Would this be cultural appropriation?

Echo

In the technical sense, there are few parts of fashion and decoration that are NOT cultural appropriation. Designers commonly admit to being influenced by the bright colours, beadwork, draping fabric or other aspects of other cultures. And many forms of home decor are also adopted from other cultures - like "Southwest" style borrows heavily from Native Americans, statues of Buddha are commonly found in discount stores, and many animal sculptures and masks are adopted from African cultures.

I am not trying to say that we shouldn't be sensitive to it, but as an American a person can hardly escape it. "Cultural apprpriation" implies that a certain aspect of a culture is adopted while the rest is despised or dismissed. I doubt that would be your intent with the blanket, and I daresay it is rarely the intent of those who adopt the culture, art, fashion, or language of a group of people to which they do not belong. If that were the case, then anyone who returned from another country with a piece of art or cultural object would be guilty.

I actually have a bigger issue with some Halloween costumes, although that is an entirely different subject! But I think the blanket is beautiful and I wouldn't consider it offensive for someone outside the culture to own.

13 years ago

Anonymous

Enjoy the blaket and don't worry about it.

Just an FYI: My DH is Hispanic, but not Mexican. In his country, the Day of the Dead is not celebrated. They don't do the Quinceanera thing, either. Those are both Mexican celebrations. I know it sounds like I'm splitting hairs, but there are some cultural differences between Mexico, Central America, South America, the Carribbean, and Spain. The language isn't even the same! Just ask my 2 DDs who are taking Spanish right now. The way they're being taught in school is not the way Spanish is spoken in Central America. My DH, MIL and I have all tried to help them with their homework, to no avail. I don't know where this so-called Spanish they're "learning" in school comes from. I'd say it's the equivalent of an American trying to learn English that was spoken in the Middle Ages. Seriously, it's that different. Thanks for letting me vent.

13 years ago

Irene

Veteran

Ruth, it probably comes from Spain, although I would say Spain's Spanish sounds actually more evolved than SouthAmnerican Spanish. I don't know why that is, and maybe it's only a perception, but I do feel that words that are outdated in Spain are still being used in SouthAmerica. Sometimes SouthAmerican Spanish sounds obsolete to me (I am by no means trying to offend anybody, I have friends from different parts of SouthAmerica and I love how they speak, but it does sound different). At the same time, they also adapt words and even grammatical formulation from the AmericanEnglish language, which makes sense given their proximity and the influence the States have on them.

I have heard, as well, from Spanish friends living in the States that schools have a preference for Spanish teachers when it comes to hiring one. I think it's a matter of 'class-rating', as if SouthAmerican Spanish was second-class because it's a loan from Spain. I can recall this happening overhere a few years ago, when having an American English teacher was not as cool as having one coming straight from London. Somehow British Engilsh was considered purer and classier -it still is. It didn't help that we were taking Cambridge Examination Papers.

PS: As for the blanket, I can't see it! But I thought Americans had someDead-People-Celebration Day as well?

13 years ago

Anonymous

When my DH and I moved to Central America, I had to forget the Spanish I was taught in school and learn how to speak the way it was spoken down there. I understood everything I read; I just couldn't converse. To make matters worse, the country my DH and I lived in speaks Spanish differently than the country he's from--and he's from a neighboring country! We were fortunate to have the priviledge of living and working in an area where we had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. I had the opportunity to hear multiple versions of Spanish, and it was quite a learning experience for me. I doubt the average American teacher who teaches Spanish has had that type of exposure. Our children are not even being taught by native speakers. It's a wonder they manage to learn Spanish at all. I learned most of what I know by immersion in the culture. Had I not lived in a Spanish-speaking country and been forced to converse, I most likely would never have become fluent in Spanish.

13 years ago

Irene

Veteran

Depending on the level of language a child has it is actually best for him/her to stick to a non-native teacher. non-native teacher whose mother tongue is actually English will be able to grasp why the child is making mistakes instead of just correcting them over and over. That's because the teacher has probably made those mistakes himself while learning the language. Native-speake teachers are best when the student has a good level of such language and thus can improve on what he/she already knows and understands. I had an American teacher -fantastic teacher, btw- in my two final years as a student of English. BUT she knew no Spanish. At all. So while it was great for us, who had a high level of English, it didn't work that well for her younger students who didn't understand half of what she was explaining and weren't able to communicate with her in the language they did manage.

I think native-speaker teachers are overrated. Now, the fact that your children's teacher doesn't know the language too well, that's another story. Incompetent people are all over the place.

I won't argue with you that the best way to learn a language is by means of immersion, because that's true. Then again, I was able to pass a Proficiency in English exam BEFORE going abroad. It is true that it took me and my classmates much more time though.

PS: Spain has regional dialects of the same language as well. It is actually hard for me to understand people that live in the south, unless they speak what they would consider 'slowly' and 'pronouncing everything'. Oh, we also have two more languages. And it's not even such a big country to begin with!

13 years ago

Anonymous

For proper pronunciation, a native speaker is a must. If not a native speaker, it needs to be a teacher who has traveled and is well acquainted with the culture and language, particularly the various dialects. We live in the Deep South (United States), so you can imagine how the Spanish gets butchered here! Then again, I sometimes struggle to understand English when it's spoken with a heavy Southern accent.

13 years ago

Irene

Veteran

Oh, but 'proper pronunciation' is such a mystery. I believe mine to be quite good -English pronunciation, I mean-. In my first week in Wales (out of 9 months), a Welsh girl in my Residence Halls took me fore another Welsh (from some small town far from Cardiff, I guess). When I told her I was from Barcelona she was so shocked. Then she kept telling everyone we met on the way (we were going to the cafeteria) that I was Spanish 'and look how good her English is!'. I was so embarrassed lol

This is something I can do: reproduce sounds I'm not used to. Imitate voices, and accents, my tongue, mouth, throat, nose and ears allow me to do that. Other people don't have that ability, but it doesn't make them worse non-native-speakers. You can't really help that, especially after a certain age. That doesn't mean you can't improve the rest of language skills up to perfection.

May I ask how old your children are?

I have a weird accent due to British, New Yorkian (does this word exist?) and Californian (with a tad of Honduras) influences. Plus, TV series and interviews I regularly watch. Sometimes I sound extremely British-posh, then suddenly I am this badass latino girl. Yes, there might be a bit of multiple personalities issue in the mix lol. So beware, if your children keep changing teachers -even if all of them are native- they might still sound weird!!

PS: We are so going OT here, but I can't leave a discussion like this go off lol Maybe we should start another topic or something?

13 years ago

Anonymous

The students in my daughters' classes don't even get the vowel sounds right, much less remember that the "h" in "hola" and other words is silent. I agree that Spanish pronunciations can be somewhat different depending on where someone is from, but not to that degree. I can always understand, and I'm not Hispanic. What I don't understand is the "Spanish" being taught in school. The vocabulary is either formal or archaic. It's just not the way I've heard any native speaker talk, and I've heard a lot of different Spanish dialects.

I have two DDs in college and one in high school.

13 years ago

Echo

Veteran

As for a proper accent, that is something that cannot be taught, and many non-native speakesr still speak with their American accent (or German accent, or Russian accent, etc.) after spending decades in a Spanish-speaking country. Some of the sounds in a language learned after childhood are simply unattainable and often go unheard by the speaker's ear.

No one else can assess your children's foreign-language teachers better than you can. When I was in school, I had a teacher who was not a native speaker, but who spent every summer in Mexico. He taught Mexican Spanish, though was well-versed in the pronounciation differences between Mexican Spanish and the language spoken in Spain. He has spent time in Spain as well. I tend to agree that non-native speakers often make better teachers provided they are proficient in the language, because they need to teach grammatical construction and address the mistakes English-speakers tend to make while learning the language.

The vast majority of those who have learned Spanish (or any other language), even from the very best of teachers, will sound awful when they visit a Spanish-speaking country, and many will have difficulty with the speed at which native speakers speak. The only way to learn to SPEAK a foreign language is immersion, and usually nothing except living in a Spanish-speaking country will achieve that. Students can learn to read the language and write it and even understand it, but speaking it is something that simply cannot be replicated in a classroom.

13 years ago

Ana

(website)

Veteran

Me gusta la manta, y'all.

13 years ago

Anonymous

Quote from Echo: The only way to learn to SPEAK a foreign language is immersion, and usually nothing except living in a Spanish-speaking country will achieve that. Students can learn to read the language and write it and even understand it, but speaking it is something that simply cannot be replicated in a classroom.

I agree, Echo! My DDs have an advantage because we didn't move back to the States until the oldest one started 2nd grade and the middle one started kindergarten. In Central America, they heard both English and Spanish in the house and at the bilingual school they attended, where half the classes were in English and half in Spanish. When they speak Spanish, they sound like native speakers. I guess that's why they get so annoyed with their Spanish teachers, lol. My personal beef with the Spanish teachers is with the vocabulary they're teaching the students. It's not the vocabulary used in Central America, and my DH says he has no idea where those words came from. Nobody in this part of the world talks like that.

13 years ago

Category