dimecres, de juliol 19, 2006
It Estops Rye Here
I just had an epiphany. My entire life I’ve had nothing but disdain for the Hispanic accent. I cringed with every “E” that feloniously preceded every “S.” When “T” and “D” melted together phonetically I felt it blemish the dignity of the Hispanic culture in this country. As the sound of “I” jumped up an octave I took note and vowed to never let that happen to me.
Obviously I had a different background, being born in America after all. But Miami isn’t made up of a typical American culture and the danger of letting my tongue slip into the accent abyss was always imminent. I studied my speech and paid attention to differences between the way people around me spoke and the way the heads on the TV
pronounced their words. I put a lot of effort in losing the accent. I didn’t want anyone to hear me speak and say “oh, that guy must have grown up in ‘el barrio.’”
I let the stereotype Americans had of us chip away at the respect I had for my own culture. Sadly I can confess that I believed that people who spoke with that accent (and were born in this country) came off as dumb.
Fortunately, as I mentioned before, I had an epiphany.
Americans can not pronounce my dad’s name the way his parents intended it to be pronounced. My mother gained a middle name because two Spanish language first names was too much for New Jersey to handle. Rodriguez became Rahdreeges. Perez turned into Peres. Jose transformed into Joe. The second “L” somehow became irrelevant as soon as it crossed the border. Now my eyes are open and I have nothing but respect for the Hispanic accent.
Americans can’t pronounce your words correctly so why should you ever be expected to pronounce their correctly? The answer can not be because they were here when we got here, because then the argument turns towards Americans being unable to pronounce the Native’s words correctly either.
I feel like a fool for falling in to that trap that someone who can not pronounce words correctly because of their accents is any dumber than someone who can.
If they have to call you Alex because they can’t say Alejandro then don’t estop talking dee way ju know how to.
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Obviously I had a different background, being born in America after all. But Miami isn’t made up of a typical American culture and the danger of letting my tongue slip into the accent abyss was always imminent. I studied my speech and paid attention to differences between the way people around me spoke and the way the heads on the TV
pronounced their words. I put a lot of effort in losing the accent. I didn’t want anyone to hear me speak and say “oh, that guy must have grown up in ‘el barrio.’”I let the stereotype Americans had of us chip away at the respect I had for my own culture. Sadly I can confess that I believed that people who spoke with that accent (and were born in this country) came off as dumb.
Fortunately, as I mentioned before, I had an epiphany.
Americans can not pronounce my dad’s name the way his parents intended it to be pronounced. My mother gained a middle name because two Spanish language first names was too much for New Jersey to handle. Rodriguez became Rahdreeges. Perez turned into Peres. Jose transformed into Joe. The second “L” somehow became irrelevant as soon as it crossed the border. Now my eyes are open and I have nothing but respect for the Hispanic accent.
Americans can’t pronounce your words correctly so why should you ever be expected to pronounce their correctly? The answer can not be because they were here when we got here, because then the argument turns towards Americans being unable to pronounce the Native’s words correctly either.
I feel like a fool for falling in to that trap that someone who can not pronounce words correctly because of their accents is any dumber than someone who can.
If they have to call you Alex because they can’t say Alejandro then don’t estop talking dee way ju know how to.
Publica un comentari a l'entrada