Thread: Venezuela Fights use of English words

Venezuela Fights Use of English Words

Tue Feb 26, 8:44 AM EST
President Hugo Chavez's government is taking its battle against U.S. "imperialism" into Venezuelans' dictionaries, urging state phone company workers to avoid English-language business and tech terms.

Through a campaign launched Monday, newly nationalized CANTV hopes to wean employees and others from words like "staff" ("equipo" is preferred), "marketing" ("mercadeo") and "password" ("contrasena").

Stickers and banners printed up by the company exhort Venezuelans to "Say it in Spanish. Say it with pride."

The Communications and Information Ministry said in a statement that Venezuelans must recover Spanish words that are "threatened by sectors that have started a battle for the cultural domination of our nations."

Other English words targeted include "mouse" (the company prefers "raton"), "meeting" ("reunion") and "sponsor" ("patrocinador") — all of which have become common in Latin American countries.

The leftist president has sought to counter what he calls U.S. cultural imperialism on all fronts, financing Venezuelan cinema as an alternative to the "dictatorship of Hollywood" and forcing radio stations to play more Venezuelan music.

English is still taught in schools alongside other languages, however. And Chavez himself often breaks playfully into English during speeches, sometimes to salute his close friend, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, saying: "How are you, Fidel?"

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I don't see a problem with Venezuela doing that, their language IS Spanish after all. By the same token, we should be doing the same in this country...OUR language is English.

I don't see a problem with Venezuela doing that, their language IS Spanish after all. By the same token, we should be doing the same in this country...OUR language is English.

I agree.....don't. But here we do speak English.

You got to give him credit for trying to preserve his country's heritage.

He might be going overboard, especially if these people work with others around the world on similiar projects. Then they have to speak so each knows what the other is saying.

I don't see a problem with two languages being spoken or whatever,
its just that people should speak the language of the country they are in.

Save the "old country" language for home. You are supposed to be American, not whatever.

I don't have much good to say about Chavez, but I have no problems with what he's doing in this case.

In fact, if Hugo thinks his actions will offend America, he should think again! I applaud what he's doing and wish our politicians had a backbone to promote English first!

Citgo-Venuzeula has been rather generous to low income Americans for the past three years in heating their homes.

I know Mass. and New Haven, Ct. are participants in the program.

I don't think the entire state of Ct. is, as Destefano, mayor of NH last year had asked Citgo about the city participating. I may be very wrong here, but I do remember NH's mayor was happy that Citgo was working with the city on that problem.

France has similar programs to preserve their language.

If the country does not enforce, it usually leads to less people speaking a particular language and then that form of communication is lost for all time.

There have been too many lost or forgotten.

I wish we were as insistent on language here.