Spanglish: An Aberration or My True Language?
Posted on October 12, 2018 by Andrea Lawson Jaramillo, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Is there space for Spanglish for bilinguals? Could it help us have a better comprehension of language or is should it be labeled as butchering?
“You need to speak correctly. Stick to Spanish or English. No Spanglish allowed.” During my childhood I heard my dad, teachers and even friends say similar things.
Back then, it was assumed that the only way children could become bilingual was if both languages where separated and maintained “pure”. I grew up with the belief that Spanglish was the product of butchering two languages and merging them into one. It was a lazy way to speak – when you forgot a word in one language you introduced its equivalent in the other. It was the language that “privileged” kids spoke and understood. It was a way of reminding others you are different, special, even better… Until one day a friend asked: Why is Spanglish so bad? Isn’t it a more natural way for you to speak?
It took me several days to suspend my negative judgment and fully wrap my head around giving Spanglish a second chance. I began to question: Why is it wrong to introduce an English word that has no translation in a sentence composed of Spanish words and vice versa? If I am speaking to my family, or other expats who are also bilingual, is it evil, wrong, lazy, arrogant? Isn’t it a more precise way to speak? Isn’t it more natural to mix the languages for those of us who grew up with two mother tongues?
Coincidently, as I grappled with the question of what Spanglish really meant to me, our daughters school asked me to help them strengthen bilingualism in the classroom. I took a step back and looked into the latest research regarding bilingual education and was introduced for the first time to the concept of: Translanguaging, a concept that surfaced from Cen Williams observations of how bilingual children and people use language.
“Translanguaging is the process of making meaning, shaping experiences, understanding and knowledge through the use of two languages. Both languages are used in integrated and coherent way to organize, negotiate and mediate learning.” The proponents of translaguaging believe delimiting languages according to schedules, subjects or classrooms is detrimental to acquiring a better grasp of language itself. Researchers have found that translaguaging actually builds understanding in a more efficient way. 1 It takes full advantage of students language preferences and practices and performances. 2 However, allowing for translanguaging doesn’t imply that it will be used 100% of the time. There will be occasions that children are required to speak or write using just one language to ensure they also have the ability to speak to monolinguals.
As I delved deeper into understanding translanguaging and how to incorporate it into our school, I was becoming more convinced I could incorporate it into my daily life as well. I began to feel relief. For the first time in my life I was able to defend what I had been feeling all along. Keeping both languages separate felt artificial, forced, restrictive, even less precise. I realized that all my life, I have reached for both languages in my head but haven’t been allowed to introduce them. I have forced myself to look for the exact translation to avoid mixing languages and speaking Spanglish.
The belief that Spanglish was so “bad” was deep seeded and it has been hard to let go of the prejudice I held against it. I am beginning to identify when I find Spanglish acceptable, and when I do not. I am slowly beginning to allow myself to use Spanglish when I am around other bilingual friends and family. I find that when I allow myself to do it, my thoughts are translated to words more smoothly and I feel I am being better understood then when I am restrained to just one language. I am beginning to allow myself to use Spanglish when it comes naturally and avoid it at all costs when I am talking to monolinguals or writing in a formal setting.
