Puerto Rican Spanish

Julio   Sun May 09, 2010 7:48 am GMT
In 1898, Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States after the Spanish-American War.

The United States Army and the early colonial administration tried to impose the English language on island residents. Between 1902 and 1948, the main language of instruction in public schools was English.

Today, both Spanish and English are the official languages of Puerto Rico, however, the Spanish language is undoubtedly more prominent.
Puerto Rico is living proof of why Spanish will never disappear, not even if the country is invaded and their population forced to study another language.

That's the problem with Spanish, it is such a superb and well-built language, that once you tasted it, you don't want anything else.
Ditto.   Mon May 10, 2010 10:25 pm GMT
D'accord.
michael   Tue May 11, 2010 4:52 pm GMT
so, and? what's the point?
Franco   Tue May 11, 2010 4:58 pm GMT
I guess that Spanish was saved thanks to the insularity of Puerto Rico. Otherwise the English speaking flies would have infested Puerto Rico like they did with once Spanish speaking paradise of New Mexico.
Paul   Tue May 11, 2010 5:09 pm GMT
<<I guess that Spanish was saved thanks to the insularity of Puerto Rico.>>

Puerto Rico, although a commonwealth, is in all intents and purposes, a separate country, where Spanish is the NATIVE language, unlike any place in the U.S, so its not surprising that they speak Spanish there.

<<I guess that Spanish was saved thanks to the insularity of Puerto Rico. Otherwise the English speaking flies would have infested Puerto Rico like they did with once Spanish speaking paradise of New Mexico.>>

New Mexico was never a Spanish speaking paradise. When the U.S purchased New Mexico (yes, purchased, it was not stolen), there were less than 10,000 Spanish speakers there, and it was largely unpopulated.
Juanjo   Tue May 11, 2010 6:04 pm GMT
What is surprising is that the U.S. colonial administration failed to impose the English language on island residents, even though Spanish was banned from schools and all subjects were taught in English.

Since two thirds of the U.S. were Spanish territory, we can safely conclude, that in all fairness, Spanish is the NATIVE language, of most of the U.S., except for perhaps 10% of its territory.

Only an ignorant would fail to acknowledge that historical legacy.
Franco   Tue May 11, 2010 6:07 pm GMT
New Mexico was never purchased, and there were more than 10 000 Spanish speakers. Stop telling lies, you English speaking fly.
George   Tue May 11, 2010 7:04 pm GMT
^I thought you didn't like Mexicans.
Franco   Tue May 11, 2010 7:18 pm GMT
New Mexican Spanish speakers were from Spain.
Gerry   Tue May 11, 2010 7:20 pm GMT
Yeah, sure, ok.
Franco   Tue May 11, 2010 7:22 pm GMT
Speakers of New Mexican Spanish are mainly descendants of Spanish colonists who arrived in New Mexico in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexican_Spanish


¿De verdad era tan difícil?
Oh   Tue May 11, 2010 7:26 pm GMT
I thought they would have become Navajo mestizos within a generation or two. Interesting. What became of them by the time the U.S. defeated Mexico in 1848?
Franco   Tue May 11, 2010 7:33 pm GMT
Mestizos speak English.
Paul   Tue May 11, 2010 8:27 pm GMT
<<What became of them by the time the U.S. defeated Mexico in 1848? >>

They stayed there, and their descendants today are anglophones.
Juanjo   Tue May 11, 2010 11:18 pm GMT
<<What became of them by the time the U.S. defeated Mexico in 1848? >>

<<< They stayed there, and their descendants today are anglophones. >>>

Wrong again.
Their descendants today are bilingual, with a preference for Spanish, in spite of more than a century of repression.

Quite remarkable, eh?