Kitchen Spanish

We often have covered the topic of language and identity on this blog.  Research continues to document that English is fast becoming the language of choice for second generation Hispanics and third generations rarely speak Spanish, with the written skill suffering the most.  While this is a sign of acculturation -- and learning English is a must for thriving and gaining access to better professional prospects to the millions of Hispanics and other immigrants in the U.S. -- keeping a second language can further amplify those opportunities.  A front page story on Sunday's edition of The Miami Herald touches on how the erosion of Spanish in a city that has seen prosperity from bilingualism can mar the economic prospects of the local workforce. You see, if the Hispanic population continues to explode in the nation, immigration from well-educated Latin Americans continues and the need to attend to businesses conducting transactions in both languages thrive, so will the need to have a workforce equipped to do business in both languages. 

The advertising, marketing and public relations fields know this well.  Those in the industry that hire professionals to work in Hispanic marketing are on the hunt for top-rated talent that can fluently work in both languages.  And finding such talent often leads to peeking down South or to Spain to attract talented professionals who also happen to be bilingual.

For these jobs, 'code' bilingualism often does not suffice. Linguists are on the fence on how to evaluate Spanglish as a language.  If it’s true that language is in constant evolution, this hybrid may one day be recognized as an official language of a distinct population. For now, limited knowledge of Spanish just to have a colloquial exchange, and understood also as 'kitchen Spanish' has limitations and can't replace true bilingualism.

Many non Hispanics are picking up Spanish as a skill to round out their job hunting potential. I've met great professionals whose second language is Spanish and who are very adamant to use their skills on the job.  And as a recent AdAge blog piece noted, some are really great at doing work with Hispanic audiences and are finely in tune with the culture.  Spanish and bilingualism is not equal to understanding Hispanics. That is a true statement.  But knowing both languages allows the ability to work well with both Spanish dominant and English dominant audiences and is a much needed skill.