A Cuban woman living in Switzerland sparked a debate on social media by posting a video in which she clearly explains why she does not raise her children in Spanish and, on top of that, states that Cuba and its language do not interest her at all.
The content creator @sissijoyeria, who lives in Switzerland, shared the video on TikTok last Saturday in response to a recurring question from her followers: why her daughter Linda does not speak Spanish.
Her response left no room for ambiguity: "I speak to my children in whatever language I want. I live in Switzerland, I explain the culture here in Switzerland, I teach them the languages here in Switzerland, and I want them to thrive in their country, which is Switzerland."
The woman went further and flatly rejected any connection to her country of origin: "I’m not interested in anything about Cuba, I’m not interested in Spanish, I’m not interested in that baggage, I have nothing to do with that."
Regarding his Cuban passport, he stated that he doesn't even know where it is: "I don't even have it, I don't use it, I don't even know where I put it when I moved."
The clip ended with a direct message to those questioning her decision: "Raise your children with the mindset of where you are living and with the language of where you live, because that’s what will help your children succeed. So, don't ask me anymore if the girl speaks Spanish: the girl speaks Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, whatever language I choose."
He also added: "I don't care about Spanish, I don't care about the dictatorship in Cuba, I'm not interested in any of that."
The video recalls another similar controversy featuring a Cuban resident in Switzerland this year. In March, another Cuban living in that country stated that she was also not interested in teaching Spanish to her children, which also sparked debate on social media.
Days later, a Cuban woman in Italy reacted with indignation to that stance and expanded the discussion on social media about integration in the host country and the preservation of language and cultural identity.
The Swiss context has its peculiarities: the country has four official languages — German, French, Italian, and Romansh — and Spanish is not among them.
Child bilingualism has also been the subject of numerous studies. An article from BBC Mundo about bilingual children discusses some common beliefs surrounding the simultaneous learning of two languages and explains that speaking more than one language does not necessarily imply a delay in the child's linguistic development.
The debate, however, often takes on different nuances on social media, where opinions clash over issues such as integration in the country of residence, the transmission of the native language, and the preservation of cultural ties. The video by @sissijoyeria garnered 170 comments in just a few days.
Filed under: