Spanish high. (Letters).

I just read Liesl Schillinger's "Spanish Disquisition" (October) and at first, being a Latino myself, I was kind of disappointed in what she was writing. But as I kept on reading, I ended up loving it. But she is wrong about one thing: Shakira is from Colombia ... not Peru.

CARLOS ALEJANDRO
Chicago, Ill.

What a brilliant and honest article by Schillinger on the collective perception of the Spanish language in our country! As a Spanish professor and a nonnative speaker of the language, I have a deep appreciation of Spanish, much like Schillinger herself. I applaud her honest analysis and well-written article.

JENNIFER GARSON
Pasadena City College, Calif.

Enough already! Recent issues of the Monthly have included articles that frankly seem like indulgences on the part of the editors--and "Spanish Disquisition" takes the prize, an inordinately silly piece that makes pompous statements such as "French is a lovely, but preening language--judgmental but insincere." (The author then proceeds to characterize her relation to Spanish as an "amour fou" ... Ma foi!) Or how about the assertion that the Spanish influence on Western culture was broadened in the last 100 years by the "oeuvre" (that pesky preening French again) of the three Pablos--Casals, Picasso, and Neruda" Given that this essay deals with Spanish as a language, it is rather odd that two of the three chosen influences are not known primarily for their use of the language.

How terrific that Schillinger has had a really great South American boyfriend and that she had a trip to Spain. But why on earth would you think that her musings about this merit publication?

MARSHALL CARTER
U.S. Embassy, Buenos Aires