LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

  I call language negationists those who reject some idioms and words, waiving them aside by saying: "We don´t say that in English" or "Eso no see dice en español!" They are self-appointed experts.  Of course, every speaker is the owner of the language he speaks, and that´s why they ask: "Do you speak MY  language?" Each one of us owns a piece of the whole language known as English or Spanish in our case. The average, run-of-the-mill speaker feels HIS language is THE language as a whole. But as Ortega y Gasset told us (let me paraphrase) the horizon of OUR language is not the horizon of language. There is more beyond our language, although negationists will chastise other speakers (especially foreign ones) with the remark: "We don´t say that in Engish" or "Eso no se dice en español." My retort is always: "Funny, I´ve been saying that for over half a century." "Es curioso, pero vengo diciendo esto toda mi vida."  D...

  People love to correct others. There is always a chance that you will be corrected, in English or Spanish. In that case, keep mum; don't get into an argument. You will be wasting your time. Avoid a confrontation. An argument about language is a losing battle. I get corrected in English, Spanish, French... An orgy of corrections. But I like to see the happy faces of those who assume the role of my teachers. I read in their face: "I caught you. You said “apóstrofo” for “opóstrofe.” You think you are so smart." And that makes them happy. And it makes me happy too. If, on the other hand, you want to go through life making enemies, you have it easy: You tell your boss: "Look, Ambrosio, it's not “I speak very well English,” which shows that you know nothing about that language, but “I speak English very well.” One cannot bend syntax that way.” And your boss will hate you forever, especially if you correct him in front of other employees.

Dicen que el peor defecto del español es la envidia. No es cierto: el peor es que siempre tiene razón. Nunca se equivoca y odia ferozmente al que le corrige. Y siempre excusa sus errores: "No, es que he escrito orgullo con h porque tenía prisa."  "Sí, me he equivocado en esta cuenta porque andabas molestándome." "No, yo no he dicho que Bolívar era mexicano; lo has dicho tú." "Te crees muy listo, pero la Academia dice que "te se ha caído" es correcto." A mis alumnos les repatean mis correcciones. Pero tengo que hacerlas, y constantemente. El español no sabe que para aprender hay que cometer errores. Y que la corrección es una manera barata de aprender. En el aprendizaje de idiomas, la corrección constante es la manera de aprender. Si no nos corrigen puede que cometamos el mismo error durante años, sino durante toda la vida.  Yo me tomo todas las mañanas una cucharadita de humildad, que sabe a rayos, pero me la tomo. Y tenemo...