I don't usually post this kind of video but as you probably know I’m a harsh critic of the way Spaniards approach foreign language learning and after watching this clip featuring Guillermo Amor I feel the urge to comment on it.

First and foremost, I’m well aware that this problem is not at all unique to Spain. Germans had to suffer Trappatoni’s press conferences in an impossible version of Goethe's mother tongue and do you remember David Beckham speaking Spanish? Of course not everyone in the world of professional sport is so bad at languages. There are some sportspeople from Spain who can actually handle foreign languages pretty well. Pep Guardiola speaks really good English (and very aceptable German!) and Pau Gasol’s English is outstanding. Sergio García, Rafa Nadal and Fernando Alonso are not as good as Gasol but speak fluent English even if their pronunciation is obviously Spanish. Still, they say what they want and their speech is always clear. I can understand that they are not particularly interested in perfecting their vowels or using accurate adjectives. So absolutely no problem there.

What I find it increasingly difficult to accept is the case of those who don’t even try to pronounce a foreign language, consistently copy-paste expressions from their mother tongue and consequently turn any conversation into an excruciating experience. More often than not their speech is barely understandable and they reinforce and perpetuate the old stereotype that Spaniards are simply hopeless at foreign languages.

I’m afraid Guillermo Amor belongs to this sorry category. After two years in Australia, he doesn’t seem to even care that his English is just embarrassing ("Yes, lo que pasa es que the game was difficool, eh?"). The interview below reminds me of the kind of chutzpah displayed by Pedro Almódovar during his acceptance speech at the 2003 Oscars. Is this going to change? I think the change is already happening but it’s so slow... My consolation is that you, my dear students, are trying hard to break away from that old cliche. Keep up the good work!