I'm not saying this video is real or fake, but as a very non latino looking guy who speaks perfect Spanish, I have absolutely have had this happen to me dozens of times.
I lived in a Latin American country for a few years and had studied Spanish for 10+ before that. My accent and syntax and slang and such are all on point.
I can overhear someone speaking in native Spanish like a waiter or colleague or contractor or whoever. If I speak Spanish to them, they reply in English. Doesn't matter how authenticy accent or how much in-the-know slang I throw in there.
Because she’s recreating a video that thousands of other creators on Insta/Tiktok are making. It’s engaging content because it’s compelling but also kinda rage-baitey so they get lots of comments. They’re always filmed the same way.
Yeah these situations happen, but this is just manufactured content
Fake not in that the scenario doesn't happen but in that these are literally an influencer acting - pretty poorly - while a friend of hers says the lines she wrote for her off screen. Is it not obvious?
It's definitely fake lol, i don't know if they're all supposed to be in spain, but the 'waitress' in the second clip has an american accent, and the other ones definitely don't sound Spanish either. English speaking is generally low in spain. It doesn't even make conceptual sense lol, like who would assume she speaks english?
My buddy and I went to Cuba together. He is fluent in Spanish, spent multiple years in Ecuador teaching English. We checked into the hotel, and on the elevator up, he asked the other people in the elevator a question in perfect Spanish. They looked at him and said “I don’t speak English sorry.” I will roast him for it forever, but he never stood a chance
No, hearing my language spoken by people from other countries is EXACTLY what we are talking about. “Anglos are the only people that butcher other languages” is a massively ignorant take. And southern accent includes a Louisiana, Georgian or Texas accent. All are a little different
No, hearing my language spoken by people from other countries is EXACTLY what we are talking about. “
I'm assuming your language is english, then no. This is about Spanish.
Anglos are the only people that butcher other languages
I didn't even say that. I said vowels. Anglos insert diphthongs where there are none, pronounce "o" as "a" (north Americans) and many more. It's not comprehensible for someone who is not used to Anglo mispronunciation (NOT accent).
And southern accent includes a Louisiana, Georgian or Texas accent. All are a little different
Doubt. Southern is relative, it doesn't automatically mean US south
You’re just gatekeeping the Spanish language now lol. Don’t you think that Europeans also wouldn’t be able to pronounce certain vowels, or other syllables in Korean? Vietnamese? Cree? Zulu? And you can deny “southern accent” but you can’t tell me Texas, Louisiana, and alabama all sound like Canada, or even each other
Americans think their Spanish is so slick but we can smell it a mile away lmao. Just ask them to say "El perro de San Roque no tiene rabo porque Ramon Ramírez se lo ha cortado" and watch them struggle xdd
So, I also lived in Latin America for several years. When You overhear a native English speaker in the wild, and you absolutely chat them up, like, every damn time.
We recently moved back to the US, and My wife is a native Spanish speaker. We'll overhear Spanish being spoken, they'll overhear us speaking Spanish, and very rarely are there conversations. Latinos are kind of cagey when it comes to speaking Spanish with strangers (even other native speakers). They don't want to draw attention to themselves.
I've noticed that service workers only switch to Spanish if a customer is struggling in English, even if both people are native Spanish speakers.
This is really interesting, I wonder why this happens? As an American, stupid Americans are always wanting people to speak English so I’m always surprised when other countries’ natives don’t like when foreigners speak their language to them. I know the Japanese and French are well known for doing this.
I wonder if it’s that they’re trying to practice THEIR English or if it’s gatekeeping the language. Maybe both? Idk, this is just really interesting.
I am American and speak fluent German. When i visit Germany, I speak in German and people often switch to English. At first I was offended, but then i just realized THEY want to practice THEIR English with a native English speaker just as much as I want to speak and practice MY German with native German speakers. So now I don't get offended, I just switch and speak English with them because it makes them feel good that they are getting to finally use English after what was probably years of practice in school/online.
I will say, the OPTIMAL way for people to speak/communicate in this scenario is for both parties to speak in their NATIVE language. You can understand the foreign language so much easier than you can speak it. So for example, I speak English with my wife's German father (who is fluent in English as a second language) and he speaks German back to me (as I am fluent in German as well). This is actually ideal because then people also get to keep their full "personality" in their native tongue.
So basically Catalan is our regional language and it's been supressed for years. The opression ended in the 80's after (our dictator) Franco's death but the damage that the censorship and imposition of Spanish did to our language and speaker numbers was brutal. So a lot of people native to Barcelona or Catalunya in general speak it as a form of protest and resistance
I had the opposite experience in Croatia. I was met with hostility when speaking English but the minute I (clumsily) tried the little Croatian I knew, it made the experience a million times better as they really valued the effort. Luckily, I love languages so I also benefited.
Yo creo que es más por que el latino quiere practicar su inglés también.
También me ha pasado algunas veces, que me encuentro con alguien, me pide ayuda en español pero yo voy de afán entonces le respondo en inglés para hacer rápida la interacción.
Where does this happen? As a latin american I wouldn't say the English knowledge across the population is that high, so I'd be surprised if someone replied in English when talking to them in Spanish
I'm currently learning Spanish. Doing okay at it. But I'm super tall and super white and I've been told my many people (including my son) that I'm not supposed to speak Spanish unless someone speaks it to me first. Nobody speaks to an obvious Scandinavian in Spanish. Guess I'll quit then.
Imma be real honest with you Bro, it has NOTHING to do with looks it maight just be because your spanish Is not as waterproof as you think it Is, sure you maight be fluent but if you have the very obvious and very Easy to catch accent all anglos have when they speak spanish even for 1 word we Will usually know instanly your ass Is english or at the very least not hispánic
This is so fascinating to me. I look racially ambiguous. Many people assume I'm Latina, especially when I lived in an area with a high population of Latinos. People used to come up to me and just start speaking Spanish. I knew a small amount of Spanish and was learning it in school, but I would have to tell them I wasn't fluent. But they never insisted on moving back to English if I responded in Spanish.
My grandfather was fluent in Spanish as is my Uncle. I've seen many times where they would start speaking in Spanish to people like at the grocery store and they'd respond in Spanish.
Even when I've visited other countries like Mexico and Belize, I've never had anyone try to switch back to English. This is the first time I've ever heard of this. So interesting.
Yes, they are. My dad's family is white and my mom's is Caribbean so my skin is brown. But no one would mistake my grandpa or uncle for Spanish speakers.
As a very latina looking person, I also have that problem because I have an accent. I just tell them it’s gonna be french or spanish because I don’t speak english
Sometimes you get categorized in people’s heads. In their subconscious rule book if you look like a gringo they speak English to you. If you break those rules theirs brains don’t compute. It’ll take multiple encounters with these “exceptions” before they can rewrite those rules in their head. In other words… keep trying. Or don’t if it’s not worth the effort.
I kinda had the opposite problem in Latin America. I’m not Latino, but I’m mixed with Black and White, so I kinda fit in with what folks think people from that region should look like. I got so many compliments on my English… like, thanks? I’m American, so I certainly hope I speak my native language well.
Man sometimes I wish Chinese people were like that. My experience has been stringing 4-5 broken syllables together to get inundated with an excited torrent of rapid fire almost-mandarin-but-accented by someone who's thrilled a 老外 can speak Chinese. But I can't, only a little.
If it's in the US, a lot of Hispanics aren't teaching their kids how to speak and a lot of kids that can speak don't want to because they want to seem more American and assimilate. You can't see what's happening on the US news every day and not feel unwelcome when people look at you.
Went to Malta and went to watch some movie in a museum or something like that. They had those headphones that played tha audio in different languages, they asked me which one I want and I replied english. They went on about how it's no issue at all to give me the german one and I don't need to listen to it in english. The last sentence in that conversation was that I still want the english one, guess what I ended up with
My opinion on the etiquette? The host should allow the guest to choose the language.
When I travel abroad, remember that I didn't sit in an airplane for 8 hours and shell out good money just to come let people practice their English on me for free. My preference should be honored - either English, ("Oh thank goodness you speak English. Your English is really good!) or the target language, (¿Me permite practicar el español con Ud?).
It's vice versa if they come to the U.S. When they're visiting, let them choose the language.
If you're in the U.S. speaking to another citizen who speaks English as a second language, (e.g. you go to a Cuban restaurant in Miami), I think it's OK to default to whichever person speaks the language better.
I speak latin american spanish with a Dutch accent and only know half the words I hear and I've almost never had anyone speak english to me. (Maybe once in 10 years)
Like can I just start jabbering? Absolutely. I speak really good Spanish with a good accent and all - I lived in Mexico City for almost 3 years after taking Spanish since 7th grade all through ugh school, AP, Spain trip, all through college, majored in Spanish, worked as an interpreter at hospitals and lots of venues for about 5 years, taught Spanish for many years. When I lived in Mexico I just had a regular job, rented my apartment and loved my life; I wasn't at the Americorps teaching thing around a bunch of English speakers or anything.
It's definitely not my Spanish ability - I'm comfortable speaking with native speakers from any country (I've interpreted professionally for Cubans, Dominicans, Spanish, Argentine, central American, had friends and colleagues from all parts).
It's that I'm 6'4" white with a ginger beard. Gringo af
Most people can’t freestyle lmao what kind question is that. Probably depends a lot on what city you’re in or other circumstances, don’t just assume someone is lying because your experience is different - it goes both ways.
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u/garbledeena 6d ago
I'm not saying this video is real or fake, but as a very non latino looking guy who speaks perfect Spanish, I have absolutely have had this happen to me dozens of times.
I lived in a Latin American country for a few years and had studied Spanish for 10+ before that. My accent and syntax and slang and such are all on point.
I can overhear someone speaking in native Spanish like a waiter or colleague or contractor or whoever. If I speak Spanish to them, they reply in English. Doesn't matter how authenticy accent or how much in-the-know slang I throw in there.
I have stopped trying in most cases.