Ilan Stavans, a professor of Latin America and Latino culture, supports the choice of bilingual news anchor Vanessa Ruiz to pronounce Spanish words in her newscast with the correct Spanish pronunciation in his New York Times article “The Rolled R’s of Vanessa Ruiz”. Viewers complained about Ruiz’s pronunciations, and it may be due to a clash of cultures, Stavan states. He notes that English and Spanish are entwined through the means of Spanglish, and he suggests that Ruiz’s critics are trying to govern the use of English and want to prevent any type of crossing of the two languages. Spanish has an establishment dedicated to preserving it, the writer says, but English is different. Stavans emphasizes that English is defined only by its speakers,
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He states, “Even that mainstream usage is never static. Words are continuously being remodeled—both in meaning and pronunciation.” (A35) In support of Stavans’ statement, new words are added to the dictionary every year. Over one hundred fifty words were added to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary last year, including “social networking,” “crowdfunding,” and “steampunk.” Thanks to the invention of new words, I know to fear my sister when she says she is hangry, or experiencing anger induced by hunger. The meanings of words change, too. According to the Merriam-Webster’s website, a catfish is not only a sea creature, but a person who sets up a fake online profile. These additions of words show the ability of English to adapt when its users create new …show more content…
He proclaims, “Ms. Ruiz’s use of Spanish words in English newscasts, and her choice of pronunciation, would have been unthinkable 50 years ago. Today, they are polemical; tomorrow, it will seem inexplicable that there was ever a fuss” (A35). I think that as long as there are people who speak this way, there will be people who do not approve of them. America is a diverse melting pot, but that does not mean that everybody agrees with every culture that makes up this country. I would not go so far to say they are racist, but a lot of the people who commented on Ruiz’s newscast seemed to have negative attitudes about Latino people who live in the United States. People with these attitudes have always existed, and that will not stop any time soon, because they raise their children to be the same way. Kristina R. Olson, an assistant professor of psychology and cognitive science, writes, “4-5 year old children of parents who have more diverse friends show less racial bias than the children of parents who have less diverse friends.” Children learn these behaviors from their parents, and when those children grow up, it is possible that they will teach it to their children. I believe this cycle will repeat itself for years to come, so I do not think all-around acceptance of different pronunciations is foreseeable in the near
He states, “Even that mainstream usage is never static. Words are continuously being remodeled—both in meaning and pronunciation.” (A35) In support of Stavans’ statement, new words are added to the dictionary every year. Over one hundred fifty words were added to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary last year, including “social networking,” “crowdfunding,” and “steampunk.” Thanks to the invention of new words, I know to fear my sister when she says she is hangry, or experiencing anger induced by hunger. The meanings of words change, too. According to the Merriam-Webster’s website, a catfish is not only a sea creature, but a person who sets up a fake online profile. These additions of words show the ability of English to adapt when its users create new …show more content…
He proclaims, “Ms. Ruiz’s use of Spanish words in English newscasts, and her choice of pronunciation, would have been unthinkable 50 years ago. Today, they are polemical; tomorrow, it will seem inexplicable that there was ever a fuss” (A35). I think that as long as there are people who speak this way, there will be people who do not approve of them. America is a diverse melting pot, but that does not mean that everybody agrees with every culture that makes up this country. I would not go so far to say they are racist, but a lot of the people who commented on Ruiz’s newscast seemed to have negative attitudes about Latino people who live in the United States. People with these attitudes have always existed, and that will not stop any time soon, because they raise their children to be the same way. Kristina R. Olson, an assistant professor of psychology and cognitive science, writes, “4-5 year old children of parents who have more diverse friends show less racial bias than the children of parents who have less diverse friends.” Children learn these behaviors from their parents, and when those children grow up, it is possible that they will teach it to their children. I believe this cycle will repeat itself for years to come, so I do not think all-around acceptance of different pronunciations is foreseeable in the near