"Are you an American?" (Miami, Tampa: loan, law, move to)
MiamiMiami-Dade County
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People that speak Spanish as a first language and English as a second language seem to choose "Spanish" first in the work place and "English" second.
No other ethinic group does this in the work place. I've worked with Asians, Indians, Africans and other groups and out of respect they speak English first in the work place and hardly ever speak their original language.
Hispanics and Latinos don't seem to have the same level a respect for people that do not speak the language. They assume you should speak spanish and if you don't something is wrong with you.
To me it's very annoying and I speak Spanish. I've never let people know I speak Spanish and love to hear the side conversations that go on about Americans and other groups.
I've heard other ethnic groups really complain about this and I seem to think they are correct.
Just my gripe.....
That was my experience in Miami most of the time as well. On my last day at any job with that problem I would finally reveal that I knew exactly what they were saying all along. That is one thing about Miami I do not miss at all.
And before anyone says that is what the market demands or such I will say that I agree with you. And that is why you have one less honest mortgage processor in a town full of fraudulent mortgage "professionals" so enjoy!
had an interesting question asked of me the other day.
"Are you an American?"
That question blew me away. In my mind, my initial reaction was thinking, "I have never been asked that in my own country before." I smiled and simply replied "Yes," while also thinking "aren't you?"
I was made aware of a term that I think means something along the lines of "someone who was born in the US (not Cuba) who does not speak Spanish, only English" that is apprently well know term in the Cuban community. I think the word begins with an 'n'. Does anyone know the term?
I would enjoy to hear any thoughts on this subject...
well since you said you wanted to hear thoughts (im not sure if this has been previously answered because there are like 16 pages of responeses but I wanted to share a story). I studied undergrad in philly (mistake...but different story) and when i got there I didn't realize how, out of place I was.
Basically, I was commenting to my hall-mates on what I had seen that day and I said that "this american girl was acting nuts..." and they people in front of me were like "what do you mean by "american" girl? to them an american was anyone who was born in america or lived here for a while. I then said, well she was like blond and blue eyed - like anglo. Yeah, that started a firestorm:
the white people were like "thats racist". The black people were like "what? so im not american" - to which i replied "well yeah but in miami people wouldn't say you were american = they'd just call you black cuz its what you are" (that didn't go over well) and then i told the asians that in miami in spanish we don't distinguish between chinese or korean or japanese - its all "chinos" down here if you look asian.
needless to say, they thought i was racist - but the problem really was: I was raised in a spanish speaking household in miami in sweetwater. In spanish, the term "american" for many immigrants here means a certain sterotype: "blond or light haired, fair eyes, light skin color and anglo and born in the US" - its just something that they use to identify people here. Black people are called "negro" because in latin america thats how they identify them (much more skin color distinction and discrimination). It offends "americans" because americans believe in their unity and don't understand these distinctions, likewise hispanic immigrants dont understand why its weird not to say terms like that: to them you will always be "la americana" but they don't always mean it in a bad way (like me! )
Sorry if your were shocked/offended - but its a miami thing, at least you have a good story to tell!
well since you said you wanted to hear thoughts (im not sure if this has been previously answered because there are like 16 pages of responeses but I wanted to share a story). I studied undergrad in philly (mistake...but different story) and when i got there I didn't realize how, out of place I was.
Basically, I was commenting to my hall-mates on what I had seen that day and I said that "this american girl was acting nuts..." and they people in front of me were like "what do you mean by "american" girl? to them an american was anyone who was born in america or lived here for a while. I then said, well she was like blond and blue eyed - like anglo. Yeah, that started a firestorm:
the white people were like "thats racist". The black people were like "what? so im not american" - to which i replied "well yeah but in miami people wouldn't say you were american = they'd just call you black cuz its what you are" (that didn't go over well) and then i told the asians that in miami in spanish we don't distinguish between chinese or korean or japanese - its all "chinos" down here if you look asian.
needless to say, they thought i was racist - but the problem really was: I was raised in a spanish speaking household in miami in sweetwater. In spanish, the term "american" for many immigrants here means a certain sterotype: "blond or light haired, fair eyes, light skin color and anglo and born in the US" - its just something that they use to identify people here. Black people are called "negro" because in latin america thats how they identify them (much more skin color distinction and discrimination). It offends "americans" because americans believe in their unity and don't understand these distinctions, likewise hispanic immigrants dont understand why its weird not to say terms like that: to them you will always be "la americana" but they don't always mean it in a bad way (like me! )
Sorry if your were shocked/offended - but its a miami thing, at least you have a good story to tell!
well since you said you wanted to hear thoughts (im not sure if this has been previously answered because there are like 16 pages of responeses but I wanted to share a story). I studied undergrad in philly (mistake...but different story) and when i got there I didn't realize how, out of place I was.
Basically, I was commenting to my hall-mates on what I had seen that day and I said that "this american girl was acting nuts..." and they people in front of me were like "what do you mean by "american" girl? to them an american was anyone who was born in america or lived here for a while. I then said, well she was like blond and blue eyed - like anglo. Yeah, that started a firestorm:
the white people were like "thats racist". The black people were like "what? so im not american" - to which i replied "well yeah but in miami people wouldn't say you were american = they'd just call you black cuz its what you are" (that didn't go over well) and then i told the asians that in miami in spanish we don't distinguish between chinese or korean or japanese - its all "chinos" down here if you look asian.
needless to say, they thought i was racist - but the problem really was: I was raised in a spanish speaking household in miami in sweetwater. In spanish, the term "american" for many immigrants here means a certain sterotype: "blond or light haired, fair eyes, light skin color and anglo and born in the US" - its just something that they use to identify people here. Black people are called "negro" because in latin america thats how they identify them (much more skin color distinction and discrimination). It offends "americans" because americans believe in their unity and don't understand these distinctions, likewise hispanic immigrants dont understand why its weird not to say terms like that: to them you will always be "la americana" but they don't always mean it in a bad way (like me! )
Sorry if your were shocked/offended - but its a miami thing, at least you have a good story to tell!
Doesn't matter that they don't mean to be derogatory, it comes across that way here and thus they should learn to use different words. Not criticizing you personally, but maybe it's something you should point out to people you know who do this.
No other ethinic group does this in the work place. I've worked with Asians, Indians, Africans and other groups and out of respect they speak English first in the work place and hardly ever speak their original language.
Hispanics and Latinos don't seem to have the same level a respect for people that do not speak the language. They assume you should speak spanish and if you don't something is wrong with you.
To me it's very annoying and I speak Spanish. I've never let people know I speak Spanish and love to hear the side conversations that go on about Americans and other groups.
I agree with this statement. A lot of it is just culture. Some cultures are more sensitive and respectful others are not. Some cultures are more into assimilating when they migrate, others are not. Some cultures love to learn others don't. About the side conversations oh, they can be so ugly and racist. But that goes on with other groups too.
I was made aware of a term that I think means something along the lines of "someone who was born in the US (not Cuba) who does not speak Spanish, only English" that is apprently well know term in the Cuban community. I think the word begins with an 'n'. Does anyone know the term?
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A person born in the US who does not speak Spanish, only English, and looks Northern European is an Americano. Not only in Miami, everywhere.
As to the "n" word, I don't know...Negro is black, not derogatory, then comes Niche, can be derogatory, comes from the American "N" word.
I speak both English and Spanish but whenever I go somewhere I make it a point to speak in English, if they don't understand me then they better get someone who does because I won't speak Spanish to people who NEED to know English.
I worked with a large group of PR's in Orlando, and they'd do the same thing a lot. When a big group got together (who were Puerto Rican), it would immediately go to spanish. Then the one's who dont speak spanish just look around in amazement, like, "did this just really happen?" Pretty rude, but the sad part is, I got used to it after a while.
I'm a native of Miami and I am an American.. There are a high amount of Cubans here in Miami, but there has pretty much always been a high population, I agree that you shouldn't have to know a second language if you don't want to. Since English is the official language of the USA. But I studied (y) Spanish in school and it is a great help.
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