Puerto Ricans hostile and insular to non-latinos??? (restaurant, move to)

[joelaldo]

Originally Posted by tropical87

I learned Spanish in cuba, so speak with a Cuban accent and can get away with being taken as a Cuban even by them themselves by about 60-70% of cubans I meet in Cuba. If Im speaking to any other latino they just think Im from the caribbean or some "costeño" region.

What I like about Cubans is that, even if they speak English, they are proud to speak Spanish FIRST and often dont want to communicate in English - I think that has alot to do with Spanish being an official co-language in Miami. In fact, they are proud of their own form of Spanish and happy to share it with you. It is great for someone who wants to learn Spanish.

I am often asked where people should learn Spanish; I always say Cuba and stay away from PR.

It is a unique accent, but for those who are serious about learning good, neutral accent spanish, I'd probably say Colombia or Chile (prob Chile until situation in Colombia cools a bit more). Those accents are realy easily understood by all Spanish speakers.Mexican Spanish has a lot of intonation and a lot of indigenous and aztec words. THe caribbean ones have a lot of arawak and african words, plus the accent, while really cool, can be hard to understand for even some hispanophones. Of course, there will be those who say that if you want to learn 'real' Spanish, go to Spain. (*rolls eyes...Spanish is spoken by 350 million people, of which 40 million are in Spain... u cant tell me the rest of us speak 'fake' spanish)

[ncc]

Originally Posted by joelaldo

It is a unique accent, but for those who are serious about learning good, neutral accent spanish, I'd probably say Colombia or Chile (prob Chile until situation in Colombia cools a bit more). Those accents are realy easily understood by all Spanish speakers.Mexican Spanish has a lot of intonation and a lot of indigenous and aztec words. THe caribbean ones have a lot of arawak and african words, plus the accent, while really cool, can be hard to understand for even some hispanophones. Of course, there will be those who say that if you want to learn 'real' Spanish, go to Spain. (*rolls eyes...Spanish is spoken by 350 million people, of which 40 million are in Spain... u cant tell me the rest of us speak 'fake' spanish)

That's like saying, if someone wanted to learn English, they should go to the UK, not the U.S.

[joelaldo]

Originally Posted by ncc

That's like saying, if someone wanted to learn English, they should go to the UK, not the U.S.

Yeap. Telling you to go to the UK to learn English is like telling you to go to Spain to learn Spanish. I'd think the best place to learn English is in the American midwest (Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, etc)... very neutral accent devoid of a lot of regionalisms and pronunciation variations.

But this is kind of getting off topic already.

[HappyDaysCopenhagenSkoal]

So... getting back to the original post, can we all agree that PRs are not insular, and in fact if a gringo with flawless English, a good education (Masters level) and willingness to learn Spanish as fluently as possible wants to move there, he/she could realistically go there (with interviews lined up), find a job and a mate?
The answer is yes - as long as you are a gringo with a little spice to your personality, as it increases your exoticness. They're not into the plainjane US mentality - give em something with fire and ice... and passion. We all know that Italian-Americans fit that gringo description!

[SVTLightning]

I lived in Luquillo for a year and ran around all over and never once encountered a problem with anyone. made friends, had some try and teach me spanish but in that account I am not smarter than a 5th grader lol.

[ScottyG]

Puerto Rico is much like any other place, you have positives: the people, the scenery, the food, the beaches, and the not over-commercialized/overdeveloped homogeneous cookie-cutter towns like the "mainland", yet. Then you have some negatives: the crime, the aggressive drivers, and the high cost of living to earning potential. Overall it is a great place to visit or live, and the people are very welcoming and friendly, but leave your stereotypes and egos at home if you want to experience genuine hospitality. The same people who are complaining about Puerto Ricans not accommodating their English or lack of Spanish speaking abilities, are probably the same people complaining that immigrants don't speak fluent English in the U.S..

[Sandhillian]

Originally Posted by ScottyG

SNIP but leave your stereotypes and egos at home if you want to experience genuine hospitality. The same people who are complaining about Puerto Ricans not accommodating their English or lack of Spanish speaking abilities, are probably the same people complaining that immigrants don't speak fluent English in the U.S..

Talk about stereotypes! LOL.

I don't think it is done out of hostility but is (like someone else said) more of an unconscious quirk that makes Puerto Ricans reluctant to speak Spanish to non-Latinos/non-Hispanics.

[Sandhillian]

Originally Posted by Sandhillian

I don't think it is done out of hostility but is (like someone else said) more of an unconscious quirk that makes Puerto Ricans reluctant to speak Spanish to non-Latinos/non-Hispanics.

Oops! I left out "fluent in Spanish".

I don't think it is done out of hostility but is (like someone else said) more of an unconscious quirk that makes Puerto Ricans reluctant to speak Spanish to non-Latinos/non-Hispanics who are fluent in Spanish.

[thespian666]

Originally Posted by joelaldo

Yeap. Telling you to go to the UK to learn English is like telling you to go to Spain to learn Spanish. I'd think the best place to learn English is in the American midwest (Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, etc)... very neutral accent devoid of a lot of regionalisms and pronunciation variations.

But this is kind of getting off topic already.

Yeah but no. The American Midwest is full of regionalisms (Fargo, anyone? Or an "Husker" fan?) Truly though, there's no more unadultered Spanish as there would be English. You can turn on NPR or maybe CNBC to attempt at neutrality for American English.

As for espanol...One of my Spanish professors is from Santiago de Chile and I'm pretty sure her constant "jjjj"-ing of "ll" and "y" is proof enough to me. In Columbia, certain cities use Vos and some use Usted (both) in place of Tu.

[jay_jay26]

Certainly, I am not like that.