Adrian Chavez does outreach work with his manual
The Efrén Hernández room at Fenal 36 , on its last day of celebration, witnessed the presentation of the translator and writer Adrián Chávez , who in the company of a large audience, presented his book “Manual del español errores” (Manual of Incorrect Spanish) , pointing out that the Spanish language is not dead and will not die, not soon.
The professor and linguistics educator said he was happy to be back in León , a city he has visited on several occasions, but not like this one, where he has taken his time to enjoy it.
He commented that since he started doing outreach on networks , he has observed that the social barrier is low, exposing different forms of linguistics in relation to scientific knowledge , which makes him feel like an act of rebellion , lacking criteria to judge people's speech, since in reality it is linguistics 1.0 .
“Anyone who studies a language degree has a first shock where it turns out that everything they knew is false , we don't have to have a normative relationship , but the relationship we can have with language is bigger and more fun .”
He said that his book “Manual del español incorrecto” is a manifesto that confronts linguistic normativism , being an introduction to linguistics in its simplest premise, observing reality , trying to understand languages and their speakers .
“It’s a popular book , it’s intended as a popular book ,” he shared.
The writer explained that he did not expect the response he received regarding linguistics , noting that he realized this when he started using social media , where he made a video about inclusive language that went viral , realizing the distance between how we relate to each other and what linguists do.
“Our relationship with language often stems from normativity . I thought there was an interesting discussion about inclusive language in social terms , given what's happening with language. I find the way it's being resolved appealing.”
He also explained how his text was born, highlighting that he has been a writer for 12 years and that “Manual del español incorrecto” is the first of his books to be published by a major publishing house . He pointed out that the information was already in the videos and when it came time to write it, it was a natural process .
Adrián Chávez confessed that the most difficult part of his work was the end , where he had to find an ending that was not apocalyptic , "a large part of the book is a denunciation , it seeks to make more people know about their language , but in the end the prejudice is the spoiler , because the book tries to corner the normativity , channeling its arguments in detail to see if they are valid , explaining that Spanish is safe , nothing happens," he concluded.
AM
