On the National Spanglish Contest...

National Spanglish Contest

This is so very awesome! Just learned about the National Spanglish Contest. Actually, two of our students at UT earned prizes in the college-level competition that they will receive at the 4th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language in Irvine, CA, taking place on February 17, 2017.


I hope that folks appreciate this in a positive, respectful way. There really is something we know as fluency in the contest of code-switching, which means navigating between English and Spanish, and also that there are entire communities like where I'm from in West Texas that code-switch back and forth regularly.  

One can code-switch correctly, as well as incorrectly, as being able to do so requires mastery in the combining of two different grammar systems.

Remember that the strength of any language is due in large measure to its capacity to adapt. There are few pure languages since pure ones become less relevant or die (e.g., Latin).  Status and power are other significant reasons, as well.

To wit, only a very small percentage of the English language is from the Angles and the Saxons. English otherwise reflects a breathtaking number of influences worldwide and over the course of history, making it today the world language that it is.

In the meantime, students, time to polish up your best Spanglish, creative writing and compete! 

Angela Valenzuela
c/s