While I was sitting in the car, listening to my exchange student and her mother speaking back and forth in Spanish, it was comforting to hear the popular song “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha on the radio. I found it surprising how much American influence such as music and other things were present in Spain.
While we were on the bus going to cities outside of Toledo, such as Madrid, we heard many American songs on the radio. A lot of them were very old, like songs by Shania Twain, and some of them were relatively current. The Spaniards would sing the words to the songs, even though they didn’t have a clue what the songs meant.
In Toledo, there is a McDonald’s in the main square, but in Spain, it is pronounced “MacDonals.” If you pronounce it as “McDonald’s,” most of the people won’t have a clue what you are saying.
Many other English words are also used in Spain. One of the cell phone carriers there is called “Orange.” The mall in Toledo houses a store called “The Glow Store,” which has products like lava lamps and fiber optic lights.
There are brands in Spain that are equivalent to brands here, such as Nike, Adidas, and Roxy, all of which are sold in a store called Corte Ingles.
The night I got to Spain, we went to another exchange student’s house and the TV show “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” was on. I looked at their lips, and they didn’t match what was being said. Their lips were speaking English, but all you could hear was Spanish. After “Zack and Cody,” we watched the movie “Oceans 11,” which was in English. My exchange student had a switch on her TV so the audio could be in English or Spanish. So, we watched “Los Proud” or “The Proud Family,” half in English and half in Spanish.
Elizabeth Tauber can be reached for comment at [email protected].