By Azi Dau

No one thinks of Spanish beyond learning it in school. Little do they know the language runs deeper than ¿Cómo estás? and ¿Dónde está el baño?

“The language affects the culture,” said Colombian-born Abe Dau. “It’s like the chicken and the egg.”

Colombia is known as the country with the most understandable Spanish in the world. But there are over 70 dialects and indigenous languages. Dialects are regional variations of a language that change common pronunciation, vocabulary, and tone of voice. Two of the most prominent dialects are coastal (costeño) and inland. 

Dialects develop because of geographic location and time. A language can also be influenced by other languages, creating a dialect. Howstuffworks uses a made-up scenario to explain the concept. It says to picture two groups of people who originally spoke the same language, causing a “geographical and social divide, [causing] distinct dialects, or accents, over time.”

Dau was born in Cartagena, a city on the coast. “Life is easier and happier near the beach,” as he recounts his childhood, “making costeño speaking more relaxed and joyful, including jokes and lively vocabulary.” 

“I grew up only knowing combined words that I actually thought were the real thing,” said Jim Dau, son of Abe Dau. “I was an adult before I learned that ‘qué vina’ wasn’t one word.” 

Costeño Spanish is known to speak fast and cut their words together. He was born in Cartagena as well, but only lived there until he was around 3-years-old. He returned to visit family some summers though, re-immersing himself into Colombian culture. 

The other popular dialect is away from the shore. “People inland are known for the most accent-free, cleanest, and most accessible Spanish in the world,” said Jim Dau. 

Because of this, lots of Latinx news anchors, actors and public figures are from Colombia. 

There are around 65 known indigenous languages. One of the families of indigenous languages is Creole, which mixes other indigenous languages with languages from enslaved Africans. Another is named Cariban, which is where the name Caribbean is from. It’s from the areas near the Caribbean Sea.

Many families of these languages aren’t just unique to Colombia, though. Languages from the Tupi-Guaraní family can go all the way to more southern countries like Argentina, while Quechan languages can stretch all of the western coast of South America. 

Modern life depends on communication. 

“Without languages, the world wouldn’t work,” Abraham Dau said.

(My grandfather and father 40+ years ago in Colombia. My father is the younger boy.)

Chicago is home to Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and Dr. Joe Dennis. But as his sticker-laden laptop states, he’s “Not that kind of doctor.” 

“I wanted to be a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. I didn’t quite get there, but I was a journalist for several years and won many state and regional awards. I wanted to teach and I’m getting to do that now,” Dennis said. “I got to do everything I wanted to do in life, so I’m really blessed with that.” 

Joseph Dennis was born in Chicago on August 30, 1976. He’s now the head of the mass communications department at Piedmont University in Demorest, Georgia. During the summer he instructs journalism courses in the Summer Media Academy at the University of Georgia in Athens. But he loves radio almost as much as journalism.

“I wanted to be the next Howard Stern,” he said. “I never got there, but I got to live my dream and do radio.”

From 2000 to 2009, Dennis hosted a radio show named the “Big Rock Show.” It was a Friday night show, but he worked full time at the station, WPUP-FM. “Radio was my major and is still a passion of mine,” he said..” The show brought back the 80s’ “hair metal” and was a Joe Dennis original.

If Dennis is known for anything, it would be his hats. He’s easy to pick out among summer camp instructors – he’s the one wearing the fedora.  He has eight fedoras, showing real commitment to the cap. He said that his love started when he ran into a hat stand in New York and the woman working there told him he would look great with a fedora. Sure enough, after trying on multiple, he fell in love. He claimed that his greatest inspiration to this part of his style is fellow half Filipino man, Bruno Stars.

“I always wondered what I’d look like in a fedora,” he said, recalling  the single most life-changing moment of his life, when he was at that stand in New York.. “She said, ‘You look great. Here, look at yourself.’ And I was like, I do look good.”

Dennis’ confidence transcends his fedora into his outlook on life. After careers in journalism, radio and now teaching, when asked if there was anything he would change about his life, he answered thoughtfully, “Huh. That’s a really profound question, really deep. Nothing.”

My name is Azareen Victoria Dau (I go by Azi) and I’m almost 14 years old. I was born in Washington, D.C. but moved to Richmond, Virginia when I was 6. I’m a rising freshman in the IB Program at Tucker High School. I was also in the IB Program at my middle school.

I was in my school’s yearbook and journalism leadership advisory in 7th and 8th grade. My favorite things to write are opinion, entertainment and news pieces. I’m especially interested in current events because I’m enthusiastic about activism and making a change. In 6th grade I co-began a student advocacy club. We continued it through 8th grade and focused on making smaller changes in our school.

One interesting thing about me is that I love linguistics (the study of languages) and international affairs. I’ve traveled my whole life, discovering my passion for learning about different languages and cultures. I’m actively learning four languages: Persian (I’m Persian), Spanish, French and Greek. I want to keep traveling and learning as much as I can because I think it might be something I want to study in college.

This is a picture of me and my best friend at a Five Below after a sleepover.

This is a picture of my dog, Coco. This was from her first birthday, last year.