ingléspañol

Sé Habla Español

Saw that on a sign anoche and while I commend them for speaking Spanish, I have to say that if you're going to make signs, make sure that the signs are written in the proper language. "Sé" is the first-person verb "to know" whereas "se" is the reflexive form used in things such as "se habla español" (Hey, I should give 'em props, because they got the ~ !)

Essentially what the sign said is "(I) Know speaks Spanish" instead of the intended meaning, "Spanish is spoken (here)"

While you might not think this is any big deal, I do, and here's why: There are many Spanish-speaking immigrants (especially the undocumented) are not very well schooled, and some are funcionally illiterate. If you're going to write in the native language, you must make certain that it is properly written, or else you are going to inadvertently teach a person the incorrect spelling/punctuation of their native spoken language. Then they will go forth to propogate the "incorrection" and fairly soon you've corrupted Spanish.

Rats! Here in the US, we haven't only destroyed English, but now we're trying to destroy Spanish as well! Wowzer!

As always, I believe in bilingualism, and I believe that someday both languages will merge (to a greater extent than they already have); however, I don't believe in sloppy writing and grammatical errors! Let's keep it clean as long as we can, folks!

TTFN

VG

posted by Verble Gherulous @ 5:59 AM