[psouth]

Creole would be a waste of time unless you plan on moving to Haiti at some point. You already know Spanish so you got that covered. Aside from the obvious German, French, Italian and other European languages Russian has become popular in S. Florida. There are lots of Russians here now. There are lots of Brazilians so Portugese wouldn't hurt either. Other than that maybe Chinese so you can read the back of the drywall.

[stars99]

I agree, Spanish is the only one you need. If you're going to the huge task of learning another language, I wouldn't make my choice Florida specific. Choose one that has a lot of speakers in the world, Chinese, Arabic, Japanese. Or maybe French, Portugese--since you know Spanish those might not be that hard for you.

Originally Posted by psouth

Creole would be a waste of time unless you plan on moving to Haiti at some point. You already know Spanish so you got that covered. Aside from the obvious German, French, Italian and other European languages Russian has become popular in S. Florida. There are lots of Russians here now. There are lots of Brazilians so Portugese wouldn't hurt either. Other than that maybe Chinese so you can read the back of the drywall.

[RiWrites]

Spanish besides English is the main language spoken in Florida. As you already speak Spanish, pick whatever other language you are interested in. We get a lot of people from other countries here.

I have to agree with the poster who made a comment how the title of the original post was worded. It made it sound like we don't speak English here.

[mango23]

Originally Posted by On-da-Beach

This is an interesting point of view. You want to learn a language to be able to converse with people within Florida...
I can see learning a language if you were going to another country who's native tongue was different from your own.

Make no mistake, I've always worked on being multi-lingual (Moneypenny used a different term) but I've also thought that those Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese, Korean, Hindi or Spanish-speaking people from many different places (or others for that matter) should consider learning english if they prefer to live in America.

Just my .02

I think the OP is talking about her own enrichment. My wife speaks 5 languages well and bits and pieces of maybe 5 or 6 more. It can be fun sometimes when you know what other people are saying when they think no one understands.

[pwizard]

i think it depends on where you are moving.
In St. Augustine, there is a growing eastern european population: hungarian, polish, various formerly russian countries. If you are going to be in northern part, be sure you understand 'southern' (don't laugh, i had to learn it when i was 9, moving from sarasota, where it was non-existent), and there is also a large Irish population. they speak english, but some have a huge brogue!! lovely mixture in st. augustine, english is really all that is necessary. right now i'm learning korean (i too love languages), there is a pretty large korean population in Jacksonvile, and it operates the same way hungarian does (backwards from english). Happy hunting (and learning!!)

[Sunny-Days-in-Florida]

English is our language and if you want to live in America you need to learn our language. Not us learn yours or theirs.

Teach them to speak and learn English. If they want to communicate with me in any way I want it done in English.

If you speak to be in anything else I wont listen. Plain and simple.

Now I can see posters coming at me about what I said, you know what I don't give a rats butt, English is our language and that final.

I walked into a gas station in south Florida and could not find a single person to speak English in the entire place. Ridiculous! Learn our language or go home. Its not my job to learn someone elses.

Go to China, do you think they are learning english to benefit us? No. Do you see Spanish signs or English signs in China? No.

[Sunny-Days-in-Florida]

Originally Posted by mango23

I think the OP is talking about her own enrichment. My wife speaks 5 languages well and bits and pieces of maybe 5 or 6 more. It can be fun sometimes when you know what other people are saying when they think no one understands.

It is nice to have the knowledge or them to add to your base but I will never stop believing that English is our language and they need to learn English if they are going to live here.

Nice she knows 5 languages, give her credit for that but I still would like to see nothing but English spoken and read in the US.

[psouth]

Originally Posted by Sunny-Days90

English is our language and if you want to live in America you need to learn our language. Not us learn yours or theirs.

Teach them to speak and learn English. If they want to communicate with me in any way I want it done in English.

If you speak to be in anything else I wont listen. Plain and simple.

Now I can see posters coming at me about what I said, you know what I don't give a rats butt, English is our language and that final.

I walked into a gas station in south Florida and could not find a single person to speak English in the entire place. Ridiculous! Learn our language or go home. Its not my job to learn someone elses.

Go to China, do you think they are learning english to benefit us? No. Do you see Spanish signs or English signs in China? No.

Florida is the exact opposite of everything you believe in. English should be our national language and the only one spoken with regard to employment and official business but in Florida it is not. Spanish is quickly taking its place. Most employment ads in the paper state "must be bilingual." Even most store signs are in Spanish now and they play Spanish music in stores as well. Everywhere you go like stores and restaurants you will see Mexicans and Guatemelans speaking nothing but Spanish like it or not. All of our banks also since that is primarily who they hire on the cheap along with Haitians speaking jibberish Creole. Coming from the Midwest where everything is still apple pie American you will not like it in Florida. You will be frustrated. I have some friends from MI and IN that ended up moving right back for this same reason. They hated it here. They could care less about the weather after all. They felt they were in a third world country.

[stars99]

People should learn English when they move here but the reality on the ground is they often don't. Florida is changing and people who move here from other parts of the US need to go with the flow here, or risk being miserable. Avoiding people who speak little or no English will be very hard in some parts of this state.

Originally Posted by psouth

Florida is the exact opposite of everything you believe in. English should be our national language and the only one spoken with regard to employment and official business but in Florida it is not. Spanish is quickly taking its place. Most employment ads in the paper state "must be bilingual." Even most store signs are in Spanish now and they play Spanish music in stores as well. Everywhere you go like stores and restaurants you will see Mexicans and Guatemelans speaking nothing but Spanish like it or not. All of our banks also since that is primarily who they hire on the cheap along with Haitians speaking jibberish Creole. Coming from the Midwest where everything is still apple pie American you will not like it in Florida. You will be frustrated. I have some friends from MI and IN that ended up moving right back for this same reason. They hated it here. They could care less about the weather after all. They felt they were in a third world country.

[♥♥PRINC3Ss♥♥]

I think Portuguese is a waste of time if you already speak Spanish, since both languages are very similar, unless you plan to travel to Brazil often. All you have to do is learn a few words and speak Spanish with a Brazilian accent, and I guarantee you, you will be understood much more. They won't get insulted, they will be glad they can understand you. When you have to communicate, you will do anything, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Been there, done that.

I would try a different language like German, Chinese or Arabic