As a child, Adela Alvarenga, a Salvadoran raised on Long Island, spoke Spanish at home with her family. When she went to primary school, her teachers taught in English, but most of her friends were Latinas who spoke Spanish, so she easily communicated in both languages.
But at age 12, Alvarenga said she began to feel embarrassed about speaking Spanish at school. She tried to have more American-born friends and distanced herself from her Spanish-speaking friends. As English became her dominant language, her Spanish fluency faded. For years her mom kept speaking to her in Spanish, but Alvarenga responded mostly in English and distanced herself from the Salvadoran traditions her family practiced.
Now at age 30, Alvarenga lives with her three children — Sophie, 12; Thiago, 2; and Theo, 1 — and she tries to run a bilingual household. But her oldest child speaks Spanish only at a beginner level.
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“I wanted Sophie to communicate well at school, have friends and to not fall behind. So we spoke to her in English until she was 8,” Alvarenga said, noting that Sophie had a speech delay as a toddler, and Alvarenga did not want to put more pressure on her.
“Now I feel I did something wrong,” Alvarenga added. “But we are trying to be more bilingual at home.”
With her two youngest sons, she has communicated in English and Spanish since they were born. Thiago can respond bilingually to almost every question you ask him.
Like Alvarenga, many Latinos are swapping Spanish for English in their households. For many reasons, learning or maintaining Spanish has become increasingly complicated for Latinos in the U.S. The current political climate in which President Trump has declared English the nation’s official language also hasn’t helped.
Also Read: Study: Most Latinos in the U.S. Speak Spanish. Those Who Don’t Often Face Judgment From Their Own Community.
A 2023 Pew Research Center study found that in 2000, 78% of Latinos spoke Spanish at home, but that figure had dropped to 68% by 2022. This decline occurred mostly among U.S.-born Latinos, and at a time when the Latino population surged in the U.S.
For many the decision to shift away from Spanish is not permanent. As they grow older, some Latinos recognize that by speaking Spanish they can connect to their families, heritages, lands and identities.
“A lot of kids regret not speaking their home language through school, but in college they decide they want to reclaim their home language and sometimes will start taking home language classes,” said Tatyana Kleyn, professor of bilingual education at the City College of New York.
That is how Alvarenga reconnected with Spanish.
“After having my kids, I realized I lost so much of myself by trying to hide my Latinidad,” said Alvarenga. “I know my Spanish is very broken, but I love it so much, it is part of my identity.”
This situation has given rise to a movement among U.S.-born Latinos who want to reclaim their Spanish. They call themselves ‘No Sabo kids,’ a term that used to be an insult. It’s based on the Spanish expression of “no sé” or “I don’t know.” Fluent speakers know the verb “saber” is an irregular verb, thus requiring an irregular conjugation. However, conjugated regularly, the expression becomes “no sabo.”
“The term ‘no sabo’ used to have a negative connotation,” Kleyn said. “But I think that Latinos in the U.S. now are showing that for them Spanish and English come together.”
Research shows that the majority of third-generation immigrants do not speak the language of their heritage country. Kleyn said this is the case in Latino communities for several reasons.
“We don’t have enough education programs for students to become bilingual and biliterate,” she said. “Also, in some places you can be targeted for speaking Spanish, and there are feelings of shame for speaking it.”
Maria Meneses migrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1999 with her two teenagers. Her two oldest spoke fluent Spanish, and it’s still their first language. But Naydelyn Bravo, her third child, was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, and despite Meneses’ best efforts, Bravo does not speak Spanish fluently.
“In middle school, she began to respond in English to the questions we asked,” she said. “I know it was because most people in her school were white and English speakers only. Now she can only understand a conversation in Spanish if people speak with my accent, but she can’t understand the Spanish of other countries.”
Her daughter Bravo, who is now 21 and a mother herself, tries to teach her 2-year-old son, Noah, Spanish even with her limited fluency. However, her partner only speaks English.
“I’m trying to speak in both languages to Noah so he can understand and speak with his grandparents,” Bravo said. “His dad speaks mainly English, but all of his grandparents are Spanish speakers.”
Even though Noah is hearing both languages, Meneses said she feels her grandson is being more exposed to English. According to the U.S. Foreign Service Institute, they suggest that 600 to 750 hours is needed in a regular immersion with the language to gain fluency.
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“I try to speak Spanish to Noah so we can keep the Spanish-speaking heritage alive in the family, but he only responds in English,” Meneses said.
Some U.S.-born Latinos use less Spanish because they face ridicule for not speaking the language well enough, something that Bravo said she has experienced.
“I remember my family made fun of the way I said things,” Bravo recalled. “I couldn’t say ‘crocodile’ in Spanish and they laughed at the way I pronounced it.”
Kleyn said there’s often a double standard for Latinos who speak Spanish in the U.S.
“Everybody agrees bilingualism is useful and beneficial, but the issue is bilingualism for who?,” Kleyn wondered. “When a white person grows up in this country speaking English and learns Spanish, people are very impressed by them. But if a Latino speaks English with an accent, it doesn’t matter how good they speak Spanish, they’re always judged for not speaking English well enough.”
This double standard may translate into violence. Meneses said when her son, Julian, was the new kid at his school in Brooklyn, his English was basic, and he was having trouble keeping up in classes. His classmates were mostly Americans, and he didn’t have many friends. One day, she said he was assaulted by older American students for being “the kid who spoke Spanish.”
Even though the second Trump Administration has ramped up anti-immigrant narratives and policies, Alvarenga said Spanish speakers should be defiant.
“Now more than ever we cannot forget about where we come from, our language and our Latin American heritage,” she said. “That’s why I am always proud and always mention that I speak Spanish. It has helped me to be a better person.”