Antonio, I can't agree with you on this one. One of the things I love about going back to Madrid to see my friends, the majority of whom are originally American/British, is the fact that when we speak English together, we liberally pepper our conversations with Spanish words, phrases, and sentences. We understand each other better this way, because we share many years of living with the two cultures. Some things are expressed much better in one of the languages than in the other, and the fact that we can all switch so effortlessly between English and Spanish, and thereby share a level of communication not everyone can, is something very special. I don't think it should be squelched.

I have known and worked with literally hundreds of people who speak a minimum of two languages. They were both adults and children. All of them knew to speak just one at a time in formal situations. Mixing the two, like in the poem above, or what I do with my friends, happens only in informal situations, and I've never heard this unmentioned rule abused. It happens among friends when they are comfortable together, and all know the two languages. I see it as something extra special people can share. That's why I posted the poem here. The Night Before Christmas is probably the most famous English language poem ever written about Christmas. Almost everyone older than 6 knows it by heart in the United States. I see the readers of this forum as friends who all share a love for Spain, and that includes the Spanish language. How fortunate we are to speak both! A Spanglish version of The Night Before Christmas is something we can all have fun with, as it's like us - bilingual! Let's celebrate it!

[This message has been edited by Diana (edited 12-09-2000).]