"The Cuban Swimmer" Sanchez - Scott

1. Throughout the play the different characters speak a blend of English and Spanish. Within their familiar blend of a bilingual tongue English is used most frequently. This could be because Sanchez – Scott sought to reach a wide audience by using so much English within her play “The Cuban Swimmer.” With going through the dialogue in the play it is noticeable that the majority of the time that Spanish is used the family is speaking and using terms of endearment like “Papi”, “Abuela”, “mujer”, “mi hija,” “Nuestro Senor” , “gracias a Dios”, “hermosos”, “nina”
‘mi carne”, “mi sangre” and “mis ilusiones.” Also, catch phrases are written in spanish dialogue: “Donde” “Mira” “Ay” the counting “uno, dos” “para ya” “pero” and “cojones.” The only characters completely using English were the news anchors.

2. Although the family appears to at least know their native tongue there is a disconnect between their Cuban culture and the behaviors they represent. The family is very “Westernized” in the English dialect that they use. The family still continues to use many phrases in Spanish but the majority of the dialect was in English. The words that were in Spanish were also not complex words in that someone who may not be familiar with the Spanish language can still grasp the main ideas of the dialogue between the characters. Simon’s colloquialisms along with the families are all used in very specific spots. The majority of the time that Spanish was used it was when referencing a term of endearment such as “mujer” “mi hija” “Dios” “mi sangre” and so forth. I think that Sanchez – Scott depicted the language this way to show that closeness and how important those words are. If the words daughter, and God and phrases about blood were not kindred to the family in some way they would have been written in English as well.