Spanish Lesson

(Youtube.com)

Classes for GOP members began a few years ago but petered out over time, according to a spokesman for Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.), one of the organizers.

No amount of studying can prevent the occasional gaffe. Gingrich was a pioneer of bilingual communication as speaker of the House, but a news release his office issued for Cinco de Mayo in 1998 is still recalled with chuckles in the bilingual halls of power.

The release referred to Gingrich as "Hablador de la Casa" -- but "hablador" doesn't mean "speaker." It means someone who talks too much, a big mouth.

Then there's Romney's fiery "¡Patria o muerte -- venceremos!" in Miami. It happens to be a trademark line of Fidel Castro's.

Quoting Castro to Cuban Americans? ¡Caramba!

Cardenas, Romney's Cuban-born adviser, still winces. "It's one of those you wish you could take back," he says, adding that the speech was not properly vetted.

And yet, Latinos say, such stumbles are forgiven by people who know what it's like to flounder in another language.

So candidates can score points for sincere-seeming efforts to communicate, however awkward. Lorena Chambers, a Latina political consultant who has made ads for Democrats, recalls her evolving reaction to watching Gingrich on YouTube.

"I was struck by the accent in the beginning," Chambers says. "I thought, wow, this is really rough. Once I got past that I realized he was being really genuine. And my third reaction was, oh goodness! What came across was a genuine appeal for forgiveness. That should concern quite a few Democrats."

And don't forget this paradox: Even for the benefit of Latinos who speak English, sometimes it's advisable to use Spanish, as a fancy meta-political bank shot.

"There's a kind of symbolic value, more so than the accent or the words said," says Peter Zamora, a civil rights lawyer and co-chairman of the Hispanic Education Coalition. "It reflects that the speaker has internalized the value of bilingualism and biculturalism."

Back in Spanish class, "¿De dónde es Raquel?" asks Elena Tscherny, the congressional tutor provided by the Graduate School, USDA.