Purists, beware

From what I've been told by those who know, many Ecuadoreans are skeptical, to say the least, of U.S. politics, and many of them believe that the crime-ridden portrait that Hollywood shows of the United States is emblematic of reality. But that doesn't stop them from liking things American — and of therefore continuing to adopt English words as their own.
 
One example can be found in the upscale Guayaquil, Ecuador, shopping mall across the street from where I'm writing this message. Even a monolingual gringo American would have little trouble deciphering the fast-food menus of the mall or making sense of the menu in the Tony Roma's restaurand menu where I ate last night, where nearly every item was listed in English although with a Spanish description. Go to the places where most Ecuadoreans eat when they're not home, and you'll struggle if you don't know Spanish (or possibly even if you do, thanks to the many regional foods). But Ecuadoreans who have money — and there are many of them even though half or more of the country lives in poverty — find themselves drawn to food American and the words used to refer to them. And just as some English businesses have used French words for products as a symbol of romance, so too are many, many upscale (or hoping to be upscale) businesses adopting English names. American words of technology have become part of the language, and in a few cases (such as cheerleader becoming the preferred term over animadora) English words have even replaced Spanish ones.
 
Where it will lead, I don't know. Language is always changing, and today the biggest change in Spanish is the adoption of English words. It alarms purists and the occasional newspaper columnist, but these days it seems inevitable. As someone who has enjoyed learning, speaking and writing about the Spanish language, I don't like it. But unless the economy of the Western hemisphere changes radically, creeping anglicisms will be hard to stop.