¿Qué hacer para que no se pierda el español en Estados Unidos pese a sus más de 60 millones de latinos? La estigmatización de esta lengua, que habla la mayor comunidad de inmigrantes del país, y la falta de enseñanza formal son sus principales enemigos.

Lingüistas y profesores de español han intentado a lo largo del viernes y sábado dar respuestas en el 2º Congreso organizado por el Instituto Cervantes de Nueva York, nombrado «Lengua e Identidad: Diversidad, Contexto e Inclusión» para impulsar la supervivencia del español en Estados Unidos.

Con un 12.9 % de hablantes, el español es la lengua extranjera más usada del país, muy por delante del chino, que no llega al 1 %.

Pese a ello, Estados Unidos está a años luz del bilingüismo. El 80 % habla solo inglés y a muchos les gustaría que fuera el 100 %, recuerda la profesora de español de la Universidad de Illinois Kim Potowski en el Congreso.

El español no sólo es una lengua «minoritaria, sino minorizada», asegura la experta.

Esto se debe al «acoso» lingüístico en lugares públicos («miradas feas cuando te oyen hablar español»), sumado a la «xenofobia contra lo latinoamericano» y la «estigmatización» del idioma de los migrantes, generalmente en estado de vulnerabilidad.

A ello se suma el «espanglish», un español surgido de la traducción literal o del préstamo de términos ingleses, como «pagar las biles» (facturas) o «llamar para atrás» (call you back), que hace que muchos hablantes, de segunda generación, que son conscientes de las críticas por su español, prefieran el inglés.

Lengua de herencia

Con excepción de los migrantes de primera generación, el inglés es para una gran mayoría de hispanohablantes una «lengua de herencia».

«Son bilingües, pero con el inglés más fuerte», dice Potowski, que lamenta que «a la mayoría se les haya negado la posibilidad de estudiar español», lo que hace que solo el 53 % hablen el idioma de los abuelos.

«En la tercera generación, el dominio del español va a ser muy escaso», predice Sergio Adrada-Rafael, profesor de la Universidad de Fairfield, que recuerda que en Estados Unidos «no hay un solo español».

Los profesores y especialistas tratan de nadar en este mar proceloso para los puristas, al que se ha sumado el lenguaje inclusivo.

Casi nadie trata de imponer un criterio, y menos los profesores de la madre patria, para no ser vistos como «colonizadores» de un idioma en transformación constante, reflejo de la diversidad en la que viven.

Si los 42 millones de hablantes de español en Estados Unidos fueran un país, estaría por detrás de México, Colombia y España.

«No se habla mejor el español en Salamanca que en el Río de la Plata, en Castilla que en México, en Bogotá que en Honduras», tercia el director del Instituto Cervantes, Luis García Montero, en una intervención por vídeo.

La lengua «define a las personas desde el punto de vista social porque la vida es una conversación», agrega el poeta.

«¿Dónde poner los límites?», se pregunta Teresa Nasarre, profesora del departamento de Educación de Nueva York. Y por el bien del propio idioma y de los propios estudiantes, que algún día pueden tener que competir en otros países donde se habla otro español, el «límite es entendernos todos».

Si fuera por localismos, la abogada y editora uruguaya Ana Schein recuerda que hay 120.000 acepciones en Latinoamérica que no están en la Real Academia Española (RAE).

Pero en términos prácticos y en el día a día, el idioma puede ser una barrera para hacerse entender cuando vas al médico, como recordaron el psiquiatra Luis Rojas Marcos y el cárdiólogo Valentín Fuster, el Dr. Corazón que popularizó y llevó la salud a programas infantiles como Barrio Sésamo.

«Entender lo que nos dice es fundamental», subraya el psiquiatra, para quien comprender el entorno sociocultural, incluso de personas con el mismo idioma, también es esencial. «Sabemos que en una segunda lengua, te comunicas de manera diferente» y va a «influir mucho en cómo expresamos los sentimientos».

No obstante, el latino en Estados Unidos «tiene menos acceso a la salud, su salud es peor y la mortalidad más alta», dice Fuster.

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