Justin Bieber’s “Despacito” insults Spanish language and Hispanic culture

When I first listened to “Despacito” last month, I was ecstatic Justin Bieber released a new song. It was catchy, it was fun and it had that summer vibe perfect for my long days at the pool. Little did I know that it wasn’t his song. In fact, it wasn’t even a new song. The original version, sung by Puerto Rican pop star Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, was released in January. The remixed version, featuring Bieber, surfaced two months ago.
                                     

Today, the No. 1 song in the United States is “Despacito” — with the Bieber feature, of course. Although deserving of its coveted perch on the top of the charts, it’s not free from the cultural appropriation almost expected from a very popular and very white pop star like Bieber.

This cultural appropriation is most evident in a recent video of our beloved Bieber butchering a performance of “Despacito” at a nightclub. In the video, which went viral on Twitter, Bieber replaces the song’s lyrics with “Despacito, I don’t know the words so I say pocito, I don’t know the words so I say Dorito.”

These statements highlight both the cultural appropriation of Bieber’s nightclub performance and the white privilege he has to disrespect Latino culture. Bieber’s performance reveals that, for him, the Spanish language is one to make exotic. He disrespects the language and the cultures that use it, and his upsetting performance — drunk or not — tells Spanish speakers that a white man can strut in and take over the show without appreciating the language’s roots.

There are countless videos of white people yelling at Latino individuals to speak English or go back to their native countries. There are rules enforced in workplaces that discourage native languages from being spoken at all. My dad is not permitted to speak Tagalog with his Filipino coworkers during lunch hour because others feel threatened or disrespected. My Venezuelan best friend was once kicked out of a classroom because speaking Spanish was a disturbance.

Spanish Language Is Regarded As One Of The Romance Languages

The Spanish language is a direct result of the romanization of Spain, hence being referred to as a Romance language. However, influences from other countries shed light on some Spanish words.

The Spanish we know today is a direct result of the romanization of Spain, which began just before 200 BC. The conquest lasted 200 years but the Romans remained in Spain for 700 years. When they departed they left a legacy of culture, architecture, religion and, also, their language.

Consequently, Spanish is known as a Romance language because it was derived from a dialect of spoken Latin firstly in the Iberian Peninsula (now northern Spain) and during the next 1000 years it spread south and then to the Spanish colonial empire, predominantly the Americas.

Spanish is distinguished from other Romance languages by several features of phonology but for current students, it is perhaps sufficient to know how Spanish syntax is affected, such as direct objects (use of 'personal a') and the continued use of arguably redundant indirect object pronouns (le, les). These aspects of Spanish grammar can be more clearly explained by a good Spanish tutor.

With regard to subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, you - plural, they), Spanish is called a 'pro-drop' language, meaning that a verb can very often stand on its own without the need to use the subject pronoun because the verb changes with each conjugation to indicate the subject. This is maybe easier to explain by example: pienso - I think, piensas - you think, piensa - he, she, it thinks, pensamos - we think, pensáis - you (plural) think, piensan - they think.

Note how the verb endings have changed throughout the conjugation of the verb. These endings indicate the subject and thus the subject pronoun is not required.

Modern Spanish was not only influenced by the Romans but also contains words or variations from other languages, including Basque (from the Basque province in Spain), the Americas, and German: for instance the Spanish words of Germanic origin for cardinal directions - norte (north), este (east), sur (south) and oeste (west). In 711 Spain was conquered by Moors (Berbers and Arabs of North African descent), who brought the Arabic language to the peninsula.

Accents, their purpose being to 'stress' syllables where the stress is not predictable, were first used in the 15th century and became widely spread in the 16th. The Spanish Royal Academy, formed mainly to preserve the 'purity' of the language in the 18th century, brought about a standard use of accents.

Castillian Spanish originated after the fall of the Roman Empire and, under General Franco, the dictator, was declared the only official language of Spain. However, in the 1960s and 1970s Spanish parliament allowed three other languages: Catalan, Basque and Galician. All three languages are distinct from Castillian Spanish.Today, Spanish is the official language of 21 countries and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

Most countries that speak Spanish are clustered in Hispanic America, and specifically in Central and South America, and the Caribbean. They are Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama in Central America. Mexico in North America, and Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean.

In South America after Panama you find Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and Argentina.

These countries are different with regard to heritage, social patterns and culture. Let's take Bolivia for example. This is a country found in South America. It's a place that's rich in natural resources but it's one of the least developed countries in that region. It was conquered by Spain in 1524 so the Spanish language has been ingrained in the people to this day.

Spanish is also the main language of Mexico, a country located in North America. Before Mexico was conquered, the language of the people was completely different from that of Bolivia.

In countries where people don't speak Spanish, it has always been the goal for many to learn how to speak Spanish. It will come in very handy especially when an individual is an avid traveler because there are many countries he could visit that have Spanish as their primary language.

The best way to experience a different culture is to know how to speak their language. Beware there are differences in Spanish amongst the various Spanish speaking countries. As an effect of history, there might be some words that would have a whole new meaning from the basic words used in Spain. In other cases words simply mixed with the original indigenous language to create some new ones that may not be understood in other Spanish speaking countries.

Spanish History

As taking courses in spanish is not enough to learn the spanish language by heart, the spanish language school in Valencia regularly offers their students a lot of trips. On these excursions the students have the chance to get to know the spanish culture, as well as the spanish language, better.As there was a lot do this Sunday, the journey already started early in the morning. Before they were going to discover Peñiscola, the students visited Sagunt.
Sagunt lies close to Valencia and is a city full of history. It was already built before Christ and its citizens have long offered opposition against the Romans until they finally felled under their rule. Being told all this by a native spanish speaker in a vividly way while actually standing on the ruins, is even more impressive.In Peñiscola the language students found themselves in the same situation. There a local guide showed them through the castle walls and the basement vault, in which Templar used to live once. There task was to protect the antipope “Papa Luna” who resided in Peñiscola.
In a bar with tapas and sangria just next to the sea, the students finished off their day. This atmosphere made it easier for them to use the spanish knowledge they have just learned the week before. And there will always be a good topic to start off a spanish conversation.This is exactly what the spanish language school Costa de Valencia that is recognized by the Cervantes Institute is intending to do. To learn the spanish language should be as easy and at the same time as efficiently, for the language students, as possible. With up to four different extracurricular activities a day, the spanish language school attracts students from all over the world that want to get to know the spanish culture and language with a lot of fun and at first hand.