Spanglish

[Music] Hey everyone, I'm Joanna, a Venezuelan American comedian, TV writer, actor, and professional neurotic. And I'm Jenny, a Cuban American comedic actor, writer, and content creator who is everybody's abuela. Okay, so Jenny, the reason why we started doing this podcast is because we always felt like we weren't 100% anything. We're kind of like a mix and jumble of a bunch of things. And in terms of identity, I never know exactly what to say. I say Venezuelan American, but then sometimes I feel like 100% Venezuelan, sometimes I feel 100% American, sometimes I'm like, you know, like a me. So, what is that? What was that accent? Honestly, the worst thing I've done, I might get cancer for that. For a second, you sounded like you were trying to attempt the Miami accent. I think that's Eladia Baldwin. You know that's actually fought on the cucumber. The cucumber. How did you say the cucumber? How do you say this? And today's episode is about language, but it's interesting because what happened to Eladia Baldwin where she like did not know how to say a certain word. Like that happens to me all the time except I don't have an accent, so people just think I'm dumb. Like I'll be like, oh man, what's the word for that? I'm pointing to like a lamp and they're like, lamp. And I'm like, sorry, I forgot the word for lamp. It just sounds like I am not smart. But maybe that's why she did the accent. It's of course you're able to, if I had an accent, everyone would be like, oh, I say the she's just trying her best. And since I don't have an accent and you don't have an accent in English, either or in Spanish. And I don't have an accent in Spanish either. I mean my accent is from Venezuela. Like when I have these gaps of, of under of words, when I have gaps of how to communicate, I feel like the dumbest person. Like I feel like I'm perceived as a dumb person. I can see that. I mean for me a lot of the time it has to do with words like, "Mira que frecata la perra" and they're like, what is frecaming? And I'm like fresh. And then they're like, your dog is fresh. Like what you mean when you talk. When you talk, when you talk in Spanish and people ask you what you're saying. I just naturally talk in Spanish. It's a lot of like Cubanisms, Miamiisms. And then I forget how to say certain things in English. Because I only know how to express it in Spanish. I feel like the only language I speak fluently is Spanish, which isn't a language. It's like the illegitimate bastard child of two languages. But like I truly, and you know, I went to an American school in Venezuela. So I was always surrounded and I feel like you have the same background because you're from Miami. I literally grew up being able to switch at any point. Like, "Oi la comosta, well, I was audita in math class and professor was just like freaking out. Por que yo, I like turned in la tarea." And he was like, "Que te pasa?" And I was like, "Por que no te relax." And that was like normal. Like there was just a way I could speak. Because that was just how everyone around me spoke. And then when I moved here, and like I moved everywhere, I lived here as a kid then I moved back to him. So I was like, "Mm." When I was in environments where it was 100% either Spanish or 100%. Either English. Like I realized how much I used the other language as a crutch. Miami is a bubble, right? So I feel like if you were to give Spanish as a language and assign it to a city in the United States, it would be Miami. Because that is the number one language spoken. You would think Spanish. One could argue that. I worked many retail jobs. Here I go. See, look what I just did. [speaking Spanish] Also, you didn't even say "Casi todo el mundo." You're like, "Casi todo el mundo." Yes, Cubans eat up words like Pac-Man. But yeah, like, "Casi todo el mundo would speak Spanish." But that was like a very common way of speaking. It still is. You go to Miami today. And that's how everyone talks. English-Panish, English-Panish, and then the combination of both. So a lot of these words aren't even real words. I am of the opinion. I swear. And I don't know. Two centuries. It's going to be like, oh, I'm fluent in English, Spanish. Espanglish. And I feel like-- It has to be just that way. --Language is that way. Because of-- Espanglish. Like, I feel like we are-- people are not just one thing anymore. No. We live in it highly. Globalized world. And people are speaking. One language at home, one language at work, a mix of both with friends. And I think Spanish is going to continue to ferment itself as, I think, a fixture of American culture. I think it's going to become a language. I agree. I agree. And I am for it. I'm for it. Because there's nothing like cursing in Spanish. And there's nothing like explaining how to do a task in English. Yeah. I certainly can't explain any single task in Spanish. This is a true story. So when I went to Spain two years ago, and I love audio guides. I love audio guides every time I got to a museum, I'm like, get me that audio guide, honey. There's nothing like someone whispering in my ear or some facts while I walk around and look at art. Like that's my porn. Okay. So I'm like, I'm in Spain. Obviously, I'm going to get to Spanish audio guide. And for the life of me, I could not follow. Like it was, like it was so bizarre dude. It'd be like, "Ahora miras de fresco arriba abajo en la oscuridad de donde uno encuentra más." "Vosotros lo que uno intenta en el amor donde el corazón late." And I'm like, "What?" And I don't know what. And then I started doing in, I was like, "No, I'm done. I'm doing English." And I remember, I'd go up to the woman and be like, "Licolpa señorita." "Sí, un audio guide, por favor." "Ah, eh, en español." "Yo. " No, no, no, no, no, in English. And in English, she would be like, "This fresco, 1492, caroscuro." That's like, it was just so clear. Like, "What?" [laughter] And you would, Jenny, you would compare the English and Spanish, like, like, "A audio piece of the guides." Like, and the Spanish one would be six minutes, and the English one would just be two. And I'm just like, "Oh my God!" There's something, there's something, like, some languages are better at things than others. Can you imagine if Spanish was a real language, and you'd be like, "Taxes?" Everything is in English when you do taxes. Expressing your love, we'll just use a bunch of Spanish words for that. I mean, it's why I suck at Spanish language interviews. I think it's because I don't know how to explain what the hell I do in Spanish. You have to get technical and talk about those, I just learned redist socialists. Like, I don't, I don't even know if I'm saying it, right? You know, so I'm like, "Yeah, social media, platform, we talk about digital, anything that has to do with influencer life." I don't know how to explain it in Spanish, or even talking about character development or filmmaking. But do you think, and I don't know if this is what happens to you, Jenny, but I feel like for me, I had to, when I moved to the States, and I started speaking in Spanish, people started making fun of the way that I would speak. They'd be like, "Oh my god, he was so funny." And I'm like, "What?" And you don't pronounce any S's, and your words are weird. The word for "banano" isn't "cambur." So I started realizing in a pretty dramatic, like, way that the way that I spoke Spanish wasn't the norm. English for me and you, with the way that we speak it, it is like general, it's just general English everyone can understand. And every word we use, like straw doesn't have 14 ways, 14 iterations in English. There's 14 iterations of straw in Spanish. And the word for straw in Mexico means huge dump in Colombia. The word for straw in Colombia means little jack-off in Mexico. The word for straw in Venezuela means, what is it, "Petillo"? Tiny dick. I think we just did this on purpose. I think we're always at war with each other. It's always like, the way that we each speak Spanish, I think represents our identity. Really cleanly. Like, you speak in a very Miami way in Spanish. I speak in a really Venezuelan way. But in my English, people are like, "Are you from the Midwest?" Are you from like, "Oh, oh, a Minnesota." People think I'm a New Yorker. They're like, "Are you an Italian New Yorker?" Really? Yeah, all the time. I can't be mistaken. I didn't realize how unique my, the Miami accent is until I moved out west to Los Angeles. And a lot of people tend to be confused. Even, you know, some of my characters have like a really thick Miami accent, right? Like Larissa. And she's like the extreme version of what the Miami accent is. Yeah. Which is like, "Oh my God, Link, it's all bad." And when I've done some videos that end up crossing beyond my audience, a lot of comments from people were like, "Why is she making fun of the Indian accent?" What? Yes. People were like, "What is this racist?" Like, "What is this racist shit?" "Why is she talking like that?" And they didn't understand. And it's because a lot of people, unless you really spend time in Miami, actual Miami, not South Beach for a week, they're not gonna really realize what this accent is. It doesn't really exist elsewhere. Yeah, it's, you know, I always say this in a lot of interviews. It's something my dad told me a long time ago, which is, a fish doesn't know it's in the water, right? And that stuck with me because we don't understand our idiosyncrasies, especially with language and accents, until we are confronted with an environment that that's not the norm. And for me, it's the same thing that I was saying before. I didn't think Venezuelans had an accent until I left and realized that we butcher every S, like a serial killer. And another thing that I also learned is, you know, I feel very attached to Spanish as a form of my identity in many senses because I think that a lot of times Latin identity is questioned. So it feels like, I don't know if this happens to you. I feel like I'm in constant battle to prove that I am Latin enough. And for me, my Spanish is sort of my calling card for me to show like, this is my identity. I'm from Venezuela and before, and in a lot of the job, I'd have to like, sort of take it away and make this weird amalgam of a Spanish accent, which is like a mix of like, a fake Mexican accent that you only hear on the Simpsons, plus like, MPR, plus like commercials. And that's the Spanish that I'd be forced to say. Like that's the Spanish that I'd be forced to do auditions with and I'm sure, like, (speaking Spanish) or I don't know, every shampoo commercial, like, (speaking Spanish) and I don't speak like that, right? And I don't think anybody-- - I don't either, which is why I don't book these. - No, but no, no Latin speaks like that. And that is the Spanish that is used in all of commercials and everything, in everything. - Yeah. - Because it holds no identity so it can be catered to anyone. But I feel like we're emerging, we're coming into a new world where, and we've seen it in how we make content, Jenny. The more specific we get with our identity, the more it resonates. So the more you speak like you, the more you sort of throw yourself into that Miami identity. The more people see themselves reflected in you, even if they're not like, I always felt reflected in your work, even though I never lived in Miami. - Likewise, and that's what the current battle is when it comes to representation in television and film, because it's people like us content creators are proving that authenticity and specificity really works, you know, but when it comes to TV and film, they still think, oh, it's not global enough. Like you have to make it kind of one note for everyone to get it. And it's, I don't think that's the way. I don't think that works. - No, I don't think it works either. - We do. Yeah, and even in voiceover, anytime I'm told, you know, can you neutralize your Spanish? I'm like, no. And it's not because I'm stubborn. I just haven't taken those classes. I sound extremely Caribbean and I say, look, I'm going to give you who I am. And if they like it, then great. And I honestly wish I could hear varying Latino accents in video games and animation. - Mm-hmm. - Instead of the generic stuff that they think works. - Because the generic stuff just goes straight over my head because I'm like, oh, that's it. You know what? That was 12 dudes in suits saying, we need to tap the Hispanic market. How do we do that? Make it sound as generic as possible. - It's boring is what it is. - It's boring. - It's boring. And like, you know, I don't know about you, but I feel like right now we have, especially like in marketing and in television. And in this, it's like, oh, we have English market, we have Spanish market. And I'm really interested to see how maybe, and I think we see it in our podcast right now. We will fully lean on Spanish in some sentences and it's not something that needs to be explained because it is part of identity. And it is truly a part of the way that we speak. And I think, yes. You know, I cannot wait. And it's kind of cringey when they try and do this being like commercials and all they say is like, me whole. - Yeah, they don't know where to insert it. And you're just like, oh, God, please hire an actual bilingual spangler speaker. - Can we please improvise? - Can we please improvise like a dish soap scene, like a dish soap commercial that they try to do Spanish and a generic accent? Please right now. - Oh my God. - Please, Jen. - You actually are a lot better at the generic accent. - Okay. - And I try to do it. - Wait, why don't you do the awela? Are you do the awela? Okay, and I'm like your granddaughter who doesn't know how to watch dishes, okay? - Oh perfect, that's great. - That's fantastic. - Oh my God. - Oh my God. - Oh my God. - How do I love those dishes? - I may have. - If you don't know how to love the dishes, you're not going to get married. - I love you. You're always so quirky. - What? - So quirky. - Dirty. - New dawn soap. Take out that grease in two potatoes. (laughing) It's just like the most cringe worthy. - Cringe. - It's so cringe. - You know, Jenny, I'm going to be real. So like, when I graduated in high school from Minnesota and then I went to college in Boston and I don't know if you know this about me, but I look like every girl from Boston. (laughing) - You put some-- - I have seen you. - You put some North Face, some Jansport backpack and just like the aura of someone who will freak out over a burberry scarf and like, that's what I look like apparently. It's that or either Eastern European Jew in a stedal. Those are the two things that could book it just based on how I look. - So I went, yeah. Started school in Boston and I went to the Latino house 'cause I was like, oh my god, these are not pipe boys. - Latino house. And I arrived, remember this girl was like, oh my god, hi, welcome. Where did, this is the Latino house. Were you looking for the women study? - Oh my god. - And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, I'm from Venezuela and then she was like, oh wow, great, like she was very nice. She wasn't like, competition or weird about it. So then I started speaking in Spanish to her like, see, why don't my color move? And I was like, I'm so sorry, I don't speak Spanish. And I was in shock. - Hilarious. - I was in shock. I was like, we just made assumptions about each other in like completely opposite ways. But for a while, Jenny, and I'm gonna be honest with you, I would judge people that didn't speak Spanish who said they were Latino. The same way that they would judge me, a white girl, for saying she's Latina, even though I felt identified as one Latina. And I think that like, there's something about Latino culture and we keep on trying to revoke the Latino card. It's like-- - All the time. All the time. - And it's like, don't we want more people? - Inner. - But you can, it's a little much sometimes. A lot of the time, it's like, you can lose your Latino card for simply adding raisins to your picadillo. So, yeah, say for a, bye bye, Latino card. I take it away. Oh my God. Jenny, that's so accurate. That's so, like-- - It is, it's so much. I'm sure you saw that firsthand, especially when you worked at a major digital media company. The comments section was brutal. - It was so brutal. I mean, yeah, and I remember, I think, oh, I was called a culture vulture all the time. - I know, yeah. - Which was such a weird, I was like, well, I kind of like Betty Rimes, but, and it's true, there's people that try to, Elaria Baldwin, try to adhere to cultures that perhaps aren't theirs. But we're in this weird world where we're policing identity, right? We're a bit, and I think some of the times it's very much merited, and other times, it's what you just said. I think one time, I was like, oh, Venezuela has this drink called Malta, And it just tastes like. Satan's spit with. I've had Malta. Of course you have to have Malta. Yeah. I don't like Malta. Satan's spit. I don't like Malta and I remember saying in an radio interview, they were like, "When are you and I going to see each other?" But I'm sure you like Malta. And I was like, "Actually, no, I don't like Malta." And they're like, "Oh, and you think your friend is willing?" I'm like, "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't like one soda." And now you're revoking my identity, my three generations of Venezuela. Like, what are you talking about? I cannot with our people. Either you're judged within your own culture. So like, for me, it would be like, she's not Cuban enough. Look at her. She has no ass. Right? 'Cause apparently you need an ass to qualify. I love like, in that time, I'm not here. Imagine you journey going to like the Cuban consulate if there was a communist and the cold word didn't happen. And you were like, "Hey, I'm just really "me and my Cuban passport." And so almost like, we're gonna have to have you stand up. We need to look at your ass just to verify. Truthfully, I, you know, thank God, what's so ever of a quote unquote Cuban woman. So that's one. And even the way my Spanish was, a lot of Cubans were coming after me, being like, "That's not how Cubans really talk." And any little thing, again, from recipe videos to my skin color, to my height, to my coolow, all of it was being picked apart. So that's within the culture, right? But then, then there comes all the other nationalities. So moving out here, like my sister and I were the only Cubans, Cuban video producers working at me too. There's a lot of Mexican producers. And so obviously the cafeteria was chock full of tapatillo and every type of salsa, vegan, they, they, you can imagine. And I'm not, listen, people like spicy food, like you don't have to be Mexican to like spicy food, but it's not really part of our dishes, right? Like Caribbean dishes. So my sister and I do not eat spicy. And even our own co-workers were judging us. They're like, what kind of latinas are you? That you don't have spicy? Like they were being real about it too. They weren't just joking around. They were actually appalled. (laughs) That we didn't add any kind of hot sauces to our dishes. You know, when I was appalled, you know, when I was appalled, and I can say this because our producer is Mexican, my, my, a lot of my family lives in Mexico. I adore Mexico, Mexico. It has the most colorful and deep culture. I'm obsessed with it. But let me tell you something. They're supposed sweets are like dust that is just spicy. And I'm like, this is not a sweet. This is a condiment. And you know, Everything has to be like, whoa. Everything has to be like like the most intense version of itself, like a mango. But like, oh, oh, like a mango that wants to have a coup against your taste buds. Like that is, (laughs) but you know, when I speak, and I don't know if there's that, when I speak Spanish in front of like some of my aunts and uncles and even my brother, who gives me so much, okay? They're like, So they're like purists about it. I'm like, there is no, there's no, there's some words. There's some words that don't exist in Spanish. Like, let me pull it up. I have a list. I have a list 'cause people don't believe me. There's one word which is like coming to an agreement. Compromise. The word compromise doesn't exist in Spanish. It just doesn't exist. And the word for that word where it's just the term for when you sit and you talk after you eat doesn't exist in English. And I think that reflects so much about what is inherent in both cultures. Like in Latin America, no one is going to use compromise. Like in Latin America, no one is compromising. And then in the US, no one is having fun at the table after they eat. (laughing) 'Cause language comes about, obviously language comes about from necessity. And when my brother is like, you know, you're depending too much on the two languages. Like I'm like, no, no, I'm gonna speak how I want. Especially because there's words that just don't translate. Do you tell me the word for in English? There's no such word for when you have too many two rows and you wanna die. That doesn't exist. I just think it's fun to be able to speak Spanish with other bilingual people. 'Cause they also speak both languages. And it's just, I think it's fun. I think it's a great way to communicate. But yeah, there's plenty of people who I definitely got hate from. Listen, there's always gonna be people that are gonna be saying that whatever you do is a disgrace to anything. And in our culture, it's funny how even the term Spanish is perceived, it's diminishing something. We're diminishing the value of Spanish or we're diminishing the value of English. When I think it's a representation of living in the hyphen, it's in the, when you hyphenate something you're adding, you're not taking away. You're literally adding a word. I love that. It's true when language is always evolving. You know what, this just reminded me. Like in South America, we, because of how close we are to the States, a lot of the way that we say words, it's sort of bilingual in nature. Like I say, see these, right? But when I went to Spain once and I went to El Corte inglés, which is kind of like the blue mean deals of Spain, I was like, "Di culpa a señorita, no cant tu CDs?" And she was like, "Los que?" And I'm like, "Siedis?" And she's like, "No vendemos "Siedis acá." And I'm like, "Oh, like the round thing where you play music." And she's like, "Oh, los teves, I'm like, oh." - Oh, come on. - Oh, come on. - Come on. - Oh, come on. - Oh, yeah. Okay, relax. - Glad, of course, our name is Gloria. - Oh, my God. I was like, "Los que me gloria podiendo." - Context clues. You know, she wanted to make a point that in Spain, they don't pronounce "c" they pronounce it "fé." So that is an example of rejection of the merging of cultures. But the term "c" comes from compact disk. It doesn't come from compacto disco. It would be "dece" "dico compacto." So these adherents to like, purism is for me, so it just ends up sounding ridiculous. - Yes. - Sorry. - How about just let people live and communicate how they want to communicate, and then you go about your purest life? - It's just like in simple terms, forcing them. - No, let me live my life. - Yeah, just let me live. Let me stay gon' play. - Jesus. - You just said gon' play. And I'd like for the last part of this podcast for us to teach each other one word. You know when you found out that Vibapodub came from Vix Vaporrub? - Vix Vaporrub. - Like my brain exploded into 200 million pieces. I'm gonna teach you one word that I found out is actually an English word that was converted into Spanish, okay? - Okay, okay. - So in Venezuela, like, so you know the word for popcorn is kinda like straw, there's a million different ways of saying it in South America, there's like Palomita, there's, I don't even know. - I don't actually know a single way to say it in Spanish. - Oh, well perfect. Well, I'm gonna teach you my way, it's the right way. 'Cause it's the venous one, like, it's, "Kotufa", okay? "Kotufa", only, that's only in Venezuela that popcorn is referred to as "Kotufa", I think maybe in Colombia. You know where it came from? The packaging for the popcorn was like on it, it wasn't even the name of the brand, it just said "Korn to fry". And through, with the evolved, like, it evolved from corn to fry to corn to fracquotufa. "Kotufa". So our word for popcorn is this is just like a slightly massacred version of "Korn to fry". - That is brilliant. Brilliant, it's brilliant, just what it is. - Because no one could ever tell, it just sounds like a straight up real word. - It's a real word that is also completely just made up from English. It's just stolen, it's just straight up stolen. - Oh my God. - Well, I have a similar one. - Show me. And I think I used to think everyone knew this, but it's just Miami Cubans apparently. For the longest, so look, I can't say refrigerator in Spanish to save my life. I trip over my tongue and embarrassing number of times. So let me attempt. Ref, here I go. Referejida, no, referejida dor. Look how long it took me, never again. Okay, so then, so then my grandparents always called refrigerators for the youth. I think it sounds like fridge. So it kind of sounds like fridge, fridge, and so again, just like, Viva por Rua, I thought this is how you say refrigerator in Spanish, it's free, he died it. It comes from the brand fridge a dare. When you found out where you just like, oh my god. Yes. I felt free. But mine was blown. Free heat. But let me tell you what, I can actually say free heat. So you know what? That's what it is. You know what? I think I'm just going to say that too. I think I'm going to say it now. Different heat. I can't. Free heat. Free heat. Free heat. And so, and then I made a video about it. So a lot of people were like, oh, we call it never. We call it all these different, um, I'm forgetting this other one. This other way to say it. I don't know how Venezuela and say it. Chilean is probably called it like, the Malatica de Santa or something weird like that. Because Chilean is something we're listening to. It's got this. It's got this. And one thing like, out of this world, you know. Well, everybody, gracias for escuchar our new podcast. Please, remember to subscribe. It's totally free. Grotes. How do you say subscribe in Spanish? That's another word I don't even know. So, subscribe. So, subscribe. So, subscribe. That's my very friend as well in the way of saying it. So, subscribe. See, it's a sub-subscribe. Subscribe. This is the way that I would say it if I was auditioning for like a commercial. So, subscribe. And this is the way that I would actually say it. So, subscribe. And below, remember to like, comment, share. I thought you said share. You said share. You said share. Share. They sing her. Share. Tell her about the podcast. I'll talk to you soon, Jenny. I'll annoy you very soon. [BLANK_AUDIO]