Temas controversiales

Temas controversiales para discutir en clase . . . 

Los Padres de la Patria de Estados Unidos se opusieron al sistema aristocrático basado en linaje, pero también desconfiaban de las masas. Su concepto de democracia era más bien una meritocracia. O sea, escala social basada en talento y esfuerzo y no en favoritismo por linaje o corrupción. Si un ciudadano es más inteligente y se esfuerza más, ese ciudadano debe ocupar una posición más alta en la sociedad.

           Claro, esto es en teoría. Si la vida es una carrera, todos debemos partir de la misma raya. Sin embargo, el que nace de una familia pobre --sobre todo en un país sin prestaciones sociales como el Medicaid-- inicia esa carrera con muchas yardas en desventaja. Para empezar, una nutrición deficiente en un bebé afecta su desarrollo, incluso su cociente de inteligencia. Y esto es algo que no se menciona por ser un tema utilizado por los racistas (recuerden a Hitler y la eliminación de los inferiores).  

          Incluso esto pudiera explicar en gran medida porque los países pobres no logran salir de su extrema pobreza. No son los recursos naturales, sino los humanos los esenciales para el progreso de un país. Deben crear capital humano invirtiendo, sobre todo, en la alimentación y la salud. 

           Esto nada tiene que ver con socialismo. Hablamos de invertir en capital, en capital humano. Si no, la ola de refugiados ilegales hacia Europa y EE.UU. seguirá en aumento . . . dantesco.  

Which is more difficult to learn, English or Spanish?

English, of course. English can be chaotic because the changes come mostly from the users and not from an academy filtering and organizing the language, as is the case of the Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy).

But having not such a filter –and since mostly everything new is invented by the U.S.–English is a richer language. (But don’t tell that to a Hispanic . . .)

Prescriptive and Descriptive Grammar

Prescriptive grammar is when rules are established from above, from the language authorities, whether a language academy or linguistic experts.

Descriptive grammar, however, describes how the native speakers use the language.

In the case of Spanish, the prescriptive approach, set by the Academia Real Española, has been paramount. Only recently there has been some allowance for descriptive grammar, coming mostly from how the Latin Americans use the language.

Again, Spanish is a rule-oriented language, mostly a logical language but English is less so, much less so. That’s why Hispanics learning English find it hard to believe that sometimes there is no logical explanation for why the English language is used this or that way. (“Teacher, is there a rule for when the vowel ‘a’ is pronounced short as in ‘at’ and long as ‘artist’? Or when it is pronounced as ‘ei’ as in ‘cake’? How do I know when it is pronounced one way or the other?”)   

That’s why the subjunctive has almost disappeared in English. The English grammarians want to preserve it but to no avail –Americans, a practical people, shun complicated grammar.

But bear in mind: Grammar is about the language, and not the language itself. The direct way to learn a language is orally. And grammar should be taught in context, ideally in oral context –grammar is not math.  

Most Hispanics as well as Americans use the language correctly even though they have forgotten the rules. Ask the average Hispanic about the subjunctive mood, and you’ll see his or her eyes roll. 

Nothing new: throughout most of human history only a few at the top of the social scale were able to read and write; the rest learned languages orally –the oral tradition.

The first priority is to listen and speak the language, never mind accuracy at first.

When I first came to this country I quickly learn to say “Iu sonavabích.” Never mind saying it like in syllabic Spanish: “You-son-of-a-bitch.” They understood my "sonavabich" –I could see it in their faces.

PRONUNCIATION – Vocal Chord Vibration

A crucial difference to reduce your accent: In Spanish, as opposed to English, the vibration of the vocal chords is not heard as much and as often as in English.

In English (a Germanic language) we speak more from the back of the mouth. But Spanish (from Latin) is much more of a front-mouth language.

When speaking English I still have to remind myself of this fundamental difference –a difference that accounts in part for the Hispanic accent in English.

That’s why Hispanics learning English find it difficult to differentiate between, say:

                                   ‘bag’ and ‘back’

                                   ‘lab’ and ‘lap’

                                                                        

          They fail to vibrate the vocal chords as much as they should 
          when pronouncing the final ‘g’ and ‘b’ –and other voiced consonants.

As for vowels:

ENGLISH

All vowels are voiced (pronounced with audible vocal chord vibration)

Even the short-sounding vowels are voiced: 

                      pat -  sit -  of - pull 

Also, the vowels in stressed syllables are pronounced longer and that also accounts for more audible vibration. Remember that in Spanish we do not elongate the stressed vowels, but pronounce them with a somewhat higher pitch.

SPANISH

We do not have short- and long-sounding vowels. As you know, each vowel has only one possible sound.

The only vowels that are pronounced in the back of the mouth are the ‘o’ and ‘u’ and even in these cases you do not hear the vocal chord vibration as in English.

Examples:   too   -  tú

                    pot  -  pote    

Bottom line:  Speak Spanish from the front of your mouth and you’ll be on safe ground 

PRONUNCIATION – SENTENCES

ENGLISH

In relaxed conversation, we usually stress the important words --the “content words,” as we say in linguistics-- and do not stress the unimportant words --the “function words.”

Content Words                                       Function Words

Nouns                                                      Subject Pronouns: I, you, he, etc. 

Possessive Pronouns: mine, yours, etc. Object Pronouns: me, him, her, etc.

Interrogative Pronouns: what, why, etc.

Main verbs                                               Auxiliary verbs

                                                                Modals: should, may, might, etc.

                                                                Prepositions: to, for, in, etc.

                                                                Conjunctions: and, so, but, etc.

                                                                Articles: a, an, the, etc.

Example:  I’m going to talk to her. (“I’m gonna talk to‘er.”)

SPANISH

No such thing as function words, or unstressed words in Spanish.  

To the extent that you do not pay attention to the pronunciation of each word in a sentence, your speech is considered sloppy.

In Spanish, we are supposed to pronounce every word clearly.

Example:  Hablaremos mañana; encontraremos una solución.

                 (As opposed to English: We’ll talk tomorrow; we’ll find a solution.)

Linkage. We do link words in conversational Spanish.

     (a) When same vowels at the end and beginning of following words:

          Example:  la-almohada  (the pillow)

          But those who want to be careful pronounce both a’s, or as a longer ‘a’.

    

     (b) Also when vowels are different:

          Example:  hombre-alto (tall man)

          Again both vowels are articulated although linked.

    (c) Words ending with a consonant and followed by a vowel.

         Example:  el-abuelo  (the grandfather)

,  

Summary

Remember: In English we have a similar stress system in the pronunciation of vowels  (the unstressed vowels usually become indefinite). And in sentences, again, we also have a stress system based on important (content words) and unimportant words (function words).

In Spanish, we do not have “unimportant” or unstressed words in a sentence.

Languages reflect the native culture. As opposed to English, Spanish is originally from once aristocratic Spain (la Real Academia Española – the Royal Spanish Academy). Remember Don Quijote, the medieval gentleman who refused to accept modern times.

Controversial (I love thoughtful controversy)
That’s why many Cubans in the island –although educated-- tend to be “sloppy” in their pronunciation. The Marxist-Leninist revolution rejected the middle-class manners (considered “bourgeois”) and replaced those manners with those of the proletariat, the worker. 

Again, on the average, island Cubans tend to be more educated, but South Americans, for example, even in the least developed countries, are more careful in their pronunciation. Those are societies in which language shows our social level. 

Colombians go to the extreme of using formal ‘usted’ even with their girlfriends/boyfriends. 

Nobel-prize novelist Garcَía Márquez’s novel Cien años de soledad (One Hundred Years of Loneliness) deals with those medieval strains still found in some South American countries –although globalization is doing away with those windmills.  www.facebook.com/eugenio.zamora.7

English-Spanish Differences - Word Stress

Pronunciation – Vowels

English-Spanish Basic Differences

VOWELS

We all know that in Spanish the five vowels have each only one invariable sound, and each of those sounds has no 100% match in English.

In English the five vowels have at least 14 possible articulations and there are no rules when, for instance, the ‘a’ is pronounced short (the mouth less open) as in ‘at’ or long (the mouth more open) as in ‘artist’.

Stress

English: stressed vowels are lengthened

Spanish: stressed vowels are somewhat louder but not lengthened (except for emphasis)

atom - átomo

atomic -  atómico

English: The [ǝ] symbol is called the schwa and it is used to indicate the indefinite sound of an unstressed vowel.

If you look up the word ‘atom’ in the dictionary, you’ll find it is pronounced as átǝm (the ‘o’ is indistinct)

Take the word ‘átomo’ in Spanish. A movie actor trying to imitate the English accent when speaking Spanish would pronounce it as ‘aatǝmǝ’.

The schwa [ǝ] is also found in stressed syllables consisting of a vowel plus the letter ‘r’, such as bird [bǝrd], turn [tǝrn], earn [ǝrn]. Again, in these words the vowel has become blurred.

Spanish: No such thing as a schwa. Unstressed vowels are not shortened and blurred. No vowel blurring in Spanish pronunciation.

Exercise. Make sure to pronounce every vowel clearly in the Spanish version of these words. First exaggerate the articulation of every syllable in Spanish, and then pronounce it normally.  

atom  -  átomo  [á-to-mo]                                 

atomic – atómico [a-tó-mi-co]

competitive  - competitivo [com-pe-ti-ti-vo]

original  -  original [o-ri-gi-nal]

invitation  -  invitación [in-vi-ta-ción]

famous – famoso [fa-mo-so]

And those who want to reduce their American accent when speaking Spanish should practice by reading at least a couple of paragraphs exaggerating the articulation of every syllable and then read them again normally. Do that every day.

We can practice further in class.

Las Preposiciones

LAS PREPOSICIONES

In Spanish, all those verb endings, the tenses, and the subjunctive mood . . . But in English, ay, Mami, las preposiciones . . .

Nothing is more difficult for a Spanish-speaking student learning English than the use of prepositions. Para un hispanohablante nada es más difícil en la gramática inglesa que el uso de las preposiciones.

DIFFERENCE: In Spanish we don’t have verb phrases or idioms in which the preposition changes the basic meaning of the verb. En español no tenemos frases verbales o expresiones idiomáticas formadas con preposiciones que alteran el significado del verbo.

EN  INGLÉS:

Tómese el verbo get, que en su forma básica significa conseguir, obtener. Usado en combinación con preposiciones, get adquiere más 30 diferentes significados.  He aquí un ejemplo:

Get through (terminar).  “Finally, I got through (finished) reading that book.” TRANSLATION: Al fin terminé de leer ese libro.

[Observe cómo en inglés se tiene la alternativa de usar la expresión idiomática o, de forma menos informal, sólo el verbo correspondiente.]

IN SPANISH:

Notice how in Spanish we don't use prepositions to form idiomatic expressions:

Costar trabajo (costar means 'to cost', but this idiom means 'it takes a lot of work' and it is used with the indirect object pronouns me, te, le, nos, les).  “Me costó trabajo".