I 'll spare you the obvious jokes, like the one that wonders how Arnold Schwarzenegger can lecture immigrants about speaking English when he doesn't speak it himself. He's an easy mark, so I won't go there. I will, though, do something unexpected: I'll defend the governor's English.
His accent is no different from that of any other adult immigrant; his hard-angle enunciation skids off the path of English's lilting curves. There isn't an immigrant whose accent doesn't betray his origin. I can say that freely because I'm an unapologetic fan of language.
I was once mesmerized by three young people, standing in line to buy a burger, talking in animated sign language. They interrupted each other, laughed with each other; they were all talking at the same time. They were loud that's the only way I can describe it.
So I can't make fun of Schwarzenegger's accent. It reminds me of a tuba in an oompah band. But the governor's recent choice of target was off the mark.
At a convention of Hispanic journalists, Schwarzenegger admonished Latino immigrants to turn off their Spanish-language television programs. His comment reportedly stunned the audience to silence. I've been to those Hispanic journalist conventions, and an increasing number of the attendees come from Spanish-language media.
The governor was asking many people in his audience to bite the hand that feeds them. I 'll spare you the obvious jokes, like the one that wonders how Arnold Schwarzenegger can lecture immigrants about speaking English when he doesn't speak it himself.
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