Biographic Information: English, Male, 28yrs
Themes: Biographical information (where participant is from), Language(s) spoken by participant and participant’s family and friends, Learning languages, Language use, Spanish (classes, grammar, words, etc.), Bilingualism and benefits of bilingualism, Spanglish, Term “pocho” and “fresa”, Attitudes toward languages, Experiences with languages
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Transcript:
[00:00]
00:02
Interviewer: Hello, thank you for participating in this interview. Today we will be talking about your language use and background, but before we begin, can you please tell me your age and your gender please?
00:14
Participant: I am a male and I am twenty-eight years old. I just wanted to say thank you as well. Thank you as well for inviting me to do this interview. I can’t wait. Ummm, and yeah, I guess let’s get started.
00:27
I: Okay, uhhh where are you from?
00:32
P: I was born here in Las Cruces New Mexico but now I reside in Chamberino New Mexico.
00:37
I: Okay and can you tell me a little about yourself and what language does your uh family speak?
00:45
P: Uh yeah so um I have been living in Chamberino pretty much my whole life. Uh, and I am the youngest of four brothers, so you know I was taught a lot growing up. But my parents, what was the que- what was the second question again?
01:04
I: Uh the, what language do your family members usually speak or where are they from? Your parents.
01:11
P: My parents? So, my parents are from Mexico. They moved here uhhhh a while back. They moved here a while back. But they originally speak Spanish. So, we whenever we talk to my parents or whenever we are in the household, we speak a lot of Spanish. Um in terms of my brothers, you know that that can be either or you know? We are all pretty much bilingual. We’re all bilingual so um you know we can talk English or Spanish it really just depends for sure whenever we are around our parents, we do speak a lot more Spanish.
01:47
I: Okay so, your first language is Spanish or English?
01:51
P: My first language was Spanish, yes. Growing up all I did speak was Spanish. Umm, I would say I, I was speaking English here and there obviously because of my brothers but maybe whenever I started school my kindergarten year, that is whenever I noticed that my English was better and more fluent ‘cause that’s literally all I spoke in class. So, by then I started learning more here more and more and more. More and more just talking to classmates and teachers. You know and just growing up I noticed that English turned into my dominant language.
02:30
I: Okay, perfect. Um, you said you lived in Chamberino right?
02:36
P: Yes.
02:37
I: Have you ever lived somewhere else?
02:39
P: uh, no, no like I mentioned earlier, just um, I lived in Chamberino my whole life. So.
02:47
I: Have you ever wanted to live somewhere else?
02:49
P: I have yes, obviously. That’s everyone’s you know everyone wants to move out to where they have been living their whole life. So, um. I don’t know where exactly. If it is anywhere out of town, I would probably say Colorado. Like that’s probably like my dream place to live in, just because it’s a lot of mountains, I love the weather, personally I love the cold. So I know that Colorado obviously is really cold. That is probably somewhere I would like to move but realistically somewhere nearby. You know somewhere nearby would probably be the best bet just so I could stay close to my family, you know whenever whenever they need something you know I am not too far away. And, yeah.
03:33
I: Perfect. Colorado looks really nice. I have been doing my research on that too. Uh, but, continuing with your edu- education, uhh you said your first language was Spanish, so you learned English when you we- went to school?
03:50
P: Uh yes, yes. Um, I was more dominant in Spanish, I would say probably like the age I started speaking all the way like much up to Kindergarten, I was probably speaking Spanish all the time, Spanish all the time English here and there but you know I was more comfortable in Spanish. And just um, you know once I started Kindergarten, just everything changed. Everything changed. Just English, you know obviously whenever you get to class you know it’s just English. I was put in the you know bilingual classes but regardless it was still more English. You know you still had to speak more English and all that so I just got more comfortable with English growing up.
04:34
I: And did you have trouble learning English? Did- did it take you a while?
04:38
P: No actually, no it was super easy for me to learn English. Yeah, I guess just hearing everything, you know just hearing everyone talk. Hearing everyone talk, uh I just learned from that. That’s all it is.
04:55
I: So you said, you said you speak English and Spanish, uhh with your [5:00] family, do you speak both or it depends with who you are?
05:04
P: Ummmmm it’s mostly both, but yes it does depend on who. So, my parents I do just speak Spanish with them. Okay so my parents are just Spanish. Uh my oldest brother is probably the only one I would only speak Spanish with just because he is more uh Spanish dominant but other than that my other brothers, it’s I just speak both languages with. uh mostly English, honestly. mostly English. Um, other family members, um I do have some family members that live over there in Mexico. Obviously with them I speak Spanish but for the most part, it’s just, let’s just say both. Let’s just say both. You know it’s- it really just depends on the family member. You know? But I uh, I do speak both la- languages with all of them.
05:56
I: So you said you only speak Spanish with your parents. Is that because they feel more comfortable speaking Spanish, or they don’t know English?
06:05
P: Uh, they’re more comfortable with Spanish. I mean they know English here and there but they’re not, they’re not the best at it so, they’re more comfortable in Spanish so I just speak with what’s more comfortable with them.
06:17
I: And when you’re at work or school, do you use both English and Spanish or just English?
06:24
P: So at work I use both. Uh, for the same reason as uh you know people there are umm more English dominant and then there are some are Spanish dominant. So, just depending on the person. Depending on the, on the person I speak either English or Spanish. So I think, I think thats a really good like pro into like learning or knowing two languages that you can speak either or you know, depending on the person.
06:57
I: Yeah, So with your friends what language do you speak?
07:00
P: Uh, English, mostly English. Yeah, my friends mostly speak English so I just keep it like that.
07:09
I: Okay, perfect. Um, have you ever felt um uncomfortable speaking your language?
07:15
P: Mmm, not really. No. Um, I mean, yeah not not that I can think of. I’ve always been comfortable regardless even, even if my Spanish is bad because I could admit that my Spanish is bad right now, but I mean I really don’t mind. I don’t, I don’t get uncomfortable, or you know I don’t overthink things. It’s just, I just understand that my Spanish is bad or it’s not you know as fluent as it, it was before but you know I really don’t’ think think of it as a uncomfortable situation.
07:49
I: Okay, so you said you’re not really good at Spanish right now. Has anyone made fun of you because of your Spanish or even your English?
07:58
P: Definitely not, no. Um, I do know this one person that sometimes makes fun of my Spanish, but I am pretty sure they are joking around with me. Well at least I hope they are ‘cause if they’re not that would be pretty messed up, but ummm no as of right now no. Uh no one really makes fun of my, my English or Spanish.
08:21
I: Have you ever planned on learning Spanish fluently or taking- did you ever take any classes in school?
08:29
P: Uh, yes, in high school I took, all of- actually middle school and high school I took um Spanish. Mhm. I took Spanish and I mean, it wasn’t like that different because it’s everything that I grew up with. So I didn’t learn anything new. The only thing I would say I learned is probably just you know the way they write uh their language. Like obviously there’s differences. Like just an example, if you ask a question in Spanish, you have to put them on both sides, what’s it called? The-
09:06
I: The question marks?
09:08
P: Yeah, the question mark. You have to put them on both sides so that is just an example of pretty much what I learned but in terms of like new words and all that, I mean, it’s just stuff I grew up with.
09:20
I: mmm perfect. So, you’re bilingual, how, how would you divide your use of both languages? Like at what age did you become fluent on both?
09:33
P: Ummmmm, probably I would say probably like seven to eight years old is probably when I became fluent in both because by then I was already fluent in Spanish because that is pretty much all I spoke, and I would say probably like around that age like second to third grade. [10:00] Probably around that age was probably when my English started getting a little better and that’s when I noticed that English was pretty much all I was speaking. So, by then you know, obviously as years passed by um, my Spanish just yeah it deteriorated a little bit, just a little bit. But I, I still think I speak it well. Well enough for people to understand it, for me it’s just more more troublesome to remember words and it’s harder for me to explain myself in Spanish. So, if I have a thought in English and I try to translate in Spanish, it might take me a while to translate it or I might not find a word so I try like another way to better explain it. Um but I find my way around it, I find my way around it. But for sure, just to answer your question, for sure by like seven to eight years old I noticed that I was fluent in both English and Spanish.
11:03
I: Perfect. So, does knowing two languages benefit y- benefit you or in what way does it benefit you speaking both languages?
11:13
P: I think, I think having- learning I think learning two languages really does benefit you in many ways. Uh, one, you know just mm knowing that you can speak to a lot of people, especially in this area. In this area uh it’s mostly, there’s a lot of Spanish speakers, there’s a lot of Spanish speakers in this area um so knowing Spanish you know you could communicate with them. Uh, English is obviously you know our our language here in the United States so it’s always good to know English. Um, many benefits, you know it’s comes to jobs. You know jobs offer a little bit more pay when it comes to knowing um you know knowing two languages. If you’re in this area, I know that if you know Spanish and English, you do get a little more pay. Uh, whenever you move up, move up north, it’s even more. So, I recently went to Oklahoma for you know just a job, and pretty much there they do offer a little more pay if you know both English and Spanish because in that area um, they’re starting to have more Hispanic people move over to h- Oklahoma and they don’t have that many Spanish speakers over there. So, if you’re one of the few, obviously they will, you know they will reward you for that. So, it’s always a benefit, it’s always a benefit regardless. Um, I think, go- just going back to what I said earlier, I think in this area, it’s more, you can see it more just because there’s more Spanish speakers, but you know if you move up north, I’m sure, I’m sure you know it’s gonna be, it’s gonna be much harder. It’s gonna be much harder to find bilinguals that speak both English and Spanish.
13:09
I: So on your trip to Oklahoma, you didn’t met anyone that spoke both English and Spanish? Or any other language?
13:19
P: Uh, no yeah, I, I met a few people. I met, there was, some of the people I went with, they they did speak both English and Spanish. Um, the person that was helping me out there, uh the person that was helping me out over there spoke both English and Spanish. But for the most part, uh the people in the facility, so, I actually did meet a lot of people in the facility um you know thankfully, and they were more English speakers. They were more English speakers. So, I would say there was a high amount of people that just spoke English. Umm out of all the people that I met, and only like a few that spoke uh both English and Spanish so.
14:05
I: Hmm that’s interesting. So, have you ever mixed up both languages?
14:14
P:As in like, spoke it…?
14:14
I: Like, speak both in Spanish at the same time. Like for example, if your neighbor speaks Spanish, then you start talking to them in English and them you mix both languages.
14:28
P: uhhh, uh yes, if you’re talking about mixing you know both English and Spanish in the same sentence, yes I have done that before, is that you mean?
14:38
I: Yeah, that’s what I meant, I’m so- I’m sorry.
14:40
P: Yes, I have mixed both English and Spanish in the same sentence. Um, around this area, I think that is what we call Spanglish if I’m not mistaken. So, I’m pretty sure everyone does that. Anyone that’s bilingual, um, I’m sure they’ve done that many several times in their life. And for sure [15:00] I’ve done that many times as well.
15:03
I: Since you’re more fluent in English, do you like mixed up words? For example, if you say park, and you say parkear in Spanish, that is not the proper word. Like do you usually do that?
15:18
P: Mmm no, I usually don’t mix them up.
15:21
I: Like you know the exact words for Spanish and English?
15:25
P: For the most part yes. So, I like to really think, especially if I am translating. Especially if I am going from English to Spanish, I like to really think of the word before I say it because I don’t want to say something out there that is just like, you know that just people, it it doesn’t make it any sense, you know it doesn’t make any sense. But yeah for the most part, you know I do think about it before I, before I mix it up, if that makes any sense.
15:53
I: Mhm. Perfect, so which language do you use, do you prefer to use?
16:00
P: I I prefer to use English. Yes, just because I am more comfortable with it. I am more comfortable now with English, I am more fluent, um way more fluent. But you know I still, I still wouldn’t mind speaking Spanish here and there, it just it takes me a while to to think of words now. I guess you could say.
16:23
I: And have you ever used your English and Spanish at work, like have you ever worked at customer service? Or something where you need both languages?
16:32
P: uh, yes, so my current job right now, I am a salesman. I am a salesman and there um preferably it is better to know both Spanish and English just because you know you always get these customers that speak both languages. or you know you get customers that are just Spanish dominant and um you also get customes that are obviously English. You know, all they speak is English. But um, uh you definitely do, in that job, you definitely do need, um preferably a bilingual speaker, at least you know at least a few of them. And luckily, I do have, I am not the only one that speaks both English and Spanish there at my job. Mhm.
17:16
I: So, you think that it’s a good idea to have people that are bilingual at work? Do you think they should hire more bilingual people in that type of job?
17:26
P: Definitely, yes. I mean, I don’t see how you can succeed with only English speaker as a salesman because if you get a Spanish speaker to come, and you only have English speaking salesman, I mean at that point you’re not, you’re not able to get the sale you know? Um just obviously in this area, we have more Spanish speakers so I think, I think around here, you definitely do benefit having both Spanish and English speakers here. Way more, you know way more at least here than in other areas.
18:03
I: Okay, and right now we were talking, well you mentioned the term Spanglish, what do you think of it?
18:10
P: Uhhhh. I mean, it’s a good thing, I don’t see any problem with it. I think people are free to speak, as long as they understand it you know, I think people are free to speak both English and Spanish in the same sentence. Ummm, yeah, I mean I have no I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Yeah.
18:29
I: Is there a lot of people that you know that speak Spanglish? Or around your area? Do you think Spanglish is common?
18:36
I: Mmmm around my area that I live in, mostly everyone speaks Spanish, there’s only a few English speakers. Um, but the people I do know that are bilingual, uh I do notice that they do speak a, a good amount of Spanglish, yes. They do mix up words in English and Spanish. So, for the most part it is common, or at least me personally, you know it is common for me to hear Spanglish like between my bilingual friends. Mhm.
19:07
I: Okay, perfect. Um going to another question, have you ever heard of the term pocho?
19:16
P: Hmmm no. Uh, I don’t think I have heard the term pocho. What does it mean?
19:20
I: What do you think it means? Before I tell you the definition.
19:24
P: Pocho, I mean, my my guess is probably it has to do something with Mexicans. Maybe, (7.6) a Mexican that (3.8) speaks English. That’s my guess. A Mexican that speaks English.
19:48
I: Mmm that is a very close guess. So what the definition is a slang in Spanish used in Mexico to refer to Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants. [20:00] Uhh, so now that you know a little more about the term, what do you think of it?
20:06
P: So it has to do with Mexican Immigrants? Oh okay, uh well I’ve never heard that word personally uh and I will probably never use it if I am being honest with you. But I don’t mind the term, I don’t think it’s any, I don’t think it’s a bad, you know I don’t think it’s like a bad word or anything like that so, as long as it doesn’t offend anyone.
20:33
I: And, have you ever heard the term fresa?
20:38
P: Fresaaaa, I’ve heard it. I have heard it, but I really never understood what it meant. Yeah. So, I have heard it like in a couple, you know a couple times. I have heard it a couple of times but it’s just, yeah I really don’t know what it means.
21:01
I: So what fresa means is that it’s a slang socially used in Mexico and some parts of Latin America to describe a cultural stereotype of superficial youngsters who like they think they’re more educated or they’re- they have an upper-class family. So probably someone that feels rich.
20:24
P: Umm. That’s interesting, I don’t think I would have guessed that if I am being honest with you. I don’t know. Fresa does not sound anything close to that.
21:34
I: So no one has ever called you a fresa?
21:37
P: No. Yeah definitely not. No one has ever called me a fresa.
21:41
I: Okay, so going to another question, has anyone ever made fun of you because of the languages you speak?
20:51
P: No. No no one has ever um made fun of me because of the languages I speak. [okay, so] At least not on purpose.
22:01
I: What do you think the role and value of English use is in this area?
22:07
P: Umm I- in this area, I don’t think English is as important as Spanish just because you know around here uhh there’s a lot more Spanish. There is a lot more Spanish in this area. But you know obviously, we do live in the United States, you know English is the dominant language, it’s always good to know English. Uhh, so it’s it’s always beneficial, you know it’s always beneficial to know English. But in terms of this area, I do think it’s more important for, to to know Spanish. To know Spanish just because of how many people know Spanish in this area. Yeah well, I mean most of the people I know, most of the people I know just speak mostly Spanish. So.
22:58
I: Do you often hear uh people saying that they hate English or Spanish? Any of those two languages?
23:05
P: [Ummm] Or you yourself? Uh, I don’t hate any language. Uh, no, I don’t hate either English or Spanish. Um, I don’t see why someone would hate a language. But I have heard people, unfortunately, unfortunately I have heard people you know say some bad things about Spanish speaking people. Umm, English not really. Yeah I’ve never really heard anyone you know just make fun of someone because they speak English. But you know for sure Spanish. Yeah that’s uh one that I have heard quite a lot, quite a lot.
23:46
I: Interesting. Is there any other language that you wish to learned? Or spoke?
23:54
P: Mmm speak. Uh, there is several. There is several. Um, I think French is an interesting language. French umm and just you know Portuguese, Portuguese has always been so interesting to me, I like the way they speak it. Um. Latin, you know I actually la- Latin language you know I think that’s another interesting language that I would like to learn. At least, at least understand what they’re saying. Umm, that’s all I can think of. I think Portuguese for sure is one that I would consider you know learning if anything. And then French is obviously just a you know a different type of language so that would also be another interesting language to learn.
24:55
I: Did you ever take any classes for French or Portuguese [25:00] in high school or college?
25:03
P: No, no I did not take any of those language. I wish I would have. You know. Thinking about it now, I wish I would’ve um taken like a, a French or a different type of language, mmm you know. But I, I definitely regret that now. I definitely regret that now because I was more interested in speaking a different language, uh, I am more interested now, than I was before. Like before I didn’t really care about no other language. Uh, I didn’t even think about you know speaking another one, but now I really do regret that. Especially since they um what’s it called? Since they did have a French class in my high school. They did have a French class so yeah I regret it now.
25:52
I: Have you ever thought of taking classes to learn French, now that- have you well- first of all, have you graduated college?
26:01
P: I have graduated college yes.
26:02
I: And did you take any classes in college, like for Spanish classes or no language classes?
26:09
P: Uh, no, I didn’t take any language classes. Just slowly based off of the fact that I didn’t need it for my degree. I didn’t need to speak, or I didn’t need to take like a like a different type of language class. So, I was just like, “Nah, what’s the point?” you know I rather use that class, for another one towards my degree, you get me? So I mean that’s the reason why I didn’t do it. Um, I wish I would’ve done it but I think getting my degree would’ve been, I it is w- was more important than ge- you know just learning another language when I could just learn my language- learn a new language by you know looking it up online and all that stuff.
26:52
I: Okay, umm. We have a little- two more questions. So, what are some words that you grew up with that some people might not know about? They could be English or Spanish. Or-
27:10
P: English or Spanish? Ummmm. Interesting question. (6.0) Give me one second, I’m trying to think. I’m trying to think, im sorry. Im trying to think of a word. (5.0) Hmmm. (4.0) One that comes to mind is probably a synonym for cereal. That’s probably the one that comes to mind ‘casue there’s not a lot of people that i guess know this word. But what we used to call it growing up, instead of saying cereal, we would call it maisoro in Spanish. We would call it maisoro. And when I was younger, when I would used to hang out with people, whatever and they would be like “Hey, would you like cereal?” And I was like “ Yeah, I would like some maisoro” and they would be like “What?” you know, “What’s that”. And they would be confused and all that but that is for sure one that does come to mind. At least that several people, several people did not understand what I meant. Ummm.
28:23
I: That’s a word I have never heard before. maisoro? Yeah.] So, who taught you that word?
28:30
P: Uh, my parents. Just growing up. I uh, I guess mostly my mom. Mostly my mom. Was the one that taught me it because every time she would ask me if I wanted cereal, you know obviously instead of saying cereal she would say maisoro. “¿Quieres maisoro? Or “¿Quieres algo más?” She would use maisoro instead of cereal, so it just stuck with me.
28:54
I: So, to this day she says maisoro?
28:56
P: Uh yes, yes to this day. Even whenever she buys, even whenever she buys uh maisoro, or even whenever she buys cereal she likes to say maisoro like “O quieren maisoro?”
29:09
I: That’s very interesting. Soooo, last question I have for you. What do you think is the percentage of bilinguals in the US?
29:23
P: Uh, in the US? Damn. My guess, i’m just going to throw a number out there ‘cause I really don’t know, My guess is thirty- thirty four percent.
29:41
I: Why is that?
29:43
P: Uh, just I don’t know if I am being honest. I guess I really just threw a number out there because I am really not too sure that could, that could literally be any number, but yeah my guess is thirty-four percent.
[30:00]
I: Well that is kind of a close guess. Based on the research I made myself, uh the answer is twenty-three percent.
30:10
P: Oh wow, that is obviously much lower than I expected. I thought it was going to be higher than that. Um I guess I did base my answer (4.0) based off of this area you know. ‘Cause this area is a lot of bilingual people. But whenever you move up north like South Dakota, North Dakota, you know Washington and all of those, all those places up there I guess you know it is more English dominant um but yeah I guess I was just going based off of this of of you know this area knowing that there’s a lot of bilingual speakers here.
30:48
I: Yeah, it was very surprising to find that out. But before we conclude this interview, uhhh would you like to give any advice to those people who are trou- who are having trouble learning either English or Spanish or those people that come from Mexico to the United States and only know Spanish. Like, do you have any recommendations for them? For them not to give up or anything like that?
31:15
P: That is literally what I was going to say. Just don’t give up. Don’t fall into the peer pressure of people making fun of you. Uh, there’s always going to be people out there that are going to be rude about it. You know if your English is not good and you know you’re having a hard time speaking a word, or you know the language, you know there’s always gonna be people out there that are going to make fun of you. So, just don’t worry about that, keep on doing what you are doing. Just keep on doing what you’re doing you know in the end, it’s gonn- it’s all gonna be beneficial. It’s gonna be beneficial for you. And yeah.
31:52
I: Okay, [That’s all I’m gonna say.] Thank you so much for participating in this interview. Uh, do you have anything else to say?
32:00
P: Uh, no, I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for this interview. It was such a great time, uh really interesting. Really interesting. I had to put you know deep thought into some of the answers, so I really do appreciate it. Thank you for choosing me.
32:17
I: Thank you!!
[32:18]
New Mexico Border Spanish Corpus 