Nezza says her Spanish rendition of U.S. anthem at Dodger Stadium was against team’s wishes

[Grand Mal]

I studied German and Russian in college - 3 years of each. But French, although limited to 2 years of high school instruction, has always been my favorite.

I'm glad English and French have equal status in Canada. I like to pretend that one day the USA will be mature enough to do the same re English and Spanish.

It would just be realistic, wouldn't it? Acknowledging that a percentage of Americans have Spanish as their first language?
The 'equal status' thing is negotiable, culturally, but there's lots of negotiability around language in Canada. In Vancouver there's neighbourhoods with Mandarin street signs, and others with Punjabi, and they're not just for show. There are people in those neighbourhoods who only speak Mandarin (or Cantonese) or Punjabi.

 

[Pyrite]

It would just be realistic, wouldn't it? Acknowledging that a percentage of Americans have Spanish as their first language?
The 'equal status' thing is negotiable, culturally, but there's lots of negotiability around language in Canada. In Vancouver there's neighbourhoods with Mandarin street signs, and others with Punjabi, and they're not just for show. There are people in those neighbourhoods who only speak Mandarin (or Cantonese) or Punjabi.

And this makes sense.

Unfortunately, the nativism that underlies our history and our culture rears its ugly head far too frequently - and has far too many adherents - for us to do the same. Making life a bit easier and more convenient for "others" is perceived by too many as catering to non-northern-European Americans. We act like spoiled and entitled brats, and, at this point, they are the ones in charge.

 

[Fearandloathing]

My fellow Canuck, @Fearandloathing, is a Francophone Canadian while all I have is high school French but I took learning French seriously while I had that window of opportunity.
I love the English language and how it can be used but there's nothing sacred about it. It's no more legitimate than any other.
Though it is an official language in Canada, it and French. Meaning a citizen is entitled to communicate with the government in one or the other.

I am not Francophone!

I began working in Montreal in 1972 as Trudeau (Pierre) called in the army in the FLQ "crisis".

I spoke not one word of French. I was "immersed" as they say. To this day true Francophones shake their heads at my "French" which is now mixed with Hindi and Mandarin.

True, I often wander into Mandarin or Cantonese when I try to speak French. Just been in the Vancouver melting pot too long

 

[Fearandloathing]

It would just be realistic, wouldn't it? Acknowledging that a percentage of Americans have Spanish as their first language?
The 'equal status' thing is negotiable, culturally, but there's lots of negotiability around language in Canada. In Vancouver there's neighbourhoods with Mandarin street signs, and others with Punjabi, and they're not just for show. There are people in those neighbourhoods who only speak Mandarin (or Cantonese) or Punjabi.

Simply doling business in Vancouver you find yourself wandering into the main languages and dialects.

You just pick it up and naturally say thank you in Mandarin or Hindi without thinking.

White is fast becoming a minority in BC. "English" is changing.

 

[Pyrite]

My five years of Spanish in middle school and high school are pretty much useless today. I can understand a handful of phrases, and that's really it. I had friends here in Colorado who attended grade school that taught both English and Spanish equally. I thought that was a great way to really help people learn both. Language is much easier to learn when starting from a young age.

Decades ago, our kids' pediatrician said learning a 2nd (or 3rd) language was easiest/most successful for young children. Their ability to produce things such as the trilled "R" (found in a number of languages) is greater. Also, they tend not to experience the self-consciousness older children have when trying to form unfamiliar sounds etc.

Our nephew, who grew up in Sweden, started learning English in the 3rd grade. (It was a requirement.) Later, around the 8th-grade or so, he had the opportunity to undertake learning a second foreign language as part of his schooling.

That the US doesn't follow common sense and teach foreign languages in elementary school has always frustrated me.

That English is one of the most difficult languages for a non-native-speaker to acquire seems not to be known or appreciated by many Americans. We refuse to learn Spanish or an Asian language, yet we insist "others" in this country should somehow acquire near-unaccented and near-flawless English - and do so quickly, so as not to inconvenience any of us.

Yes, we're entitled, spoiled brats in so many areas.

 

[Hamish Howl]

Sure beats standing on burning cars while waving the Mexican flag.

What about standing in a trashed capitol building waving a confederate flag?

That's bad, right?

 

[Hamish Howl]

Simply doling business in Vancouver you find yourself wandering into the main languages and dialects.

You just pick it up and naturally say thank you in Mandarin or Hindi without thinking.

White is fast becoming a minority in BC. "English" is changing.

In our neck of the woods, we've picked up a ton of Spanglish and O'odham loan words.

 

[Fearandloathing]

In our neck of the woods, we've picked up a ton of Spanglish and O'odham loan words.

I embrace differences.

As I age however there are simply too many words to remember so I end up speaking all of them within an English framework. No, I am not always understood. But "Dumbkopf" is universal

 

[Taylor]

What about standing in a trashed capitol building waving a confederate flag?

That's bad, right?

What do you think?

 

[Hamish Howl]

What do you think?

You People didn't seem to be upset by it at the time.

Here, we have tons of flags. American flags, Mexican flags, we used to have loads of Canadian flags before Trump pissed them off (we now have neither their flags nor their company, thank you very much), even the occasional Guatemalan flag. Amazingly enough, we managed to survive this for 140 years.

 

[Felis Leo]

Sure beats standing on burning cars while waving the Mexican flag.

I'm not sure. Burning secret police surveillance cars like those belonging to Waymo is perfectly patriotic.

 

[Hamish Howl]

I'm not sure. Burning secret police surveillance cars like those belonging to Waymo is perfectly patriotic.

It's got Boston Harbor written all over it, really.

 

[Felis Leo]

"As protests were in full force in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night, a Spanish rendition of the United States national anthem was sung at Dodger Stadium. Vanessa Hernández, more commonly known as Nezza, sang “El Pendón Estrellado” — the official Spanish version commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. Except, according to Nezza, the Los Angeles Dodgers told her not to, citing the club’s usual standard practice of having anthem singers perform in English. “We are going to do the song in English today,” an unidentified Dodgers employee told Nezza in a video she posted on TikTok. “I’m not sure if that wasn’t relayed.” She sang the song anyway, donning a Dominican Republic shirt, explaining in a later video that she chose to sing the Spanish version in response to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown in Los Angeles that has spurred protests for more than a week and dovetailed with the nationwide “No Kings” protests against a military parade in Washington.

“I didn’t think I’d be met with any sort of no,” Nezza said in the later video. “Especially because we’re in L.A., and with everything happening. I’ve sang the national anthem many times in my life, but today, out of all days, I could not. “I just felt like I needed to do it. Para mi gente.” Nezza was not punished or kicked out of the ballpark after her unexpected rendition of the anthem and is not expected to be banned from Dodger Stadium going forward. The Dodgers did not have any comment when asked by The Athletic about the video, which she herself posted after the fact.

...utility man Kiké Hernández, who posted on Instagram on Saturday night, shortly before Nezza’s anthem rendition, writing:

“I may not be Born & Raised, but this city adopted me as one of their own. I am saddened and infuriated by what’s happening in our country and our city. Los Angeles and Dodger fans have welcomed me, supported me and shown me nothing but kindness and love. This is my second home. And I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights. #CityOfImmigrants.”

Link

Pretty coo that there's an official Spanish version commissioned by FDR.

That is genuinely nice to hear.

 

[Integrityrespec]

My five years of Spanish in middle school and high school are pretty much useless today. I can understand a handful of phrases, and that's really it. I had friends here in Colorado who attended grade school that taught both English and Spanish equally. I thought that was a great way to really help people learn both. Language is much easier to learn when starting from a young age.

that's why the European's start a second language in primary school.

 

[Felis Leo]

Not a thing.

You have posted an awful lot for someone not making an affirmative point, Individual. If you find that the singing of the United States' National Anthem in Spanish is distasteful or offensive to you for some reason, you can just say that and give your reasons why if you have any beyond visceral, reflexive prejudice. No need to be weird.

 

[Fearandloathing]

that's why the European's start a second language in primary school.

Pretty much all schools in Canada teach either ESL or FSL from grade one.

 

[Individual]

You have posted an awful lot for someone not making an affirmative point, Individual.

If you find singing the United States' national anthem in Spanish is distasteful or offensive to you for some reason, you can just say it. No need to be weird.

The only point I was making is that an employer has a right to define the job you're hired to do, which the thread title clearly states was not done. But that seems to be becoming the norm in the U.S. today.

 

[Hamish Howl]

All money is official.

Try to spend pesos in the USA.

I'll wait.

 

[Individual]

Try to spend pesos in the USA.

I'll wait.

Banks will exchange them.

 

[Fearandloathing]

"As protests were in full force in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night, a Spanish rendition of the United States national anthem was sung at Dodger Stadium. Vanessa Hernández, more commonly known as Nezza, sang “El Pendón Estrellado” — the official Spanish version commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. Except, according to Nezza, the Los Angeles Dodgers told her not to, citing the club’s usual standard practice of having anthem singers perform in English. “We are going to do the song in English today,” an unidentified Dodgers employee told Nezza in a video she posted on TikTok. “I’m not sure if that wasn’t relayed.” She sang the song anyway, donning a Dominican Republic shirt, explaining in a later video that she chose to sing the Spanish version in response to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown in Los Angeles that has spurred protests for more than a week and dovetailed with the nationwide “No Kings” protests against a military parade in Washington.

“I didn’t think I’d be met with any sort of no,” Nezza said in the later video. “Especially because we’re in L.A., and with everything happening. I’ve sang the national anthem many times in my life, but today, out of all days, I could not. “I just felt like I needed to do it. Para mi gente.” Nezza was not punished or kicked out of the ballpark after her unexpected rendition of the anthem and is not expected to be banned from Dodger Stadium going forward. The Dodgers did not have any comment when asked by The Athletic about the video, which she herself posted after the fact.

...utility man Kiké Hernández, who posted on Instagram on Saturday night, shortly before Nezza’s anthem rendition, writing:

“I may not be Born & Raised, but this city adopted me as one of their own. I am saddened and infuriated by what’s happening in our country and our city. Los Angeles and Dodger fans have welcomed me, supported me and shown me nothing but kindness and love. This is my second home. And I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights. #CityOfImmigrants.”

Link

Pretty coo that there's an official Spanish version commissioned by FDR.

"Pretty coo that there's an official Spanish version commissioned by FDR."


That, I did not know.

MAGAs. sit the **** down.

 

[Taylor]

You People didn't seem to be upset by it at the time.

Here, we have tons of flags. American flags, Mexican flags, we used to have loads of Canadian flags before Trump pissed them off (we now have neither their flags nor their company, thank you very much), even the occasional Guatemalan flag. Amazingly enough, we managed to survive this for 140 years.

Which again, sure beats marching through the streets, burning cars and waving Canadian flags over the wreckage. Some people are just smarter in how they choose to protest.

 

[venice_ca]

"As protests were in full force in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night, a Spanish rendition of the United States national anthem was sung at Dodger Stadium. Vanessa Hernández, more commonly known as Nezza, sang “El Pendón Estrellado” — the official Spanish version commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. Except, according to Nezza, the Los Angeles Dodgers told her not to, citing the club’s usual standard practice of having anthem singers perform in English. “We are going to do the song in English today,” an unidentified Dodgers employee told Nezza in a video she posted on TikTok. “I’m not sure if that wasn’t relayed.” She sang the song anyway, donning a Dominican Republic shirt, explaining in a later video that she chose to sing the Spanish version in response to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown in Los Angeles that has spurred protests for more than a week and dovetailed with the nationwide “No Kings” protests against a military parade in Washington.

“I didn’t think I’d be met with any sort of no,” Nezza said in the later video. “Especially because we’re in L.A., and with everything happening. I’ve sang the national anthem many times in my life, but today, out of all days, I could not. “I just felt like I needed to do it. Para mi gente.” Nezza was not punished or kicked out of the ballpark after her unexpected rendition of the anthem and is not expected to be banned from Dodger Stadium going forward. The Dodgers did not have any comment when asked by The Athletic about the video, which she herself posted after the fact.

...utility man Kiké Hernández, who posted on Instagram on Saturday night, shortly before Nezza’s anthem rendition, writing:

“I may not be Born & Raised, but this city adopted me as one of their own. I am saddened and infuriated by what’s happening in our country and our city. Los Angeles and Dodger fans have welcomed me, supported me and shown me nothing but kindness and love. This is my second home. And I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights. #CityOfImmigrants.”

Link

Pretty coo that there's an official Spanish version commissioned by FDR.

Sing the Spanish version in memory of Fernando.

And she sang it in the city whose official name was El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles. How dare she?

And in a stadium in Chavez Ravine — where Mexican-American families lost their land so construction could take place.

(My father’s personal protest was to always say Chavez Ravine and never Dodger Stadium.)

 

[Grand Mal]

I am not Francophone!

Oops!

I began working in Montreal in 1972 as Trudeau (Pierre) called in the army in the FLQ "crisis".

I guess I misremember a previous exchange.
At my age, if it happened more than twenty minutes ago, uh, what were we talking about?

I spoke not one word of French. I was "immersed" as they say. To this day true Francophones shake their heads at my "French" which is now mixed with Hindi and Mandarin.

True, I often wander into Mandarin or Cantonese when I try to speak French. Just been in the Vancouver melting pot too long

It's gotten pretty cosmopolitan, Vancouver has. Always was pretty diverse but it's gotten really broad. Couple years ago we were standing on the sidewalk on Commercial Drive, which used to be all Italian and Greek shops and eateries, and counted 5 different ethnic restaurants in the block across the street.
Seems to have had quite a Middle Eastern influence added to the mix, too.

 

[Fearandloathing]

Oops!

I guess I misremember a previous exchange.
At my age, if it happened more than twenty minutes ago, uh, what were we talking about?

It's gotten pretty cosmopolitan, Vancouver has. Always was pretty diverse but it's gotten really broad. Couple years ago we were standing on the sidewalk on Commercial Drive, which used to be all Italian and Greek shops and eateries, and counted 5 different ethnic restaurants in the block across the street.
Seems to have had quite a Middle Eastern influence added to the mix, too.

Commercial Drive has been ever changing for all the time I've been here.

But now it's Kits, the former pot neighborhood. We still have pot, but restaurants from countries I've never heard of.

A few years ago I had no idea what was Ramen. Now it's fast food