Misterio del dia
Por qué los anglo americanos no pueden hablar espanol? Por qué todos los hipanos ya saben hablar Ingles y no tienen que estudiar Ingles?
Anglos son bobos? O no sirven las escuelas americanas'
18 Answers
My wife is a Spanish teacher at the elementary level. She also teaches some non credit Spanish classes at the University of Southern Indiana (USI) and is tutoring several high school kids. We've discussed this several times and the biggest problem we see is that the majority of the Spanish teachers can't speak the language and of course can't teach it properly. But they are usually hired instead of native Spanish teachers because they have the paper that says they are Spanish teachers or have a Masters Degree in Spanish (even though they can't put a sentence together). When my wife writes an email to any Spanish high school teacher (for tutoring purposes) she usually does it in Spanish. Most of the times she gets the answer in English. For the few that answer in Spanish that answer it's always full of mistakes. When the people in charge of hiring teachers realize it's more important to really know the language than having a piece of paper saying you do, maybe the schools will start to have better Spanish teachers.
Here is the answer, frank and clear and concise: most United States persons born and raise in the U.S. dont feel the need to learn to speak other languages.
Natasha said:
samdie said:
Heidita said:
Anglos son bobos'Please read the rules of this friendly forum. Don't be disrespectful to others.
Pero fíjate que lo dijo como pregunta, no como declaración.. Por lo menos, somos todos bobos de vez en cuando.
Sea pregunta o no sea, me parece que hacer esta pregunta es maleducado.To my friend, I can say, "Are Germans dummkopfs'" and it will be funny -- but in any other context it is rude.Nevertheless, the basic question is valid -- why are so many Americans still monolingual in practice, in spite of the foreign language requirements in the schools?
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samdie said:
Heidita said:
Anglos son bobos' Please read the rules of this friendly forum. Don't be disrespectful to others.
Pero fíjate que lo dijo como pregunta, no como declaración.. Por lo menos, somos todos bobos de vez en cuando.
Sea pregunta o no sea, me parece que hacer esta pregunta es maleducado.
To my friend, I can say, "Are Germans dummkopfs'" and it will be funny -- but in any other context it is rude.
Nevertheless, the basic question is valid -- why are so many Americans still monolingual in practice, in spite of the foreign language requirements in the schools'
Estimada Valerie --
You can find tons (montones) of reading material in Spanish simply by googling. Google such things as:
1. Tiras comicas (comic strips)
2. Periodicos del mundo (newspapers of the world)
You can also subscribe to numerous publications in Spanish from everywhere, such as newspapers, magazines and comics. Selecciones del Reader's Digest is good, but it's a little fancy for beginners. So go ahead (siga adelante)? y comenzar a "googlar." You'll discover more material in Spanish than you can possibly ever read and study. Googlaré, googlaremos, googlo, googla, he googlado, hubiera googlado. Ha, ha, ha. I've conjugated the verb "Google."
Fancy Spanish teachers will try to discourage students from studying Spanish from comics and newspapers. Spanish teachers will say students who do not take formal Spanish classes will not learn to speak Spanish properly. HA! Some of my colleagues are taking Spanish courses at a local community college, but I am studying the "language of the street" and practice wherever I can find a person who speaks Spanish. I can speak Spanish already a hundred times better than my colleagues. They are very impressed and are going to start learning like I am doing -- throw the stuffy text books away (desecharlos) and learn the real language. My comic book Spanish may sound a little crude and not gramatically correct, and the King of Spain would think I'm a peasant (campesino), but at least I can communicate! HA, HA.
And this forum is a wonderful place to learn Spanish also and has a lot of valuable learning resources.
Bueno suerte -- anda y compra tiras comicas!
I love Mexican comic books and fotonovelas. I used to read Supermachos and Donald Duck. Not to mention Kaliman. Hard to get where I live. If only there was a place in my town that sold them. There is a fairly sizable number of immigrants around here, but very little reading material in Spanish anywhere. Don't know why that is. It's easy enough to get Mexican music.
paseloquepase said:
Pergolesi -- I am making progress in learning Spanish mostly from (I know it sounds silly), reading comics in Spanish on-line.
Would you be willing to share some sites with fellow learners'
samdie said:
Heidita said:
Anglos son bobos'Please read the rules of this friendly forum. Don't be disrespectful to others.
Pero fíjate que lo dijo como pregunta, no como declaración.. Por lo menos, somos todos bobos de vez en cuando.
Yes, Sam...and I am the first of that bunch! lol
In any case, bobo is not a nasty term. We use it all the time here in Spain.
No seas bobo....you cannot be offended by that. It depends who says it I guess.
However...I think it was not a very "nice" term to use either in the context.
somos todos bozos en este autobús- firesign theatre
samdie said:
Heidita said:
Anglos son bobos' Please read the rules of this friendly forum. Don't be disrespectful to others.
Pero fíjate que lo dijo como pregunta, no como declaración.. Por lo menos, somos todos bobos de vez en cuando.
>
Heidita said:
Anglos son bobos' Please read the rules of this friendly forum. Don't be disrespectful to others.
Pero fíjate que lo dijo como pregunta, no como declaración.. Por lo menos, somos todos bobos de vez en cuando.
Steve has hit the nail on the head so to speak. I grew up in a German / American community and studied German and Latin for years in school. The thing is , if you don't use it or need it you lose it. I now am trying very hard to learn to speak Spanish because of the pure joy of learning this language. When I get to a respectable level I intend to keep using it this time through television , radio and friends. And by the way the "bobos" comment is just silly.
I have to agree with Natasha. It's not the case that we are a bunch of bobos. It's a question of necessity. I took french for several years and spanish for at least one year in school, and this at a time when the schools in the US were much better than most of them are now. There was nothing wrong with the classes or me. I didn't need to use it, and so I forgot it. growing up in Texas in the 60's and 70's all the spanish a person really needed was enchilada, cerveza, baño, agua, por favor and gracias. Latinos in the US learn English because it's all around them, and it behooves them to do so. I am currently working very hard at becoming bilingual, which is why I am here. My wife and my son are both fluent Spanish speakers. Neither of them is a native speaker. I am trying very hard to (at least partially) catch up. I could be wrong but I think the same could be said of a lot of the bobos here.
Anglos son bobos'
Please read the rules of this friendly forum. Don't be disrespectful to others.
Pergolesi --
I too am struggling to learn to speak at least a serviceable, respectful amount of Spanish. Spanish seems to be coming easy for me, probably because I speak natural Romanian and Romanian is also a romance language like Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, etc.
I am making progress in learning Spanish mostly from (I know it sounds silly), reading comics in Spanish on-line. Comics may not be the King's Spanish, but they use the everyday, street-level Spanish which is more important than text-book Spanish. I also find that watching television in Spanish (Univision y Telefutura), is extremely beneficial for "tuning up the ear." (Ajustando el oido)? I also practice by speaking to immigrants whenever I can. Immigrants don't usually speak good English. Consequently, they don't make fun of your attempts to speak Spanish to them. A lot (un monton de) Hispanics will pretend they do not understand your Spanish and will mock you. Immigrants don't. They seem pleased that someone respects and wants to learn their language.
Just thought I would share some of my learning methods with you. You seem dedicated.
Que le baya bien y muy buena suerte.
This is a great language forum. Forum member Lazarus is especially helpful to others.
Estoy tratando aprender Espanól, y no es fácil para mi. Mi problema es qué no hay muchas oportunidades hablar con otros aquí. Si muchos hispanicos hablan Inglés, no es nececisario que los turistas estadounidensas hablar en Espanól. ¡Qué lastima!
Forgive my mistakes. I'm struggling. Perhaps Mexicans in Mexico should require that Americans speak Spanish to get by. Then they'd have to learn. =)
English is sort of a universal language now, like Latin in the Middle Ages. It's easier for us to not have to learn foreign languages. However, if Spanish is hard for me, I can't imagine tackling Chinese or Arabic. But I know lots of fellow Americans who are trying to learn Spanish.
¿Porqué te contentas an mencionar solo el español? Hay también mucha gente de Rusia, Alemania, Italia, Korea, China y otros tantos países. ¿Te parece que los gringos deben senntirse obligados a aprender todas esa lenguas también'
