 20, 2009
• Not reay,Izan,Spanish is the official language of the country - Heidita Nov 20, 2009
• Wow. (i'm speechless, too!) ;) - Valerie Nov 20, 2009

Answer 9

As much as it might anger some, I have too thought like that. I learned most of Spanish in Spain therefore when I use certain phrases or certain verbs like (tomar una foto vs sacar una foto), I know that one is used more in Spain than in Mexico. So in the defense of some Americans, they could be asking, what dialect do you speak? What is most commonly said in Mexico? I realize that Spanish speakers can understand each other still but in the same way, I still ask British speakers about certain vocab they use or phrases. Its not that I don't understand but often times there is a huge gap in the common language. Not to mention, I'm curious! But I can understand the frustration that might occur when people don't pose it as a difference in dialect.

• Good points, but it's more than different dialects, I'm afraid. I think a good part of it stems from ultra-patriotism, being "right" about everything, and even a touch of xenophobia - fear of almost anything or anyone different. - 0057ed01 Nov 20, 2009
• Honestly, at least in the area I live, people have no clue that there are different dialects, it really is an ignorant statement. - aloshek Nov 20, 2009

Answer 10

Currently I live in Mexico. My my office in the US I had two Argentines, one from Venezuela, and one from Mexico.

They all said Mexicans don't speak "real" Spanish. I found this eye roll worthy and fully expected to hear the same thing about Argentines, etc from the Mexicans here (and of course I did!).

I know that the question is referring to ignorant Americans but don't forget that the Spanish can vary quite a bit between countries. English only has two variations that I know of (American English and British English) but Spanish varies much more in my experience and the experience of the other, much more experienced, Spanish speakers that I know.

• I am waving my flag now, the language is "English", there is no British. - Eddy Nov 20, 2009
• Ah but Americans turn their t's into d's! It is quite distinct - not to mention the vocabulary differences!! - Lasairfiona Nov 20, 2009
• What about Australia? Or is just the accent that differs? - 0057ed01 Nov 20, 2009
• I take it you've never heard Scots then? - Seitheach Nov 20, 2009
• The vocab is different but not radically so. It is like going to another region and finding out they have a different name for access road. I think differences are not as large as they are in Spanish from area to area or country to country. - Lasairfiona Nov 20, 2009
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Answer 11

I think the right thing to do is ask them, do you mean Spanish? And yes, just like in Colombia, in Chile we are proud to say that we speak chilean...but we don't call our language Spanish, we call it Castillian which is a way of talking from a region of Spain.

Answer 12

LOL. Yep, I've heard that before.

One time someone pointed out a 'Mexican' person to me saying that I should go talk to him. It turned out that the person was from Bosnia!

... oh, brother...

What a blast it is learning new languages!

Answer 13

The correct answer to that question: "Do you speak Mexican?" is:

"Al huevo!"

Note to students: do not put this answer on your homework or tests.

Answer 14

Hi you all! I speak Colombian but most people in my country speak Spanish and we can understand each other very well.

• jejeje - Valerie Nov 20, 2009
• well said! - Kerry-Tober Nov 20, 2009

Answer 15

Of, one time I had a highly educated person ask me if there were TV's in Venezuela!! AAUUGGHH!

• TV could mean "Transvestite". I know that in the capitals all over SA (and in fact, the world) there are lots of them. - 00515f39 Nov 20, 2009