El Paso posters: Do you speak Spanish (West: neighborhoods, movies)

[Violet West]

Bobcatt's recent thread inquiring about the need to speak Spanish for jobs got me thinking -- are the responders in this forum only English speaking, or what. So, a poll.

[Army_Guy]

I took 2 years in college and went out with a Colombian girl. Does that count?

Seriously though, I can somewhat get by and get the gist of what people are saying but I think with a refresher class or two, I could pick it up quite well.

[Violet West]

not too many regular posters, eh? I was just thinking that if we don't have a representative population of Spanish speakers, then the results to the questions posted might not be totally representative of El Paso.

[Chuco]

I speak mainly English but Spanish was my first language, so I can speak it somewhat fluently. At work I have to use both languages, so this keep me from forgetting either language (Spanish mostly). With that said, I watch TV in English, same for movies and mostly hear English music so I guess I'm more comfortable with the English language than Spanish.

[joqua]

Originally Posted by Violet West

not too many regular posters, eh?

Well, there was no Spanish version of the question, so it's not surprising that it's biased toward English speakers/readers/writers. Since it's a fact that the El Paso area is something like 75 percent Hispanic, it stands to reason any such poll should reflect that fact.

[Violet West]

well, that's my point -- the whole forum is in English. there's not a Spanish version of City Data, is there?

[atrabilius]

I read and write Spanish and understand it spoken better than I speak it myself (provided the speaker is speaking clearly), and sometimes I need an English-Spanish dictionary or online translator. I never had to use Spanish very much in El Paso.

[AnonymouseX]

Spanish was a must.

[Mass Transit user]

I speaky sponish.

[atrabilius]

Originally Posted by AnonymouseX

Spanish was a must.

The neighborhood in Northeast I lived in from the late Sixties to the mid-Eighties was mostly Anglo and everybody was fluent in English; you didn't have to use Spanish regularly on the street or at home. It was probably different closer to the river in more Hispanic neighborhoods where more people held on to Spanish or came here speaking it. But it was taught in school in El Paso ISD beginning in fourth grade.