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Spain launches campaign to stop English 'invasion'
The Royal Spanish Academy is fighting against the anglicization of Spanish with a new campaign.
The Spanish language has, over the past few years, been soaking up more and more anglicisms – from slang words to business vocabulary – these days many sentences in Spanish are peppered with a good dose of English… much to the distaste of the academy responsible for overseeing the Spanish language.The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) is so disgruntled by the wave of English words being used in Spanish that it has launched a campaign to fight against this so-called "invasion".
The campaign, called 'There’s only one mother tongue', features two fake adverts, full of anglicisms, which plays on the fact that many Spaniards do not actually understand the real meaning of the English words "invading" the Spanish language.
The video promoting the campaign begins with with the line "English is invading advertising from within" before some common anglicisms flash across the screen, including the words brainstorming, toolkit, anti-age, light, eco-friendly and wireless.
One advert is for the perfume "Swine"; the sultry voiceover calls it "a touch of magic by Rebecca Robinson". The advert is shown once in its original English and then a second time with the Spanish voiceover revealing that spritzing yourself with swine "means you smell of pig".
The model in the advert is shown scrunching up her nose at the realisation, while the tagline of the perfume is: "It sounds very good but smells very bad".
The second advert is for a pair of sunglasses "with blind effect". The advert reveals that the cool-sounding "with blind-effect" actually means the wearer cannot see out of the sunglasses.
The RAE has decided to "fight against anglicisms in an original and cheeky way" the academy writes in the video promoting the campaign.
"Advertising is one of the main sectors affected, and the excessive use of anglicisms in adverts shown in Spain not only affects the brands but also directly affects the public in general and how they perceive commercial messages," Enric Nel-lo, creative director of Grey Spain, which made the ad, told Spanish daily El País.
It is not the first time the RAE has criticized the invasion of English into everyday Spanish language. It was vehemently against sending a song sung entirely in English as Spain’s entry to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
The director of the RAE classed Spain’s choice of song – Barei’s Say Yay! as "inferior and idiotic".
to soak = immerse (poner en remojo) / make wet (empapar)#PV SOAK UP - absorb or enjoy sth that exists around you
— Graham Mad Teacher (@madteacher72) October 29, 2020
e.g. Visit the market to SOAK UP THE local ATMOSPHERE.
e.g. We just lay by the pool, SOAKING UP THE SUN.
e.g. He SOAKS UP everything that is said in class. https://t.co/nYoX4D5awA pic.twitter.com/Tipq1mQb5i
a wave of sth / fake (adj) -
Conspiracy theories! We’ve all heard them!
— BBC Learning English (@bbcle) September 6, 2020
The #coronavirus #pandemic has brought a wave of fake stories, and some people are buying into them.
We #teach you #vocabulary to discuss this.
For #downloads: https://t.co/yLMm6R3f8E #bbclearningenglish #conspiracytheories #elt #esl pic.twitter.com/r9c6Ifbqs3
#WOTD CHEEKY (adj) - slightly rude or disrespectful but often in a charming or amusing way (descarado, fresco, indiscreto)
— Graham Mad Teacher (@madteacher72) January 6, 2020
e.g. He's often got a cheeky grin on his face.
e.g. Would it be cheeky to ask her how old she is? pic.twitter.com/wemqYggzZ7
Comments
To sum up, I could understand that we have to try to use our mother tongue language but they have to work in making us aware of doing it correctly too.
Cristina Jaurrieta
I see shop signs and adverts in English every day. I wonder what percentage of people understand the message. Perhaps it doesn't matter or it might be more effective if nobody gets it.
The post and the video show that Spanish adverts overuse English, which is something no one could deny. The criticism is made in a hilarious way, which makes it surprising if you take the old-fashioned style of the RAE into account.
I am not used to agreeing with this Spanish institution, however, I have to say they're right in this case. I understand why they prefer brands and companies to use our mother tongue language. Not only ought they to work against the use of English, but also higlight the use of our own language.
The point is that they often (more than they should) accept new Spanish words which shouldn't be accepted. Some people in Spain use them in a bad way, but that is not a reason to accept them by an institution as well known as our RAE. An example of what I am saying? Cocretas, almóndiga or murciégalo... (Do they really accept them? Surely they are just typos)
To sum up, I could understand that we have to try to use our mother tongue language but they have to work on making us aware of doing it correctly too.