A MARC OF EXCELLENCE COLUMN: Americanos, let's go bilingual por favor
By Marc Znaniecki
I took Spanish all four years in high school. I have even taken three years here. I am far from fluent, but I can write, speak and listen to the language with some sense of clarity.
Sad as it may be, many of my family and friends (though I love them all dearly) are a bit skewed in their perspectives on foreign languages in the land of freedom and democracy. "If people live here in America, then they should speak the language," is a comment I hear frequently.
I am 26 years old, and I am not sure that everyone who claims to speak English is actually speaking English. With the various dialects we have scattered about our country, I cannot comprehend why anyone would want to learn our language.
Spanish has been a very useful language for me. It has also been useful to others, though I never really realized that until recently.
Yesterday, my sister-in-law, who works for Head Start, called me with a problem. She was visiting the parents of one of her students when she realized the parents only spoke Spanish and understood little English. She called me to translate. While I wished I had my Spanish-English dictionary handy, I was able to communicate adequately.
We live in a rapidly changing society. Many people, even in a small, hick area like the Illinois Valley, are primarily Spanish speaking. And that number will only grow.
I worked as a retail manager for over three years and used Spanish on many occasions to better serve my customers. Some of those customers were a bit alarmed because I look very "gringo," and with a name like Znaniecki, no one expects me to speak Spanish.
I also think learning a foreign language has made me a better person. I no longer feel that our country’s way is the standard for all to follow. I am more appreciative of the differences in other cultures and societies.
I also discovered that I love my foreign language studies and that has had a positive impact on my grades in other classes. Both in high school and here, my grades in other classes have been higher during the semesters that I’ve also been taking Spanish.
Spanish, however, has turned me into somewhat of a nasty being. I hate telephone solicitors, so whenever my caller ID lists a number I don’t recognize or something "out of the area," I answer in Spanish. On most occasions, my anti-soliticitors plan has worked well; they hang up.
Once the solicitor also spoke Spanish. Now I’ve decided to deal with those bilingual operators by saying: "Mais s’appelle Marc. Non je parle anglais. Au revoir."