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Old 11-20-2017, 03:50 PM
 
Location: planet earth
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This is ridiculous.

If you look Hispanic, why would you penalize them by assuming you might speak Spanish, which is probably their first language? It just makes sense that they would want to converse in their mother tongue with a fellow Hispanic . . . why be offended?

 
Old 11-20-2017, 04:17 PM
 
Location: Chicago
6,160 posts, read 5,638,278 times
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My friend is from the Middle East and looks somewhat Hispanic. This happens to him ALL THE TIME.

It's such a dumb assumption that all tan people speak Spanish, but I'm sure the people who are doing the assuming aren't educated at all.
 
Old 11-20-2017, 04:31 PM
 
17,262 posts, read 11,082,017 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nobodysbusiness View Post
This is ridiculous.

If you look Hispanic, why would you penalize them by assuming you might speak Spanish, which is probably their first language? It just makes sense that they would want to converse in their mother tongue with a fellow Hispanic . . . why be offended?
Maybe because this isn't Mexico or Cuba or Puerto Rico? I see nothing wrong with two people speaking Spanish to each other but to assume someone speaks Spanish when you're not in a country where Spanish is the primary basic language just because of the way they look is wrong. Not everyone who is Hispanic knows Spanish by a long shot and Spanish isn't their mother tongue, it's the language of their ancestors. You make a lot of assumptions based on how people look.

Last edited by marino760; 11-20-2017 at 05:22 PM..
 
Old 11-20-2017, 04:44 PM
 
Location: Texas
9,189 posts, read 7,551,431 times
Reputation: 7801
Quote:
Originally Posted by bmexman View Post
I am of Latino background, and I do speak Spanish fairly well; it is my second language and I lived in a Spanish-speaking country for an extended period of time. However since I've returned to the United States and gone back to work I have CONSTANTLY been spoken to in Spanish by customers WITHOUT BEING ASKED IF I SPEAK SPANISH. Most people don't take the time to ask "Hablas espanol?" conveniently forgetting the fact that we are in the United States of America and English is the primary language! Until just recently I would simply respond in Spanish, but now I am sick of this rude mentality and I don't even bother to respond in Spanish, only in English, until it becomes absolutely necessary for me to communicate in Spanish!

I am sick of this!
I honestly don't know what to tell you.
 
Old 11-20-2017, 04:46 PM
 
22,275 posts, read 11,769,368 times
Reputation: 20032
Quote:
Originally Posted by marino760 View Post
It's the same thing in So Cal with people of Mexican heritage. Once they intermarry with people that don't speak Spanish, it's often no longer taught to the kids or the kids just know enough Spanish to understand some but not speak it. Many people I work with fall into this category.
Of course there is no Hispanic race of people. That's just an easy term used to lump a whole lot of people together that have some Spanish ancestry mixed with something else. At one point Spanish colonies encompassed almost every continent.
^^^^This is spot on I'm half-Hispanic. Spanish is my father's first language, yet he never spoke Spanish to us kids. We only learned Spanish when we took classes in school.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldglory View Post
My question would be if they knew how to speak English then why did they try to converse with you in Spanish? I'll tell you why, it's all about them not you and many Hispanics don't want to speak English unless they have to.
^^^^I agree as I've come across with those with that attitude.

Among my siblings and myself, I'm the lightest skinned one. Rarely does anyone assume that I speak Spanish. Recently, I've been asked by two middle-aged women on two separate occasions if I spoke Spanish. I let them know, in Spanish, that I did speak some. I was able to help them find what they wanted at the supermarket and was thanked, in Spanish, by both.

On the other hand, one of my brothers is a lot darker than I am. Everywhere he goes, he has had Hispanic day laborers come up to him and speak to him in Spanish. He looks at them and says "Excuse me?" and they always looked shocked.

It's awfully presumptuous of some posters in this thread to accuse those in my situation as being "self-hating" or denying our backgrounds. In our case, that is far from the truth.
 
Old 11-20-2017, 04:49 PM
 
Location: Texas
9,189 posts, read 7,551,431 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lepoisson View Post
My friend is from the Middle East and looks somewhat Hispanic. This happens to him ALL THE TIME.

It's such a dumb assumption that all tan people speak Spanish, but I'm sure the people who are doing the assuming aren't educated at all.
A friend of mine, who is Irish btw, is somewhat tan. He decided to grow a mustache. After a while, he said people would come up to him and speak Spanish...that hadn't happened before. I think he was offended because he shaved that mustache off asap. I thought it was funny.
 
Old 11-20-2017, 05:31 PM
 
Location: Brawndo-Thirst-Mutilator-Nation
22,565 posts, read 24,357,783 times
Reputation: 20213
Don't take offense, it largely depends on where you live.

I see being able to speak 2 languages as a very good thing.
 
Old 11-20-2017, 07:03 PM
 
2,677 posts, read 1,688,073 times
Reputation: 1045
Quote:
Originally Posted by bmexman View Post
I am of Latino background, and I do speak Spanish fairly well; it is my second language and I lived in a Spanish-speaking country for an extended period of time. However since I've returned to the United States and gone back to work I have CONSTANTLY been spoken to in Spanish by customers WITHOUT BEING ASKED IF I SPEAK SPANISH. Most people don't take the time to ask "Hablas espanol?" conveniently forgetting the fact that we are in the United States of America and English is the primary language! Until just recently I would simply respond in Spanish, but now I am sick of this rude mentality and I don't even bother to respond in Spanish, only in English, until it becomes absolutely necessary for me to communicate in Spanish!

I am sick of this!
What about others like myself?

When people talk about you in Spanish without knowing I understand every word they say, assuming you DONT undertand. This happens to many all the time.

Sounds like you’re very insecure, or just upset.
 
Old 11-20-2017, 07:14 PM
 
16,956 posts, read 16,661,960 times
Reputation: 10408
OP: This is the perfect time for me to ask you, if you know what this means:


When I started a new job in my 20's, there were two Hispanic women working in the pantry, one young like me and an older Hispanic woman. When we were standing together talking, the older woman would speak in Spanish only to her and the younger woman would answer her back in English. (out of respect for me, as I was standing there, included in the conversation) The older woman spoke good English but she would speak to the younger girl in total Spanish, exluding me out of the conversation. The younger woman would repeatedly answer her back in English...


I think the older woman was being disrespectful towards me, since she was bi-lingual and spoke both English and Spanish quite well. Was she being disrespectful or was it something else? The younger woman confided in me that she spoke back to the woman in English, out of respect for me.
 
Old 11-20-2017, 07:20 PM
 
Location: Los Awesome, CA
8,653 posts, read 6,099,076 times
Reputation: 3368
Quote:
Originally Posted by bmexman View Post
I am of Latino background, and I do speak Spanish fairly well; it is my second language and I lived in a Spanish-speaking country for an extended period of time. However since I've returned to the United States and gone back to work I have CONSTANTLY been spoken to in Spanish by customers WITHOUT BEING ASKED IF I SPEAK SPANISH. Most people don't take the time to ask "Hablas espanol?" conveniently forgetting the fact that we are in the United States of America and English is the primary language! Until just recently I would simply respond in Spanish, but now I am sick of this rude mentality and I don't even bother to respond in Spanish, only in English, until it becomes absolutely necessary for me to communicate in Spanish!

I am sick of this!
Sounds like you might be a sensitive person..
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