Why should we have to learn Spanish when this is an English speaking country?
mizzhollywood26 asked:
I say if Spanish speaking people are going to come over here, they should have to learn English. Not the other way around.
in school growing up, we are required to Spanish.
even in college for majors. I’m 26, and I remember looking at some majors that you would least expect that would require spanish classes.
How to learn Spanish audio books
I say if Spanish speaking people are going to come over here, they should have to learn English. Not the other way around.
in school growing up, we are required to Spanish.
even in college for majors. I’m 26, and I remember looking at some majors that you would least expect that would require spanish classes.
How to learn Spanish audio books
December 6th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
110% agree to speak english in an english speaking country
December 8th, 2008 at 4:19 am
In theory, yes. In practice, it’s not that simple.
People can bluster, stamp their feet, hold their breath all they want. The fact is that many of the Spanish speakers who come over are just not going to be up to speed in English. The manual labor jobs many of them take do not require much English knowledge.
The potential cheap labor available is just too tempting for employers to pass up over English vs Spanish issues. So many people here can only communicate in Spanish. That’s reality.
This isn’t the first time in U.S. history that things were thus. European immigrants from Germany, Italy, and laborers from China, etc. came over to work in the U.S. during the 19th century and couldn’t speak much English. They lived in their own little communities, and worked for peanuts to build our railroads and do all sorts of other labor jobs.
December 9th, 2008 at 7:57 am
you dont have to learn spanish… nobody has to learn anything if they dont want too. Learning only makes you wiser and better for this world
December 10th, 2008 at 5:33 am
So we can understand what they are saying about us when they think we don’t understand the lingo.
Just don’t let them know you speak it.
December 11th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I agree. I can’t imagine any country caving in to such a degree that the inhabitants are made to learn an immigrants language. You literally can’t go to certain parts of the country unless you speak Spanish.
December 13th, 2008 at 5:38 am
you are right but is always good to know 2 laungages if you look now every where you go they preffered a bilingual person. sometimes if two people walk into a office at the same time apply for the same position. say you have better quality job experience than the other person. you are the perfect candidate for this position. but the other person knows spanish and english. and the job description states bilingual prefer who you think will get the job. the other person probally dont even have experience but for the fact they speak spanish an english. they will hired that person even if it means for them to spend more time training this individual. trust me you cant go wrong speaking more than one launguage.
December 14th, 2008 at 11:27 am
I agree with you and have even went to the point of going to my kids school and going off. This is America, we speak English and I be damn if you think my child is going to learn a language in grade school, not a course offering in high school but in elementary school because there are so many spacish speaking americans….the way I feel is this is our country. we need to take it back and return to our language!
I still believe we Americans since its so cheap in Mexico to invade their country and keep our traditions like the Hispanics do here and we have to obey by them and park our asses there and let them take care of us!
December 17th, 2008 at 12:07 am
I, personally, agree with you. I have many relatives that speak Spanish when they are at family gatherings and to each other and to other hispanics but we all know English and feel the same as you. We are still proud of our background and our culture and we will never, ever give it up but we are in the United States and people need to know English in order to make their way here.
December 20th, 2008 at 8:33 am
You are correct and I agree. Simple and sweet.
December 23rd, 2008 at 8:42 am
agreed, they should have to learn english not the other way around
December 24th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
I don’t think we should “have” to. I admit that I resent having to press “1″ to hear a voicemail message in English. That should be the default.
However, it could help you with getting a job, where bilingualism could be a selling point with a prospective employer.
December 26th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Try going to Belgium where you need to speak French, German, Dutch and english.
Americans are such peabrains. We need to be more cultural and grow like every other nation. (But yes spanish speaking people should learn English as well.)
December 27th, 2008 at 4:46 am
It is funny that you are upset that you have to learn a language that was originally forced on the native people. To be consistent, I assume you would have been in support of all Europeans learning Native American languages, and not having English be used either. Do you speak any native American languages? Or do you even speak English correct? Do you spell it ‘colour’ or ‘color’?
For the record, I am selfish and don’t want to have to learn any other languages, I want everyone to learn English. But I admit that is selfish.
December 27th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
The spanish speaking community doesn’t have a choice. The United States is a melting pot of cultures..I say we learn all the languages in the world so that way we don’t misunderstand each other…So if its the class you hate specify it don’t blame it on the language!!! The best thing that could happen to you IS being a Latina, if you dnt knw the hassle of being a spanish speaker dnt even comment on it…Embrace the beautiful language!!…We do to your language.
December 30th, 2008 at 9:08 am
I agree that people from other countries SHOULD learn to speak and function in English. As for our HAVING to learn Spanish, we do not HAVE to. However, depending on the career you choose; ie. criminal justice, etc. we were advised by criminal justice professors as far back as 1981 to learn Spanish to further our careers. This would be the recommendation in any community with a large foreign speaking element. This does not mean we are capitulating in our belief that English should be the offical language in our nation. (I am NOT implying that all Hispanics are criminals!!!)
January 1st, 2009 at 3:04 am
Who is making you learn spanish? The fact is we don’t have to learn spanish.
January 3rd, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Actually, we have no national language. You act like it is an insult to you if someone speaks spanish.
Do you think that being biligual is a negative trait?
If people don’t want to learn English, let them suffer. They will never succeed here, and they shouldn’t. Well, not unless they live in Miami or Puerto Rico (which is a US territory).
Stop taking it so personally. If you go to Puerto Rico, Guam, or the Philippines would you expect people to speak English? They are all owned by the US.
Also, why are you just attacking Spanish-speaking people? Are you prejudiced?
If you don’t want to learn another language, you don’t have to. Just fail the class. Do you feel the same about math, history, home ec, or phys ed. Just do your best. It is very respectable to speak other languages.
For some people, it is not required that they speak English to contribute to the USA. Its not as if you get off the boat from Chile and then suddenly English flows from your mouth like a Shakespearian King.
MOST of the latin immigrants want to be able to speak English, and most of try to learn, and eventually succeed. It just takes time. They are only human.
It is a very respectable thing to speak more than one language. If you don’t want to learn another one, that is fine. But it would definately improve how people see you and how you see yourself. I’m not saying learn Spanish, I am just saying that it would be a very respectable quality. If you want, you could try to learn German, French, Italian, Dutch or whatever. Don’t be so closed minded that you aren’t trying to improve yourself.
January 7th, 2009 at 8:54 am
People in many other countries learn at least two languages. Many know three or more. It is a mark of ignorance and of arrogance to think that you only need one language. If not for the practicality of it, then for at least the intellectual exercise of learning another language. This is one of the reasons why the rest of the world thinks amerikans are so stupid. Even people in the poor countries of Africa can speak more than one language. It helps them communicate with their neighbors. Multilingual ability is not limited to poor countries, most of the rich and developed countries’ citizens speak at least two languages. Look at europeans, many of them speak at least two languages. Many swiss can speak german and italian. Many belgians speak german and french. Ukranians speak russian and ukranian. I know bulgarians that speak bulgarian, russian, and english. And now look at America, stupid dumb amerikans that only speak one language, that can’t even communicate with their neighbors. How sad and pathetic.
January 8th, 2009 at 11:14 am
That’s just it! It is not JUST an English-speaking country anymore. Nobody says you have to learn Spanish.
Learning Spanish WILL open doors for you as you pursue your career. Especially if you are young and just entering the workforce.
While I do agree that immigrants should be learning English when they come here, not everyone will develop this skill as quickly as some. If you work with the public, Spanish is an asset. Like it or not, Spanish-speaking people are growing in numbers and are not going to go away.
January 8th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
We should all attempt to learn Spanish because our government has failed to stop the influx of illegal immigration and alot of illegal immigrants speak only Spanish. The government has looked the other way while illegal immigration grows leaps and bounds. We need to be able to communicate with whoever resides in this country. Those who speak Spanish should also try and learn English to communicate. Look, the federal government has sent clear signals that they are not about to get serious and stop illegal immigration. They are window dressing the issue. Illegal immigration will continue and the numbers will become more and more! Most will be Spanish speaking individual’s! When a government refuses to enforce it’s law’s against a foreign invasion….there is not much anyone can do except gripe and complain for whatever that is worth! Both Republican’s and Democrats are equally to blame for this situation. they both want illegal immigration to continue, their action’s of not stopping it are the proof in the pudding! Learn Spanish, if you can….it will come in handy and in the long-run it could save your life! When your out in mainstream America in the general public it is comforting to know what those around you are saying. Especially if they are planning your immediate demise! Those of you who speak only Spanish…need to at least learn English as a good-will gesture to off-set the invasion into the U.S.A., a soverneign nation. Entering the U.S. illegally is a criminal act, although the U.S. government has never made a serious commitment to stop it! To many government officials get paid to look the other way! America will never get a handle on illegal entry into the United States, to much illegal money to be made in the duration. This problem has gone uncheck by our government for over 25 years…….those in Washington, DC could care less!!!
January 8th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
I understand what you’re saying, but it’s idealistic and not really practical.
I also admire how people in most countries are multilingual to communicate with those from neighboring countries. However, it is slightly different, because in this case there are Spanish speaking people who have settled in the U.S. permanently without deciding to learn English. This is not about communicating with people in other countries, but the fact that Spanish is becoming a second official language in some areas. I’m not happy about it, but I don’t see it changing any time soon.
Americans aren’t necessarily lazy, but I partially blame our educational system for not teaching us other languages until middle school. My husband is European and they learn multiple languages starting young in elementary school, and it’s much easier to learn earlier on.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
As a Spanish teacher in the US it is interesting to see our attitude about languages. Do you realize that this is the only developed country that even talks about being monolingual? As many people have already suggested, learning only makes you wiser.
January 12th, 2009 at 10:42 am
HM against further education
January 12th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Here is some info I hope you multiculturalism type left coast libs choke on.
If you look at the land mass and population of America compared to the rest of the world put all of Europe and then some to equal US mainland.
If you stand in the center of this country you can go nearly a thousand miles in any direction and speak the native tongue.
Our similarities that make us strong.
Out differences make us interesting.
January 13th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
If you only want to speak english is your choice. No one forces you to learn a different language.
The main reason you would like to learn spanish is because you live in a continent that from Mexico down to Argentina (if you know where that is) speak spanish. You don’t live in the planet USA.
Besides, learning a different language makes you a well rounded person with a better culture. I bet you haven’t even being in a plane. If you go to Cancun Mexico, wouldn’t you like people to speak english to you? so you can ask for things. Narrow minded people don’t go far in life.
January 14th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
I agree with you 100%. The United States should stop pandering to illegal immigrants.
January 16th, 2009 at 8:31 am
you’re right
January 19th, 2009 at 3:14 am
It’s good to know another language. I speak 3 (none of them is Spanish, but again, that is MY choice, as it should be)!!
If you want to be bilingual fine, trilingual, etc. but don’t let others try to tell you what the second language you learn should be.
NOBODY IN THE U.S. “HAS” TO LEARN SPANISH.
Our common language is English. Period. All immigrants should learn English. Period. We do not HAVE to learn any language in our country if we don’t want to.
We have immigrants that speak dozens of different languages. Common sense dictates that English speakers will NOT learn the language of immigrants.