The Return of Penelope Cruz's Spanish Fro!!!

Brazil - correctly Brasil - Portuguese is THE language. There are Spanish speaking migrants but it's not like Spanish and Portuguese are co-official languages there.

French Guiana - they speak French. It is France. The head of state is the president of France, they use the Euro as their currency. The same goes for Martinique, Guadeloupe, etc.

Haiti - creole and french.

There's about half a dozen other islands and places like Suriname where english or dutch is the official language.

None of these people consider themselves Latino.

Also, in countries like Peru half the population speaks an indigenous language - not Spanish. The same goes for Chiapas and Oaxaca in southern Mexico.

Latino is a marketing term used to lump people who have very little in common into one giant demographic so they can sell you crap you don't want - because they speak the same language.

Ok...extremely late in the game BUT mm mm no no...to the following:

Latin American/Latino: Americans who speak a language that comes from Latin (i.e. spanish and portuguese).

Italian and French come from Latin and trust me when I tell you that they are not and do not consider themselves 'Latino'.

Now the 'gringo' part...to some in CAN be derogatory and from what I've been told (no confirmation on this) the word 'gringo' comes from the fact that the american army soldiers would wear green and they were not wanted on a certain island soo therefore green go=gringo.

Well, guys, you know. The country, it is beautiful (as the Manolo would say). Aaaaand, whenever you want to see some great beaches, which are sort of my favorite over maybe mountains or rainforests (cuz we've got it all. yes sir), just come down and me and my fiancé can give you a pretty nice tour.

Plus, booze is pretty cheap here, in case you guys like to see the beaches while hammered like there's no tomorrow.

Moe and I did too...oh yes, the memories of costa rica... man, it hurts.

Thank you for the clarification, Lilly.

I spent some time in Costa Rica last summer and I think it's a beautiful country. :)

Lolita, compatriota, thanx for the kudos on my geography explanation. Para eso estamos!!

Everyone else: I think what Lolita was tryin' to say (and yes, we Costa Ricans are sort of temperamental and sometimes come out as dicks) is that gringos (and this name is not derogatory, it's just that this is the only ay we refer to you because of the whole "American" connundrum) call themselves americans (but maybe that's just a singularity that comes from the fact that the country's name is United States of AMERICA) when America is the whole continent, and not just the US. So when we latinos hear a gringo say "I'm american", we're just like "yeah, so are we".

Of course, generalizations are not good, but the case with many gringos is that they don't really understand the geography south of their border. And some do tend to think of latins as inferior. And I do know this from personal experience. But, of course, this is not a rule.

And, you know, being bilingual is not a sign of superiority or anything like that. It is good, though. :o)

Ask her... haha

what does being ignorant have to do w/ being bilingual?

Moe,

She's basically saying that us gingos need to learn geography because we think that all of Central and South America is the same. She also said that we call them ignorant, but we are the ones who are ignorant because they are bilingual and we aren't.

"a estos gringos hay que darles una clasesita de geografia urgente, para ellos Latinoamerica es un parche en el mapa, todo es lo mismo, El Salvador es lo mismo que Ecuador. Y luego dicen que nosotros somos los ignorantes… claro que no… ademas somos bilingues y ellos no."

Lolita, you really want one of us to GoogleTranslate your ass?

Lolita,

I don't really know when any of us Americans have said that you are all ignorant. It's true that geography isn't really a priority in schools here. You're assuming, however, that all Americans are clueless about geography, when many of us do in fact know the difference between El Salvador and Ecuador. Also, while it is true that most Americans only speak English, many "Americans" continue to be first generation immigrants whose parents only really speak their native language in their homes. I have friends who speak Polish, Russian, Danish, several different Chinese dialects, and Spanish as well.

Your assumptions about us "gringos" all being ignorant regarding language and geography, as well as your insinuation that Americans just kind of walk around thinking that everyone south of the border is ignorant, all make you out to be the one who is in fact ignorant.

LILLY: hi I'm from Costa Rica too. It always amazes me how ignorant "Americans" are about geography from USA down south. (isn't everyone born in a country in America, an American??) Anyways, your geography explanation was very good!

a estos gringos hay que darles una clasesita de geografia urgente, para ellos Latinoamerica es un parche en el mapa, todo es lo mismo, El Salvador es lo mismo que Ecuador. Y luego dicen que nosotros somos los ignorantes... claro que no... ademas somos bilingues y ellos no.

Okay, I know this post is kinda old, but I saw SM's explanation on Latinas, and I do have some corrections to make, for the sake of pretty and informed posts (and maybe informed comments, too).

I'm from Costa Rica (not to be mistaken for Puerto Rico), which is in CENTRAL AMERICA, because not everything below Mexico is South America.

Okay, let's start with some geography:

America: From Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, Chile.

It is divided in North America, which consists of US, Canada and, believe it or not, Mexico (yes, Mexico is a spanish-speaking country, but it's still a part of North America) plus the antilles and dependencies, which are sort of an icky subject; Central America, which consists of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. And last, but not least, South America which consists of Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Perú, Surinam, Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.

Now, the Latino and the Hispanic denomination. This is kinda weird, because there are some aspects that are taken into account, but to sum it up:

Hispanic: Those are the Spaniards, although it is also commonly used to refer to spanish speaking americans.

Hispanoamerican: same crap, just take out the Spaniards.

Latin American/Latino: Americans who speak a language that comes from Latin (i.e. spanish and portuguese). So this includes brazilians too.

Although Latino is also used on pretty much anyone born between Mexico and Tierra del Fuego.

Now, not many people know about Costa Rica, but we do have our Paris Hilton-type whores here, too. (Please note that is not common in Costa Ricans, but maybe that's because we're only 4 million people here).

Nicole Aldana: http://www.nicolealdana.com

Yeah so anyway, she should know that there are a few things that small women should never do. Some of those include wearing big hair or big hats (you look like a friggin' umbrella), wearing too thick belts, etc. You gotta keep things in proportion to your frame! Trust me, I'm speaking from personal knowledge here. Anyway, she's still a cutie, big hair and all.

Yup Beaner, I do know that - that's why I said "the main language spoken is Spanish", never said it was the only one. I really didn't want to get into ALL the languages and dialects spoken - we'd be here for a few days! Nevertheless, you get an A for making the point. ;-D

SM, In Brazil, one of the most populated countries in "Latin America," they speak Portuguese, NOT spanish. Just to clarify that issue not only were the Spanish conquering but the Portuguese were raping and pillaging as well.

you mean, history slash geography

I thought she looked good in Blow w/ Jonny. Totally still good lookin'. Thanks for the history lesson to!!

btw what about the French Guyana?

Hahahahaha!! That map is too damn funny! But no....this map:

[IMG]http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c381/smlopez321/Map.jpg[/IMG]

FYI: The countries within South America, yes, there is more than Mexico, are:

ARGENTINA

GUYANA

BOLIVIA

PARAGUAY

BRAZIL

PERU

CHILE

COLOMBIA

SURINAME

ECUADOR

URUGUAY

FALKLAND ISLANDS

VENEZUELA

FRENCH GUIANA

That is why you get dirty looks when you assume any spanish speaker is "Mexican"; they could be from any of these countries and more.

Nuf kiddies...back to the fun.

:-)

MHH. Cheche. This map? http://www.pishta.chytrak.cz/obr/TheAmericanWorld.jpg

Big Ups SM!!! thanks for dropping mad knowledge on us!!

okay...title should be correct now.

wow, that was a nice lesson, man! very simple & straightforward (as you can get...)

De nada. ;-)

......oh dear.....

Yes, there is the matter of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, etc.....

Considered HISPANIC and NOT Latino, because these are islands no where near Latin America. (Closer to Florida, pull out that map again.)

Yes, they speak Spanish (for the same reason, damn Spaniards were everywhere...)

and yes, there are Hispanics/Latinos that range in every color from Caucasian white to Whoopi Goldberg black.... and that's because of the poor African slaves that were dragged and dumped all over the planet. They got in on with the locals, and now you have Hispanics/Latinos in every flavor. Regardless of color, they are still H/L's.

:-}

gracias

Latino & Hispanic:

South America = Latin America: From Mexico down to Argentina. (Get a map.)

Anyone originating from "Latin American" = a Latino.

Main language spoken through Latin America is SPANISH. Why? Because the Spaniards invaded everywhere and left thier language behind amongst other things.

Spain is in Europe. Spaniards are Europeans. (end of story)

The terms Hispanic and Latino used interchangeably. (Although Latinos/Hispanics will argue that point, but that's another story.)

There you have it in a nutshell.....now back tothe gossip.

:-)

Well, If someone looks "black" are you going to say they are African American... when they could be Latina.... Jamacian... etc?

If you think about it, Hispanics & Latinos have a one degree separation in that they are a product of themselves. Just as long as you're not calling a hispanic person chinese or vietnamese or black, then whatever. BUT, this is coming from the standpoint of a non-hispanic/latino, so whatever I say has very little value.

Pene is Spanish Salma is Mexican and therefore Latina

Most people who claim to be "Latino/a" aren't. It's a misnomer.

Okay...so help me out here. Penelope Cruz is spanish... so Salma Hayek is...? Spanish? Hispanic (is there a diff)? Mexican? Latina?

so i should've said, "spanish fro", correct?

didn't we already clarify that she is not latina?