laughed at for speaking like a Dominican?

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NYC_Trini_Span

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I was thinking about this thread.... while here in NYC for the last few months, my job has required me to take calls from NYC and Miami, and deal with spanish speakers (its the reason they hired me, to aleviate the calls flooding the ONE guy who was Latino). It has boosted my confidence that only when i make a GRAMMAR mistake do they realize i am a "gringo". Or they will ask, "pero de donde eres"? Ricans have said i was dominican, dominicans say I'm a Dominican York, Mexicans have no clue, they simply think ""West Indies".

I love it. Of course, some words are better than others. (I hate "Alrededor lol)
 
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cuas

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I learned English in Aruba the Netherlands' way in school. I refused to change my accent. My husband (African-American), his family and friends say I speak like white.
My parents are Dominican, I also learned good Spanish in Aruba. I lived for many many years in the DR. Also refused to get the Dominican accent.
Educated people tells me my accent is not Dominican (Spanish) nor American (English) and wonder where I am from.
We live in the Bronx in a bad neighborhood and I refuse to let me twins (14) to cut words. It is tough for them before they speak different from their classmates. They were teased for years but I tell them when you have to write an essay you do not have to be guessing the spelling of words and when you go for college interview the words will come naturally.

They had speech problem as toddler. They were assign a bilingual speech therapist because I was speaking Spanish to them.
First parent-teacher conference I spoke to the therapist. I could not understand her Spanish. It was like when you first learn a language and you do not have your verbs together.
Next day I requested and English therapist. They refused. I won. I told them their father is African-American and he stays home with them because I work.
It is hard for them now because when they are the only two that do not speak Spanish in the family. They feel allienated.
Now I am looking for Spanish classes, the basic so they can catch up with the rest of the family.
 
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Ricardo900

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Jul 12, 2004
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cuas said:
I learned English in Aruba the Netherlands' way in school. I refused to change my accent. My husband (African-American), his family and friends say I speak like white.
My parents are Dominican, I also learned good Spanish in Aruba. I lived for many many years in the DR. Also refused to get the Dominican accent.
Educated people tells me my accent is not Dominican (Spanish) nor American (English) and wonder where I am from.
We live in the Bronx in a bad neighborhood and I refuse to let me twins (14) to cut words. It is tough for them before they speak different from their classmates. They were teased for years but I tell them when you have to write an essay you do not have to be guessing the spelling of words and when you go for college interview the words will come naturally.

They had speech problem as toddler. They were assign a bilingual speech therapist because I was speaking Spanish to them.
First parent-teacher conference I spoke to the therapist. I could not understand her Spanish. It was like when you first learn a language and you do not have your verbs together.
Next day I requested and English therapist. They refused. I won. I told them their father is African-American and he stays home with them because I work.
It is hard for them now because when they are the only two that do not speak Spanish in the family. They feel allienated.
Now I am looking for Spanish classes, the basic so they can catch up with the rest of the family.
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Good for you, never change the way you speak or your accent to try and fit in. I get that all the time when I speak to certain people. They sometimes feel that I am trying to speak above them or in an authoritative manner. I am just like to speak the correct form of the language, no street talk. I agree with Chip when he states that people should learn the correct way to speak spanish.
 
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Norma Rosa

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Feb 20, 2007
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CUAS, good for you! You might find Spanish classes for your kids, but keep talking to them in Spanish.
 
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KateP

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May 28, 2004
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Pib said:
Everybody has an accent, I think you are doing OK when upon meeting a native speaker s/he can't figure out where your accent is from.

"So... where are you from?" :)
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Some of my co-workers at work swear that I'm from Moca o Janico and my passport was "bought"... lol According to my friends, on the phone you can't tell that I'm not Dominican. Hey, practice makes perfect! (or almost at least)
 
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Chip00

Guest
KateP said:
Some of my co-workers at work swear that I'm from Moca o Janico and my passport was "bought"... lol According to my friends, on the phone you can't tell that I'm not Dominican. Hey, practice makes perfect! (or almost at least)
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Why don't you fill us on on your Spanish education history so maybe we can all pick up some pointers?

Also, at what age did you start studying and speaking?

thanks
 
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Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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If you want to get on my good side, ask me "which part of Latin America do you come from?" It works like a charm, especially if the questioner is a native Spanish speaker.
 
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Chip00

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Chirimoya said:
If you want to get on my good side, ask me "which part of Latin America do you come from?" It works like a charm, especially if the questioner is a native Spanish speaker.
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In Orlando where I used to live sometimes people thought I was Hispanic but here in Santiago with so little foreigners many ask where I'm from and I always say "guess" and most aren't sure but I would say a good portion say I'm a "Domincanyork" with a very small percentage saying that I'm Hispanic from another country - a few guess that I'm American of course :)

BTW Chirimoya - could you also explain how you learned Spanish and at what age? I always find this info interesting and useful too.
 
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Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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Chip00 said:
BTW Chirimoya - could you also explain how you learned Spanish and at what age? I always find this info interesting and useful too.
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I'm not your usual case of English speaker who learned Spanish as an adult - Spanish was always around (part of my childhood was spent in Gibraltar where both Spanish and English are spoken) though it was never the primary home language. My mother was concentrating on learning English and made a point of hardly ever using Spanish, except when her relatives were visiting.

As a result I always had a reasonable "passive knowledge" of Spanish. I could understand everything but could not really string more than a few simple sentences together, until my early twenties when I started travelling, working and living in a number of Latin American countries - mainly Venezuela, where my mother's family comes from, and Central America. It didn't take long for me to become reasonably fluent, but my written Spanish is still not that good, and I haven't been very disciplined about getting into the habit of reading in Spanish.
 
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something_of_the_night

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Feb 7, 2006
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Hey, Chip, here's how Chiri sounds when she's back in Gib:

In the meantime el Pita One dando vueltas por Whitehall donde le quieren dar Brussel sprouts para comer.

He should give them some Calentita, in return, por eso it is Gibraltar's national dish.

Y todo el mundo, or at least medio mundo, se apunta al integration, except el UK, conque the least said the better.

Fueron treinta gatos al meeting the other day. Estaba lloviendo, although if we integrated, nos caeria un chaparron!

Mind you, si el Peliza llama el meeting hubieran salido integrationists de todo los rincones.

Llanitiando left and right.
 
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KateP

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May 28, 2004
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Chip00 said:
Why don't you fill us on on your Spanish education history so maybe we can all pick up some pointers?

Also, at what age did you start studying and speaking?

thanks
Click to expand...

Originally from Quebec, Canada. Moved to the country when I was 17 with your basic,"Hola, como estas?" lessons. Learned quickly that coche is NOT used in this country...lol For the first year we stuck to other "gringos" and therefore didn't need to learn spanish that urgently. In the second year I started working as a typist in a small photo studio on 27 de Febrero just after you cross the bridge and didn't have much of a choice of whether I wanted to learn spanish or not. From there I got a job in a sales department answering phones all day long (85% in spanish) and by the third year I could carry a normal conversation and swear (unfortunately) with the best of them. Unfortunately that's one of the things you learn when you live in a barrio and take carro publicos to work.

My recommendation for those that want or need to learn quickly is always to submerse yourself as much as you can into the language. The less people who speak your native tongue around you, the better. And then practice practice practice. I personally never have had any formal spanish education but somehow managed to pick up the spelling and grammar pretty easily. Now my co-workers (mostly university graduates) send me their memos and letter to check over and correct. Go figure!
 
La Profe_1

La Profe_1

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I came here six years ago not remembering much of my previously (high school) studied Spanish. However, I did a quick "immersion" by choosing not to live among expats. I reviewed and taught myself the use of the verb tenses after arriving. My Spanish came back in a hurry and I now work in an environment where there is only one other English speaker and he has been around only for the last three months.

I write it reasonably well - well enough that last year I prepared a twenty page grant report in Spanish. It was accepted as written with no "what did you mean to say here?" questions.
 
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Matilda

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Sep 13, 2006
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I learnt French and German at University and speak them fluently. Learnt Spanish from speaking with my husband and his kids. But they throw you sometimes. Cats ate the chicken I had got out for tea. So I told him to get out mince. Asked him where he had put mince. 'In same place as chicken', he replied. 'But they will eat the mince' I said. 'No 'tan full'!!!! The little sod was right as well - mince not touched. But how are you supposed to learn good Spanish when they speak like that!!!! And the worrying thing is that I how I speak too now!!!

Matilda
 
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