I have been reading all the blogs these past few days and feeling sad for not having participated the way I should have. It has happened in other classes where a blog was used...I somehow allow the whole semester to go by before facing my fears and realizing that its not hard at all and actually could have been an awesome way to connect, share, and communicate. I dont feel good at these online type formats and always feel nervous to post stuff... my opinions. Although I feel fine voicing my opinions in person, somehow when its in writing it feels more scary...like its stuck in stone and you cant go back and alter things or explain things or have that instant response and discussion like in face to face communication. But now, reading through the blogs... I am surprised (pleasantly) to see so much dialogue between the students. ANYWAY, throughout the semester I have had things I wanted/meant to blog about, and this was one of them,,,
One random night while I was doing homework and my boyfriend was watching TV he flipped to a reality show that had Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. He stayed watching it and what ended up distracting me and drawing me away from HW and into the show was the fact that I heard a lot of Spanish being spoken. The show is ¡Q'viva! The CHosen, and shows J-Lo & her ex traveling around Latin American finding local talent and giving the CHosen airplane tickets to LA for a big competition. I guess the winner gets their own show in Las Vegas (Not exactly the artistic capital of the world..more of a spectacle or something...oh well). Anyway, what was interesting to me was the bilingual nature of the show. You have Marc Anthony & Jennifer talking in both Spanish & English, while all of the contestants speak Spanish. Instead of over dubbing which is the norm in American media, subtitles are used. Also, its interesting to hear Jennifer's Spanish which is different from Marc's or the contestants. She is a heritage speaker and I was happy that she actually used Spanish instead of English, even though Ive read in an interview with her that growing up she felt bad that her Spanish wasn't good.
I was surprised. Could this be a sign of moving toward maintenance in mainstream media?? ALthough the show premiered on Univision, it is now on air in 21 countries across major tv networks in North South & Central America. We were watching it on FOX, which apparently is the English version of the show. Still, the voices speaking spanish way outnumbered those in English, and, like I said, subtitles were used...
Although Marc Anthony & JLo may be from the world of commercialized mass media and entertainment, I still thought it was cool to see and hear Spanish on this show... so theres that.
AMDANDA!!! GOOD JOB OF GETTING OVER YOUR FEAR!!! PROUD A YA'!
ResponderBorrarIt's not easy..... I still have a tinge of "HOLY CRAP!!" every time I write something. And whether you realize it or not, we want to know what you think. You just can't be selfish and keep that in there all to yourself...
I have to tell you that my wife and I are so hooked on this show because it showcases so much more of who we are than just "third world countries", which, incidentally not all Latin American countries are... nor Mexico...
I noticed the exact same thing as you... they both use their spanish and I'm very proud of Jennifer for stepping out and speaking spanish in spite of her reservations... I mean.... that's what we push in our 101 classes... right? We want our students to speak otherwise they won't grow in their language acquisition.... so I Love that she is speaking her "mocho" spanish where she cuts out 90% of all of her /s/... it's great...
On that same note, My wife (who is also from Puerto Rico) hates it!!! It bothers her that her spanish is so bad... she says that she is forgetting who she is because of it.... hahaha.... well I kindly say, "she's trying, give her credit" and smile at her.... Happy Wife = Happy Life... hahaha
And I whole-heartedly agree with you that Jennifer and MarcAnthony are very much showcasing what it is to be bilingual in this country. They are he very people that we are talking about in this class. No matter at what level we think they are at, they've maintained their spanish, and at the same time, their culture... And they are doing it in front of millions and millions of people... I Love It!
Un Abrazo!
-Ruben.
Oooh... I really like this show :) Many of my Colombian cousins love watching this show! One of my cousins forwarded me an email with a YouTube link to a specific episode they did in Cali, Colombia. They were looking for amazing salsa dancers, and boy, if you want good salsa (and cumbia, merengue, bachata, chacha), Cali is the place to look! I also found it very entertaining to see Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony speaking Spanish. I had never heard them speak it before!! I wish JLO and Marc Anthony were still together... :/ But in any case, great show - keep watching it!
ResponderBorrar