Are Spanish speakers guilty of women’s rights discrimination…?

Recently, some feminist-minded Spanish regional authorities have challenged the “sexist” grammar of Spanish. Ignacio Bosques, a member of the Real Academia Española has written an article which criticizes and dismisses the language guidelines offered by the regional authorities and several institutions. The Real Academia Española (Spanish Royal Academy, RAE) has been a protector of the purity of Spanish since 1713. Some of the accusations of Spanish being sexist are the following:

“Spanish words are either of the masculine or feminine gender. A male citizen, for instance, is a “ciudadano” while a female citizen is a “ciudadana.” A group comprising only female citizens would be called “ciudadanas.”

But if the group includes even a single male, the plural becomes the masculine “ciudadanos.”

“Parents” translates as “padres” (fathers), a human being is “hombre” (man), and so on.”

Have gender and the Spanish language conspired against women’s rights?

Here is the article on the issue, read on and find out what type of changes are being pitched by feminist-minded institutions.

http://bikyamasr.com/61605/spaniards-in-passionate-debate-about-sexist-grammar/

If you are intrigued, check out the full article written by Ignacio Bosques.

http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2012/03/02/actualidad/1330717685_771121.html

Approximately one in five children in the U.S. speak another language other than English at home. However, many times second and third generations do not develop their second language (which they later regret). This is the case of the constituents of Girl in a Coma, a Mexican American Band of San Antonio. Nina Diaz, the lead singer of the band admits that she regrets not learning Spanish as a child. The band now incorporates Spanish in their music as a form of learning the language. “Nina Diaz says she grew up very much like the slain Tejano singer Selena.” For those who don’t know, the late Selena was a Hispanic singer who, unfortunately like many Mexican Americans, did not know Spanish; however, she learned Spanish through her music and popularized the Latin genre. Nina Diaz now follows Selena’s foot steps of learning Spanish by singing it.

Check out the NPR report about Girl in a Coma.

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/19/141475757/girl-in-a-coma-rockers-tackle-their-second-languag

Take a listen to a rock cover of Selena’s “Si Una Vez” by Girl in a Coma, and the original by Selena. Would you agree that their method of learning Spanish has worked?

So there you have it…if music is your thing, use it as a tool to resurrect your native language or simply to learn a foreign language!

Have Americans fallen behind in the world of languages? According to the United States Census Bureau, only 20% of Americans speak another language other than English. However, these statistics are most likely erroneous. Read the following article by Michael Erard from the New York Times and learn how he explores the issue.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/opinion/sunday/are-we-really-monolingual.html?_r=3

How bilingual are YOU?

Does knowing a second language and exposing it to your children have non-linguistic benefits…?

In this short video, Sam Wang, a neuroscientist at Princeton University points out the benefits of exposing infants to a second language. These include: the ability to cope with conflict cues better, increasing theory of mind, and delaying dementia among others.

Take a break and watch this short video that will encourage you to learn a second language.

Now you know how to increase brainpower by utilizing the power of language!