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Glee “The Spanish Teacher” episode

This episode of Glee is all about negotiating the Spanish language in an English-dominant US high school. There are some great examples of indexicality and lines that could be considered Mock Spanish. The episode can be accessed on hulu: http://www.hulu.com/watch/326451/glee-the-spanish-teacher

Moments to look for:

The first 10 minutes or so (before the first commercial break) is full of negotiations of Spanish–faking it, teaching it, learning it, and singing it. Features the songs “La Cucaracha” and “Sexy and I Know It” (English and Spanish mixed together).

At around 20 minutes (before the next commercial break), Mercedes performs Gloria Estefan’s “Don’t Wanna Lose You/Si voy a perderte ya no vuelves.”

At about 21 minutes (after the commercials), the boys perform “Bamboleo / Hero Medley” (Gypsy Kings / Enrique Iglesias), followed by a comment from Will: “that was some muy serious footwork! muy means very,” some discussion of wearing Mexican boots (for a Spanish, not Mexican song), and challenging Will’s authority as a Spanish teacher.

At minute 28, Will says in suddenly fluent Spanish, “Quien es mas macho de Will Schuster?” subtitled as “Who is more macho than Will Schuster?” After this we see him studying Spanish at home, pronouncing “espanol” and “conversacion” with a clearly Anglo accent.

After this, Ricky Martin (David Martinez in the show) and Santana perform ‘La Isla Bonita’ (Madonna). There is a bit of Spanish dialogue exchanged between Santana, David, and Will. Interestingly, David is the only one who sounds like a native and fluent speaker, even though I think Santana’s character is supposed to be as well.

Around minute 33, after a commercial break, Will performs “A Little Less Conversation” (Elvis Presley), with English and Spanish lyrics and dressed as a Spanish bullfighter. Santana is appalled and confronts him in front of everyone about the strereotypes he portrays in his performances.