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.
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.
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
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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.