on mobile, tap “Listen in browser” for a multi-cultural greeting from world-famous multi-awarded Hispanic-American artist Jose Feliciano
ANSWER: When a Gen Z child in Los Angeles schooled with multi-heritage multi-lingual classmates corrects my monosyllabic improvisational Spanish
Context: 5 hours ago, in the news program “On the Spot” at ABS-CBN DZMM, news anchors Tony Velasquez and Rica Lazo began bantering about the cancellation of passport of flood control project co-principal Zaldy Co, or Zaldy Co-mastermind, a co-mastermind.
Then, news anchor Tony interjected, the soon-to-be fugitive might have a Portuguese passport – then punctuated it with Spanish greetings. Spanish, Portuguese, get it? Because Tony is proud of his 12 units of Spanish.
Filipinos who went to college up to 1987 were required to take up 12 units of Spanish, and afterwards, students in some disciplines in the arts, literature, humanities, and certain professional schools are still required 3 units of a foreign language – many chose Spanish for that.
Filipinos are a mix of cultures, races, physical features.
In Australia, a Filipino would be mistaken for a Samoan, in public commute in New York or L.A., a Mexican woman would ask you for directions and all you could manage is a smile and a “Pardón, yo no hablo Español (smiles and seems pleased she could manage to answer a question in Spanish with her 12 units of Spanish in college)”…
So, here’s how a Gen Z-er in Los Angeles with multi-heritage multi-lingual classmates corrected my monosyllabic Spanish…
When J was a wee child wearing an oversized T-shirt, he and Myra patiently spent the day with me looking for a 100% coverage sunblock — J was going to his surfing lessons at Santa Monica Beach …
After getting the sunblock in Sephora,
they then brought me to their favorite restaurant in a mall in L.A.
Here’s that conversation:
My smart nephew, J, in his then-child-voice: Let’s go here, we always go here.
Myra: Yah, that’s his favorite restaurant.
It’s a Brazilian restaurant. Waitress comes over.
Me, trying to impress J with my 12 units of Spanish, looks at waitress: Hola!
Me, opens the menu — it has pictures of the food, yehey!
Me, points at one menu item with a food photo of it, and shows it clearly to the waitress, “Estó …(pointing at the photo of the food)”
(Estó es, that’s 12 units of Spanish, people, don’t belittle me, watch and learn, guys: This is how you carry out a conversation in a Spanish restaurant with your 12 units of Spanish — use largely body language, then point to the food photo of the menu item and say “estó“)
Me : “y …aahh… hhmm (flipping the pages, pretending to read the ENTIRE “Spanish” menu) ahh, hhmmm, (points at another menu item with a food photo and shows it clearly to the waitress) y … y estó” (points at the food photo menu item)
Waitress nods her head.
Me, nodding my head at her.
(Can you see how good i am in applying what i learned in AS (arts and sciences) Spanish… in monosyllables)
Me to the waitress: “Muy bien” (yehey, I’m using my 12 units of Spanish in college)
Then the waitress prepares to get our order, and I say: “Muchas gracias”
(yehey, I carried out a conversation in Spanish with my 12 units!!! My teachers would be proud of me)
My smart then-child-nephew in his cute then-child-voice, J: Why are you speaking to her in Spanish?
Me: Because she’s Mexican.
J: She’s not Mexican, she’s Brazilian, this is a Brazilian restaurant.
Me: How do you know she’s not Mexican?
J: Because I know her, we’re here every week, she’s from Brazil.
Me (unstoppable) : Well, if she’s Brazilian, she can understand my Spanish.
My smart then-child-nephew in his cute then-child-voice, J: They don’t speak Spanish in Brazil –- they speak Portuguese.
Me (still unstoppable) : Well, Portuguese and Spanish are the same.
My smart then-child-nephew in his cute then-child-voice, J: No, they’re not.
Me (really unstoppable): How do you know
J: I know it.
Brazilian waitress comes back carrying our fast order …
Me: See? … Look at that! — She understood my Spanish!
J (sighs, laughs) Hayyyst (sighs)
Perhaps even Europeans think Spanish and Portuguese are the same.
At the Polar Music Awards (Sweden) tribute to iconic rock singer-songwriter Sting a couple of years ago, some Swedish producer thought it would be witty to ask THE SAME famously blind multi-awarded Hispanic-American artist Jose Feliciano to sing Sting’s biggest hit “Every Breath You Take” — in Spanish accent,
with a Spanish guitar,
in Mariachi-style vocal and musical arrangement —
— with repeating lyrics “i’ll be watching you, i’ll be watching you, every step you make, I’ll be watching you” in blindman’s dark glasses obviously.
(perhaps because Sting’s famous hit song “Fragile” had Portuguese and Spanish versions, or maybe for the repeating lyrics “I’ll be watching you” the producers thought Jose Feliciano can give it a different point of view.)
