Quote:
Originally posted by bluethunder
Perhaps you all haven't heard about this, but I wanted to get some feedback on this:
I live in Miami and the city (along with South Florida in general) has a very strong Latino influence and bilingualism has always been a hot topic down here...
at any rate, some Latin producers re-worked the National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, and had it sang in Spanish. The melody is pretty much the same, but it is sang in Spanish. Now, when the Spanish version is translated, it really does change the original words of the song and a lot of what it translates to isn't exactly what the original lyrics imply... but still it has sparked a LOT of controversy. President Bush responded to it at a press conference and said that the National Anthem should be sang in English and that anyone who wanted to be a citizen should learn English...chiming in with other members of the community who believe it should be sang strictly in English...
but then some members of the Latino population are saying that this is discrimination against them as Latinos and that the translation celebrates America and that as a nation built on immigrants we should actually be embracing the new translation of the song...
what do you all think?
Any thoughts on bilingualism?
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Here is my $0.03:
English is a very difficult language, as shown by this Original poster (I'm guessing English is their first language), who used the word "sang" instead of the correct "sung" every time. I am reminded of it every day as I continue to work with my husband, who is Mexican, on his English. I don't believe in "You're in America, speak English", for many reasons. One reason being that "America" has no official language.
HOWEVER, just as when I was taking French in High school, I learned the French National Anthem in French, I believe that "The Star Spangled Banner" should be sung in English. I have no problem with having translations for those who don't speak English to understand the meaning. Heck, I bet at least 7 out 10 English speaking high school grads couldn't explain the whole anthem's meaning to someone. But, the song should be sung in English.
Also, just as another explanation to my point, I LOVE to sing Opera. But, I sing "Voi Che Sapete", not "Tell Me What Love is" (cringe @ Charlotte Church), and I sing "Die Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen", not "Daughter, You'll Avenge Me". If I can learn to sing Italian and German, others can learn the National Anthem in English.