I know enough Spanish that when I ask a food worker what the Spanish word is for “pretzel” and she responds “cookie”, then she has a pretty basic vocabulary - and she has been here for years.
Interesting about the size; besides the obvious (nutrition), I wonder if it is also a reflection of less (or no) European ancestry. I read that North Koreans that flee into Red China are easy to catch because not only do they lack the Chinese language, but they are short (definitely from malnutrition) - they can be up to 6” shorter than South Koreans.
So far as I know there is no Spanish word for Pretzel which is a northern European food. In Mexico they have small rolls which could actually be reconfigured into a pretzel shape if desired. Those are called Bolillos if I remember correctly from 50 years ago.
At that time I also travel far south in Mexico to San Cristobal de las Casas. There I stayed for a few days at the home of Franz Blom, a retired anthropologist. In the evening he would sit with some of us staying there and talk about related subjects. He pointed out that the Indians who lived traditionally, eating wild game and plants were much healthier than than the Indians who were trying to live the “civilized” life and eating tortillas and beans with chicken as a condiment. A group of us rented horses and rode 6 miles out to a roadless village. Three people there spoke Spanish, the mayor and his 2 deputies. The houses were traditionally built with steeply sloped thatch roofs. The people wore traditional woven garments with colors and patterns. All this looking much better than the sloppy shacks with sheet metal roofs, and the faded ragged shirts and pants held up with rope not belts worn by the “civilized” Indians. These are the desperate people who try to come for work in the US. Mainly it is the strongest and most motivated who attempt the trip.