Gingrich said in a speech Saturday that English should be the official language of the government and immersion should replace bilingual education. He told the National Federation of Republican Women that this was necessary "so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto."

The comments have been a buzz in the blogosphere where popular Web sites such as Latin Americanist, Latino Pundit and Vivir Latino, US Latino life in blog form, read headlines such as "Newt - Not Ghetto Fabulous."

In his video Gingrich says that his comments are not an attack on the Spanish language and he has never believed Spanish to be a language of people of low income, but he also reiterates his previous sentiment about immersion in the language.

Gingrich posted two videos. The English version of "A Message From Newt Gingrich" runs about two minutes. The Spanish adaptation, well rehearsed and coached, is subtitled in English and takes about a minute longer.

Gingrich says, in closing, that he hopes that you will accept this communication that he is offering from a "sincere heart." So far the "apology" has been viewed about 65,000 times in Spanish and 3,700 times in English.

Newt Gingrich Tries To Translate His Remarks on YouTube
Gingrich's Spanish 'Labored and Not Fluid
En Espanol and on YouTube