Many Latinos living along the borderlands are regularly exposed to Spanish but are not fluent in the language.
Those who are somewhat fluent are often not comfortable with their lived experience and use Spanglish to communicate in their environment.
Younger Latinos who fall into this category refer to themselves “no sabo kids.”
A program at the University of Texas at San Antonio aims to meet these students where they are at and teach them to embrace and preserve their cultural and linguistic traditions.
The Spanish as a Heritage Language program is tailored to help students who have been exposed to Spanish develop their language skills.
Program director Stephanie González says heritage Spanish students are taught the value of the colloquial language style that many have used all their lives.
“We have seen more people understanding the importance of really honoring what students bring to the classroom, instead of fixing their Spanish or giving them something that is this correct, standardized version of Spanish,” she said.
Sylvia Fernández, assistant professor of digital and public humanities in the Spanish as a Heritage Language program, said students learn how to transition heritage Spanish for real world use.
“[Students] can implement the heritage — how they teach it, how they use it — in their different professional spaces within their communities, without shame, without trauma. But also, to keep this change,” she said. “I think heritage not only belongs to academia, it belongs in our houses.”
