Hi fellow colombians (or colombian lovers) I AM NEW HERE

ColombianoX says on Dec 9, 2004, 07:59:

Zambo,

Pues te doy la bienvenida de parte de otro "dual-citizen". Welcome aboard.

Saludes,


ColombianoX

ColombianoX 'Defensor de la Colombianidad'

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Mariangela says on Dec 9, 2004, 08:26:

Hola Welcome, Zambo! I am also a dual-citizen and live in Texas, in the DFW area.
Glad to have you here.
Mariángela

Mariángela

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zambo says on Dec 9, 2004, 08:40:

thanks for the response guys.
as i said before, this forum (found by accident) is something that i have always been looking for.
i do not have a single colombian friend here in houston, though the colombian crowd apparently is big here (we even have a consulate).
anyways, what do you think of the americanized colombians? (see, colombians born here and that have never been to the homeland)

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ColombianoX says on Dec 9, 2004, 08:48:

"anyways, what do you think of the americanized colombians? (see, colombians born here and that have never been to the homeland)"

What do I think of them? I can't stand them! I once used to have a friend in high school who was also born here to colombian parents, like me, and the schmuck didn't even speak spanish! Now I just avoid these sell-outs, their ignorance of our culture offends me.

"i do not have a single colombian friend here in houston, though the colombian crowd apparently is big here (we even have a consulate)."

I know what you mean. Over here in South Florida it's tough to meet some nice, humble colombianos, even though there's a huge community. It seems that either they change once they move here, or they're letting a lot of riff-raff into this country.


ColombianoX

'Defensor de la Colombianidad'

ColombianoX 'Defensor de la Colombianidad'

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kernow62 says on Dec 9, 2004, 11:33:

we don't have that problem here, we have met and are friends with several Colombian families that share similar education and professional backgrounds, as well as some who were not so fortunate to have the benefit of a good eduction.

Heck we even have a good half dozen friends who were friends in Bogota, now they are in Orlando too. Small world.

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Raleigh1590 says on Dec 9, 2004, 12:44:

Hi Zambo I'm new here too & have a few good Colombian friends even though I hardly speak a lick of Spanish. (I'm trying to learn but my horrible southern accent gets in the way!) I'm moving to Houston next year too & hopefully if all things go exceptionally well, a certain Colombian guy would be coming with me. Oh yeah!

Anyways, about Americanized Colombians... I think it would be a smart thing to do to get involved in your native culture but if you really don't wish to do that, it's your life! Especially if your parents are immigrants I would expect that a large amount of culture would have rubbed off naturally, if not, something's weird. America is so mixed anyways it's hard to tell who's who.

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zambo says on Dec 9, 2004, 13:27:

I am pretty involved with my culture. i am a weird mix
DAD: Jewish Hippie from Ney York City
MOM: Wayuu Princess (not really a princess)

family of 6

bron and raised in colombia, however colombians here think they are better than everyone else just because they are here. i especially despise the colombians from choco or the negro states that came here as polizontes and rather that make something out of themselves they just flaunt and show all their jewerly and cars and stuff like that. Please go back to quibdo or something man. (I bet i get branded as a racist)

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adrimm (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 9, 2004, 15:07:

utopiacowboy says on Dec 9, 2004, 19:36:

Zambo, have you met Elmo? I think he's Wayuu or maybe that's just "way out" in his case. How do you feel about donkeys?

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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utopiacowboy says on Dec 9, 2004, 19:41:

I am not sure that you can really blame the kids for not being able to speak Spanish. I think the blame really rests with their parents for not perpetuating the language. I can't tell you how many people there are in San Antonio whose grandparents could ONLY speak Spanish and yet they can only speak English. Lost in one generation and now they can't even speak to their abuelitos. I also notice that in every mixed couple (except for one! I wonder which one that is?) where the woman is Latina and the man is gringo, the kids cannot speak Spanish and the whole family ends up speaking English. Actually sometimes I wonder, where did I go wrong :-)!

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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ColombianoX says on Dec 9, 2004, 20:21:

"I think the blame really rests with their parents for not perpetuating the language"

Utopia,

I absolutely agree with you. It really pisses me off when I see hispanic parents only speaking to their US born children in english. Don't they realize what a disservice they're doing to their children by denying them the language of their people and their heritage? It's a great advantage to be bilingual or multilingual in today's world. I thank God my parents always spoke to me in spanish, allowing me to communicate with my relatives and all my fellow colombians. Besides, not being able to communicate with my lovely colombianas would be really, really sad.


"I can't tell you how many people there are in San Antonio whose grandparents could ONLY speak Spanish and yet they can only speak English. Lost in one generation and now they can't even speak to their abuelitos."

There's no excuse for people whose homeland is right next-door to Texas to lose their language completely in only one generation. I can understand european immigrants losing their language in the USA because of the great distance, but this only demonstrates the degree of apathy and ignorance of these mexican-americans to their own culture.


"I also notice that in every mixed couple (except for one! I wonder which one that is?) where the woman is Latina and the man is gringo, the kids cannot speak Spanish and the whole family ends up speaking English. Actually sometimes I wonder, where did I go wrong :-)!"

Utopia, I've also noticed this and I know you're probably not going to like my theory on the matter, but here goes anyways. Many of these latinas (but not all!)weren't too proud of their culture to begin with when they decided they only wanted to marry a foreigner, so it's not that surprising to me that they don't teach their children to speak spanish either. Your family seems to be an exception to this rule and I applaud you for that

Saludes,

ColombianoX

'Defensor de la Colombianidad'

ColombianoX 'Defensor de la Colombianidad'

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adrimm (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 9, 2004, 20:48:

caslug says on Dec 9, 2004, 21:06:

keen observation Adrimm.. "I know of a number of kids (prods of mixed latin-canadian marriages) who never learned spanish becuase their insecure latin mothers felt it wasn't good enough for them."

In the US its happens, more when I was growing up many kids(incl me) from immigrant families(asians, latinos, etc.,) shy away from learning because we figure(it'll be useless when we grow up) american 20 yrs ago was not as open or diverse culturally or ethnically as it is today. Irony is that NOW, the ethnic market(asian & latino) in California and other places is very big with many opportunities. And knowing a second langauge makes you more employable when looking for jobs. Now the mainstream communities(business, poltics, entertainment) are courting the same ethnic/cultural groups that they pushed aside many years ago.

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Mariangela says on Dec 9, 2004, 21:40:

Bilingual children I decided that my kids were going to embrace their Colombian heritage from the day I got married here. I speak only in Spanish to them and it is the natural way for us. My 9-year-old son is fully bilingual and can communicate with my Colombian family with no problem. It is great to watch him interact and participate in conversations, tell jokes, etc. It is not difficult to raise bilingual children. You just have to be consistent and speak Spanish to them at all times. We speak Spanish in public, in the supermarket, restaurants, etc. I don't care what other people think. It is my language and I am proud of it. I am sure it will benefit my kids immensely in the future. So, I agree with all of you. There is no excuse. If you speak Spanish your kids should, too.
Mariángela

Mariángela

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adrimm (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 9, 2004, 23:40:

zambo says on Dec 10, 2004, 06:44:

Wayuu people, are the dominant native group in La guajira. Did you the novela where Guy Ecker was an engineer for a coal company and worked in "el cerrejon" (man i cant remember the name), if you do, then you will know who the Wayuu people are..


on another note, my father (as funny as this might sound) never taught english growing up in Santa Marta. once i turnes 16 and graduated HS, i moved to the states and had to enroll in ESL courses so that i could continue my college career. i dont blame my dad, as his excuse is " i didnt want you guys to be any different from the other kids". Rest assured that when i sart my own family, my childern must definetely will learn spanish, and if the mother is from a background other than american (maybe italian, hmmm,) then they will learn their mother's language as well.

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utopiacowboy says on Dec 10, 2004, 11:13:

We speak Spanish in public all the time too but that is not too unusual if you are in San Antonio. In fact it would be great if some day we could speak English in public (or anywhere) as well! I really don't mind speaking Spanish but sometimes my wife's inability to speak English can be a bit tiresome. Sometimes I introduce myself as her personal translator. Your theory may be correct, Colombianox, my wife is proud of her Spanish and really likes speaking it!

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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rash9000 says on Dec 10, 2004, 11:16:

welcome to this site ....... I found this page by accident...
But I am becoming addict to it............

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adrimm (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 10, 2004, 11:18:

Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Dec 10, 2004, 11:25:

bilingual kids When we moved to the States from Colombia our kids were just starting school (5 and 6 yrs old). My "gringo" brother told me right away that the sooner they forget their Spanish the better. We disagreed. They were asigned to a bilingual program, but after a bit of research we did we found out that this program was geared towards learning English as fast as possible and not preserving the native language or developing it at all, so we contacted the School Board and had them re-assigned to an all-English school, signing a statement that their progress in school was entirely our own responsibility. Being teachers both, we agreed. Needless to say, the kids learned English fast, after the second year they were on native English-speaker level. We taught them to read and write in Spanish at home.
Now, they are all grown up, speak fluent Spanish, English and Swedish. They identify themselves as Colombians, but speak English to each other.
Cheers,
Desi

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth)

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adrimm (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 10, 2004, 12:34:

Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Dec 10, 2004, 12:44:

only one problem my only regret is that I never taught them to speak Finnish. They can manage about 100 words, and understand bit and pieces of normal conversation in that language, but they have never shown any burning interest to learn more. Strictly speaking they don't have a "a mother tongue", only the language of their father and their country of birth, plus two more.
Cheers,
Desi
(Do teach your own kids Spanish adri (when you get them), it's such a big and important language)

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth)

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Lionheart says on Dec 10, 2004, 12:49:

my kids My kids grew up bilingual English/German like me, it help me in my life, so it will help them as well. They additionally learned Spanish in school in the US.

In Germany you have a mandatory 3rd language in high school, my step-father insisted on Latin, I wish I had learned French.

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adrimm (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 10, 2004, 13:02: