Last week, our Spanish meetup group met at a local Mexican restaurant for the sole purpose of practicing Spanish. We had natives of Venezuela and Ecuador attend along with ”gringos” interested in chatting it up in Spanish. The local regional newspaper reporter came along with a photographer to learn about our group. I welcomed the publicity because it would be a way to get the word out about our group and encourage more participation. Well, it worked because we have added 7 new members as a result!
What I never expected was the barrage of negative comments posted online as a result of the front page article. Many of the comments related to the immigration issues and attitudes about Latinos in America. It opened my eyes to the predjudices that exist. It also reinforced my mission at Viva Spanish! Learning another language helps to open yourself up to learning about other people and cultures and helps to influence acceptance and appreciation toward diversity. It is important to learn about other people and cultures as a pathway to opportunities and growth. Read article http://news-herald.com/articles/2010/06/04/news/nh2591476.txt
Tags: Attitudes about Spanish, Learn Spanish, Speak Spanish, Viva Spanish
Incredible and sad. Great article, but my goodness, the stupid comments people make when they are anonymous! It’s like graffiti. Just a note: that’s why one of our web site clients has us put the News Herald article directly on the client’s own web site rather than using a link to the N-H site. The comments can get quite insulting. I think in your case this has been an educational experience, as 1) we can become aware of the depth of people’s ignorance and 2) we can offer a glimmer of intelligence and sometimes help people to think.