Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language

You see, I read a description of the book that described it as a serious look at the phenomenon of "Spanglish." It does have that (and it is quite good) - but 2/3 of the book is a Spanglish to English dictionary. While interesting, it was not what I had planned on reading when I had requested it from my local library. I just wanted you perspective buyers to know ahead of time. Also, if you don't have a decent command of Spanish, this book will be pretty hard for you to read. If you have a hard time following the jokes in a George Lopez stand-up routine, you'll have just as hard of a time reading this book because he fills it full of Spanglish. While entertaining to us bilinguals, I wanted warn you before you bought it.

Often provocative but always fascinating, Ilan Stavans offers his take on the encounter between English and Spanish in "Spanglish." Stavans, who in addition to speaking English and Hebrew (he is a Jew who was born in Mexico), he also speaks Spanish and Yiddish. In his intriguing introduction to this short dictionary of Spanglish words and phrases, he tracks not only the history of Spanish and English dictionaries, but also the political riff between Spain and English speaking countries such as Britain and the United States. He also touchingly recounts his head-on encounter with one of his students who told Stavans that she was dropping out and returning to her barrio; she spoke very freely in Spanglish knowing that Stavans would understand what she was saying. Though he was not able to convince her to stay, the conversation sparked something in Stavans that eventually led to the creation of this book. Stavans admits that purists consider the very concept of a hybrid such as Spanglish repugnant and even a threat to learning proper Spanish and English, pero Spanglish vive whether we like it or not. We can hide our collective head in the sand or acknowledge the fact that many people do speak it. And writers who grew up hearing this blend of languages should feel free to use it in their fiction, poetry and other creative writing because it reflects reality. Because Stavans es gran escritor y un intelectual verdadero, this book is not only engaging, it is an important step to understanding how languages evolve whether you agree with its premise or not. I suspect that language scholars will eventually consider "Spanglish" one of the first and most important books on the subject.

I got "Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language" for Christmas. I found it wonderful. I've been speaking it since I was a little girl in Dallas but grew up ashamed of it. Stavans places it in the proper context. Finally someone is giving us back the pride.

Stavans is offering a new way of understanding language in the United States. His book on Spanglish shows how fluid words are, no matter the historical time. They keep on changing all the time. He says that only dead languages are static, which is true. He also proves how racist the "puristas" are when they suggest that people that speak Spanglish are "half-lingual" and that their train of thought is "broken." I read this book from beginning to end in a few hours and loved it. It's worth every cent I paid. After thinking about what Stavans says, I'll never think of Spanish, English, and Spanish in the same way.

Ilan Stavans has produced a treat for all language fans in his excellent book Spanglish: The Making Of A New American Language. The book contains both Stavans' excellent opening essay - La Jerga Loca - and the lexicon of Spanglish words and phrases that he has compiled over the last decade or so. As a bonus, Stavans includes his Spanglish translation of the first chapter of Don Quixote De La Mancha in the appendix. The lexicon alone makes the book worth owning, but the essay is the frosting on this treat. Although referred to as the introduction, the opening essay is preface, introduction, acknowledgments, and much more all rolled into one. Towards the end of the essay, Stavans addresses concerns over shining a spotlight on Spanglish, which some consider a destruction of Spanish or a come down for people who should be learning English. He correctly notes that their shouldn't be a problem with studying a phenomenon - Stavans is a professor of Latino and Latin American culture! - especially if it helps people learn more about themselves as a culture. I teach students for who English is a second language and I always encourage them to improve their English, but I'm also fascinated by the conversations in English, Spanish, and Spanglish that swirl around me every day. Spanglish by Ilan Stavans should appeal to all those interested in language, especially the evolution of language, and Latino culture. I found it to be an excellent book and highly recommend it.