Acceptando El No Saber

Marcela Iraheta | Staff Writer

How not being fluent in Spanish affects Latines and their sense of identity.

Being Latine of Salvadoran heritage has always been a big part of who I am. I used to be more confident in speaking Spanish when I was young, but that slowly changed over the years as I lost practice. People around me definitely noticed how I was no longer fluent and started teasing me. This loss of confidence can deeply affect people’s perspectives on their identities. While it made me feel disconnected from my culture, I now understand now that my fluency in Spanish doesn’t determine if I am Latine enough or not.

Many believe that if you can’t speak Spanish, you are not a real Latine. From this, the term “No Sabo kid” has appeared, referring to a mistake that is commonly made when speaking Spanish. The correct form of the verb would be “sé”, which would prompt the phrase to translate to “I don’t know.” The expression reiterates how Latines might experience prejudice for not being fluent.

According to the “English proficiency of Hipanic population in the U.S., 2021” survey from the Pew Research Center, 54 percent of Latines who do not speak Spanish have been made to feel bad about it by other Latines.

“In a way, I think it can be funny. Like yeah, I don’t speak Spanish, but at the same time, I also feel sad that I don’t,” said Santa Monica College (SMC) student Bianca Marron.

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During the past century, many immigrants who came to the U.S. faced discrimination and prejudice for speaking Spanish. As a result, several generations have discouraged their children from speaking Spanish in the hope they would more easily assimilate to American culture. This has caused many of their descendants to feel disconnected from their heritage and suffer from that lack of connection.

The Pew Research Center survey also shows that the majority of third- or higher generation Latines say they can’t carry on a conversation in Spanish.

“My parents don’t really talk about our culture, we do follow certain traditions, but I’ve never visited where I’m from. I kind of just feel like I’m American,” said SMC student Emily Martinez.

Lack of fluency might also result in loss of familial relationships. Communication is crucial when maintaining a relationship with family. Marron shared about her experience, “I didn’t talk to any of my relatives. Me and my sister would go to a corner in a room at family events and hang out together because we couldn’t talk to anybody.”

Programs such as Spanish Sin Pena have recently become incredibly popular among Latines who struggle with speaking Spanish. Founded by Wendy Ramirez, they specialize in helping others learn the language through interactive classes and travel excursion to different countries in Latin America.

Whether one decides to learn Spanish or not, it’s important for Latines to learn to feel content with their Latinidad, irrespective of fluency. I used to be ashamed of not being able to roll my R’s as well as I’d like, but now I know that language should not define my identity. We are an incredibly diverse people and there are many different ways of being Latine.