Gingrich's Spanish 'Labored and Not Fluid'

After angering some Latinos by referring to Spanish as the "language of living in a ghetto," Newt Gingrich not only released a YouTube video yesterday clarifying his remarks; he did so in both English and Spanish.

Gingrich said in a speech Saturday that English immersion should replace bilingual education in America, contrasting Spanish with the "language of prosperity." Here at News Desk we decided to put his own language skills to the test.

After watching the video, Middlebury College Spanish Prof. Roberto Véguez called his statement "labored and not fluid."

"It was what you'd expect from a beginner," Véguez said.

Describing the former House speaker's wording as "perfect grammatically and syntactically but very coached," Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert, a professor of Hispanic studies and the director of Latin American and Latino Studies at Vassar College, concurred.

In his video response, English subtitles during the message read, "I hope you will accept this communication that I am offering you from a sincere heart." Even with heartfelt words, Gingrich did not explicitly apologize.

Paravisini-Gebert, however, thinks that there may be too much emphasis on the potentially racial or offensive interpretations of the original speech and not enough of a focus on the actual political solution that Gingrich offers.

The concept of immersion worked well years ago when immigrants relocated to the United States without ever intending to return home. "Ghetto" now refers to multiclass urban communities where members are self-sufficient, speaking only Spanish, and constantly travel back and forth to native countries, explained Paravisini-Gebert.

"It's the melting pot theory, based on past models of integration."

--Amy Golod