TX HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS MADE TO RECITE MEXICAN NATIONAL ANTHEM, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

[웃 910]

It's very ignorant to put Americans who have parents that speak Spanish - in the ranking system of who speaks the worst Spanish. I had no idea he was doing that. Doesn't make sense at all.

How can you compare someone that is a native of America (schools, family, friends, media - all in ENGLISH) to a native of a Spanish speaking country? You can't!

I'm sure there are plenty of Colombian-Americans that have never visited Colombia. Born and raised in America. That speak perfect English but piss poor Spanish. Why would I take that person and say Colombians speak the worst Spanish. He's not a native to Colombia. He is a native to America.

I personally think the reason why the US has so many Mexicans who speak horrible Spanish is because many of them didn't receive a good education and speak the language the way their families taught them which again is uneducated. This means that it will trickle down to their children living here in the US, so it's not rare to see a highly educated Mexican-American speaking a low level/ignorant type of Spanish. If you have doubts just listen to any interview in Spanish with Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, it is horrendous but at the same time I applaud his efforts. As far as the Spanish spoken in Mexico, it all depends who you're speaking to, I've had the pleasure of talking to people from Mexico City who speak eloquently and who rarely butcher the language, same with people from Guadalajara.

But the question still remains, where is the best Spanish spoken? The majority of people say Colombia and I'm not saying this to be biased but based on what many others have said. Most Colombians make sure they pronounce every letter and make good use of the language the way it's supposed to. Now again, it all depends where you go in Colombia but for the most part the language is highly respected and spoken well in that country.

En Colombia se habla el mejor español, dice la Real Academia

Diana

That's great that one person, the director of the RAE, said that about Colombia. He is probably right! But if you took all 400 million or so (approx.) native Spanish speakers you'd get many different answers.

What's more interesting to me is who SPEAKS THE WORST SPANISH! All I can say for sure is that Mexico would not be the worst BY FAR in a survey...I just posed a question on Yahoo Answers Argentina (they don't have Colombia) to see if they agree with Colombia as the best Spanish. And asked them to say who the worst are! Should be interesting...I'll post some responses in a little bit.

Edited October 19, 2011 by Lord Infamous

[TBoneTX 46,443]

I just posed a question on Yahoo Answers Argentina (they don't have Colombia) to see if they agree with Colombia as the best Spanish. And asked them to say who the worst are! Should be interesting...I'll post some responses in a little bit.

(Would the Argentinians implicate themselves as the worst speakers, if indeed they are?) And the replies should be interesting, si man.

Diana mentioned the pronouncing of every letter. In Ecuador, natives of Quito (the capital city, up north) tend to finish their words. Natives of Guayaquil (largest city, seacoast) tend to drop their final consonants. The Ecu husband of a VJ member (I've forgotten who) allegedly told her that "people who finish their words [in Ecu] sound stupid," si man.

Interestingly to me, Mrs. T-B.'s Guayaquilian (?) pronunciation practices carry over into her English, s ma.

Edited October 19, 2011 by TBoneTX