Practical Spanish Studied

[Harold F. Schiffman]

>>From the Camden (NJ) Courier-Post, Monday, August 25, 2003

Cultural profiles would assist local professionals
By LAVINIA DeCASTRO
Courier-Post Staff

You've heard him say it.

"It takes a tough man to raise a tender chicken," Frank Perdue boasted on
television as countless Americans pictured tender white meat sharing a
plate with homemade mashed potatoes covered in juicy gravy.  In Mexico,
the catchy advertising logo didn't exactly boost sales. That's because the
words on a Spanish-language billboard picturing Perdue and a chicken
roughly translated to, "It takes a hard man to arouse a chicken."

Not exactly the dinnertime imagery Perdue was shooting for.  A South
Jersey college professor wants to prevent such embarrassing faux pas.
Teresita Lopez of Camden County College hopes to create a profile of every
Hispanic community in South Jersey, then use the information to create
job-specific Spanish courses for local professionals. The courses would
arm the professionals with the cultural context they need to avoid
sounding foolish.

"The Spanish-speaking community is very diverse," said Lopez, who was born
in Cuba. "What works for the Mexican community might not work for the
Puerto Rican community or the Argentine." Teaching professionals the
vocabulary, pronunciation and customs specific to the Spanish-speaking
community in their towns can greatly improve communication, said Lopez,
who received a $15,000 grant for her study.

Sara Lopez, who recently moved to Camden from Puerto Rico, was home alone
when a stranger walked in the front door. The man was there to install
cable television in the home and, since the door was unlocked, he walked
right in and got to work. "When we came back she was almost in tears,"
said Angel Cordero, Lopez's brother-in-law. "She was saying, `This guy is
here and he's asking me questions.' I thought she was going to faint or
something."

Such incidents are becoming more common.  In 2002, more than one in eight
people in the United States were of Hispanic origin, according to the U.S.
Census Bureau. The 2000 Census found that in New Jersey, 13.3 percent of
the population was Hispanic, compared with 12.5 percent nationwide. Lopez
hopes her study will go one step further than the census and give
residents a more detailed portrait of their community by providing
statistics such as how many Hispanics are in South Jersey, what
communities they live in and where they come from.

She will use the information to design industry-specific courses that also
teach customs and expressions used by local Hispanic populations. Matthew
Scott, who teaches paramedic sciences at Camden County College, said a
course geared specifically toward medical professionals would be helpful.
"Paramedics do invasive procedures," said Scott, who spent 10 years as a
paramedic in Atlantic City. "It helps to be able to explain the procedures
to the patient."

Even when the procedure isn't life-threatening, such as installing cable
television. Collingswood Police Chief Thomas Garrity said the borough
often has to call in bilingual officers from Camden. That's because only
one of the 30 police officers there is fluent in Spanish, he said. "To
have the bilingual officers really helps," Garrity said.

Qualified Spanish-speaking applicants are scarce and two years of high
school Spanish just doesn't cut it on the streets. "In school, you're
taught proper Spanish, with proper grammar and all that," said Sgt. Angel
Nazario, who teaches a course in Spanish for law enforcement at the Camden
County Police Academy. "If you go out on the street and try to talk to
them in proper Spanish and stuff, they look at you like you got three
heads."

So he teaches "Spanglish," a mixture of English and Spanish often spoken
by immigrants here, to the roughly 75 police officers from Camden,
Gloucester and Burlington counties who take his course. He also teaches
phrases and terms that are specific to law enforcement. "We cover weapons,
we cover narcotics, because those are things law enforcement deals with,"
said Nazario, who is Puerto Rican.

The Collingswood police officers who took Nazario's course still aren't
fluent in Spanish, but they are able to better communicate with the
borough's growing Hispanic population, Garrity said. "Sometimes all it
takes is an officer understanding one word," said Nazario, adding the
number of officers who take his course has grown since he started teaching
it eight years ago. Despite their tremendous success in law enforcement,
such specialized courses are rarely found in other fields.

"I know some people object (to learning Spanish) because the (language) of
the U.S. is English and I agree with that," Nazario said. "But it doesn't
hurt to try to help another human being."



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Reach Lavinia DeCastro at (856) 486-2652 or
ldecastro at courierpostonline.com