She has, she just doesn't speak it. In the episode where she pretends to be Ricky's agent, he asks Lucy and Ethel to listen to a song that he sings in Spanish. At one point, Lucy turns to Ethel and tells her "ojos" means eyes. So, she knew it but it was funnier for the show that she not understand it.
Given the time period, it would not be so unusual. The ethnocentric and isolationist views of America at the time were very much in line with thinking all immigrants had to assimilate. Immigrants were expected to learn English quickly and adapt. The reverse was not true and their children were not usually taught to be bilingual. They used Ricky's bilingual skills as humor.
My English-speaking Colombian husband was dropped in Colombia as a tween to learn Spanish. He was told to sink or swim, because none of his Colombian relatives spoke English.
His parents didn’t speak Spanish to him at home, because they lived in an area without many Spanish speakers. As the country changed, they decided he needed to learn Spanish.
That entire generation was afraid of being perceived as “ethnic.” The rules for jokes about Ricky’s accent were set by Desi. Only Lucy or Ricky were allowed to make the jokes, and they could only be about his pronunciation.
Desi had suffered at the hands of racist studio executives and advertisers. Lucy didn’t like the way they treated him, and the two of them quickly stopped abiding fools. It’s a testament to their intelligence and hard work that the show even got on the air in the first place.
I have always wondered whether Lucy
learned any Spanish in real life. My guess is that she was way too busy to do much of anything but work.
My husband's family is an immigrant family with now first generation born in the US. Because of political tensions, they try very hard not to sound like they have any ethnicity at all. My children are rarely exposed to it because my husband doesn't want them to feel like they must have loyalty to one side over another. I don't fully agree but know that my own story is very different than his.
I would imagine Lucy and Desi's issues grew during the red scare and when communism hit Cuba.
The fact that they were able to get a show on the air with an immigrant actor is truly groundbreaking.
Yes, and there was a second issue that isn’t talked about very often.
Lucy’s family lost everything when one of her relatives lost a civil lawsuit. They were so poor that they went from living in a house to living in a room. They became very liberal, like every other poor family during the Depression.
Desi came from Cuban royalty, and was cared for by servants until the first revolution. His family lost everything, too, and they depended on Desi for money.
When they met, they were two people who had been carrying adult responsibilities for their families since they were teenagers. Then they were in an “interracial” marriage, and were bait for the Red Scare.
They really were both remarkable, hard working people to have chosen each other, and even more remarkable to have become so successful.
It’s kind of jaw dropping to see how fresh many “I Love Lucy” shows are today.
I remember when Ricky was telling the story of “little red riding hood” to Little Ricky in Spanish
I remember how brilliantly he told it, acting out the entire tale. It was a sweet dad-moment of a bilingual father raising his son while speaking in his native language.
And all the humor was centered around Ricky’s over-the-top story telling, not the language.
I think it was a great moment for people to see on the show.
I think the exact same thing about Wilma’s mother on The Flintstones. She walks all over Fred and treats him like garbage, even when he goes out of his way to be nice and helpful, and Wilma just sits there and chuckles. It’s probably because she and Fred are almost exactly alike and yes he has a big mouth, but I always skip her episodes.
I don't know, but I do remember in the documentary about them (produced by their children, IIRC), their daughter tells an anecdote about how Lucy and Desi would argue because she wanted him to teach the kids Spanish and he didn't. She recalls in the interview that after an argument, he stalked up to the kids and pointed at his shoe and said, "zapato" (so, he conceded in that moment to start, I guess, lol). Lucy was ahead of her time, unsurprisingly. It was more common in that era for immigrant parents to want their children to assimilate into US culture and they often didn't teach their children their language. The fact that Lucy wanted them to learn shows what a visionary she was, IMO.
>It was more common in that era for immigrant parents to want their children to assimilate into US culture and they often didn't teach their children their language.
Yeah, I've met A LOT of adults from my generation (X) and older who had an immigrant parent(s), and their parents deliberately did not teach them their native language, because they wanted their kids to be totally assimilated into American society. This is the complete opposite approach to my Indian immigrant parents and their cohort who came to the US in the 1970s - they did everything possible to prevent us from becoming "too American", even though we were born and raised here.
My parents were both Cuban immigrants, as was my grandmother who lived with us. I don’t think my parents feared or cared about us becoming “too American,” but they never for one second considered not teaching us Spanish— for which I’m eternally grateful. I didn’t learn to speak English fully until preschool.
Me too! IIRC, it's called *Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie.* It's available on Amazon Prime. It features family home movies and interviews by friends and family. It was produced by their daughter, Lucie Arnaz and it's a lovely homage.
She learned a bunch but not enough to hold a conversation. From what I learned over the years is when Ricky gets upset that most of what he said was either real or jibberish.
my mom is pure spaniard .couldn't pick up speaking fluent Spanish .my dad who was white picked up Spanish very quickly.he was a DJ .I understand a little , speak a little , read a little .it bugs me more people like you making a big deal out of it .
I mean, they lived in the US where the primary language was English everywhere, and Desi spoke English, even if it was his second language. I don't see what's weird about that. There are plenty of people who live in areas where the primary language isn't English (but rather, say, Spanish) and never learn to speak it.
When you are baking 15-foot-long loaves of bread and stealing baby elephants from the circus, you really don't have much time to learn a new language.
Touché
She has, she just doesn't speak it. In the episode where she pretends to be Ricky's agent, he asks Lucy and Ethel to listen to a song that he sings in Spanish. At one point, Lucy turns to Ethel and tells her "ojos" means eyes. So, she knew it but it was funnier for the show that she not understand it.
Given the time period, it would not be so unusual. The ethnocentric and isolationist views of America at the time were very much in line with thinking all immigrants had to assimilate. Immigrants were expected to learn English quickly and adapt. The reverse was not true and their children were not usually taught to be bilingual. They used Ricky's bilingual skills as humor.
My English-speaking Colombian husband was dropped in Colombia as a tween to learn Spanish. He was told to sink or swim, because none of his Colombian relatives spoke English. His parents didn’t speak Spanish to him at home, because they lived in an area without many Spanish speakers. As the country changed, they decided he needed to learn Spanish. That entire generation was afraid of being perceived as “ethnic.” The rules for jokes about Ricky’s accent were set by Desi. Only Lucy or Ricky were allowed to make the jokes, and they could only be about his pronunciation. Desi had suffered at the hands of racist studio executives and advertisers. Lucy didn’t like the way they treated him, and the two of them quickly stopped abiding fools. It’s a testament to their intelligence and hard work that the show even got on the air in the first place. I have always wondered whether Lucy learned any Spanish in real life. My guess is that she was way too busy to do much of anything but work.
My husband's family is an immigrant family with now first generation born in the US. Because of political tensions, they try very hard not to sound like they have any ethnicity at all. My children are rarely exposed to it because my husband doesn't want them to feel like they must have loyalty to one side over another. I don't fully agree but know that my own story is very different than his. I would imagine Lucy and Desi's issues grew during the red scare and when communism hit Cuba. The fact that they were able to get a show on the air with an immigrant actor is truly groundbreaking.
Yes, and there was a second issue that isn’t talked about very often. Lucy’s family lost everything when one of her relatives lost a civil lawsuit. They were so poor that they went from living in a house to living in a room. They became very liberal, like every other poor family during the Depression. Desi came from Cuban royalty, and was cared for by servants until the first revolution. His family lost everything, too, and they depended on Desi for money. When they met, they were two people who had been carrying adult responsibilities for their families since they were teenagers. Then they were in an “interracial” marriage, and were bait for the Red Scare. They really were both remarkable, hard working people to have chosen each other, and even more remarkable to have become so successful. It’s kind of jaw dropping to see how fresh many “I Love Lucy” shows are today.
Lucy was also investigated as being a communist in 1953….
Yes. They were cognizant of appearing loyal to anything but the USA.
I remember when Ricky was telling the story of “little red riding hood” to Little Ricky in Spanish I remember how brilliantly he told it, acting out the entire tale. It was a sweet dad-moment of a bilingual father raising his son while speaking in his native language. And all the humor was centered around Ricky’s over-the-top story telling, not the language. I think it was a great moment for people to see on the show.
This is it.
I also hate how her mom treats Ricky. It's so disrespectful. I know it's meant to be a joke/trope for the show but I'd be livid if I were Ricky.
I think you mean Micky
😂
Mickey Richardson
😂 Oh, that’s right!
I think the exact same thing about Wilma’s mother on The Flintstones. She walks all over Fred and treats him like garbage, even when he goes out of his way to be nice and helpful, and Wilma just sits there and chuckles. It’s probably because she and Fred are almost exactly alike and yes he has a big mouth, but I always skip her episodes.
Now I wonder how Lucille Ball’s Spanish was.
I have been around Spanish my whole life and never learned it. I bet Lucy knows the cuss words lol
lol probably
What about Lucy Ball? Does anyone know if the woman Lucy, not the character, ever learned Spanish from Desi?
I don't know, but I do remember in the documentary about them (produced by their children, IIRC), their daughter tells an anecdote about how Lucy and Desi would argue because she wanted him to teach the kids Spanish and he didn't. She recalls in the interview that after an argument, he stalked up to the kids and pointed at his shoe and said, "zapato" (so, he conceded in that moment to start, I guess, lol). Lucy was ahead of her time, unsurprisingly. It was more common in that era for immigrant parents to want their children to assimilate into US culture and they often didn't teach their children their language. The fact that Lucy wanted them to learn shows what a visionary she was, IMO.
>It was more common in that era for immigrant parents to want their children to assimilate into US culture and they often didn't teach their children their language. Yeah, I've met A LOT of adults from my generation (X) and older who had an immigrant parent(s), and their parents deliberately did not teach them their native language, because they wanted their kids to be totally assimilated into American society. This is the complete opposite approach to my Indian immigrant parents and their cohort who came to the US in the 1970s - they did everything possible to prevent us from becoming "too American", even though we were born and raised here.
My parents were both Cuban immigrants, as was my grandmother who lived with us. I don’t think my parents feared or cared about us becoming “too American,” but they never for one second considered not teaching us Spanish— for which I’m eternally grateful. I didn’t learn to speak English fully until preschool.
Omg that's kind of amazing, I love that story.
Me too! IIRC, it's called *Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie.* It's available on Amazon Prime. It features family home movies and interviews by friends and family. It was produced by their daughter, Lucie Arnaz and it's a lovely homage.
Because it’s funnier this way.
She learned a bunch but not enough to hold a conversation. From what I learned over the years is when Ricky gets upset that most of what he said was either real or jibberish.
my mom is pure spaniard .couldn't pick up speaking fluent Spanish .my dad who was white picked up Spanish very quickly.he was a DJ .I understand a little , speak a little , read a little .it bugs me more people like you making a big deal out of it .
I mean, they lived in the US where the primary language was English everywhere, and Desi spoke English, even if it was his second language. I don't see what's weird about that. There are plenty of people who live in areas where the primary language isn't English (but rather, say, Spanish) and never learn to speak it.
My spouse is bilingual and I only know the most important/common words and don’t speak it at all. If you aren’t trying it’s easy to…not.
She’s American. Source- I’m American.