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Length
• 399 pages : index, lots of photos, maps, drawings, family trees – the monarchs of Spain, Sources & readings, illustration credits.
An excellent book (there’s also a TV series – PBS, of the same name?) on the topic – the relationship between Spain (history, culture, languages, religions, ethnicities, Jews, Islam, Catholics) & the Americas, especially Mexico (Fuentes is a writer/diplomat from Mexico). Very interesting on the political consolidation of Spain, the Reconquista, the terrible choices that Spain made in 1492CE, the negotiations between crown & nobles & cities/regions.
Great point. I took Spanish for 3 years in high school. I always made A's because I knew all of the answers on paper, but could not speak or understand Spanish to save my life. I didn't actually start learning Spanish to the point where I could speak and understand it---and eventually become fluent in it---until I started immersing myself in the language and culture, speaking Spanish with Latino friends and studying abroad and living with a Spanish speaking family in Costa Rica.
There's WAY more to learning a foreign language than just going to a class for so many minutes a week and doing a few grammar worksheets here and there, which is the extent of what most people get out of a foreign language class. That doesn't teach you how to speak and understand a language.
I couldn’t agree more. One may ask if most students in US at least the southern half learn Spanish as part of the school curriculum why can’t many of them converse in basic Spanish?
I always ask do kids in US including even kids of recent generations of immigrants lag behind their peers in learning an other than English language including their parents/grandparents old country tongue. How do immigrant kids’s to US original language skills compare with immigrant kids to other foreign countries in similar situations. Ie a British Family immigrating to a non English speaking country and multiple generations of kids attending local schools. Or a Spanish speaking family immigrating to Russia and having multiple generation of kids attending local schools there?
Though I am guessing the original poster probably lives in a city or town in the southwest US where Spanish speakers account for at least 50% of the population, he probably wants to find out why many Mexican workers and family just don’t speak English or have difficulty communicating with them about a job that needs to be done right.
I noticed on a visit to some parts of California and Arizona there are many businesses and even supermarkets in which the owners and employees and many customers just cannot even answer questions in English.
Last edited by citizensadvocate; 10-30-2017 at 01:37 PM..
The real question is actually: why do so few Americans speak a foreign language?
We have the lowest foreign language comprehension of any nation on earth. Part of that is no doubt due to the arrogance of the question posed by the OP. Why don't more Mexicans learn basic English? Why don't more Americans learn basic Spanish?
The answer, of course, is that quite a few Mexicans actually DO learn basic English--if and when it becomes useful for them to do so. That would only really happen were they to travel to the US or live in a touristed area of Mexico that is frequented by gringos. Otherwise, why would they focus their often limited personal resources on learning something that would be of sharply limited use to them?
We "ugly Americans" tend to think that the rest of the world is obligated to learn, as one poster put it, "the most important language in the world." Cue to tourist screaming at a local in Paris: "I...SAID...WHERE...IS...THE...MCDONALDS???""
(The most important language in the world, of course, is C+. I for one welcome our robot overlords.)
As I repeated a hundred times, English is taught in the vast majority of countries in the world. So yes it is extremely weird that young Mexicans cannot speak very basic English.
My parents were born in China in the late 1940s and they had never traveled to any foreign country until 2000s. They both learned some basic Russian in school. Foreign language is compulsory in all schools in most developing countries.
I highly, highly doubt most people in China speak passable English
Definitely not more so than people in Mexico
In China English is compulsory since grade 7 (now I heard it is grade 3). One MUST take a foreign language exam to get admitted in any college. English is by far the most common choice.
If you talk to any Chinese under 40, usually they understand some basic English (of course most cannot carry a real conversation).
Learned some Japanese/Korean during my Military days (1951/2)... Still remember but never use.
I can speak Hungarian from my early growing yrs ( mother) while today no one to converse with.
So now I can keep up s bit with my Spanish here in Baja dealing with the locals.
Now I cross into SD area. Walmart store and ask a man stocking where a certain brand item is. I spoke in English while the man looks Hispanic and this was Calif but he did not understand me so I had to repeat my question in Spanish.
There are many from TJ/ Rosarito who work just North of the border legally...but still, if a person desires some dealings in another country...LEARN their LANGUAGE.
But what is odious is the implication that they are obligated to learn it or that they are uniquely ignorant for "failing" to do so.
Yes, students in most countries in the world are obliged to learn English (or another foreign language). At least it is true in Europe, Asia and Africa.
Yes, students in most countries in the world are obliged to learn English (or another foreign language). At least it is true in Europe, Asia and Africa.
Well if people in Tokyo can speak English they sure hide it well, on my last vacation there about 4 years ago my husband and I got really lost (we were walking) we must have asked 30 people for directions, showing them the address that we were trying to find and no one would even stop and try to help us, we finally ran across a group of very friendly teenagers who tried to help us but if they spoke English they sure kept it a secret, they were kind enough to go out of their way to accompany us to the address we were looking for.
I have family in France and in Norway, the folks in Norway all speak perfect English but my French relatives only speak French however a few of them also speak Spanish and Basque.
Your assumption that everyone in the world speaks English is just dead wrong, here is a list of the 15 countries with the highest number of English speakers
Well if people in Tokyo can speak English they sure hide it well, on my last vacation there about 4 years ago my husband and I got really lost (we were walking) we must have asked 30 people for directions, showing them the address that we were trying to find and no one would even stop and try to help us, we finally ran across a group of very friendly teenagers who tried to help us but if they spoke English they sure kept it a secret, they were kind enough to go out of their way to accompany us to the address we were looking for.
I have family in France and in Norway, the folks in Norway all speak perfect English but my French relatives only speak French however a few of them also speak Spanish and Basque.
Your assumption that everyone in the world speaks English is just dead wrong, here is a list of the 15 countries with the highest number of English speakers
Do not twist my words. I never said most people in the world speak English. I said most young people learned English in school.
Those Japanese may not be able to speak "good" English but they understand basic English if you speak slowly or write things down.
My father is not an English speaker. He cannot understand English news or carry a conversation, but he knows basic English like counting numbers, asking for directions, and greetings.
Mexicans who come to America should learn the language (same with any immigrant) but you were in Mexico. It doesn't matter if its on the California border, you're in Mexico, speak Spanish. That's like going to northern Vermont and ordering at a McDonald's in French and saying "Why don't you know French? You're right next to Quebec!"
Do not twist my words. I never said most people in the world speak English. I said most young people learned English in school.
Those Japanese may not be able to speak "good" English but they understand basic English if you speak slowly or write things down.
My father is not an English speaker. He cannot understand English news or carry a conversation, but he knows basic English like counting numbers, asking for directions, and greetings.
I never twisted your words, it has been your contention since this thread started when you suggested that it is odd that a teenager in Mexico can't speak English, and this was your most recent remark and it is the one I was responding to:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bettafish View Post
Yes, students in most countries in the world are obliged to learn English (or another foreign language). At least it is true in Europe, Asia and Africa.
And when we were in Tokyo we spoke slowly and we showed people the address on a piece of paper, the simple fact is that very few of the residents of Tokyo who we encountered spoke English, and that was true of people on the street, in shops and Restaurants, on buses, taxis and even in a bank. The exception was the Tokyo Hilton where the front desk and the concierge attendants spoke perfect English.
As far as China, if this source is correct very few Chinese speak English
"China makes up 18,7% of the world’s population with 1.37 billion people. In 2014, Forbes reported that five of the ten largest public companies in the world are Chinese, and in the same year Fortune’s Global 500 list included 95 Chinese corporations. One would be hard-pressed to argue that China is a market to ignore.
In the light of this, it is hard to believe that this gigantic, well-connected market might be hard to communicate with, and yet the estimates for the amount of people from China speaking English range from a staggeringly low 10 million English “speakers” to 300 million English “learners.” Even at the higher end of the spectrum, this still only amounts to around 22% of the population speaking English, the “global language.” What about English in China? - VoiceBoxer
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