Interview with Roberto Guzmán

              Caribbean Diaspora Oral History Collection
Interview with Roberto Guzmán
Miami, FL, June 10, 2016
Interview asm0344000021 Interviewed by Julio Estoino Recorded by Javier Carrion Outline by Reymond Sanchez Length 00:46:37 Interview with Robert Guzmán, a lawyer, linguist, and writer who graduated from law school in both Santo Domingo and Paris. He is a medical translator in eight different languages and a member of the Academia Dominicana de la Lengua. He is a correspondent to the Real Academia de la Lengua in Spain and is deeply embedded in South Florida’s Dominican community.
This interview forms part of the Caribbean Diaspora Oral History Collection of the University of Miami Libraries Special Collections.
This oral history expresses the views, memories and opinions of the interviewee. It does not represent the viewpoints of the University of Miami, its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The University of Miami makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interview and expressly disclaims any liability therefor.
Copyright to this interview lies with the University of Miami. It may not be reproduced, retransmitted, published, distributed, or broadcast without the permission of the University of Miami Libraries Special Collections. For information about obtaining copies or to request permission to publish any part of this interview, please contact Special Collections at asc@miami.edu.
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INTERVIEW OUTLINE
- 00:00:13: Introduction
- 00:00:31: We’re going to start off with the beginning. Where you were born, your family, the beginning. So tell me about that.
- 00:01:21: How was your family?
- 00:02:20: Where did your education start and how did it start?
- 00:03:40: Can you identify a point in your childhood where you started to become interested in languages and linguistics?
- 00:05:14: Till what age did you live in the Dominican Republic
- 00:06:19: How was your life living under Trujillo’s government?
- 00:08:26: Did his government influence in you leaving the country?
- 00:09:03: How was it adapting to living in Paris coming from how different life is in the Dominican Republic?
- 00:10:26: Did you go to study law because you thought it was your vocation?
- 00:11:20: Did you already know French when you moved to France?
- 00:12:13: How was your life when you moved back to the Dominican Republic?
- 00:13:06: Why and when did you decide to come to the U.S?
- 00:14:01: By this time, you were already married and had your own family right?
- 00:15:10: Did you come directly to Miami or did you go somewhere else first?
- 00:16:43: How as your experience being a translator as Jackson Memorial Hospital? I assume it was very interesting
- 00:19:24: What other jobs did you do besides working at the hospital?
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- 00:20:08: When did you start to publicly talk about your thoughts on language, specifically the Spanish language?
- 00:21:46: After your book, did that lead to your membership to the Dominican Academy of Language?
- 00:23:39: Do we speak Spanish or Castellano?
- 00:24:43: What are your thoughts on the use of Spanish in the Unites States?
- 00:26:30: Many people say that the Spanish people are speaking now is horrible. Do you agree with that sentiment?
- 00:27:58: There was some legislation done recently that was anti-bilingual. There are some places of business where speaking Spanish is frowned upon. Have you noticed if that has changed or if people have become more accepting of Spanish?
- 00:31:00: There has recently been this sort of anti-immigrant sentiment in a lot of the population and in the U.S. this can be interpreted as fundamentally anti-Hispanic especially with these new presidential candidates. What are your thoughts on this?
- 00:32:30: There have been discussions over who speaks the better Spanish? For example, Cubans don’t use S’s or R’s and the fact that Argentinians change the pronunciation of many words. What do you think about this?
- 00:34:15: If a white person who does not speak Spanish would like to learn Spanish how would they go about doing it if like you just said, there are many variations of words and how people speak Spanish depending on what country you are from.
- 00:36:10: Sometimes when I watch Spanish news I hear words that in my country would be considered curse words but in others they are accepted. Do you think curse words exist?
- 00:38:05: How important do you think it is for our children to keep speaking Spanish in order to conserve the language?
- 00:40:41: Do you think that Spanglish will become an official language?
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- 00:41:09: There are studies that say much of the youth here in Miami will eventually stop speaking Spanish because they will get adjusted to the American culture. Do you think that?
- 00:44:52: What is your message to Spanish speaking people in the U.S?
- 00:46:00: In what language do you want the words on your tombstone to be?
- 00:46:37: END OF INTERVIEW