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Kendramama: My husband is half-Mexican, Hispanic, whatever the current pc term is,
and ironically, maybe hysterically, rather- is the whitest guy I’ve
ever been with. He can’t dance, loves 
redneck stuff like huntin’,
fishin’, and “getting some good lovin’ ” from the little woman. (Yep,
that’s me- and oddly enough, I put up with my Suzie Homemaker/ Betty
Crocker role pretty well considering my sordid past. Although I feel a
bit of Betty Page in me still too.) He’s also got the strongest work
ethic, most solid, proven devotion, and by far the most integrity out
of any guy I’ve ever met- totally disproving the lazy, womanizing rep
most Hispanics tend to get pinned with. Of course, that’s true of
almost all racial stereotypes, but hey. He also doesn’t speak a word of Spanish, despises arid climates, and was born and raised in the Silver Valley.
Question: Can you speak Spanish?
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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Dennis on May 15 at 6:57 a.m.
Yep,,,,, Had to as a survival tactic working in a job in an area where dealing with Hispanics was an everyday occurrence. What was funny was the looks on the faces of the “No Habla’s” when someone as “Whitebread” as me would start conversing with them in Spanish…… Priceless.
I also have a working knowledge of the Korean language which made for some interesting moments when derogatory comments were made in their native tongues only to be met with a response in their native language.
Dennis on May 15 at 7:12 a.m.
And as a side note,,,, the people I was referring too in the above post were a VERY SMALL minority in the community.
BethB on May 15 at 7:44 a.m.
I speak Spanish well enough to communicate, and bad enough that when I break into Spanish with a Spanish-speaking client, he (or she, but usually he) suddenly has the courage to break into his own halting English. (Hey, my English is waaaaay better than her Spanish, must be the theory.)
Arpie on May 15 at 7:46 a.m.
Un poco.
Howard_Martinson on May 15 at 9:10 a.m.
When I’m full of cerveza or tequila, it seems that my Spanish is very good. Or maybe that’s Italian, it all sounds the same to me.
jesset on May 15 at 10:02 a.m.
I am trying to learn Spanish by listening to CDs in my car, but it’s hard. The language is very logical and phonetic, but how did they get the conjugation “estuvieron” from the verb “ser”?
Does anyone have a favorite brand of Spanish language learning CDs or software?
marmitetoasty on May 15 at 10:33 a.m.
Sangria….. thats about me limit…
x
Liz on May 15 at 11:20 a.m.
I suck at languages. I mostly did very well in school but I barely passed Spanish. Probably the only reason I did was because we had enough non-language assignments to push me into a pass grade. (bringing food, dressing in costume, showing up for the foreign language fair).
I did learn to say “Donde esta los banos?” though on those spring break trips down to Ensenada in college. Useful, ya know…