I'm posting this for me and some family and friends to check out, however if you are interested click on it. Especially check out Chicano English.

http://www.pbs.org/speak/

Do you Speak American? Great link. I found it on Tacos and Palabras (link on side bar).


This hit close to home. My first language is Spanish. That disappeared by age 5. My mom is from Idaho, born in Texas. My father is Berdoo, California all the way.

My maternal grandparents raised the 12+ kids in Idaho, in a Mormon/White Christian Community. Neither grandparent spoke Spanish to the grand kids. Grandma is a Tlaxcalan Indian and her father spoke Nahuatl and Spanish. Which dialect of Nahuatl... not sure.

My paternal grandparents were divorced prior to my birth. Neither they or my step grandad spoke Spanish to their kids or the grand kids. (Side note: Grandma was a pachuca and calls herself a Chicana to this day @ 81 years old)

The only family member that spoke Spanish in the family was my great grandmother who died two years ago at 104 years of age.

I learned Spanish from my babysitter and my mother spoke Spanish and English with me.My dad learned Spanish along with me. By the time I was in Kindergarten I was reading at a 3rd grade level and they decided to take me out of the Bilingual ed program and put me in GATE. Gifted and Talented Education. In kindergarten I was surrounded by black, white and brown kids. Sunshine, my best friend invited me over to her house to play one night. They had taco night. There I found out tortillas came in a bag, rice was white with seasoning and beans came out of a can. I came home so excited to tell my mother my new discovery. We both still laugh about it. She sat me down and explained that she already knew this. I thought I was Columbus and discovered a new land.

I was moved into GATE classes 1st through 3rd grade. I was 1 of three brown kids. Let's just say Spanish was not used. At lunch I saw my first sandwich in Saran wrap. Not a burrito in foil.

Today... My husband speaks Spanish great. His Spanish is a Cubano/Puerto Rican type. This poses a problem. When we were in Puebla, Mexico I had a hard time talking to the Mexicanos, however I had no problem understanding the Puerto Ricans on vacation there. My clients tell me I speak Spanish like a white girl, but they are happy I can at least speak Spanish.