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Checkout the reviews!![]() In Pardon My Spanglish stand-up comedian Bill Santiago chronicles the quintessentially American alegrías of his mother tongue: the quirky, hilariously improvisational fusion of inglés and español spoken by millions (even if they don’t know or admit que están doing it). With crash-course efficiency, cada página de este libro empowers your every step toward Spanglish mastery. How can you not love Spanglish? Twice the vocabulary, half the grammar! |
Educators Love "Pardon My Spanglish"!
Pardon My Spanglish is currently being used in universities and high schools around the country to spark dialogue on Latino identity, language and culture. Why? Porque because the book, while humorous, is informed by serious research, and delivers an intelligent, relevant and accessible defense of our hybrid culture, and Spanglish as an expression of our Latino reality in this country, as well as being laugh-out-loud chistoso on every page.
See what some educators using the book have to say below:
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Hello Bill,
Your book was a hit in my “Hispanic Linguistics” grad course at Brooklyn College. The students, Latinos and non, understood the linguistic concepts without a problem, in an enjoyable way (linguistics and humor—what a concept!), and when the class did the “Sanksgibing” skit in the class, you gained some new fans and code switching became a reality. I will mention the book in a lecture I will be giving in Texas in April, “On Becoming a Latina, a Personal Journey: What’s in a Name?”
Best of luck with the book,
Matthew J. Fantaci Professor of Spanish
Deputy Chair Graduate Studies
MMUF Coordinator
Brooklyn College, CUNY
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
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Dear Bill:
My name is Daniel Villa, I am a professor of Spanish at New Mexico State University. I have taught a course titled 'Spanglish' for about the last fifteen years (first one in this nation, to the best of my knowledge, I beat out Ilan Stavans by a long shot). Pa que sepas, I'm using your book this semester to try to get a new angle for my students. Why? Porque because, ese.
Atentamente,
Dr. Daniel Villa
Professor, Spanish Linguistics
New Mexico State Univ.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Bill Santiago,
My husband and I really enjoyed your book presentation last night at the MCNallly bookstore. Cheverisimo! After I bought my copy I realized that I should have gotten some for my Latino and Latina friends who are also college professors with a sense of humor and fairness regarding language. I teach at Brooklyn College, but they are in PR, Atlanta and Santa Fe, regados por todas partes.
Would it be possible for me to send you a check for 3 books with their names and have you send me the copies cuando tengas un chance? I hope I'm not being un dolor de cabeza.
Gracias mil for the book. I know how hard it is to write one (I have written and/or co-authored several) and, although very satisfying to see the baby finally born, es como parir un melon. My students will enjoy your book which actually represents some authentic linguistic research. Good job.
Best of luck y mucha suerte,
Margarite Fernandez Olmos
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I used this book in my course “Latinos and the City” as part of a discussion of vernacular expression of Latinidad in urban contexts, but I think this book will be perfect for any undergraduate class that examines any aspect of Latino contemporary culture, where language, and linguistic practices stand always at the forefront.
What I think is so brilliant about this book is the engaging and accessible way in which Santiago grapples with some of the most sophisticated aspects of bilingualism and Spanglish use among Latinos, subjects that have long concerned sociolinguistics and other scholars.
Spanglish is a highly politicized subject. It is loved by some and despised by others, but it is undeniably always invested in people’s daily interactions of Latinidad. Santiago’s keen comic eye is able to show the complexity and inventiveness of Spanglish, while cutting through the many stereotypes that hinder our full understanding of its use.
Arlene Davila
Professor, Anthropology and American Studies, NYU
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hola Bill,
I'm a Spanish teacher in northern NJ who loves your comedy. Found out about you quite by accident when I received an Isla catalog (from PR) & inside was a glowing description of you, your comedy. & your book. So I checked you out on CC. In fact, I even showed a 3 minute segment of "Spanglish" to my Spanish classes. (I explained some vocab first and they roared at the "el choo choo" segment).
Did you know the linguistic term for Spanglish is "code-switching"? I learned in my linguistic classes that it occurs worldwide in every language community where two or more languages are spoken concurrently by native speakers. Wikipedia has a great definition and even better examples.
Me encantó mucho tu libro. De hecho, before I started teaching junior high someyears ago, I worked for the government as a bilingual paralegal & claims rep. I interviewed un montón de Puerto Ricans, Peruvians, Dominicans, Colombians, etc. I used to hang out with lots of Puerto Ricans after work also. Reading your book brought back those fond memories of the 10 years I spent listening to their Spanglish in their syntax. Thank you for that:)
Specifically, I liked the discussion and the overuse of "mijo/mijo". It’s really cute. In fact, when I teach pronunciation & sinalefa, I always use that example. I remind my students (those that still remember it) of the TV show “The Brothers Garcia” where the mom & dad used it all the time with their kids. Pero ahora, I can reference your book.
So sorry I missed your show in NYC back in November. I see you were also in Princeton, NJ but that’s a little too far of a drive. When are you performing again in the city? Porque I plan on bringing a few Latinos with me and a couple “Latino curious” ones too! Me dejas saber…porque because!
Hasta muy pronto,
MaryBeth Raymar
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Bill,
I use the book at my current school located at Sunset Brooklyn, where many of the students have mixed ethnicity and continue having struggles with identity and language. This book gives them an opportunity to talk about language and the constant changes in history. I was conferencing with the teachers and we spoke about castellano (barf lol) and what to teach the students that are already exposed to the language on a daily basis and may be confused by the word lonche and almuerzo (I use both, but use almuerzo in written form). Language and writing is an art and that's what your book expresses. Uuuuuf que mucho escribi! Bueno, as for ideas for other teachers there are many: role playing or using your chapters/stories in skits, putting spanglish words in short dialogues but being able to identify the actual "Spanish word," correcting it but understanding that your work comes from an artist/writer's point of view, and respecting the author. I also use the movie Tortilla soup where there are 3 generations of females and the youngest daughter is always being corrected by her dad, a conservative of the language, Mexican American. We can continue sharing ideas! Paz hombre!
Daralee
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hola Bill,
I used your book in a 5th semester course called "Orale: Advanced Spanish for heritage-learners."
The book was used as supplementary reading, along with a grammar/composition book (Palabra abierta). I assigned the entire book, throughout the semester, and we used it to stimulate class discussion on many of the issues therein, and we had some quite lively discussions.
All the students (and you know we had a very packed audience) enjoyed your performance at Pomona College, and found that it made the issues you wrote about in your book “come alive.” It brings a whole other dimension to it and makes it easier for them to accept/understand/embrace los switches.
Susana Chávez-Silverman
Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures
Pomona College in California
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See what some educators using the book have to say below:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Bill,
Your book was a hit in my “Hispanic Linguistics” grad course at Brooklyn College. The students, Latinos and non, understood the linguistic concepts without a problem, in an enjoyable way (linguistics and humor—what a concept!), and when the class did the “Sanksgibing” skit in the class, you gained some new fans and code switching became a reality. I will mention the book in a lecture I will be giving in Texas in April, “On Becoming a Latina, a Personal Journey: What’s in a Name?”
Best of luck with the book,
Matthew J. Fantaci Professor of Spanish
Deputy Chair Graduate Studies
MMUF Coordinator
Brooklyn College, CUNY
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Bill:
My name is Daniel Villa, I am a professor of Spanish at New Mexico State University. I have taught a course titled 'Spanglish' for about the last fifteen years (first one in this nation, to the best of my knowledge, I beat out Ilan Stavans by a long shot). Pa que sepas, I'm using your book this semester to try to get a new angle for my students. Why? Porque because, ese.
Atentamente,
Dr. Daniel Villa
Professor, Spanish Linguistics
New Mexico State Univ.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Bill Santiago,
My husband and I really enjoyed your book presentation last night at the MCNallly bookstore. Cheverisimo! After I bought my copy I realized that I should have gotten some for my Latino and Latina friends who are also college professors with a sense of humor and fairness regarding language. I teach at Brooklyn College, but they are in PR, Atlanta and Santa Fe, regados por todas partes.
Would it be possible for me to send you a check for 3 books with their names and have you send me the copies cuando tengas un chance? I hope I'm not being un dolor de cabeza.
Gracias mil for the book. I know how hard it is to write one (I have written and/or co-authored several) and, although very satisfying to see the baby finally born, es como parir un melon. My students will enjoy your book which actually represents some authentic linguistic research. Good job.
Best of luck y mucha suerte,
Margarite Fernandez Olmos
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I used this book in my course “Latinos and the City” as part of a discussion of vernacular expression of Latinidad in urban contexts, but I think this book will be perfect for any undergraduate class that examines any aspect of Latino contemporary culture, where language, and linguistic practices stand always at the forefront.
What I think is so brilliant about this book is the engaging and accessible way in which Santiago grapples with some of the most sophisticated aspects of bilingualism and Spanglish use among Latinos, subjects that have long concerned sociolinguistics and other scholars.
Spanglish is a highly politicized subject. It is loved by some and despised by others, but it is undeniably always invested in people’s daily interactions of Latinidad. Santiago’s keen comic eye is able to show the complexity and inventiveness of Spanglish, while cutting through the many stereotypes that hinder our full understanding of its use.
Arlene Davila
Professor, Anthropology and American Studies, NYU
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hola Bill,
I'm a Spanish teacher in northern NJ who loves your comedy. Found out about you quite by accident when I received an Isla catalog (from PR) & inside was a glowing description of you, your comedy. & your book. So I checked you out on CC. In fact, I even showed a 3 minute segment of "Spanglish" to my Spanish classes. (I explained some vocab first and they roared at the "el choo choo" segment).
Did you know the linguistic term for Spanglish is "code-switching"? I learned in my linguistic classes that it occurs worldwide in every language community where two or more languages are spoken concurrently by native speakers. Wikipedia has a great definition and even better examples.
Me encantó mucho tu libro. De hecho, before I started teaching junior high someyears ago, I worked for the government as a bilingual paralegal & claims rep. I interviewed un montón de Puerto Ricans, Peruvians, Dominicans, Colombians, etc. I used to hang out with lots of Puerto Ricans after work also. Reading your book brought back those fond memories of the 10 years I spent listening to their Spanglish in their syntax. Thank you for that:)
Specifically, I liked the discussion and the overuse of "mijo/mijo". It’s really cute. In fact, when I teach pronunciation & sinalefa, I always use that example. I remind my students (those that still remember it) of the TV show “The Brothers Garcia” where the mom & dad used it all the time with their kids. Pero ahora, I can reference your book.
So sorry I missed your show in NYC back in November. I see you were also in Princeton, NJ but that’s a little too far of a drive. When are you performing again in the city? Porque I plan on bringing a few Latinos with me and a couple “Latino curious” ones too! Me dejas saber…porque because!
Hasta muy pronto,
MaryBeth Raymar
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Bill,
I use the book at my current school located at Sunset Brooklyn, where many of the students have mixed ethnicity and continue having struggles with identity and language. This book gives them an opportunity to talk about language and the constant changes in history. I was conferencing with the teachers and we spoke about castellano (barf lol) and what to teach the students that are already exposed to the language on a daily basis and may be confused by the word lonche and almuerzo (I use both, but use almuerzo in written form). Language and writing is an art and that's what your book expresses. Uuuuuf que mucho escribi! Bueno, as for ideas for other teachers there are many: role playing or using your chapters/stories in skits, putting spanglish words in short dialogues but being able to identify the actual "Spanish word," correcting it but understanding that your work comes from an artist/writer's point of view, and respecting the author. I also use the movie Tortilla soup where there are 3 generations of females and the youngest daughter is always being corrected by her dad, a conservative of the language, Mexican American. We can continue sharing ideas! Paz hombre!
Daralee
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hola Bill,
I used your book in a 5th semester course called "Orale: Advanced Spanish for heritage-learners."
The book was used as supplementary reading, along with a grammar/composition book (Palabra abierta). I assigned the entire book, throughout the semester, and we used it to stimulate class discussion on many of the issues therein, and we had some quite lively discussions.
All the students (and you know we had a very packed audience) enjoyed your performance at Pomona College, and found that it made the issues you wrote about in your book “come alive.” It brings a whole other dimension to it and makes it easier for them to accept/understand/embrace los switches.
Susana Chávez-Silverman
Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures
Pomona College in California
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------