Chinese in Vancouver vs. Cubans in Miami: stronger influence? (live, place, people)
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Never been to Vancouver but is Mandarin necessary to move in majority of circles as Spanish is in Miami?
If the necessity of Spanish in Miami is a 5 or 6 out of 10, then the necessity of Mandarin in Vancouver is barely a 1.
Keep in mind that there are more Punjabi speakers in Vancouver than speakers of Mandarin (or Cantonese, which actually has more speakers than Mandarin too).
Obviously though speaking a Chinese language is a very useful nice to have in the real estate sector in Vancouver. For other aspects of life it's not really much more useful than immigrant languages in any other city.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
If the necessity of Spanish in Miami is a 5 or 6 out of 10, then the necessity of Mandarin in Vancouver is barely a 1.
Keep in mind that there are more Punjabi speakers in Vancouver than speakers of Mandarin (or Cantonese, which actually has more speakers than Mandarin too).
Obviously though speaking a Chinese language is a very useful nice to have in the real estate sector in Vancouver. For other aspects of life it's not really much more useful than immigrant languages in any other city.
Yes, I never found a second language a necessity when visiting Vancouver; in Miami, it was frequently necessary, particularly when venturing out of the tourist areas.
Even so, one thing that seems to be true of the Cuban community in Miami is they're not as 'ghettoized' as some of the West Coast Chinese communities. The Chinese seem to place a premium on living in a majority Chinese neighborhood with majority Chinese schools. The Cubans I'm familiar with in Miami (particularly the 'first wave' immigrants) are by and large assimilated into most every Miami neighborhood, even the once notoriously Anglo enclave of Coral Gables.
Yes, I never found a second language a necessity when visiting Vancouver; in Miami, it was frequently necessary, particularly when venturing out of the tourist areas.
Even so, one thing that seems to be true of the Cuban community in Miami is they're not as 'ghettoized' as some of the West Coast Chinese communities. The Chinese seem to place a premium on living in a majority Chinese neighborhood with majority Chinese schools. The Cubans I'm familiar with in Miami (particularly the 'first wave' immigrants) are by and large assimilated into most every Miami neighborhood, even the once notoriously Anglo enclave of Coral Gables.
Due to the nature of the languages and writing systems, it's also a lot easier for Anglo-Americans and also Americanized second and third generation Hispanics in Miami to pick up some basic Spanish than it is for non-Chinese speakers to pick up Chinese in Vancouver.
It's extremely common for second and third generation Chinese-Canadian kids in BC to speak very little Chinese at all, and even fewer of them can read and write it.
Never been to Vancouver but is Mandarin necessary to move in majority of circles as Spanish is in Miami?
No. There are a small pocket of (albeit, useful and profitable for those involved) commercial services related to ride hailing and real estate transactions that non-Chinese speakers are shut out from - and this goes beyond the color of your skin, as whites who can speak Chinese can use these services just fine - but apart from that, politically and culturally Vancouver operates fully in (sometimes broken) English.
Chinese isn't remotely as woven (and celebrated) into the fabric of society in the lower Mainland as Cuban is in southern Florida.
As Cuban as Miami city limits and suburban Dade County are, The demographics shift quite drastically between Broward and Dade. The black percentage is substantially higher in Broward and the Hispanic population is substantially lower. There are many parts of broward where you don't need to know a lick of Spanish to participate in local politics or open a business. Is the same true in metro Vancouver regarding the Chinese?
Not all Hispanics in Miami are Cuban, but they dominate the Hispanic aspect of Miami's culture.
Overall something like two thirds of Miami city proper is Hispanic and close to half the metro population is Hispanic.
The majority of the population in Miami city speaks Spanish at home and just under half in Miami metro speaks Spanish at home.
Vancouver isn't close to any of these metrics either for Chinese origins or Chinese languages.
I disagree both with the notion that 1) Cubans dominate the Hispanic aspect of Miami's culture and 2) even if that were true that would suddenly allow you to equate the two for your argument.
Cubans make up a large part of the history here and have plenty of influence, but from my experiences living here I find it is but one part of a much larger Latin American influence.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Be Proud
Never been to Vancouver but is Mandarin necessary to move in majority of circles as Spanish is in Miami?
No, I find Spanish to be much more significant here in Miami. But you do realize there are immigrants from dozens of countries here who speak native Spanish?? Cuba is tiny in comparison to many of those other countries, especially from a financial standpoint.
I disagree both with the notion that 1) Cubans dominate the Hispanic aspect of Miami's culture and 2) even if that were true that would suddenly allow you to equate the two for your argument.
Cubans make up a large part of the history here and have plenty of influence, but from my experiences living here I find it is but one part of a much larger Latin American influence.
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Aren't people of Cuban origin at least two thirds or more of the Hispanic population in Miami?
I disagree both with the notion that 1) Cubans dominate the Hispanic aspect of Miami's culture and 2) even if that were true that would suddenly allow you to equate the two for your argument.
Cubans make up a large part of the history here and have plenty of influence, but from my experiences living here I find it is but one part of a much larger Latin American influence.
No, I find Spanish to be much more significant here in Miami. But you do realize there are immigrants from dozens of countries here who speak native Spanish?? Cuba is tiny in comparison to many of those other countries, especially from a financial standpoint.
I agree with this.Hatians are as much a part of the culture as Cubans are.Cubans are the largest but so many Brazilians,Colombians,Dominicans etc live in Miami.
Cubans SO however dominate politics and business after whites.
Haitians aren't hispanics though and neither are Brazilians imo.
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