but what the hell is up with commercials in spanish on english-language programming? there was a commercial for the
hispanic scholarship fund on tnt today, and it was in spanish only, with no subtitles.
now, i'm not jumping on the "you should all go back where you came from" boat. well, obviously, that would be rather hypocritical of me.
i am absolutely confused as to why this commercial exists. this is for a scholarship fund. if you deserve a scholarship (read: deserve having someone pay for you to attend classes administered in english), then you should be able to understand the commercial in english.
now, i don't know if there are schools in the US that teach classes in spanish, so my criticism may not be completely justified, but i doubt that's going to be a very large weak point in the argument.
besides, that seems it may be somewhat contrary to how the organization describes itself:
HSF was founded in 1975 with a vision to strengthen the country by advancing college education among Hispanic Americans-the largest minority segment of the U.S. population.
i really don't know that sending non-english-speaking students to non-english-teaching schools would "strengthen the country."
i really want to point out that i would be just as mystified if this commercial were in chinese. yes, i would then understand the commercial (this may even be true of french, but i somewhat doubt it), but there's also the problem of why it's even on during an english-language program. i am not opposed to international language programming. i am not opposed to international language channels. what i am perplexed at is that it would be on a relatively mainstream channel during primetime.
if i were to move to a country whose main language i didn't understand, i would make an effort to learn that language. hey, i learned english. i don't view it as a hardship... i view it as a necessity. not being able to understand random aspects of life is a huge price to pay for not learning a language.
the main problem here would be that so many concessions are made for spanish-speaking people that don't speak english. yes, i understand that there are more of them than any other non-english-speaking sect of our society, and i understand that the concessions are made to combat frustration for both parties. but what is easy is not always what's right. we can't add another (unofficially) mandatory language every time a minority group gets larger than a certain size. the reason there's a main language is so that we can all communicate. a person or an organization learning spanish (and when i say an organization learns spanish... i mean that they hire someone that can translate) the problem may be alleviated for that person or organization, but the more general problem is exacerbated. they have taken away some amount of motiviation to learn english.
i understand the need to preserve your own culture, to not forget who you are. i agree that it important to remember who you are and where you came from. what i don't agree with the method. you can learn a new language and live in a new culture and not forget. learning english is not the same thing as forgetting spanish.
we have, in the past, formed mini-communities, where you could live and speak as if you were still in the homeland. it's still where some of the great eateries are--little italy, chinatown. but we also have another name for them these communities: ghettos.
if you think i'm being racist with that word, you really should look up the actual meaning of it, and then maybe read some history on them.
***
i just have to apologize for this post. i seriously am half asleep right now, and i *know* that makes me ramble and run away on tangents. i tried to keep all that to a minimum, but... i *am* half asleep, after all.
