Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hate to sound harsh but this is only part of the answer, and it also has a lot to do with laziness, hegemonism and triumphalism as well. Perhaps a bit of a superiority complex as well.
I mean, there are places in the world where English speakers do have close contact with other languages, and they don't necessarily learn the other language that they are exposed to.
For example, in places in the U.S. where hispanics are the majority like El Paso, Miami, the Rio Grande Valley, and where Spanish has a significant presence (thought not official I realize), the vast, vast majority of anglos are still monolingual in English and can't speak much Spanish beyond si, no, buenos dias, por favor and adios.
Most of the British who lived in Hong Kong prior to the handover in 1997 spoke little to no Chinese (well, Cantonese) even though they lived in a city where 97% of the millions of people around them spoke that language.
And why would they? English speakers were there before the Spanish speakers. Many of the Spanish speakers are illegals sponging off the US economy as-well. (many who REFUSE to speak English)
I am proud to be from to an English speaking country and if immigrants ever become a majority in my country I will do my best to keep my language in existence!
Not quite true. I learned to speak Spanish about 20 years. I don't like anywhere near a Spanish-speaking country, don't holiday in Spanish-speaking countries, have no family or friends who are native Spanish speakers and the Spanish-speaking community in my city is tiny and fairly invisible.
in order to become fluent in a language, you need someone to speak it with routinely. in the U.S. that's not available like it is in most of europe.
i "studied" spanish for years, but i can't really speak it, because i never had anyone to converse with. french is even worse; many americans learn it in a classroom for 3 or 4 years and then never use it again.
You think we can routinely travel to Mainland Europe? The USA is just as close to the Caribbean as we are to Europe. Infact, they are beside South America also.
Let's say you live in the Netherlands. Drive 100 miles in one direction and they're all speaking German. Drive 100 miles in another direction and they're all speaking French. Sail 100 miles in another direction and they're speaking English. Extend that circle outwards a bit, and suddenly you have Danish, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian and Czech.
Drive 500 miles in the United States and, often, the dialect doesn't even change. The average American gets two weeks of vacation a year, a least a week of which typically gets spent visiting family, etc. So we have a grand total of one week a year to get somewhere a foreign language is spoken. Even then, that involves thousands of dollars in travel expense while, in Europe, it simply entails hopping a train.
Hey, I learned both German and Russian. I could speak both fairly well. Even got to use both languages a couple of times. But without constant exposure to those languages, it became impossible to keep up. So I didn't.
And why would they? English speakers were there before the Spanish speakers. Many of the Spanish speakers are illegals sponging off the US economy as-well. (many who REFUSE to speak English)
HELLO?! History check! Spanish speakers were in Florida, Texas, New Mexico and California hundreds of years before English speakers.
I'm definitely not blaming Americans or other English speaking folks for not learning a second language. Seriously, it's just too convenient to speak English fluently. In most countries at least someone will be able to understand you. But I don't think that it's too hard to get somewhat fluent in Spanish with that many Mexican immigrants and the proximity to Mexico.
that's like saying: because there are a lot of Turkish immigrants living in Austria, therefore you should be able to speak Turkish.
It's more than just geographic proximity, it's about the strength of the culture. You have to have some reason to adopt that language. Most Americans don't have any reason to speak Spanish, not in the same way that a French person might have a reason to speak German, for example, and certainly not comparable to a Danish or Dutch person's reasons for speaking English.
For example, a few of my friends can fluently speak Spanish, and they use it primarily to supervise crews of central american manual laborers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by owenc
You think we can routinely travel to Mainland Europe?
Well, I said "most europeans", not "British". Most europeans live in mainland europe.
Quote:
The USA is just as close to the Caribbean as we are to Europe.
You seem confused as to whether you consider yourself to be in Europe or not. One moment you are, the next you're not.
that's like saying: because there are a lot of Turkish immigrants living in Austria, therefore you should be able to speak Turkish.
No, I said it would be easier to learn the language, if you wanted to. And yeah, if I wanted to become fluent in Turkish, I would take some classes at my university or some other place and at the same time I would have plenty of opportunities to practice in all the shops of the Turkish immigrants.
Am I learning Turkish? No. It's just too convenient to speak German in everyday live. That's probably what most of the Americans are also thinking. Again, I'm not blaming anyone for anything.
Quote:
Originally Posted by le roi
not in the same way that a French person might have a reason to speak German
Good luck finding someone in France speaking German. It's already hard enough finding someone being fluent enough in English.
Last edited by viribusunitis; 11-14-2012 at 03:05 PM..
No, I said it would be easier to learn the language, if you wanted to. And yeah, if I wanted to become fluent in Turkish, I would take some classes at my university or some other place and at the same time I would have plenty of opportunities to practice in all the shops of the Turkish immigrants.
Am I learning Turkish? No. It's just too convenient to speak German in everyday live. That's probably what most of the Americans are also thinking. Again, I'm not blaming anyone for anything.
i'm just saying it's a suitable comparison as to why Americans aren't adopting Spanish. I have taken about 7 years of Spanish in school, but it's useless unless you have someone to talk to on a routine basis.
Quote:
Good look finding someone in France speaking German. It's already hard enough finding someone being fluent enough in English.
well just for comparison's sake, 13% of Americans speak Spanish, 8% of French speak German, compared to 2% of Austrians who speak Turkish.
i'm just saying it's a suitable comparison as to why Americans aren't adopting Spanish. I have taken about 7 years of Spanish in school, but it's useless unless you have someone to talk to on a routine basis.
well just for comparison's sake, 13% of Americans speak Spanish, 8% of French speak German, compared to 2% of Austrians who speak Turkish.
These are apples and oranges I think.
The Spanish speakers in the U.S. you refer to are native speakers, as are the Turkish speakers in Austria. The German speakers in French are for the most part second language speakers - people who speak German in addition to their native French.
that's like saying: because there are a lot of Turkish immigrants living in Austria, therefore you should be able to speak Turkish.
There aren't any cities or regions in Austria where people of Turkish origin would be 70, 80 or 90% of the population. In the U.S., you actually have large cities where Hispanics make up that percentage of the population.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
