Sofia Vergara discusses latinas in magazine article.

[Jhengsman]

  Actually BG, the Philippines has two official languages, English and Pilipino (Tagalog).
　
Practically all school instruction is done in English. Official government documents are in English. Most of the major newspapers are in English. Many of the radio and TV shows are broadcast in English, or a mix of Tagalog and English (Taglish).
　
The Philippines has about 170 separate languages with many sub-dialects within those. My wife speaks four languages fluently and also speaks some Malaysian and Spanish.
　
But many Filipinos also have trouble with pronunciation of English words. Part of the problem is that the Filipino teachers who taught them English also mispronounce their words.
　
Studying and learning a new language is difficult and requires great concentration and effort. Some people are just lazy and don’t want to put out the effort to learn a new language. Others just don’t have the aptitude for learning a language, even though they may be very intelligent and possess a strong natural aptitude for learning other difficult subjects like mathematics or the sciences. Also the difficulty in learning English, or any other particular language, depends greatly on your own native language.
　
I think "most" people can learn a foreign language if they are focused and motivated, but some just naturally learn languages easier than others.
　
I have found that those who have fully mastered their own native language, both orally and written, are much more likely to be proficient in a foreign language such as English.
　
Ray
　
　
　

And Pilipino was a politically correct way to get other ethnic groups to accept Tagalog as a national language which was tried at the turn of the century. And the "Tagalog" as the base fiction was not done until just before WWII. The nation is a bunch of islands and for most of history only travelers would need to know the language of another island. While American missionaries and teachers spread English big time radio and TV networks probably have done more then proclamations from Manila in getting Tagalog to the man on the street in the provinces

[beginthebeguin]

I just saw on Hulu.com the opening monologue of Sophia's hosting of SNL. And she told a joke that would not go well with the Barranquilleros. "I come from a town in Colombia called Barranquilla. Translated from the Spanish it means 'Cleveland'.". Ouch!!!! Now we know why most costeños can't stand her. Granted she did not write the joke but at least she could have used some common sense in nixing that choice for her opening monologue.   

[fathertime]

I just saw on Hulu.com the opening monologue of Sophia's hosting of SNL. And she told a joke that would not go well with the Barranquilleros. "I come from a town in Colombia called Barranquilla. Translated from the Spanish it means 'Cleveland'.". Ouch!!!! Now we know why most costeños can't stand her. Granted she did not write the joke but at least she could have used some common sense in nixing that choice for her opening monologue.

You claim to have never been to Colombia, let alone the coast, so why is it that you feel it is important for you to comment on what 'most costenos like/don't like?   How do you know what jokes will go well with  barranquilleros?  It seems awful odd for a person who has proclaimed to never been  to Colombia to even think they should comment on what most Barranquilleros would be thinking.


Fathertime! 

[aconcepts]

its a weird joke anyways....  Must be an east coast thing, or is meant to mean that Cleveland is run down and not happening?   I like her as an actress and she seems fun but I don't think I would want to be joined at the hip with her. Seems half crazy, like as in "both halves."

[Bob_S]

"I come from a town in Colombia called Barranquilla. Translated from the Spanish it means 'Cleveland'.". Ouch!!!! Now we know why most costeños can't stand her. Granted she did not write the joke but at least she could have used some common sense in nixing that choice for her opening monologue.

A joke written by New York writers for a New York audience to elicit guffahs from a live studio audience.  Outside New York, it barely merits a snicker.