Biographic Information: English, Male 24yrs
Themes: Biographical information (age, where participant is from and where they grew up, participants educational background, participants occupation), Participants role in the community, Bilingualism (what languages if multiple does the participant speak), The role and value of Spanish and English in the region/area, Language use (incorporating Spanish in English and the influence of each language on the other), Spanglish, Advantages/disadvantages of knowing multiple languages
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Transcript:
[00:00]
00:03
Interviewer: Hello! Thank you for being willing to do this with me, so I’m going to ask you twenty questions um and then just answer them in any way you can.
00:15
Participant: Okay. (clears throat)
00:18
I: Where are you from?
00:22
P: Um, born and raised in Las Cruces, New Mexico, I’ve lived here all my life and never lived anywhere else.
00:30
I: How old are you?
00:32
P: Currently twenty-four.
00:36
I: Have you graduated college? And what degree did you graduate with, or what degree are you pursuing?
00:45
P: Um, so, I’ve already graduated. I graduated in 2022, um graduated from the Ag college um with Ag. Business and economics, with a minor in marketing.
00:59
I: What do you do for a living?
01:02
P: Currently, I am a sales manager at one of the UTV power sports dealerships here in town.
01:11
I: Are you tied to the community in any way? And if so, in what ways?
01:19
P: With work, I’m tied into the community quite a bit. Um, definitely work with a lot of the local farmers. We serve um, a lot of the farmers around here locally along with the fire departments, Las Cruces Public Schools. Um, a lot of the government buys machines from that- from us as well.
01:47
I: Are you bilingual? If so, how many years have you been fluently- fluently speaking, both languages?
01:56
P: I am not bilingual. I know a very small amount of Spanish just from growing up around here.
02:04
I: What languages do your family members speak?
02:09
P: My family members only speak English.
02:14
I: What do you think the role and value of Spanish use is in this area?
02:21
P: I think knowing Spanish in this area is definitely an advantage. Um, definitely, I know in work. Um, I could be a lot more successful with certain clients if I knew Spanish. There’s definitely a, a language barrier that can be troublesome um living here in Las Cruces.
02:46
I: What do you think the role and value of English use is in this area?
02:55
P: I would say, somewhere around fifteen percent of um the people around this area strictly only know Spanish. So being able to know Spanish plays a big role, um with the amount of people you can communicate with um and help, you know, like, in my field of work, it definitely happens at least once a week that there’s somebody in there that strictly only speaks Spanish. So, knowing Spanish um definitely can help you pursue your career around Las Cruces.
03:36
I: So, what do you think the English language has a role in, in this area?
03:45
P: Um, well, English is the primary language around here. Um, if you didn’t know English you would struggle quite a bit around here. Um, knowing only Spanish um we would have troubles trying to get by just day to day life.
04:08
I: Um, and then that leads me to another question. Do you ever insert Spanish words when you are speaking English?
04:19
P: Um, occasionally, just in normal conversation, yeah. I’ve picked up
a few Spanish words. Um, that just kind of find their way into natural speaking.
04:33
I: Um, could you provide me with a list or a couple examples of Spanish words you insert while speaking?
04:43
P: Um. Yeah, let me try to think of one. Let’s, (3.0) let’s see. (7.0) You know most of the Spanish words um that pop in that are slang, um – well, our slang are not all that um polite I I suppose (laughs) they’re mostly curse words. (laughs).
05:16
I: Oh okay. Um are there any others you can think of that aren’t curse words? If not, that’s fine.
05:23
P: I guess you know none of them are really polite. (laughs) So like boboso, um is like an idiot. And that’s one that’s commonly used.
05:35
I: (laughs) Okay. Um, so that goes, we’ll go to the next question, what environment do you insert Spanish words in? So it could be social, school, work. I know you kind of said you do work a little bit. But if you could, elaborate more.
05:56
P: Definitely, um in work, in um in work situations um only mainly when we’re trying to, I’m trying to explain, uh something to someone that strictly only knows Spanish or knows um very little English, and I’m trying to explain something to them, and then, socially for sure, we use um you know some slang words pop in and out there as well.
06:32
I: What age did you start implementing um Spanish words into your English language?
06:42
P: Um, I would say, probably around twelve or thirteen kind of in middle school, um, is when you just kind of start picking, or at least when I kind of started picking up some Spanish words just in my normal language use.
07:10
I: Um, um, What- or does knowing two languages or, I mean, like some slang, um benefit you, and if so, in what way?
07:27
P: Um, knowing some slaying, at least locally around here, definitely gives you um a bit of an advantage, I suppose, or it makes you seem more welcoming. I suppose you are more in touch with um their culture the way they speak um, and just kinda he- helps somebody that mainly speaks Spanish, or, you know, speaks both relate to you.
08:08
I: and then my next question has multiple parts to it. But the first one is, what is Spanglish to you? How would you interpret Spanglish?
08:22
P: Spanglish is the mixture of um Spanish and English kind of being used interchangeably. Um, it also comes with a bunch of slang words that are not proper English and not proper Spanish either. Um, so to interpret Spanglish, you really have to be a, lo- local, or at least knowledgeable of how the language is spoke um within that area ‘cause it is region specific.
Um, you know, not all Spanglish across the board is the same. Um, you know, we have bordering countries all over the US. Um, you know. That’s where you can find a lot of Spanglish. You can also find them in more touristy spots in Mexico. And you can find that Spanglish will be different. So it could be very hard to be interpreted unless you are within um the culture.
09:45
I: What do you think of it? So, what do you think of Spanglish?
09:51
P: I think Spanglish is a kind of a cool thing, you know. Humans adapt they um, they’re really just great at adapting. Right? So we can make, essentially, we make up words that make sense in both languages with Spanish. The way Spanish is spoken and the ways English is spoken. Um, they have two different, very different flows in language um in Spanglish kind of bridge bridges that gap um, it allows for both cultures to be kind of combined to where it can make sense either way, both said in Spanish or in English.
10:48
I: Do you know any people who use it? Or do you use Spanglish?
10:57
P: I don’t know enough Spanish, I would say, to properly use Spanglish. I might do my own variation of Spanglish kind of in a different sense. I feel like Spanglish is definitely more considered, more Spanish than it is English. Um, when you’re talking about Spanglish. But it could also very well be English with Spanish mixed in, and I do mix a little bit of Spanish, um Spanish slang into my day-to-day life. Um, I do know a lot of people just from growing up locally here, from high school and college that do speak a good amount of Spanish, and they definitely mixing English words, and you know, properly use Spanglish quite often.
12:02
I: The next question is, have you ever taken a Spanish course? If so, did you have trouble learning it?
12:12
P: Um, so yes. In high school I did take two years of Spanish um I did find it really hard to learn um mainly because the way the curriculum kind of was structured- it was structured to like a society that knows a good bit of Spanish to begin with. So me knowing little to nothing. In that class filled with a bunch of kids that you know knew Spanish, and we’re just trying to take an easy credit, um made it difficult to be on the same level and have you know great grades, if that makes any sense.
13:07
I: Mhm. How does language use along the border differ from other places in the US. What do you think about a place like Ohio or South Carolina? And the languaged used there? or like Miami, New York. How do you think it differs from languages used around the border?
13:37
P: Well, it’s definitely around the boarder ee get a lot more of um Spanish speakers um you go elsewhere in the States, and a lot of people don’t know Spanish at all, um and kinda like how we’re talking slang with Spanish. Um, there’s also just differences in the way people um speak in the English language um around the States. Um, for example, some um some groups of people call soda, you know- we call it “soda” around here, but you can find places where people call it “pop”. Um, and so those are kind of slang within the English language that would differentiate. You know how language is used. Not to mention that we get a lot of influence from the Mexican culture, and we get a lot of influence from Spanish as well.
14:50
I: Do you feel pressured due to where you live or where we live to speak Spanish.
14:57
P: No, I don’t necessarily feel a pressure to know it. I think you could live here your whole life and be very successful, and not really run into very many problems, only speaking English. However, I do think um knowing Spanish and being able to communicate with more people um definitely can give you a leg up um living around here um just simple things, for example, like um if you’re having a crew work on your house, or you know, you’re doing business with somebody, and they primarily know Spanish. It can be sometimes difficult um to explain to, you know, share the thought processes you’re having and have them receive that and be receptive to it. Um, you know a lot of barriers would be nonexistent if you knew Spanish you could possibly find great um, you know more success knowing both languages around here, but I do not think it is something that is necessary for one to survive around here.
16:36
I: In general, who speaks? Which language are there geographical differences and social differences?
16:54
P: Um. What do you mean? Can you give me like an example?
I: So like you kind of touch, a little bit of like all this. But like who speaks? What language? So here you know what demographic speaks, you know Spanish or English. and then are there geographical differences? Are you seeing that more people do it here, or less? People do it here rather than um [So,] I mean upper New Mexico and [right] then social differences as well. [So the closer you are, so-]
P: in Mexico, obviously the primary um language use is Spanish granted with tourism, being some of Mexico’s, at least in some cities some of their main source of income, knowing English has became almost a necessity. Um, so you can find cities primarily touristy cities in Mexico that speak a lot of English. They are all raised, both knowing Spanish and English and the States. The deeper you get in and by that I mean further from the border. You’re primarily raised, only speaking English, and that’s the only language. Uh, closer to the border and some of the bordering States. They do um, they don’t necessarily teach you um Spanish in school, but it just gets learned from the community. You get to learn it um from peers that you grew up with um, and you know, alongside most schools do offer some sort of a Spanish class. Um, but those don’t really hit the same tier of Spanish that you would learn um just naturally growing up along the borders. Um, lot of Spanish is taught is very proper Spanish um and just like how we were talking with the English language, where some places they call it “soda”, and some places we call it “pop” um, the same thing can be found in Spanish as well. So proper Spanish um is not as fluent with the community around here. So you definitely learn slang Spanish. That is the most spoken Spanish around the border. That also, you know, kind of ties into Spanglish um and that plays a big role in in, in the slang Spanish language as well.
20:12
I: Are you able to understand or comprehend more than you can speak?
20:23
P: Um, so kind of. I would kind of say yes. Granted growing up, hearing it so much. Um, if you asked me to interpret Spanish um, I would not be any good. I would not know what they’re saying word for word but just growing up around it so much. I feel like I can understand it, but not translate it. And I don’t understand a lot. But you pick up on key um keywords that you do recognize, along with words that you don’t necessarily know exactly what they mean, but just through um the phrasing and the key words, you can understand what is being said, or at least get a grasp on what they’re trying to tell you. Um, speaking Spanish, I definitely, I am not fluent at all speaking Spanish um but I have in the past spoke with um some Spanish speakers that uh well primarily only know Spanish, and I feel like I could understand them, and we could kind of fumble our way through a conversation. Um, knowing uh, just kind of picking, or picking up on key words, and just kind of um guesstimating, based on feel and how it’s said on what they’re saying. I once uh ran into a guy that was- recently had moved here to the States from Mexico, and he knew just about as much English as I knew Spanish, and it was kind of fun me and him (laughs) uh trying to conversate, and it was just kind of the same thing. Um, I picked up on words, he was saying, and tried to make it make sense, and he would pick up on key words I was saying, and he would try to kind of make it make sense. So I do think it is definitely easier um to understand more than what can be spoken. Just based on structure alone. I’m, I’m not very good at structuring when speaking any sort of Spanish, but I do have a fairly decent understanding of the vocabulary in Spanish.
23:06
I: And then my next question is, how confident are you when you insert Spanish while you are speaking?
23:18
P: Um, I guess it kinda just depends. I would say. Maybe around seventy percent of the time I’m pretty confident um in in the word that I’ve chosen. Um, I understand it very well. Um, and the other thirty percent of the time I would say I would say the word, and then I’m not too confident. I fully understand what it means, and I might have chosen the wrong word, or maybe an inappropriate word um but I just don’t quite ha- have that sense of um exactly what it means. I know I’ve heard it before um in life being used in a situation like that, describing something like that. Um, but I’m and I, I have a feeling that it’s the right word, and I believe that it’s what I’m trying to um try- trying to say, but I don’t a hundred know exactly what it means. Um, So that being said, I, I, don’t feel all that confident um using Spanish words in English language, even though still do it. But there’s only one way to learn right? So you have to try and fail. And that’s the only way to really learn
25:03
I: Speaking of learning. Do you think you um learn or grasp more Spanish um language knowledge, or, you know, even speaking it in a social sett-, setting, or work? ‘Cause I know we talked about um the environment you do insert it in, but um learning aspect do you think you pick up more at work? or social? or?
25:31
P: Um, so you know, I was kinda saying earlier in this little interview, um that I feel like a lot of the words I know, or at least the ones that could come to mind are kind of inappropriate words. They’re curse words um things of that nature and I think mainly those are the ones that come to mind. ‘Cause I will definitely learn the most from social su- situations. With guys that I have known growing up, um you know growing up with a bunch of uh you know we all grow up as teenage boys, right? And we all use. um not the prettiest of language and definitely, I feel like that’s how I have learned the most Spanish um just through social settings um which you know tends to mean sometimes you don’t pick up on all the Spanish you need, and maybe you know how to tell somebody off in Spanish, but not explain something to somebody in Spanish, right? [Mhm.] But in the workforce I definitely make an effort to try to learn as, as much as I can at work. I do have people that I work with um that are fluent in Spanish, and uh definitely try to learn as much as I can from them. Um, so I’m always asking them, you know, how would you say this, or how do? How would you explain this to to a customer um in Spanish, but really, as far as what is learned naturally, just without even trying. Um, I feel like you pick up the most socially right? Um, where it’s just comes it comes easily, right? You’re not worried about what you’re saying, or if you miss say it, or something rather than in a professional place, you don’t wanna be saying the wrong word. You don’t wanna be um sounding like a fool so definitely, it’s a lot easier to learn in a social setting rather than um in like a professional setting, like in the workplace, or anything like that.
28:06
I: Um, Do you think you will pursue learning proper, I guess, in our sense, not Spanglish, but going back to take courses or online courses um on Spanish to get a better understanding or to be able to speak it more fluently?
28:28
P: You know, I don’t think I would ever pay to go take a Spanish class. Um, you know, in today’s day and age with technology, the way it is, you have plenty of resources to try to learn Spanish on your own um for free most of the time, you know, apps like Babel. I have Babel on my phone and a periodically play around with that. Mainly trying to learn um not necessarily proper Spanish. All of those systems, all of the classes only teach you, proper Spanish. I don’t think proper Spanish is something I personally need um or would want. I would rather know more of a Spanglish or slang Spanish, that seems to be more prevalent. But I definitely use those apps to try to learn, like the connecting words the connecting words that you, you know, tie a sentence together. Um, definitely would help with me, becoming more of a fluent speaker. Just knowing where to fill the dead space in a sentence is.
29:47
I: And that was my last question. So um is there anything else you would like to add um on the topic of um English and Spanish that comes to mind on,
30:02
P: Um [information] yeah, sure. So, you know
30:08
P: Spanish um speaking Spanish, I do think
30:13
P: overall is definitely beneficial um to know around here definitely in our region.
30:20
P: and it could definitely help you pursue more career possibilities or or opportunities. Rather. Um and it will allow you to possibly get a little further in life around here. Granted, I don’t think it’s a necessary thing to know, but I do definitely believe that it’s beneficial. Um, you know you- other places, you move, you know, let’s say to Utah or Colorado, or places like that spe- Speaking Spanish is a lot less prevalent um and therefore, it would never hinder you to not know it. But I do believe you could find some hinderment um not knowing Spanish locally in the border regions.
31:09
I: Well, that concludes um my question. So again, I wanna thank you so much for um letting me borrow your time and for answering these questions.
P: Yeah, no problem.
[31:23]
New Mexico Border Spanish Corpus 