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As someone who has traveled a great deal in other countries, what I find embarrassing is that people in almost all those countries speak more than one language...usually including English....while people in this country find it somehow insulting that anyone in our country speaking more than one language insulting. That type of ignorance demonstrates how and why our country is falling behind other countries.
As someone who has traveled a great deal in other countries, what I find embarrassing is that people in almost all those countries speak more than one language...usually including English....while people in this country find it somehow insulting that anyone in our country speaking more than one language insulting. That type of ignorance demonstrates how and why our country is falling behind other countries.
This. I thought this country was a melting pot and was full of diversity. But I have a feeling if certain people had their way it would be a crime to speak a different language other than English.
I find Target's new commercial, entirely in Spanish, featuring the ula ula song, disturbing. I turned on the closed caption option on my tv and I read the Spanish lyrics, but they are meaningless to me. Does this commercial bother anyone else?
Watched in once, and now turn the channel when I see it come up again. Yeah, the commercial is tacky, pure and simple.
Meh. An ad is an ad is an ad. I've heard ad soundtracks in French, Italian, German, and totally garbled English.
The object of a music track is to get you to watch the ad. It worked 100% for the OP.
I speak a little Spanish, and I could never figure out what the words to the Macarena meant, but that didn't stop every kid in the country from learning the dance ten years back. And those guys were Spanish speaking Spanish.
Next year it will be Japanese. No one listens to the words anymore, and most never did anyway.
Why would I be equally confused by the English words when I have no idea how they related to the spanish words and I can actually read the English words so I know what they ares saying? The problem is I don't know how to process the spanish lyrics. I don't know if they're supposed to go with the english words or not because I don't know what is being said. Commercials often have jingles...songs that sing about the latest sale...how great the store is....whatever. How am I supposed to know that is not the case here if I don't speak spanish?
I can't believe how thin-skinned and petty this all seems. Here's a commercial from British Airways.
"Ooh, I think it's a plot! Are they dissing the English? It must be a slam of some kind! How do I know if it's a seat sale or not? I'm so confused!"
So let me get this straight - the song about plucking out the eyes, beak, wings, feet, tail, etc of a lark is A-OK to Americans because you've "heard it before", but a catchy pop song is going to be the fall of the Target Corporation because some English speakers are offended that they don't understand the words.
I find Target's new commercial, entirely in Spanish, featuring the ula ula song, disturbing. I turned on the closed caption option on my tv and I read the Spanish lyrics, but they are meaningless to me. Does this commercial bother anyone else?
As someone who has traveled a great deal in other countries, what I find embarrassing is that people in almost all those countries speak more than one language...usually including English....while people in this country find it somehow insulting that anyone in our country speaking more than one language insulting. That type of ignorance demonstrates how and why our country is falling behind other countries.
Here's my joke:
What do you call someone who speaks multiple languages? multi-lingual.
Three languages? tri-lingual.
Two languages? bi-lingual.
One language? American.
As someone who has traveled a great deal in other countries, what I find embarrassing is that people in almost all those countries speak more than one language...usually including English....while people in this country find it somehow insulting that anyone in our country speaking more than one language insulting. That type of ignorance demonstrates how and why our country is falling behind other countries.
I'll agree that knowing a second language is a good thing and I'm glad schools are requiring one for graduation now, the fact remains that many of us are monolingual. If you're a company trying to sell your goods, that should be considered when you choose the language for your commercials. I do not find people speaking two languages insulting unless they revert to the one I don't understand to talk without my understanding....kind of like what Target did with this commercial.
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