Beerveza

Before watching six episodes of The Story of English, I was more conservative in the way I viewed language, especially in the context of my own Colombo-American school. I used to look down upon people using words in Spanish when speaking English, or vice-versa, to include English words in a Spanish dialogue. Most of all, I disliked Spanglish, which is just a great mush up of the two lan
guages, usually in the form of a verb in English with a Spanish infinitive, ex: blogear, dragear.

My father was even more anti-Spanglish than me. Even with brands and proper names, he would rather have me use the Spanish versions. Being prescriptivists, we both thought that the correct way of using the language was dictated by the academy.

Learning how the English language has evolved by the formalization of colloquialisms and the influences of other languages, I now think that there is no incorrect way of speaking. Public School English may sound more posh than redneck English, but they are both correct and perfectly acceptable.

I still understand the social importance of having a standard usage of language. A cousin of mine used a word in English when giving a televised interview in Barranquilla and he was ridiculed as a product on neo-colonization. Nevertheless, I have made my peace with Spanglish and I hold nothing against the people who use it. A good thing, if you study at Colegio Nueva Granada.