Spanish speakers getting annoyed when you don't speak Spanish. (Los Angeles: minimum wage, legally)

[sav858]

I'm Latino but don't know Spanish, the reaction I would get in Southern CA was more surprised than annoyance that I didn't know it. Then they would start speaking English if they knew it. Miami on the other hand, people were definitely annoyed and rude if you didn't speak Spanish.

[Stevedore]

Any caucasian child born now or in the last few years will be expected to speak Spanish. It's already being pushed in elementary schools....90% hispanic curriculum being taught in some schools in affluent areas of Long Beach; there's a waiting list for these schools too.

Writing is on the wall....average age of a hispanic male in this state is 19, caucasian is 44. Tomorrow's children will need to speak Spanish here.

[Derpistan]

Why wouldn't you know how to speak Spanish unless you're some illiterate slob?

I can speak French, Spanish, Italian, with a smattering of Latin and German.

[Miss Pip]

Never. I have heard about white people getting annoyed when others speak Spanish though.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmyT4CuPpww

[OptimusPrime69]

It's cute when ppl from LA are like "omg, sooo many people speak spanish here!"

Cuz when I go to LA, I'm like "wow, everybody here speaks English!"
Compared to Miami, LA is like the UK has far as english usage and cultural saturation.

[southwest88]

Originally Posted by munchitup

The city I grew up in has a large population of Oaxacans... When I worked at Carl's Jr in the drive-thru, even the Spanish-speaking employees had an extremely difficult time taking their orders because the Oaxacans usually spoke a pre-Spanish language.

...

Yah, I would have said Native People's language or something like that. pre-Spanish sounds like it was Latin, or one of the languages that eventually evolved into Spanish. It's hard to know what people in the US understand about languages in Mexico anyway - better to make it clear.

[southwest88]

Originally Posted by LABornandRaised

I find it ironic that she would think you were racist by not speaking spanish, when spanish is the language of the conquistadores from Europe (Spain), not the native language of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, etc.

Yah, just goes to show you that opinions on language & culture are as varied everywhere in the World as they apparently are here in the US. There is no one language called Spanish, BTW - the Castellano dialect tends to get called that, & it's a convenient peg to hang the collective noun on. But Spain is made up of a bunch of provinces, & their speech is not all mutually intelligible. & the conquistadores (the Spanish ones - there were also Portuguese conquistadores) tended to be from Extremadura (the province) in Spain, as I recall.


& in just the same way, there are still many different native languages spoken in Mexico, & I assume also in Central & South America. There isn't typically a single Native People's language in the countries of Latin America - because those civilizations - the Native Peoples - didn't think nor organize on that basis.


It parallels the discussion about Which is the real English? You would think that Britain would have it all its way, but apparently there's a lot of discussion & disagreement on that topic too.

[Lovehound]

About 10 years I went into a Pollo Loco in Van Nuys and was in the process of ordering but had a few questions about the menu. The counter person couldn't speak English well enough to understand what I was asking, and finally as it turned out they couldn't find any employee in the whole restaurant who spoke anything better than pidgin English.

I walked out, got my food somewhere else, and I've never been in a Pollo Loco since then.

[Bert_from_back_East]

Originally Posted by silverkris

Actually, there are far, far more issues with monolingual English-speaking people who are impatient with those who are ESL, foreign visitors, or recent immigrants who struggle with the language.

Here we go with the white guilt trip! Bless your heart.

As if people in most other countries around the world aren't rude as Hell, especially to Americans above all. Please.

I would say that America, as a whole, is a very friendly country and, more often than not, its people are more than willing to assist foreign visitors relative to many other countries.

People in Third World hellholes like China, India or Kenya would mow you down with their cars if you're crossing the street without even thinking twice about it.

In fact, in some Asian societies, motorists will not only hit a pedestrian or cyclist, they will back up over the person with their vehicle to ensure that they're dead to avoid major financial liability (if they're dead, they can't sue).

Regarding ESL speakers - now, if someone has lived in the United States for a number of years, they should be able to speak English, at least conversationally or enough so to conduct business as usual. Whether you'd like to admit it or not, English is the spoken / native language of the United States of America, and it's the language commerce, government and education.

However, our politicians, corporations and news media have made it all too easy for immigrants with native tongues not our own, in particular Spanish, to get away with only learning / knowing very minimal English.

Then, if you tell these immigrants or speak generally and say something along the lines of "we speak English in the United States," you're a racist, xenophobic bigot. My God.

Believe it or not, six of my eight great-grandparents were born in Italy, and guess what? They all spoke English - to varying degrees, of course. They immigrated here, learned our language and adopted our American customs, which were initially created and passed down through the generations by white Anglo-Saxon Protestants.

Today's immigrants don't even bother to learn English, for the most past, especially Latino and poorer Asian groups (e.g., Hmongs, Vietnamese, etc.). What a shame.

However, if you think LA is bad in this regard (i.e., Spanish speakers getting angry / annoyed when you don't speak Spanish), you've probably never been to Miami, which, IMO as someone who lived in South Florida for years, is 10x worse in the whole "snub / ignore / disregard you because you don't speak Spanish" thing. Heavens to Betsy.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by Bert_from_back_East

Here we go with the white guilt trip! Bless your heart.

As if people in most other countries around the world aren't rude as Hell, especially to Americans above all. Please.

I would say that America, as a whole, is a very friendly country and, more often than not, its people are more than willing to assist foreign visitors relative to many other countries.

People in Third World hellholes like China, India or Kenya would mow you down with their cars if you're crossing the street without even thinking twice about it.

In fact, in some Asian societies, motorists will not only hit a pedestrian or cyclist, they will back up over the person with their vehicle to ensure that they're dead to avoid major financial liability (if they're dead, they can't sue).

Regarding ESL speakers - now, if someone has lived in the United States for a number of years, they should be able to speak English, at least conversationally or enough so to conduct business as usual. Whether you'd like to admit it or not, English is the spoken / native language of the United States of America, and it's the language commerce, government and education.

However, our politicians, corporations and news media have made it all too easy for immigrants with native tongues not our own, in particular Spanish, to get away with only learning / knowing very minimal English.

Then, if you tell these immigrants or speak generally and say something along the lines of "we speak English in the United States," you're a racist, xenophobic bigot. My God.

Believe it or not, six of my eight great-grandparents were born in Italy, and guess what? They all spoke English - to varying degrees, of course. They immigrated here, learned our language and adopted our American customs, which were initially created and passed down through the generations by white Anglo-Saxon Protestants.

Today's immigrants don't even bother to learn English, for the most past, especially Latino and poorer Asian groups (e.g., Hmongs, Vietnamese, etc.). What a shame.

However, if you think LA is bad in this regard (i.e., Spanish speakers getting angry / annoyed when you don't speak Spanish), you've probably never been to Miami, which, IMO as someone who lived in South Florida for years, is 10x worse in the whole "snub / ignore / disregard you because you don't speak Spanish" thing. Heavens to Betsy.

You've proven my point evidently well by taking the bait. Thanks for playing and bless your heart.

Excuse me while I get out of the way when your head explodes.