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I am in Hemet California and there are plenty of places to learn english, people just don't want to even though it is free.
I have heard although I do not know for sure that there are places that the tax payers foot the bill for them to learn English. Which I feel is wrong. Maybe Spanish speaking individuals should be offering their services more and for free to their counterparts.
My son had his first day of pre-school and his teacher announced that since there is spanish speaking children in the class she will teach those students in spanish since these children do not know english yet. I was taken back by that, I thought there was an ESL class for children even at the pre-school level, come to find out there is not,because of budget cut backs. And there are parents out there who do not feel that their children should have to learn english. So the communication gap starts here.
I'd be calling the administration and bitchin up a storm BIg time......
See this is what is wrong and why we have so much animosity towards illegals or legals that do not want to learn the language. It's just not right. The English speaking children are not getting the education they rightfully deserve...
I just want to let you know something because immigration is a hotbutton issue and some might be mis informed to some extent,like I was.
I was born and raised in Miami.The recent influx of South and central Americans,Columbia,Venezuela,Argentina you name it has made Miami spanish speaking dominated.Cubans who have been in Miami for a while do speak english.Miami has had such a huge surge in immigrants recently though that spanish is prefered.
Mexicans....I never met many before,listening to the immigration debate I formed opnions based on what I heard and what I experienced in Miami.
I went to Texas,spent several weeks in San Antonio,I rarely saw a anglo or black person,it's mainly a Mexican heritage city.
Every single person I met was nice to me,and spoke perfect english.I was in a grocery store,the only gringo and everybody smiled at me and struck conversation with me.Maybe recently arrived Mexicans are not speaking english but everyone I met did.
So keep what I said in mind,beliving a generalization without first hand experience can be flawed.
Will those in Miami recently arrived learn english,some but it's different there then what I experienced in Texas.
This is a nation descended from immigrants. As an immigrant nation, ONE unifying language is paramount for the success of the nation. You think all the hundreds of other language groups and immigrants in this nation who DON'T hail from a Spanish speaking country APPRECIATE Spanish encroachment?
How many large cities have Chinatowns? When I go to a Chinese restaurant I have never encountered a Chinese server or host talking to me in Chinese. We have large populations of Asians, Africans and Europeans who speak hundreds of languages and they all manage to learn English. (My cousin-in-law is German and when she and my cousin moved back to the US she learned to speak English by watching the news.) Precisely because this is a nation of immigrants we need to have a single language that everyone can use to handle day to day business and functions. Native Spanish speakers who do not learn English are limiting their opportunities.
I have to say I am surprised how many people do not speak English, every time I visit the US, especially shops and fast food places. I have had to speak Spanish on many occasions.
I actually have no problems with immigrants but I do think that learning the language of the country you live in is a must. It's disrespectful to expect people to understand you otherwise ( and the majority don't understand you).
Communications are part of our daily lives and it seems odd that some people can live somewhere for years and not learn the language. It's a shame as to me , it indicates a lack of basic assimilation.
Maybe all immigrants should have to attend evening classes in English when they land.
I see the same here in the UK and it is really annoying. If you come to the US you should be prepared to learn. I don't expect people to know English when they arrive but not to try and assimilate seems bizarre to me.
I would never dream of living in a country and not speaking the language.
I just want to let you know something because immigration is a hotbutton issue and some might be mis informed to some extent,like I was.
I was born and raised in Miami.The recent influx of South and central Americans,Columbia,Venezuela,Argentina you name it has made Miami spanish speaking dominated.Cubans who have been in Miami for a while do speak english.Miami has had such a huge surge in immigrants recently though that spanish is prefered.
Mexicans....I never met many before,listening to the immigration debate I formed opnions based on what I heard and what I experienced in Miami.
I went to Texas,spent several weeks in San Antonio,I rarely saw a anglo or black person,it's mainly a Mexican heritage city.
Every single person I met was nice to me,and spoke perfect english.I was in a grocery store,the only gringo and everybody smiled at me and struck conversation with me.Maybe recently arrived Mexicans are not speaking english but everyone I met did.
So keep what I said in mind,beliving a generalization without first hand experience can be flawed.
Will those in Miami recently arrived learn english,some but it's different there then what I experienced in Texas.
Thanks for sharing that with us. What you experienced in San Antonio is very interesting to say the very least.
Why should anyone that is illegally here in the US even TRY to learn our language? We cater to them. Everything is press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish....COME ON...if you here, learn the language or GO HOME.
Well I have had my first experience in Lake County (in the USA for that matter outside of the tourist areas) with an employee not speaking English, and no I did not just climb out from under a rock. I was in a buffet restaurant and there were no more forks. I went up to a lady cleaning the tables to request forks, when she turned and looked at me and said "no speak English". What? Is this Miami? I was a little taken aback, then used sign language to get my point across. I guess I have to learn to mime when I need services. Well I know one Spanish speaking lady that now can say "fork".
i sympathize but i dont think it is going to go away.
we maintain pluralism as our national policy. we lack the nationalist spirit of france. they insist there on french, but we dont insist on english here. same in mexico you are expected to speak spanish, but then again is everybody trying to move to mexico or france.??? the bucks are here. its sad they do not appreciate the values that generate these bucks. but mostly people come here for the bucks.
and as to new immigrants, face it, there are a whole lot of people here that do not want to do service work. that is why we got the immigration thing. lots here dont wana do any kind of work at all. but in sympathy, i have noticed that it is much easier to book a flight in spanish than english. lots better treatment.
this is not cool.
stephen s
san diego ca
I would never dream of living in a country and not speaking the language.
I currently live in Japan and speak very little Japanese. I speak low-end passable Thai, German and French with a smattering of Spanish. I work in an American world where all the employees speak English and most of my Japanese friends are more interested in speaking English than listening to me butcher their language.
English is the language of travel. So, I'm lucky.
Umm, Bunky, the US dollar is almost on par with the Canadian dollar (.96 today, it was equal a few days ago). The dollar has dropped considerably in the past few years. When I moved to Europe in 1992, the dollar was worth 1.10 Euro; now, the USD is worth .695 Euro. That's a considerable drop. The dollar is no longer strong, some countries are basing their currencies on the Euro.
Let's not be so smug.
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You make the best point
