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Thankfully the Canadian constitution wouldn't allow that change. That would be much worse than the present situation, at least now they can have English public schools (for some).
There is nothing nirvana-like about English schools in Quebec. In many cases (though things have been slowly improving) they are simply conveyor belts for anglo kids' future adult lives in the ROC or the States because they don't learn the basics of French that would even allow them to work at the bank branch at the corner of their street.
That's why some 10% of anglo parents in Quebec send their kids to fully French schools: they get better French and the general consensus is that anglo kids can go to French school all day and yet still remain culturally anglo.
There is also of course dissatisfaction among some francophone parents with respect to the quality of English taught in francophone schools. Which is why some of them have challenged Bill 101 in order to try and get their kids into anglo schools.
My plan (impossible I realize) would actually address both of these issues.
Exactly. If in practice you need some command of Spanish to effectively get a decent job in Miami, then my hypothesis is indeed correct.
By the way, would you say that in Miami it's more detrimental in the working world to not know English or to not know Spanish? If you only knew one but not the other, which would be more advantageous to know?
That is a very difficult question to answer as it really depends on what industry and company you work for. Overall though if you look at the most recent numbers Spanish speakers outnumber English in Miami. 59% of the residents speak Spanish, half of those say they do not speak English well. Only 27% of the population are English-only speakers.
So for your everyday mid level job in Miami it is reasonable to think that you will come in contact with more Spanish speaking people on a daily basis than English. Once you reach the upper management level though you would really need to be bi-lingual as you would be dealing with business' outside of South Florida. Unless of course you worked for a Latin American based company with the majority of their business contacts in that part of the world.
That is a very difficult question to answer as it really depends on what industry and company you work for. Overall though if you look at the most recent numbers Spanish speakers outnumber English in Miami. 59% of the residents speak Spanish, half of those say they do not speak English well. Only 27% of the population are English-only speakers.
So for your everyday mid level job in Miami it is reasonable to think that you will come in contact with more Spanish speaking people on a daily basis than English. Once you reach the upper management level though you would really need to be bi-lingual as you would be dealing with business' outside of South Florida. Unless of course you worked for a Latin American based company with the majority of their business contacts in that part of the world.
So close to a third would be English only speakers and another third dominant in Spanish with a shaky command of English.
I wonder how many movers and shakers there are in the English only group as opposed to how many in the Spanish only (more or less) group?
So close to a third would be English only speakers and another third dominant in Spanish with a shaky command of English.
I wonder how many movers and shakers there are in the English only group as opposed to how many in the Spanish only (more or less) group?
That would be really interesting to look into, if someone has conducted a study Id love to read it. I am sure we could take a stab at it comparing language and household income, but I am not sure they separate those who ONLY speak Spanish as opposed to those who speak both English and Spanish, but favor Spanish in the household.
With that being said, a large portion of the upper tier business and political community in Miami are bilingual, especially those of Cuban-American background who have a fluent grasp of both languages.
That would be really interesting to look into, if someone has conducted a study Id love to read it. I am sure we could take a stab at it comparing language and household income, but I am not sure they separate those who ONLY speak Spanish as opposed to those who speak both English and Spanish, but favor Spanish in the household.
With that being said, a large portion of the upper tier business and political community in Miami are bilingual, especially those of Cuban-American background who have a fluent grasp of both languages.
From what I have seen in Miami and other parts of the US with lots of Spanish speakers, people who speak only Spanish are generally on the lower end of the socio-economic pecking order. Affluent local hispanics are usually bilingual in English and Spanish if not even English dominant. You do see a lot of affluent people who speak only Spanish in these places but usually these are almost always elite people from Latin American countries who are in town for business or pleasure or who are fairly recent arrivals.
From what I have seen in Miami and other parts of the US with lots of Spanish speakers, people who speak only Spanish are generally on the lower end of the socio-economic pecking order. Affluent local hispanics are usually bilingual in English and Spanish if not even English dominant. You do see a lot of affluent people who speak only Spanish in these places but usually these are almost always elite people from Latin American countries who are in town for business or pleasure or who are fairly recent arrivals.
I would agree with this. I think what makes Miami somewhat unique in the US is the fact that those who are bilingual in both English and Spanish are much more likely to be successful than those that speak English only. Obviously being bilingual is something that comes in handy anywhere, but it is at times necessary to get ahead at certain companies in Miami.
In the end though the US is still an English speaking country so obviously that will have an impact in Miami no matter what people choose to speak at home.
I would agree with this. I think what makes Miami somewhat unique in the US is the fact that those who are bilingual in both English and Spanish are much more likely to be successful than those that speak English only. Obviously being bilingual is something that comes in handy anywhere, but it is at times necessary to get ahead at certain companies in Miami.
In the end though the US is still an English speaking country so obviously that will have an impact in Miami no matter what people choose to speak at home.
I would agree with this. I think what makes Miami somewhat unique in the US is the fact that those who are bilingual in both English and Spanish are much more likely to be successful than those that speak English only. Obviously being bilingual is something that comes in handy anywhere, but it is at times necessary to get ahead at certain companies in Miami.
In the end though the US is still an English speaking country so obviously that will have an impact in Miami no matter what people choose to speak at home.
Do you have any idea if it's the same case in any other US cities? You said Miami was unique in that regard, so would you say that in Los Angeles or San Antonio, Spanish wouldn't be as important?
Do you have any idea if it's the same case in any other US cities? You said Miami was unique in that regard, so would you say that in Los Angeles or San Antonio, Spanish wouldn't be as important?
I will defer to edward if he sees different but I believe LA and San Antonio have lower percentages of hispanic origin people and lower percentages of Spanish-first speakers than Miami.
San Antonio's hispanic population also tends to be of longer establishment than the other two cities and so they are more anglicized than the other two cities where a higher proportion are of more recent arrival.
While those cities have large influential Latino communities the impact is not on the same level as it is in Miami. Of course I have lived in Miami so possibly my view of this is somewhat skewed, but I see Miami as a unique example of this.
People overlook how powerful the Latin American community, especially Cuban is in Miami. Take a look at the city council of Miami. There is only 1 "regular" American guy and 1 Haitian member. The rest are all Cuban or Cuban American.
Once again though to drive home the point, all of these people mentioned speak English fluently, in addition to most Latin American Lawyers, Doctors, Politicians, Businessmen and Women, etc...But if you live in Miami for any period of time it becomes apparent that speaking both Spanish and English fluently and having the contacts in the Latin American community that come with it, definitely help tremendously when it comes to advancement.
Last edited by edwardsyzzurphands; 09-26-2012 at 10:52 AM..
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