In South Florida, Spanish isn't what it used to be

[RETROMANIA]

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/border/229890.php

Published: 03.16.2008

MIAMI — John Echevarria, president of Miami-based Universal Music Latino, had high expectations of the young Cuban American executive assistant he hired a few years ago.

"Professionally, she was very good," Echevarria says. "But she was almost incapable of writing Spanish."

So until he replaced her with a fully bilingual Puerto Rican secretary, the Spanish-language record executive typed much of his own business correspondence.

Experiences like that convince Echevarria, a Spaniard, that the city "is losing an asset." You have to wonder about its future as "the capital of Latin America," he says.

The quandary: Children and grandchildren of the immigrants who made Miami a vibrant international center lack the Spanish skills on which much of the city's success and identity are built.

"Miami grew as a city along with the Spanish language and bilingualism," says University of Miami linguist Andrew Lynch. "Bilingualism was the foundation of Miami as a global city."

That foundation is showing cracks. The question is whether it can be shored up — whether Miami, where fully 69 percent of the population (61 percent in Miami-Dade County) is Hispanic, can remain the robustly bilingual city it has become.

Miami's transformation began, of course, with Fidel Castro, whose 1959 revolution sent nearly a quarter of a million Cuban exiles to South Florida shores in its first six years and more than 640,000 by 1974. (To date, more than 900,000 Cubans have come to the United States.)

"This was a sleepy Jim Crow town with a Jewish appendage until the bourgeoisie of this important small country moved here lock, stock and barrel." says cultural critic David Rieff, author of two books on Miami.
It was members of that bourgeoisie, many with bilingual skills acquired from U.S. schooling and business associations, who laid the foundation in the 1960s and `70s for the international city Miami is today.

A latter-day influx of expatriate professionals and entrepreneurs from throughout Latin America has brought capital as well as talent and drive to town, cementing Miami's place as the hub of business between north and south of the border.

There is no single barometer of bilingual business activity here, but there is every indication that it is vast and vital.
South Florida is home to nearly 1,200 multinational corporations with a combined revenue of more than $200 billion, according to a survey by WorldCity Business Magazine released in January.

Our 20 largest multinationals account for 180,000 local jobs, and employ another 600,000 people abroad, largely in Latin America, said WorldCity president Ken Roberts.

"We have no hard data, but we can extrapolate from anecdotal evidence that when the people here are talking to the people there, they are doing so mostly in Spanish," Roberts said.

The magazine's findings echoed a 2004 doctoral thesis at Florida International University by Douglas McGuirk. "Spanish ... has established itself as the preferred language of trade in Miami-Dade County," McGuirk wrote. "Miami-Dade is the U.S. leader in Latin American-owned businesses and has more company headquarters that trade with Latin America than other U.S. cities."
Spanish-language entertainment is a highly visible part of that commerce.

Media giants like Univision and Telemundo have major operations here, attracting a celebrity set — Juanes, Alejandro Sanz, Paulina Rubio and Carlos Vives, to drop a few names — that has made Miami the L.A. of Latin America.
Banking is another major component.

"The bulk of financial institutions in Miami are from Latin America and from Europe, and many of the European banks are here to do business with Latin America," notes economist Manuel Lasaga, president of the Coral Gables consulting firm StratInfo.

And yet Florida International University researcher McGuirk found that of nearly 250 Miami-Dade businesses that responded to survey questions about language issues, `almost a quarter ... indicated that they needed more bilingual employees, and more than a quarter indicated that their employees' Spanish language skills needed improvement."

Benigno Aguirre, senior vice president of human resources at Ocean Bank, says the challenge is greatest in areas like international banking that require sophisticated language skills.

"We can find tellers who are bilingual, but all they need to do is communicate with someone who comes in to cash a check," he says. "They don't need to interpret a contract."

Whereas Ocean Bank started a language-training program in 1980 to upgrade the English skills of a mainly Cuban-born workforce, it has for the past five years offered Spanish classes that "fill up right away."

Aguirre, who was 4 when his family came here from Cuba, has taken the classes himself. "My vocabulary has grown," he says, "and that helped me minimize my Spanglish."

Tony Rodriguez, a senior vice president at Smith Barney in Miami, says he realized early in his career that the Spanish he had spoken at home since coming to the United States from Cuba as a teenager was not sufficient for his professional aims. He has never taken classes, but he takes advantage of every opportunity to speak Spanish.

On frequent business trips to Latin America, for example, he does not allow himself to switch into English. "When I don't know a word, I simply explain what I want to say," he says, in fluent Spanish. "It's not easy for me to give presentations in Spanish, but I get the job done."

Researchers such as the University of Miami's Lynch, who specializes in language use and education, have a term for what's happening to Spanish in Miami.

"In linguistics we don't call it `language loss' but `incomplete acquisition,"' he says, "because the new generations can't lose what they never had."
"Kitchen Spanish" is one term for what many second- and third-generation Hispanics speak — good enough to ask abuela for a galleta but not to conduct business.

Bridging that gap is a mission of Coral Way Bilingual K-8 Center, home of Miami-Dade County Public Schools' oldest and most extensive Spanish-English education program.

Located in a heavily Hispanic neighborhood, Coral Way appeals especially to "the middle generation" of immigrant families who never mastered Spanish themselves and now want to make sure their children do, says Eduardo Carballo, the school's international governmental liaison.

They are children like eighth-grader Alexander Alvarez, whose keen ear — he taught himself to play the congas by listening to CDs — has helped to make him a fluent Spanish speaker at Coral Way, where 40 percent of the instruction, across the curriculum, is in that language.

"In my home we didn't speak it because my mom and my brother were all born here," says Alexander, 13, whose dad is from Cuba. "In school I started reading Spanish, and then it was all easier for me."

His mother, Barbara Alvarez, says she grew up speaking Spanish only with her Cuban grandmother, who knew no English. Her own mother, U.S.-born, spoke English at home.

"My brother and sister speak very bad Spanish," she says, "and they can't read or write it."
Having Alexander at Coral Way — and his 16-year-old brother before him in a bilingual program at Kensington Park Elementary — has given her an edge.
"My kids would come home with homework in Spanish. And I have gotten better because I had to help them," Alvarez says. "They have become more proud of their heritage, and even I have learned things."

The school system's Division of Bilingual Education and World Languages estimates that 19,200 students are enrolled in some sort of bilingual program, mostly English-Spanish, at 109 Miami-Dade schools. (By comparison, Broward County has about 240 students at two elementary schools enrolled in what it calls dual education, according to world-languages curriculum specialist Blanca Gerra.)

"We're prepping students for a global society," says Liliana Piedra, lead teacher at Sunset Elementary, home of South Florida's oldest international studies magnet program.

Be that as it may, `bilingual education programs in the U.S. most definitely fall short of actually producing `bilingual' students, and Miami is no exception." says Lynch, who has studied the issue extensively.
The reason, he says, is that U.S. schools focus their efforts primarily on the elementary grades and on bringing foreign-born students into the mainstream, "making English the dominant language, not bilingualism."

Even when the opportunity exists for high-level Spanish instruction, it's not always enough. Rigorous International Baccalaureate programs at four Miami-Dade public high schools offer Spanish, and a fully bilingual public high school is scheduled to open in Coral Gables in 2009-10, but students themselves often choose other paths.

Both Sunset's Piedra and Coral Way's Carballo say that after the eighth grade, many of their best students head off to prestigious magnet programs like those at MAST Academy and Design and Architecture Senior High.
"And that's when they lose it (Spanish)," Carballo says.
Not everyone is keen on bilingualism. Dade County may have rescinded an English-only ordinance in 1993, but English remains the "official language" of the state of Florida.

"In the rest of the country, concern about immigration has revived the English-Only movement, which was moribund from 1996 to 2006," says James Crawford, president of the Institute for Language and Education Policy and author of "War With Diversity: U.S. Language Policy in an Age of Anxiety" (Multilingual Matters, 2000).

Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma won passage in 2006 of a "national language" amendment to an ultimately unsuccessful immigration reform bill. In December, his fellow Republican, Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, introduced a "Protecting English in the Workplace Act" that would allow employers to ban foreign-language use.

"Miami is one of the few places in the U.S. where Spanish has a high status," Crawford says.

And if one values the global city Miami has become — with its attendant pleasures of fine dining, film festivals and a glamour factor that is the envy of folk from Bangkok to Beverly Hills — a bilingual workforce is essential.
One source of replenishment — what recording executive Echevarria calls "the constant flow of immigration that brings people who know correct Spanish" — is unpredictable and uncontrollable, subject to the vagaries of U.S. immigration policy and Latin American politics.

Domestic economic forces are another huge unknowable, says Lynch. "If there's a recession and the government gets tough on immigration and cuts funding for bilingual education, it does not bode well for Spanish."
And then, the linguist says, there is the big question of Miami's past half-century: "What happens in Cuba."

Cultural critic Rieff is more to the point, if given to hyperbole: "Fidel dies and a million people are going to show up here."
Rieff believes Latin America, with its history of political and economic woes, is righting itself, and that its growing strength and stability will influence not just Miami but the nation.

"In Los Angeles and Houston it won't be kitchen Spanish any more," he says. "Spanish will be the language of success."

[FIDEL CASTRO]

No offense but people here in Miami are doing something Mexicans won't do in S.W America. That's what I call "Progression and assimilation." The samething happenned in New York. Many of our jewish, Italians, Chinese, Ukranians, Germans, Russians etc.. fathers came to this country without speaking english. And now all of their descendants speak proper english. That is how they prospered themselves and this land.. And Still, New York is considered until now a world city. The same thing is happening right here with our hispanic, israeli and russian brothers. They are not saying : "this is our land, get out you redneck" or "This is Miami of Latin America, speak spanish" (there are some ignorant cases, but the great majority is not like that). Our people in here are not raising their flags on top of the American flag. They are not protesting or marching on the streets burning the American flag. Most of our people are doing everything possible to make Miami a good place to live for our children. BUssinesses retain their latin or kosher heritage, but thatdoesn't make Miami less of a city. People here are building a future and educating themselves everyday no matter what. You even find people who love this country even on the poorest hispanic neighborhoods in Miami. We don't even have gang problems committed by our hispanic population as we used to have before. Most of them are assimilating to the American standards.


This thread is mostly directed to hispanics so here I go:
Our hispanics are very educated. Luckily for us, we don't get uneducated people who don't even know how to speak spanish.( you find that in SW America.

WE HAVE UPPER CLASS HISPANIC NEIGHBORHOODS, BUILT BY HISPANICS AND RUN BY HISPANICS. That's something you don't find in S.W aMERICA.

OUR Hispanics educate their own people in english. Hispanics who have lived here for many years teach others hispanics how important it is to speak english. Because they know how it will affect their lifes in his country.

I know we have tv channels such as Telemundo and Wami69, but that is just for them to have a feeling of their home land in here, plus it makes Miami look more diverse. And you know what, we should have Portuguese, Creole, hebrew and Russian local channels.


I think Miami is heading for the best.

[FIDEL CASTRO]

Plus OUR Hispanics are not rasing their flags putting loud hispanic music intimidating Anglo Americans. They are not shouting out loud on the streets of Miami saying their countries are far better than America or "America sucks". They respect this country to the fullest.

[xerxesjc28]

You are generalizing to much. I can not think of a single person I have ever met who was born in this country (Of hispanic origin) and can not speak english. Infact my cousins can speak "Kitchen spanish" like me, except I can read and write (although not to well) in spanish.

I can honestly not imagine how one can live in Miami and not know BOTH english and spanish.

Interesting article by the way.

[xerxesjc28]

Double post.

[spellbound]

Can we please not use terms like "our Hispanics?" It's actually quite demeaning to millions of people and has no basis in reality. People in Miami experience the same struggles---and successes---as elsewhere and you can't find any American city with a large Hispanic population where English-language classes aren't packed to the gills and the process of assimilation isn't well underway.

Interesting article, but again David Rieff repeats the old (and false) fable that Miami was a "sleepy southern town" prior to the Cuban Revolution. If folks like him ever did a little research in lieu of having an agenda they would find that Dade County was on the verge of a million residents in 1959 and had seen its greatest population spurt ever in the post-WW2 years. It was decidedly not a sleepy little fishing village but that nonsense is repeated so frequently that it has become a virtual civic mantra for those who don't know any better or (as in Rieff's case) have a preconceived notion and don't want the facts to get in the way.

It's a legitimate concern for some of these businesses that some people who think of themselves as "bilingual" really aren't when it comes to having the ability to use English and Spanish professionally but they are likely banging their heads against the wall if they think that dynamic will change. Assimilation is an unstoppable force and the dominance of American culture along with the increasing use of English as a true global language makes it nearly impossible to expect younger Hispanics (particularly those born here) to genuinely be equal parts of both cultures. Lamentable, perhaps, but impossible to stop.

[FIDEL CASTRO]

Originally Posted by spellbound

People in Miami experience the same struggles---and successes---as elsewhere .

Yeah, hispanics here in Miami get to have a succesful life, because they work with their heads prospering this land, unlike hispanics in SW America or even the rest of the country where they are told that the english language is the enemy.

Spellbound, I love hispanic people a lot. The girl I love is hispanic and by no means whatsoever I wanted to say something demeaning about them.

[xerxesjc28]

This is annoying I posted a response and now it does not even show. This is why after I first tried to register to this site back in 2005, created my account and after it never worked I decided to just read and not respond.

Anyway good article, and you are generalizing people to much on stereotypes. Even if they are particially true you should not use them becuase they group a whole people into a category that they do not all belong.

On the article I have to say I believe what they are saying is true. All of my cousins can only speak "Kitchen Spanish" (Me to), however I am able to read and write in Spanish. I personally can not imagine how difficult it would be to live in Miami and know only EITHER Spanish or English, instead of both.


p.s. I hope my post was not deleted due to me braking any rules, I am sorry if I did.

[SoBe99]

Rarely do you need to know Spanish in the nice areas of Miami. Its a myth that you have to know it here, unless you plan to live in Little Havana type areas. Or manage day laborers or other entry level workers.

[kevinkagy]

Originally Posted by SoBe99

Rarely do you need to know Spanish in the nice areas of Miami. Its a myth that you have to know it here, unless you plan to live in Little Havana type areas. Or manage day laborers or other entry level workers.

Very true.

[FIDEL CASTRO]

Originally Posted by xerxesjc28

you are generalizing people to much on stereotypes. Even if they are particially true you should not use them becuase they group a whole people into a category that they do not all belong. .

Sterotyping who?

[Desiderata]

Originally Posted by SoBe99

Rarely do you need to know Spanish in the nice areas of Miami. Its a myth that you have to know it here, unless you plan to live in Little Havana type areas. Or manage day laborers or other entry level workers.

That's sorta racist. I don't know if you meant it that way. Besides, define..."nice".

As for language, I think its crazy to think that Hispanics will not assimilate into the culture like all other groups before...even in Miami. But I also think its fair to say that its as crazy to think that linguistically Hispanics will not retain some of their language fusing it with English to create some kind (maybe regional variety) of a more expanded "Spanglish". With Hispanics on the rise in numbers...and if the rate holds...in the centuries to come American English will change and Hispanics will be great a influencer.

Interesting article. In terms of globalization can Miami hold its own in Latin America if it loses its bilingual work force? I think it will be harder, but not impossible.

It would be nice if kids were exposed and taught English, Spanish and French. Children learn languages easily and can you imagine what a great benefit it would be to a city/country to have generations of tri-lingual citizens?

Dreams...lol

Anyway just my opinion.

[FIDEL CASTRO]

He forgot to use a question mark "(?)"

do you need to know Spanish in the nicest areas of Miami ?

That's not racist. The question mark on the keyboard is near the little dot, so it is understandable to see such a misprint.

Everytime there is a thread about hispanics or Europeans there is always someone coming to the NOrth American forum making us feel GUILTY for no reasons whatsoever..

[Desiderata]

Originally Posted by FIDEL CASTRO

He forgot to use a question mark "(?)"

do you need to know Spanish in the nicest areas of Miami ?

That's not racist. The question mark on the keyboard is near the little dot, so it is understandable to see such a misprint.

Everytime there is a thread about hispanics or Europeans there is always someone coming to the NOrth American forum making us feel GUILTY for no reasons whatsoever..

Uh. Dude. I live in South Florida. And I can read (don't need much help for that). I can't say for sure what the poster was saying but I doubt it needed a question mark.

My point is, there are "nice" areas in South Florida, where IF you want to do business (successfully), you need to know Spanish. No question about it. If that weren't the case, then you wouldn't see so many companies with bilingual requirements. The western burbs (From Miami Gardens all the way down) are mostly Hispanic and I would think could be considered "nice".

That said, I agree with the fact that its ridiculous for anyone to say that if you didn't speak Spanish you couldn't live in South Florida. Doesn't matter what part or area you decided to live.

Again, just my opinion.

[Rebelde-Dude]

Originally Posted by FIDEL CASTRO

Spellbound, I love hispanic people a lot.

The girl I love is hispanic and by no means whatsoever I wanted to say something demeaning about them.

Hispanic are great. Especially those from Espanya!

In your signature, are you talking about our, Spain's, Galicia?

[FIDEL CASTRO]

Originally Posted by Rebelde-Dude

Hispanic are great. Especially those from Espanya!

In your signature, are you talking about our, Spain's, Galicia?

YEs.

[josean figueroa]

Fidel Castro: American is anyone from South America and North America, regardless of country.

Persons from the United States are Usonians.

[FIDEL CASTRO]

Please don't get me started on that.

[josean figueroa]

Although to Usonian I prefer Nova Anglian....or Anglonian.

I suppose in a hundred years or so when the U.S. empire has colapsed popper names will be used....until then inflated pretensions of owning a continental nomenclature would have to be endured.

[FIDEL CASTRO]

Troll,


don't come to our threads to insult us like that.

Go back to your San Juan thread.


American = A person from the United States of America.