Not speaking Spanish has become a 'crime' for Indians

The lack of structure and understanding of the Spanish language is the biggest obstacle for indigenous people in Mexico . What has cost them at least 502 indigenous 8000 have been unjustly imprisoned in 2012 , not knowing defend before a public prosecutor , according to the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples ( CDI ) .

What do you think about the discrimination experienced by indigenous people in Mexico ?

" Because I had a translator at the time and nothing engaged to say 'yes ' or 'no' at the time and are judged because they gave his statement and said yes , they take ," said Mayorga Nubia , owner of CDI CNN.

With the Release of Prisoners program , the CDI has achieved so far release year nearly a thousand Indians , aged between 18 and 40 years , illiterate or only a primary education , unjustly accused and could not defend themselves let alone Spanish . Others out by not having the money to bail " from 5000 and 12 thousand dollars ," said the official.

Data of the National Social Policy Evaluation ( Coneval ) notes that there are currently 5 million Mexico 100 000 Indians in poverty , of those 2 million 500 thousand are in extreme poverty.

The program has national coverage through the administrative units of the Commission in the states.

In 2013 , the program had a budget of 26.8 million dollars, for the payment of bail, grant 2000 462 consultants , conduct surveys and hire 26 to 259 performers .

There is a type of crime for which indigenous people are dams with the highest incidence in particular. The charges are both common law crimes and the federal , for crimes against life and physical integrity , property crimes , against health or sexual assault issues , details Mayorga.

This was the case of indigenous Nahua of Puebla José Ramón Aniceto Gomez and Pascual Agustin Cruz , who in 2012 was sentenced to six years in prison for stealing a van, which could not defend themselves for not speaking Spanish .

After 10 months in prison , the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation granted an injunction brought them out of prison and in which it was recognized that there were violations of due process because it did not have translators .

Oaxaca , Chiapas and Guerrero with , is one of the states in which the CDI has more indigenous cases unjustly imprisoned .

The CDI Holder said ideally in Prosecutors had interpreters but it does not. " There are some cases where it does its work who have to make the function that corresponds , in this case in the public ministries . It's easy to put them in jail , that injustice can not give, " Mayorga said .

An emblematic case is that of Alberto Patishtán teacher , who was arrested in 2000 for allegedly engaging in an ambush that killed seven police in Chiapas . International organizations such as Amnesty International ( AI ) have lamented the "serious irregularities" in his opinion .

On September 13th of Chiapas court rejected an appeal by the defense of professor of ethnic Tzotzil thus exhausted their options within the Mexican justice system .

" It is a matter of grave concern that the justice system makes the decision to ignore the serious irregularities against Alberto Patishtán process and keep the denial of the right to a fair trial ," explained AI in a statement after the judge's decision .

In 2010 the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ordered released by inconsistencies in the process to three indigenous women Jacinta Francisco , Alberta Alcántara and Teresa González , after nearly four years in prison.

where are going the spanish language?

The Fourth International Congress of the Spanish Language held in Panama a few days away to go unnoticed and be accused of " outmoded " in the digital age , it was the busiest of the so far performed . He threw interesting debates that complicate and above a little more than mere rivalry between books vs. paper . the eBook.

In the four days of the Congress passed nearly two thousand visitors and more than 200 academics among writers , publishers and booksellers speaking and also from the United States, Italy , Japan and others. All discussed under the theme " The Spanish in the book : the South Atlantic Ocean " and what was clear is that the best home for discussion is Latin America. There is an idea that was imposed on the rest : the future of the Spanish language largely passes through the region .

The delegation represented the Argentina was small but participatory . The integrated , among others , the president of the Academia Argentina de Letras, José Luis Moure , the director of the National Library , Horacio González- who had a health complication and had to stay in Panama - boarding ; writer Abel Posse and Guillermo Martinez , and artist Miguel Repiso , Rep.

To project the future of the Spanish language , before listing the new devices and changes in cultural consumption habits , which slides into the Latin American debate are the asymmetries between those who can read , and do not understand what they read , and those who can not read for not being able to go to school . You can not ignore this cultural inequity in the region.

Among academics present consensus was that in Latin America, one of the main shortcomings of the education system is that " it has been emphasized in learning to read instead of reading to learn , hence the low rates academics ," said Juan Carlos Vergara Silva , representative of the Colombian Academy .

Endorsing the idea of the role poor education in the region and its consequent impact on the weakening of the Spanish language , added Lucy Molinar , Minister of Education of Panama : " We wanted to impose an education like ours and we have forgotten the students. Today the student not only wants to be receiver of information , wants to build knowledge. "

Peruvian writer and Nobel Literature Prize Mario Vargas Llosa closed Congress and full of euphoria optimistic : " We need to defend and care for our language, not locking us into foreign languages ​​, but opening the windows to enrich our language from other languages ​​, as they they do with us. language must prevent impoverish and degrade it . "

" The Spanish language is spreading in recent years for various reasons . On the one hand , there are cultural reasons : many Spanish speakers , especially American , still have large families , a phenomenon that seems not verified in some European communities. On the other hand , the growth of the Spanish speaking population in the United States also mobilized some fashion and market changes . But also, I think one can not ignore the fact that many Spanish speakers on both sides of the Atlantic are highlighted in the sport, in the art and science , which acts as a diffuser interesting of our language, explains Silvia Ramirez Gelbes , Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Buenos Aires ( UBA ) and Director of the BA in Communication from the University of San Andrés .

Yuqing Deng, the Chinese who speaks a perfect spanish

She has 21 years , a few months ago he returned from Barcelona , and today has awakened as the girl who speaks better Spanish than China. Yuqing Deng is the winner of the first contest that celebrated the Chinese national television , CCTV , to find the brightest person in the management of this language in the Asian country , which ended this weekend .

"No way I imagined it would be the winner ! " Exclaims Deng phone today , remembering the time when the national competition jury chose her as the winner on Saturday night , after being among the three finalists that were presented to 170 students from around the country and had to spend a " tough but interesting " evidence .

Among them - and as if the contest were The Voice , ' performing a song from Shakira, ' This is Africa ' , which she chose to stage talent , one of the first tests of this program where the contestants had to demonstrate their skills with the Spanish with some original proposal and that other fellow took to dance a quickstep or recite " Platero and I " by Juan Ramon Jimenez.

After singing , bending movies live or comment videos like the Madrid bid for the 2020 Olympics or the Inca culture in Peru , Gabriela Deng - or , as the Spanish name that she got to start Philology Hispanic in Beijing , which now is in his fourth and final year , rose on Saturday night as the winner of the prize: a trip to Peru for two, for about ten days.

With the same humble attitude that characterizes throughout the conversation , Deng talks about his two competitors , two young people, one of his own career at the University of Beijing Language and Culture , and the other , a student at Valencia, where he decided go to study and after starting with the Spanish at the early age of 12 years apart from English.

"They were much better than me , I think the only thing I might differ is that, as was so clear he would not win , I was less nervous ," said Deng , whose interest in Spanish was born after studying French and get to know the European culture .

" When it came time to choose a career opted for the Spanish to have another language and because the Spanish speaking population in the world is the largest after the Chinese, and is also one of the official languages ​​of the UN," explains the student who intends to continue his studies to finish this language by teaching or work in another government entity , which , given the increase in their international relations increasingly needs more people who can speak several languages.

To increase your level , she does not rule out a stay abroad, as he was enjoying until this June in Barcelona, ​​now longs .

And that is where the young winner gave a " boost " to his study of the language of Cervantes , talking to classmates, in school or on the street, where he also learned a word of Catalan as " bon dia " or " bona takes " .

"It was like a dream ," says the student, who between Mexico and Spain , decided to study the third year of studies in our country.

" We had three options : Barcelona, ​​Santiago de Compostela and Almería . Barcelona I opted for because for the Chinese is the most famous , has important works of Dalí and is located on the Mediterranean ," said Deng , who took advantage of his stay to visit other Spanish cities such as Valencia in Fallas - time and where you fell in love with the ' ninots' - to Madrid in full National Day parade , which impressed him " riding the military ."

Now , the program allows you to continue your study of Spanish Peru to discover knowing what for her is " the unknown world of the Mayas and Incas " , but admits that he would like the trip did their parents.

" But, of course , need a translator " laughs Deng , who rejoices , not winning the first " Spanish Quiz " CCTV , but this was concluded .

" Before we had a contest official or as important in China on Spanish , English only . And I think that is transcendental : it makes people know that in China there are many people who speak this language , there is more interest , and the students here , it gives them an incentive . "

USA speaks Castilian

United States has become a laboratory for the language of Cervantes . Powered by Hispanic immigration , the Spanish live an unprecedented expansion . This growth , as tabled in the Spanish Language Congress of Panama held two weeks ago, involves challenges and some other danger.

With nearly 50 million , is the first Spanish -speaking country most populous Spanish-speaking . The advance is such that it seems that in 2050 Mexico surpassed and will have the absolute record of Castilian speakers .

With 900,000 students , is the most studied foreign language in universities. And there are some that offer courses and language studies only .

"It is our wet tongue entering the United States hidden in cargo vans , crammed onto the roofs of the carriages of the train of death in Chiapas trip to Sonora , which transfers the smart wall , which mocks infrared detectors ".

With its literary description of the way and the conditions under which language comes Juan Rulfo , Nicaraguan writer Sergio Ramírez was the first to talk in Congress of a reality which employs linguists and sociologists.

Behind him were others in the Convention Center Atlapa approached a phenomenon that is a direct response to the recent opening of a branch of the Instituto Cervantes in Harvard University .

" Throughout the Spanish history there have always been areas where there have been mixed , but with a large geographical spread not, and communication with a capacity as large as the U.S. ", said the director of the center Cervantes , Francisco Moreno Fernández .

Hispanics are consolidated as the largest minority in the land of John Steinbeck and Spanish stands in the language of a speech community stable. So far , however , we can not talk of a U.S. Spanish . Each community partners there still remains very high awareness of its origins.

" In Chicago, for example, the Castilian is Mexican , Florida is the Caribbean ', exemplified the director of the Spanish Academy , Jose Manuel Blecua . There is a variety , as there is no single profile of Hispanic , but several.

But there is an ongoing convergence interhispánicos elements that eventually forging a U.S. Spanish sooner or later, says the professor Moreno Fernández , head of the Harvard Observatory Cervantes Spanish language , studying everything that has to do with that expansion in the North American country.

"For example , all speaking call yard and patio . Processes are occurring balancing between Spanish varieties that will end in U.S. Spanish . "

Fear of ' Spanglish '

One aspect that some look with fear is Spanglish , Spanish pollution by giving expressions like English 'll call you back, the literal translation I call you back .

The Peruvian writer and critic Julio Ortega , who has lived for 30 years in the land of Stars and Stripes , sees no problem.

"The Spanish history is made by those processes of mixing and contamination from the Italian Garcilaso 's work until Darius French and Quechua of José María Arguedas ' he said. "Do not be afraid , will cease to exist when no longer observed , as in the imaginary diseases ."

"There are many social, linguistic, political , economic, that will make the Spanish go to one side or another. USA is a laboratory , "said Moreno .

The “spanish” term

When using the term "Spanish" can speak of the masculine adjective applies to natural or naturalized citizens throughout the territory of Spain. In reference to native Spain, the concept encompasses cultural and social characteristics with the rest of the world associates the Spanish. For example, in places like Argentina, the Spanish is known informally as "Galician", which is actually typical of Galicia.

"Spanish" can also mean own Spanish culture or national character. In this culture practices can be counted as the bullfight, dishes like paella, national sports icons like the tennis player Rafael Nadal or Fernando Torres, artists such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Goya and Velázquez and many other distinctive features.

Finally, "Spanish" is a concept that also defines Spanish or Castilian language. Is that which is spoken in Spain and Latin America (excluding Brazil). The Spanish as a language is the most spoken language in the world after Mandarin Chinese and is one of the six official languages ​​of the United Nations (UN). The Spanish covers a family of more than 58 languages, dialects or varieties. For example, among the languages ​​derived palenquero can speak of the Chamorro or Sephardic. Recently, in addition, there was talk of Spanglish, that language morpho-syntactic mixture of English and Spanish that has spread around the world, especially in countries like Mexico that borders the United States.

As a language, owns the Spanish letter "ñ", relegated until recently with the introduction of computers and the Web.

Recognized Spanish-language authors are Miguel de Cervantes, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Julio Cortázar, Mario Vargas Llosa and others.

Contest rewards the best Spanish-speaking Chinese with a trip to Peru

The Spanish, a language no one spoke 60 years before in China, will show this year its popularity among young runaway who study and participate, for the first time in a Spanish contest organized by China Central Television (CCTV) which winner will go to Peru. Among a total of 170 chinese contestants with outstanding spanish domain, the best will enjoy a trip to Peru.

In the second qualifying round of the contest, held at the Cervantes Institute in Beijing and after the hosted in the city of Shanghai, about 50 young people demonstrated their mastery of Spanish and art demonstrations offered as recitation and singing.

After a day of presentations and to a rigorous jury, the last contestant, Li Tingyu, special guest-octogenarian event-left stunned the audience and the other competitors with brilliant Spanish, a language he grew, he explained, since he was 20 years, and that made him a year later, in the Spanish first Chinese teacher in China officially formed.

"When we started to learn Spanish was the time of the Korean War. After the First International Peace Conference of the Asia Pacific, the government realized that it had no translators for American guests. So a group of us were studying English to learn Spanish charge, " Told Li. In January 1953 it formed the first group, explained the pioneer Spanish teacher, and launched a slogan: "To master the language as a weapon against imperialism."

Also he remarked that the strength of Spanish teaching in China "is a reflection of the country's development in all areas" and recommended that today "it launches a new slogan: master language as a means to serve to the globalization".

Learn a language through the music

To listen songs in another languages is a fun resource to practice your idiomatic skills

A language learning could be hard and boring if you don´t use motivational tools. The music and the songs are perfect allies to work in a practical and entertaining way, the different cognitive areas of a foreign language. Expand your vocabulary, intonation reinforce, improve your pronunciation and review grammar in a real context, are some of fundamental didactics aspects that can be improved through the musical resources.

Without knowing what it means and even less how it writes, a person can be able to repeat automatically, with the best possible accent and intonation, a song in a different language than the own. Is the virtue of music, the fact of staying in memory in an easier way tan other assimilations.

The songs are used usually as a didactic resource in language teaching. Apart from being a motivational tool for it´s playful and entertaining character, provide teachers large possibilities to work curriculum aspects of a language.

Through songs, the students can work different didactical aims of foreign language learning. One of the most valued aspect by teachers are those involving the phonological part of the language, essential for a correct domain from another language. Songs suppose an unique opportunity to work with pronunciation and intonation, to review different aspects of a same dialect and maximize oral expression of students.

On the other hand, songs provide an excellent opportunity to explore into the lexicon of another language. A lyric of a song can be the perfect excuse to introduce new terms in the student´s vocabulary. He relate systematically with a real context and is easier to retain those new words in his memory and implement them properly later.