-Irma Galido
-Claudia Barragán
-Daniel Reyes y Nilko Andreas

Come through if you can.

Friend the event on Facebook.

Dear Urban Jibaro,

I work in the toy department of a major retailer in a pretty diverse part of Pennsylvania. I see a lot of Latino families and I am curious about something. Whenever a kid throw a tantrum in my department, I hear their mothers threaten them with "John Kletter" and they immediately start behaving in most cases.

I have 3 kids myself and I would love to know how John Kletter can help me when they act up.

My question is "Who is John Kletter, and why are Latino children so afraid of him?

"Gracias" (thats all the Spanish I know)

Misty (Lancaster PA)

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Ok...so being that fact that I am completely new at this, I honestly did not know what the hell Misty was talking about. I googled "John Kletter" and did not find much...and was about to move on to our next submission...that is until I mentioned the question to one of my friends (she made me swear not to reveal her name) who has a thick accent and she said "que eso de jon kleta?"and then it hit me me like a ton of bricks...we had a phonetic translation issue here....John Kletter doesn't exist...at least not in the Latino universe what Misty actually witnessed was the power of the almighty "CHANCLETA".

This whole ASK A LATINO thing is gonna be fun...

So now that we got that squared away...Click below to read my official response to the first "ASK A LATINO" question.

1800 cantaso (electric chair)

Enter as a solution Legal Match, an online attorney referral website that has begun the process of translating a few of the 4,000 pages on its legal matching website into Spanish with the goal of targeting Spanish speaking Latinos searching for legal advice, especially for immigration issues.

So far the company has translated its homepage, intake processes for each category of law and some pages of its law library. Plans are in place to translate the remaining pages in the coming months.

“Finding the right lawyer in the United States is difficult enough if you speak English and know something about the law,” said Anna Ostrovsky, general counsel and co-founder of LegalMatch. “If you are not familiar with the United States legal system, and don’t speak English, it’s even harder. We created LegalMatch to empower consumers seeking the right attorney for their legal needs. Making LegalMatch available in Spanish was a logical next move for us.”

I can't say if Legal Match is a good service or not, and apparently they have had some issues, pero it has to be better than the above alternative.

Via / Hispanic MPR

“Speaking two languages opens up a whole new world to children,” says Laurie Weaver, Ed.D., Associate Professor of Bilingual and Multicultural Studies at University of Houston-Clear Lake. “Not only will they be better prepared to understand others, they will also understand themselves and their own language better.”
Weaver is one of many parents who believes in the value of their children speaking two languages. Research has shown that kids who are routinely exposed to a second language from an early age, consistently score higher on English tests as an older child. Apparently learning a second language not only makes you bilingual, it also increases English proficiency.

Is it just me, or is the "en español" button on Noriega's site highly offensive?

The website will be in Spanish and English and its offerings will include entertainment, sports, music, and fashion content from Impremedia, Gibson Guitar, Remezcla, Billboard and Spanish Broadcasting System.

Via / Matt Ortega

I have to see the rest of the episodes but as a Latina, I'm a little offended at being told their is one path and one path only towards change and action.

See the rest of the videos yourself at Vote Hope.

Some Roman Catholic dioceses send recruiters to Latin America to bring priests or seminarians to the United States. The Episcopal Church, through its Central and South American Province, has a direct connection to Latin Americans who want to serve here. And Southern Baptist churches rely on word of mouth to find Latin American ministers.

Via / MSNBC
Image Via / Church Sign Generator

"We're moving rapidly to build communities that reflect and respect the lifestyles of our diverse members," Travis Katz, senior vice president and general manager of MySpace International, said in a statement. "MySpace en Español opens the community even wider, giving our Hispanic members the choice to share their experiences, connect with family members and plan their social lives in either Spanish or English."

According to the Director of the Instituto Cervantes -- the Spanish organization that looks to promote the language all over the world -- one of the main reasons that people are choosing to study Spanish is because they believe that it will professionally benefit them in today's global economy. He also pointed to Brazil's decision to make Spanish an mandatory subject in schools as an example of the growing importance of Spanish in the world.

"Your proposal is racist in intent and is being proposed to divide Nevadans at the cost of the rights of Hispanic Nevadans," said Rene Cantu of the Latin Chamber of Commerce in Las Vegas, adding that Latinos make up one fourth to one third of the state’s population.
"You're not Hispanic and you apparently don't understand what the Hispanics are up against in this community," testified John Mendoza, a long-time public servant who has served as a judge and district attorney.

Via / Colorlines

The effort, which aims to have 55,000 residents learn the language over the next four years, includes an aggressive advertising campaign with messages posted at supermarkets, bus depots and elsewhere touting the advantages of learning a new language.
Teams of people also have been dispatched to the streets to promote free English classes, which are offered by the Rancho Santiago Community College District.
"Business owners are screaming for workers, but they need them to speak English," said Mike Weisman, a chamber board member and partner at DGWB Advertising and Communications, which created the ad campaign.
Census statistics show that at least 51 percent of city residents "speak English less than very well." More than half the city's employees speak Spanish, and nearly every retail business has Spanish-speaking employees.