This week I interviewed Emilio, a Spanish tutor who’s eager to help people out with Spanish. In our interview, we covered topics such as feeling disconnected from one’s culture, what it means to have a diverse cultural background for one’s identity, and how to sound natural when speaking a new language. Emilio’s advice is to be shameless when speaking! The interview is posted below and was edited for length.
Patricio: So where are you from Emilio?
Emilio: I’m from Los Angeles California, specifically from the center of the city. Also I’m a yapper so can I just keep talking?
Patricio: Please yap!
Emilio: Ok great! Well I’m the son of a guy from the suburbs of LA and my mom is from Argentina, but she grew up on the East Coast. That’s really where I became passionate about language and culture, because LA is such a big melting pot. Circulating between so many parts of LA is something that I really enjoyed, as I was able to expose myself to all of these different cultures, cuisines and languages.
Patricio: Did your mom being from Argentina influence your passion for learning languages and exploring different cultures?
Emilio: Honestly getting into Argentinian culture was a lot later for me, because my dad, who’s not Latin American at all, is the one who would play all the music in my house, and he would always play salsa. And on the other hand, my mom teaches at a college with mostly Chicanos, so I grew up with a big emphasis on Mexican culture. I was going to asados and so many Mexican parties, so growing up I was under the impression that that was my culture for a while.
Patricio: Oh wow that’s so interesting. So now being here at Reed do you study something related to this passion you had for different cultures and languages?
Emilio: I study Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies and Anthropology. I came into Reed hoping to study linguistics, but I turned away from it because when it comes to language, I was mostly interested in the way that language interacts with culture and influences how you view the world. So more so the cultural side of language. But I’m also minoring in Spanish.
Patrico: How’s the Spanish minor going?
Emilio: I haven’t taken a class in the department for a while now, but I just have to take one more course to finish the minor. But it’s going well; I found all the Spanish classes I’ve taken so far to be really beneficial to my language learning skills. I took a Spanish literature class that was really hard. I think it’s Spanish 321, and we had to read Don Quixote, which is such a hard book to read. But the more contemporary books we’ve read have been really influential for me.
Patricio: So you’re more of a fan of modern books then? And do you read mostly in Spanish?
Emilio: I’d say mostly Spanish literature. The author I’ve read the most is Jorge Luis Borges. I love Borges, in sophomore year people could not get me to shut up about him!
Patricio: Do you have a favorite Borges book?
Emilio: Labyrinths. That’s the name of the collection. I have a tattoo inspired by a Borges short story.
Patricio: Oh interesting! How long have you been speaking and reading in Spanish?
Emilio: My first language was technically Spanish, but then I kind of lost it very young. Throughout my childhood my parents would talk to me in Spanish and I would respond to them in English. Then when I was like 13 I had this moment where I thought how sad that was. I wanted to be able to understand, and so in high school I started re-learning Spanish and talking to my family in Spanish.
Patricio: How’s it been keeping up with your Spanish here at Reed?
Emilio: It’s been challenging in some ways, especially since I haven’t taken any Spanish classes since sophomore year, but it’s been rewarding in other ways, in that a lot of my academic passions revolve around Latin America. So studying anthro has allowed me to apply that to a lot of media that’s in Spanish. It’s helped me forge a better identity around my relationship with the language. But in terms of language, I definitely don’t have enough people to speak it with. I have to call my grandma to practice.
Patricio: Have you thought about studying abroad as a means to practice your Spanish more?
Emilio: I actually studied abroad in Portugal after sophomore year, and I took classes in Portuguese. But this summer Reed gave me money to do research for my thesis in Uruguay. So I did a lot of interviews and lived my daily life in Spanish. But I had to watch how many words I said, because I could pass as a native Spanish speaker up until a certain point.
Patricio: So how connected do you feel to Hispanic culture and the Spanish language, especially now being at Reed?
Emilio: It’s tough for me because I definitely grew up being part of a larger latino community in LA, more specifically a Chicano community, but I’m not Chicano. But Reed is such a different environment, so as time passes by, my cultural interests diverge. Now I’m really interested in a lot of older cultural stuff, things that other latinos might think “Oh that’s what my parents listen to”. So I’ve always felt a little distant from the community, but at the same time I’ve had some really good connections here at Reed, such as the language scholars or Spanish speaking professors.
Patricio: Have you taken any cool Spanish classes at Reed?
Emilio: I took a class on Borges, that was probably my favorite. The professor, Diego, will be back next year I think. Even though my major has nothing to do with literature he’s my honorary grandpa.
Patricio: I interviewed another Spanish tutor and he was also a fan of Diego. Do you watch any movies or shows in Spanish, and if yes do you have any recommendations?
Emilio: The funny thing is when I was in Uruguay I was watching all my media in English, and I thought “how could I do this? I finally got what I wanted and now in all my free time I’m watching American things”.
Patricio: It happens, you get homesick and the grass is always greener.
Emilio: The grass is always greener. But in terms of movies I really like Y tu Mamá También by Alfonso Cuarón. And I just watched Diarios de Motocicleta. I really liked it and it has a fun soundtrack.
Patricio: What about books and songs?
Emilio: To be really cheesy there’s this Uruguayan musician who does the soundtrack for los Diarios de Motocicleta, Jorge Drexler. Movimiento is a really good song by him. I also really love Natalia Lafourcade.
Patricio: I’m her biggest fan! I love her.
Emilio: If I had to pick a song from her, maybe Colibrí. But I also love some older stuff like Café Tacuba.
Patricio: I’m going to check that band out. And moving on from the media, as a tutor, what are some things you’ve noticed are particularly difficult about learning Spanish?
Emilio: The number one thing people struggle with is learning conjugation intuitively. But that’s like THE problem. The more interesting answer is that I’ve noticed people have a hard time speaking Spanish in a way that sounds natural. For me it’s been a struggle because my parents are from Argentina, but I grew up around people who spoke Spanish with a Mexican accent, but then all my friends in high school were Colombian. Theoretically I’m Argentinian, but I don’t have a natural accent.
Patricio: Yeah it’s hard to incorporate an accent and especially incorporate slang and not sound like a dad in the club.
Emilio: That’s exactly how I felt over the summer trying to adapt some of the Uruguayan slang. But I was able to adapt it pretty shamelessly, and this is something that I tell all the people I tutor: The trick is to be shameless with language. People are more forgiving than you think as long as you’re genuine and well intentioned. It’s the well-intentionedness and the passion that make all the difference with language.
Patricio: I feel like the shame is a really big part of trying to adapt to a new language. Did you ever feel like that in Uruguay?
Emilio: At first I had some troubles. I had some moments of “oh my God I don’t understand”, but those moments were rare and you just had to ask, and people are happy to explain. Eventually I got pretty shameless with it.
Patricio: Well I have one more question, do you enjoy being a Spanish tutor?
Emilio: I do! I wish more people came! I like the cultural dimension of getting to talk in Spanish to people, and I like sharing with people the ability to learn. And I don’t have that many people to practice with, so when I’m working as a tutor, I spend most of my time doing other homework because no one shows up, but really I would be jumping for joy at the ability to speak the language that I’m passionate about. So people should know that any questions are welcomed.
Patricio: Great! Thank you so much!