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New Mexico Spanish variation is worthy of preserving
Zack Quintero, executive director for the National Hispanic Cultural Center, is starting an initiative called “The Legacy Project,” aiming to preserve the Spanish dialect in northern New Mexico.
In response to Paul Bates (July 28) comments regarding the Revitalization of New Mexico Spanish, I would like to share, once again, additional information as to the importance of this task.
First of all, it might be helpful to define what a language variation is. If I travel to New York or Texas or the Southern states I am going to hear different variations of English. New Mexican and Southern Colorado Spanish is a variation, it has been spoken here for 425 years and has survived many attempts to eliminate it.
For transparency, Spanish, my heritage language, is more than something I speak, it is our family’s identity. It was my first language until the age of 5 when I started school. In those days there were no bilingual classes. We Spanish-speaking children basically kept our mouths shut in fear that our mother tongue would slip out and we would be punished.
At the age of 26, I began my journey to take back my home language; it took ten years. I fell in love with our New Mexican variation. As an under-graduate student at UNM, I finally had the courage and confidence to participate in immersion programs in other Spanish-speaking countries.
Because of my personal experience of re-learning our New Mexican Spanish variation, learning other variations of Spanish and for having coordinated the Spanish Heritage Language Program at UNM for 13 years, I know and I have witnessed the positive outcomes from the revitalization of New Mexican Spanish. Learning or re-leaning one’s mother tongue does not take anything away from the learner, but rather adds many possibilities.
For those who choose to take back Spanish they will have an advantage in their chosen professions, be it real-estate brokers, mortgage lenders, first responders, educators, health care providers, etc. And they will connect with those who feel strongly attached to their native language, welcoming someone who also values their language and culture.
In the United States there are many variations of Spanish. Our New Mexican variation is just one of them. I believe firmly that New Mexican Spanish is special and worth revitalizing.
