Spanish (San Antonio, San Diego, Mart: school, living in, Walmart)

[moeowo]

I totally understand what you are saying. I don't have any hispanic (English and Irish heritage...but mostly english) in me but I used to get the spanish spoken to me too when I worked retail just because I have dark hair and tan easy and have brown eyes. And of course they just look at you funny when you don't speak spanish.

Originally Posted by cheermomof4girls

I am half filipino and half caucasian. I look hispanic. When I was in high school, I was a checker at Kroger (Marbach location) and I would alway get the old ladies that speak spanish with a little bit of english. When I tell them, sorry I don't speak spanish, they get upset and rude at me telling me that I should be ashamed of myself, that a mexican girl like me can't speak spanish. When I tell them, sorry, I am not even mexican, they would tell me "Yes you are", and this would go back and forth a few times. Now what's funny is my mother in law is japaneese and she can speak spanish fluently. You should see the people's faces at the flea markets when she asks them a question in spanish. LOL

[johnrex62]

Spanish is not required to work in a bank or allmost any other business in San Antonio. You might find a few ethnic businesses that will only hire spanish speakers, but those will be mom & pops in specific neighborhoods and even those are the exception.

Now, you will find that bi-lingual speakers will be able to snap up a lot of jobs quicker than English only just because they are more versatile. Some job locations will see more spanish speaking customers than other.

I do not appear in any way to be a spanish speaker. When I worked at a south side J.C. Penney back in the 80s, the easter shoppers from Mexico City would come up and some would speak no english at all. I spoke a passing Castillian dialect and could communicate with them easily enough. Many of our spanish speaking locals, however, could not since their tex-mex was not close enough to the spanish spoken in Mexico City.

I would always enjoy when the bi-lingual shoppers would speak spanish in front of me thinking they were being discreet. It is amazing how forward some of those ladies can be when they don't realize they are being understood. I would often thank them and ask them to shop with us again after the sale was rung up.....in spanish....that was always good for a deep blush from them.

[rd2007]

that's the best part of knowing another language right there johnrex.. I know three languages and there's nothing like using them on someone that didn't know you were listening to what they were saying.. freaking priceless

[torero]

Maybe my post is a bit off topic, but in any case…
Do people here in general distinguish the slight accent with which some Mexican-Americans (native English speakers) speak English from the accent of Mexicans speaking English? The reason I ask is that I’m Mexican in every sense of the word, emigrated to the US after college, and speak English with the typical heavy accent of someone who grew up in Mexico, and yet strangers keep asking me if I’m French. I’m not joking. When I tell them that I’m Mexican, they give me a puzzled look and say that my accent doesn’t sound “Mexican.”

[johnrex62]

Originally Posted by torero

Maybe my post is a bit off topic, but in any case…
Do people here in general distinguish the slight accent with which some Mexican-Americans (native English speakers) speak English from the accent of Mexicans speaking English? The reason I ask is that I’m Mexican in every sense of the word, emigrated to the US after college, and speak English with the typical heavy accent of someone who grew up in Mexico, and yet strangers keep asking me if I’m French. I’m not joking. When I tell them that I’m Mexican, they give me a puzzled look and say that my accent doesn’t sound “Mexican.”

I have never observed anyone mistaking a spanish accent for a french one before. There is a difference in accents from someone raised in a spanish speaking household that grew up with both languages from someone who grew up with spanish only in their early years. I can even hear the difference in some accents of people who learned english later than other early spanish speakers. I haven't figure out why some people who have grown up in an english only environment develop accents however. That is a mystery to me.

I have know some people who grew up in Mexico and emigrated here in their 30's that have little accent, so I presumed they must have learned their english early on while still in Mexico.

[blazred]

most peple in SA speak englishand Spanish but most of the time we speak english. The only time you get peple talking to you in spanish is if they know you speak it or if they don't speak english at all. of course every once in a while you get those people that just assume you speak spanish and speak to you in spanish. once i did that and the person i spoke to didn't have clue what i was saying it was funny but messed up on my account.

[ravensday]

You dont have to speak Spanish here, but, I get a lot of flack for NOT speaking spanish. I work in a well known call center and we take Spanish calls as well as English (we also take other languages), and it never fails that I will get a Spanish call. I know enough Spanish to ask the caller to, Please Hold for a minute and that its. But when I try to explain--in ENGLISH, that I do not understand what they are saying after I ask them to hold on, the caller will get angry and tell me I should learn to speak Spanish.

My daughter works at the HEB on Blanco Rd/West Ave. Our hertiage is French/Am. Indian/Yugoslavian. She has black hair and olive skin, w/ brown eyes. I am blonde, fair and brown eyed, my son is dark brown haired, blue eyed and fair skin..and they both have the same dad!!!! Anyway, all of her customers belive she is hispanic and will not speak English when she is checking them out...she understands Spanish, but does not speak it. She says one lady yelled at her and told her she needed to learn Spanish, since she lives in Texas. My daughter said that she already speaks English, German, Russian and French and she didnt feel like learning Spanish!!!

[Hyun-Soo]

^^ Wow, what a story.

I have a good grasp in Spanish to communicate with people if they would like to speak in Spanish with me. By the way, I am Korean/White.


Anyway... In San Antonio, of course you DO NOT need to know Spanish. We are in America of course. Our de facto language is English. Why give special treatment to the Spanish-speaking people in America... What about the Koreans/Chinese/Indian/Japanese, etc.?

But maybe you could learn a few words so if someone is trying to speak with you in Spanish, you can say that you don't understand Spanish... "No entiendo espaNol"

[Gennaver]

Originally Posted by torero

Maybe my post is a bit off topic, but in any case…
Do people here in general distinguish the slight accent with which some Mexican-Americans (native English speakers) speak English from the accent of Mexicans speaking English? The reason I ask is that I’m Mexican in every sense of the word, emigrated to the US after college, and speak English with the typical heavy accent of someone who grew up in Mexico, and yet strangers keep asking me if I’m French. I’m not joking. When I tell them that I’m Mexican, they give me a puzzled look and say that my accent doesn’t sound “Mexican.”

Possibly you have the same accent as the person who taught you English? When I was learning Spanish my formative teachers where Argentinian, Ecuadorian and Columbian. My best friends were adult women in Chicago who came from Mexico in their adult years so, my accent is nothing like Tex-Mex. I did an internship with a gal whose mother was Argentinian and her father Cuban, to me her Spanish sounded so natural to me that at times I didn't even realize she was speaking in Spanish to me, (it was as automatic to understand to me as my native English). Anyhow...maybe your accent in English is just as the person's who taught you English.

Gen

[Gennaver]

Originally Posted by Hyun-Soo

^^ Wow, what a story.

I have a good grasp in Spanish to communicate with people if they would like to speak in Spanish with me. By the way, I am Korean/White.


Anyway... In San Antonio, of course you DO NOT need to know Spanish. We are in America of course. Our de facto language is English. Why give special treatment to the Spanish-speaking people in America... What about the Koreans/Chinese/Indian/Japanese, etc.?

But maybe you could learn a few words so if someone is trying to speak with you in Spanish, you can say that you don't understand Spanish... "No entiendo espaNol"

Hello,
Not sure why not here but, back home in Chicago the Japanese/Korean/Chinese adn Indian communities do business in their native languages and have signs and newspapers in them as well. Regardless of de facto languages, we are all human.
Gen