Globalization is the transformation of local thoughts into global ones. This has implications for countries around the world, some good and some bad. Advances in communication technologies, such as the internet, empower people everywhere to communicate and exchange ideas about their respective countries. A European can learn about the socio-political perspectives of Africans or Australians just by turning on the computer and surfing to the right sites. In a little more than the last ten years, so much has happened to shrink the world via cyberspace. Globalization in helping people exchange opinions may seem like a good thing. However, many people may lose their own culture and adopt the ways of a dominant one. Some social theorists view this as one culture imposing itself on others, but they ignore the fact that people are free to choose whatever they want.
Because Colombia has more than 45 different cultures and dialects in addition to having Spanish as a common language, it makes an interesting case study for this worldwide phenomenon. In Colombia, one is surrounded by an explosion of multiculturalism that has been present there for centuries. Despite this diversity, there is a wide acceptance of North American Pop Culture. Not in an Andy Warhol or Quentin Tarantino sense in which Colombians of all kinds learn about U.S. lifestyles which often are unfamiliar to them. I refer to the Pop Culture in which Paris Hilton is worshiped as a pseudo goddess, where scandals are written down in the newspaper even if half the people in the country don’t have a clue who Lindsay Lohan is, and where the latest fashion trends appear in Glamor magazines so people can dress and act like their favorite celebrities
The written media has certainly influenced people in their daily living, and television and movies have taken a toll in language. Thanks to the introduction of the Hollywood blockbusters people have started to add English words to their lexical, but not mimicking Spanglish. If you are in Colombia don’t be confused if a guy or girl and say to you “how are you Viejo men?” or “Que mas men?” These two examples I mentioned are just simple ways to greet people and are more commonly used by young individuals rather than adults.
Globalization and the idealistic Hollywood machinery had installed a new stereotype of Americans, as people who are shown to be perfect and rich.
Angeles Somos (translation: We Are Angels) to show the new generations that their local cultures have something to be proud of instead of accepting a new and forgetting the local traditions of their land.
Books that can help with your Spanish: Spanish Subjunctive; Past tenses; Pronoun usage