Mock Spanish
The Game - Spanglish
Play videoThis is a song the is by the rapper, The Game, and the song is titled "Spanglish". Growing up in Compton, California, The Game was subjected to many interactions with gang members and other individuals; this includes many hispanics. I found it interesting that this song includes a good amount of mock spanish, which i relevant to our final paper. In the song, Game switch back and forth between spanish to english and describes his life growing up in Compton along with the love for his city. [Published on 07-25-2017]
Make urself a dang quesadilla!
Play videoThat clip where the grandma tells him to make a dang quesadilla from napoleon dynamite.
Futurama Mock Spanish Audition
Play videoHyper-anglicized mock Spanish is used for comedic effect in the show Futurama.
Salsa Tequila - Anders Nilsen
Play videoThis song "Salsa Tequila" by the Norwegian musician, Anders Nilsen, is a pretty clera example of mock Spanish. Most of the lyrics are disconnected Spanish words or short phrases, the kind that the average non-Spanish speaking person in the U.S. might know, as well as some places and names of celebrities. There are even some words that aren't Spanish like "tex mex" and "calamari", as well as some instances of incorrect Spanish like "por favor bailando" and "las ketchup". The chorus is just a repetition of the string of words "salsa, tequila, corazon, [and] cerveza" ending with "muy bueno". The music of the song is like the electronic dance music you might hear at a club, and along with the fact that the song is called "salsa tequila" (a dance and a kind of liquor notorious for making people take their clothes off) contributes to the language indexing a kind of partier persona, and projects that stereotype onto speakers of the language as a whole.
Mock Spanish
This poster is an example of mock Spanish with the phrase Cinco de Drinko.
Spanish phrases Gringos need to stop abusing!
Play videoThe women in this video describe all the ways non-Spanish speakers use Mock Spanish. They describe it as sometimes being a way to connect with others. However, the overuse of Mock Spanish can become disrespectful and insulting.
As a Latina, I have a problem with Hispanic Heritage Month
Juliana Schwartz is tired of hearing famous people, the republican party, Obama and more, share their "appreciation" for Hispanic Heritage Month when these same people have caused mass deportation for Hispanics and have created ugly ideologies towards Hispanics. She wants the hispandering to end because she believes that Hispanics are a culture, not some marketing scheme to receive more votes or gain more profit. She wants the government to stop the hispandering and to stop using hispanics, and to instead help Hispanics gain justice and inclusion. [Published on 07-01-2014]
Mock Spanish in the movie Friday
Play videoIn this video, Chris Tucker is talking to his Hispanic friends and uses Spanish. This is an example of mock Spanish.
Delivery Job Advertisement, Mock Spanish
This is a example of the use of "Spanglish" or mock Spanish where people combine what they see as simple Spanish words with English words to try to communicate with Spanish speaking people. This sign is a advertisement targeting both English and Spanish speakers for a delivery driver job, under the English portion the sign simply says "Se Necesita Delivery guy". The use of the Spanish mock Spanish is indexing Spanish speakers. [Published on 12-14-2017]
Spanish Words "White" People Can't Say
Play videoA comedic take on white people trying to pronounce Spanish words and their struggle in the performance of a basic Spanish lexicon—even in words that share a striking spelling resemblance to its English cognate. Some noteworthy examples appear when the participants are asked to pronounce “refrigerador” and “negar,” with some subjects showing visible apprehension to merely attempt the latter.
Mock Spanish T-Shirt
A posting from Facebook with a shirt that uses incorrect lyrics Justin Bieber used for the song “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi when he had issues remembering the Spanish words during a performance.
My name is Jose Jimenez
Play video“My name is Jose Jimenez” became a popular catch phrase in America after Hungarian-Jewish descent Bill Dana performed this skit dressed as Santa Claus. Bill Dana utilized humor to soften the racializing stereotypes seen in most portrayals of Latin American men. Using Mock Spanish, the naïve character of Jose Jimenez was seen playing a variety of professions, including a United States astronaut. So popular was the character that Mercury astronaut Alan Shepherd adopted “Jose” as his official code name, and astronaut Jose Jimenez made a “guest appearance” at the 1961 Kennedy Inaugural Gala. In the 1960’s Bill Dana was honored by the National Hispanic Media Coalition for his work as an activist. In 1970 with changing sensitivities concerning Mock Spanish and racial stereotypes, Bill Dana had an “official funeral” to declare Jose Jimenez dead.
The Game-Spanglish
This is a song the is by the rapper, The Game, and the song is titled "Spanglish". Growing up in Compton, California, The Game was subjected to many interactions with gang members and other individuals; this includes many hispanics. I found it interesting that this song includes a good amount of mock spanish, which i relevant to our final paper. In the song, Game switch back and forth between spanish to english and describes his life growing up in Compton along with the love for his city. [Published on 07-25-2017]
SchoolBoy Q - Collard Greens(Explicit) ft. Kendrick Lamar
Play video"Collard Greens" by Schoolboy Q featuring Kendrick Lamar contains a verse which is an example of Mock Spanish in pop culture. This verse is from Kendrick Lamar and features him utilizing Spanish words as obscene euphemisms for humorous effect.
Multilingual Gibberish
Play videoThis video example is of a woman who grew up speaking different languages. She is multilingual and shows ellen how she can use Gibberish in several different languages. Being able to grow up speaking different languages could be looked at as a huge advantage toward linguistics.
Racism In America (Satire)
Play videoAs we have thoroughly discussed Mock Spanish, along with language, race, ethnicity, the following YouTube video is a humorous play on racism in America. The Hispanic housemaid is faced with her racist boss as she's assumed to be a thief, an idiot, and not know English, simply because she is not a white American. It also highlights the tendencies to classify someone as not as intelligent simply because they do not fit the stereotype for where we are from. Again, this is a humorous spin on real life happenings that occur, many of which are oblivious to us.
People Around The World Try An American Accent
Play videoIn this video, people from different countries do their impression of the English language in the United States. Many of them project different language ideologies according to the accent they sound out, whether it be: Southern, Minnesotan, New York, or a Wisconsin accent. With their impressions they link their cultural ideologies with what they say. For example, one guy does an impression of a Wisconsin accent and while projecting his best impression he talks about cheese, a cultural item often associated with the state.
Jane H. Hill’s 1999 work “Language, Race, and White Public Space"
In Jane H. Hill’s 1999 work “Language, Race, and White Public Space” she piggy-backs off of a piece of 1996 literature written by Bonnie Urciuoli about bilingual Puerto Ricans living in New York City. While referring to these bilingual Puerto Ricans, Hill acknowledges that they symbolize all of the greater Spanish speaking community, not just themselves. Hill’s main points throughout the article argue that there are two spheres of spoken language throughout a community and that there is a blatant double standard between whites and the Spanish speaking people.
Let’s start with the two spheres of bilingual spoken language. Throughout a Spanish speaking community in the united states, there sits two spheres of spoken language, an “inner-sphere” and an “outer-sphere”. The inner sphere of bilingual spoken language includes all the informal speech regarding subjective personal matter. Within this sphere speakers are relaxed, often code switching to help relate with whom they are speaking to. Code switching also allows them to use words that don’t “exist” in the English language, allowing them to broaden their conversational vocabulary and to help get their point across. The boundaries between English and Spanish are blurred, and the speaker jumps back and forth as they please. Code switching is popular within the inner-sphere. The outer-sphere however, is a much different space for a foreign bilingual speaker.
The outer-sphere consists of the societal normalcies that cater to the English only speakers and gives them an unfair advantage when speaking with native Spanish speaking bilinguals. According to Hill, “In an "outer-sphere" of talk with strangers and, especially, with gatekeepers like court officers, social workers, and schoolteachers, the difference between Spanish and English is ‘sharply objectified’. Boundaries and order are everything. The pressure from interlocutors to keep the two languages "in order" is so severe that people who function as fluent bilinguals in the inner sphere become so anxious about their competence that sometimes they cannot speak at all.” These two spheres do not coexist in the eyes of a native Spanish speaker. They make sure to differentiate the two at all times, as well as verify the status of the space they are in to make sure they do not bring inner-sphere speech into an outer-sphere setting.
Residing within these two spheres of speech (formal and informal), we have just two languages being spoken (English and Spanish), and two “kinds” of speakers (white English-only and native Spanish speaking bilinguals), but there are four dialects (two per language). These dialects are as follows: English spoken in an American accent and a Spanish accent, and Spanish spoken in a heavy English accent and a Spanish accent. Native Spanish speakers such as the bilingual Puerto Ricans studied by Bonnie Urciuoli speak immaculate Spanish, sometimes even speaking perfect English as well. The only thing that separates them from engaging as effectively in white culture is their accent, which causes them to be very self-conscious while speaking. On the contrary, whites of course speak perfect English but when they attempt to speak Spanish, their heavy English accent does not concern them, though it disrespects and upsets native Spanish speakers. Hill says for them it’s like hearing “nails on a chalkboard”. These four spoken dialects within these two spheres ties into Jane Hills biggest main point, the double standard that manifests between these two social and spoken classes.
The blatant double standard between these two groups in today’s society is pointed out by Hill in her text by stating:
“Puerto Ricans experience the "outer sphere" as an important site of their racialization, since they are always found wanting by this sphere's standards of linguistic orderliness. My research suggests that precisely the opposite is true for Whites. Whites permit themselves a considerable amount of disorder precisely at the language boundary that is a site of discipline for Puerto Ricans that is, the boundary between Spanish and English in public discourse. I believe that this contrast, in which White uses of Spanish create a desirable "colloquial" presence for Whites, but uses of Spanish by Puerto Ricans are "disorderly and dangerous," is one of the ways in which this arena of usage is constituted as a… "White public space": a morally significant set of contexts that are the most important sites of the practices of a racializing hegemony, in which Whites are invisibly normal, and in which racialized populations are visibly marginal.”
This creates a frustrating double standard between whites and native Spanish speakers because like Hill says in the texts, English speaking whites can speak Spanish in whatever accent or regard they care to, but when a native Spanish speaker chooses to speak Spanish, it becomes intimidating and labeled “dangerous”.
Another double standard arises while regarding the intelligence of both classes of speakers, involving the two spheres of spoken language. While speaking in a non-formal inner-sphere setting, a native Spanish speaker can fluently transcribe his thoughts to words in brilliant discourse. Habitually speaking his home language, he doesn’t have to think twice about his accent, only the words he chooses to speak. Though when we shift him from the inner to the outer-sphere and put him in a formally objective conversation with a white English speaker, he becomes cornered because he has had his identity taken away from him. Among worrying about his accent while speaking within the outer-sphere he must worry about his speech as well such as his choice of diction and avoidance of simple grammatical mistakes an English speaker wouldn’t have to think twice about.
Unfortunately, the opposite applies to white English speakers. On top of their English dominated speech, whenever they decide to speak what they know of the Spanish language, it is often times “grossly nonstandard and ungrammatical”. Though because English is the dominant language among the two, whites can get away with speaking a slaughtered Spanish speech because it is socially acceptable, and almost deserving of praise for learning a new language. Despite the intelligence it takes to become bilingual, that intelligence is often times not recognized by whites regarding native Spanish speakers. Native Spanish speakers are often times seen as inferior and stupid just because they may take longer with responses in Spanish/English discourse. Spanish accents in English are also seen labeled as inferior without even observing the intelligence of a speaker. A brilliant Spanish speaker may be disregarded as insufficient only because of the way he sounds to a white English speaker. These double standards between white English speakers and native Spanish speakers are frustrating to observe but important to understand.
[Published on 05-11-2017]
Donald Trump: We need to get out 'bad hombres'
Play videoThis is what Donald Trump said in the third presidential debate in regarding to the issue of immigration. In his speech, he used Spanish word “hombre” to refer to the immigrants that he views as bad people, which has some negative meaning. However, “hombre” in Spanish only means “men” without any negative meanings. This is a good example of mock Spanish as defined by Hill (1998). People can’t understand the meaning without understanding the indirect index of the badness and criminal of Spanish people. It also contains underlying racism which shows that Spanish people have a stereotype of being bad, and in contrast white culture is better than others.
Key and Peele Loco Gangsters
Play videoThis is a video from the TV show Key and Peele called Loco Gangsters. Key and Peele act out a skit as perceived Latino males. They use a variety of linguistic techniques ranging from the ideologies believed to be associated with Spanish to mock Spanish.
Mock Spanish in Scrubs
Play videoIn this video from the show "Scrubs", one of the characters uses mock Spanish to demean some of the other characters from the show. It was interesting to see mock Spanish used in such a popular and well known show
Trump Relies on Mock Spanish to Talk About Immigration (OPINION)
This blog post is about how non-Spanish speaking white peoples' use of "mock Spanish" is a form of covert racism that is used as an unconsciously strategic effort to silently dominate the folks who are imagined to speak the language, but to do so through attempts at silliness, humor and acting "cool” or "with it". This article is written by a Spanish professor. He discusses how hard it is to talk to white people about mock Spanish, and even cites Jane Hill, but a different paper from the one we read. [Published on 10-20-2016]
Mock Spanish in 'The Mexican' Trailer
Play videoThis trailer for the 2001 movie “The Mexican” starring Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, demonstrates Brad Pitt’s character utilizing mock Spanish saying words like “el trucko” and “towno” in an interaction with Hispanic men. He also attempts Spanglish in another interaction saying a phone call is “muy muy important.”
Karen from Will and Grace speaks in Mock Spanish
Play videoIn this clip from the sitcom Will and Grace, Karen speaks to her Hispanic maid/nanny in pseudo- Spanish on the phone. She uses terms like “store-o” in order to seem like she is speaking with Spanish endings. Karen then goes on to ask her friend will how to pronounce something in Spanish, and then continues to just say the English words. She even goes so far as to use Spanish words for “thank you” and “goodbye” but in the wrong context. She uses Spanish not as an actual way to communicate with a native Spanish speaker, but rather to as a way to completely disregard the syntax and morphology of another language.
Strange Wilderness- Spanish accent
Play videoThis is a clip from "Strange Wilderness" and in this clip they are mocking Mock Spanish. It's a completely over the top clip. There is obviously overt stereotyping displayed in the clip and attempt to condescend the Latino race. Its a legitimate question as to how many people would realize (because the clip is so over the top and backfires so extraordinarily) that this indeed a mockery of Mock Spanish.
"Hispandering"
Play videoThis clip is a president election debate and it’s regarding Latino issue. Both of the candidates are in favor of Latino and against deportation. The debate end with “that what we are trying to do is to united families and not to divide families”. This clip is a really good example of expanding “hispandering”.
Issues of Hispandering
Play videoComedienne Cristela Alonzo discusses Hispandering in her own experience growing up in South Texas, often referring to political campaigns and gender issues.
Jon Stewart - Thank Donald Trump
Play videoJon Stewart mocks the 'inspiration' of new Latino voters for Donald Trump's run for presidency.
Swing County USA: Hispandering
Play videoThis video talks about Hispandering in the United States. It details moments on the campaign trail where Presidential candidates, Democratic and Republican, engage in Hispandering. Many of the candidates refer back to their parents and their experiences as immigrants.
President Obama - Hispandering
Play videoIn Obama's Cinco de Mayo speech it is clear that hispandering is taking place. He invited a crowd of what appeared to be people of hispanic background. What Obama is speaking about is clear, he wants immigration laws and reform to continuously be adjusted and bettered. Each time Obama said the term 'tequila' he changed the way he said it to sound more hispanic and the crowd went nuts so he continued to say it to please the people there. He used code-switching to his advantage in this speech.
Mock spanish
This is an interesting article touching on the use of mock spanish in children's books.
More Language Imitation
Play videoThis has much less to do with English specifically, but I thought it was really cool. This woman imitates what a number of languages sound like to foreigners, and she does it really well! Again, there are sometimes actual words involved (like 'bonsoir' in the French one) but it's almost all nonsense.
Hasta La Vista, Baby
Play videoArnold Schwarzenegger use's Mock Spanish in The Terminator.
I use this with the reading: Hill, Jane. 1999. Language, Race, and White Public Space.