SPN506 BLOG

I think it is very interesting that when a person becomes bilingual, they begin to mix the two languages together without even meaning to. It begins to become natural for that person to use both languages when they speak. They say that certain words express a certain meaning in one language better than the other language they know so they begin to make a slang language. For example, Spanglish is the combination of Spanish and English. Most bilingual English and Spanish speakers in the United States use this slang when they speak subconsciously.

I think it is also very interesting how people who speak Spanglish combine English and Spanish words to make a new word altogether. For example, instead of saying to eat lunch in English or almorzar in Spanish, the Spanglish word is lonchar, a combination of the two words. Instead of saying solicitor un trabajo, which means to apply for a job, a Spanglish speaker would say aplicar para un trabajo.

False cognates also pose a problem for English speakers trying to learn Spanish. If an English speaker sees the words colegio and facultad, they automatically think of college and faculty which are not the true meaning of the words in Spanish. For example, bien educado/a literally translates into well educated; however, the better translation in English is polite.