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I think we all know that English is the most popular language in the United States. No one is arguing other wise. So when you say "a big part of American culture is English", I absolutely agree. But there are are other popular languages as well. Obviously, a big part of American culture is also Spanish. At one point it was German too.
Legal documents are written in English because we use English in law. Federal law requires many of these documents to be available in multiple languages, including Spanish. The citizens of Texas have passed explicit laws to make their documents available in Spanish.
Either way, may it be English, Spanish, German, Hindi, Vietnamese (the fastest growing language in the US), it's all welcome here and protected. It's nice to have freedom.
It's not just the most popular but it is our national de facto language in every way. No, Spanish is not a part of our identifying culture. It's merely a minority language spoken just as other minority languages. We aren't known a a Hispanic country, culturally.
I think these states that print documents in Spanish or any other foreign language are discouraging assimilation into our society. It has nothing to do with freedom. It has to do with respect for our nation's language out in public when they know how to speak English or their refusal to learn it.
This stuff happens everyday across America.This woman has poor customer service schools. I hope this serves as a lesson to anyone regardless of race. Don't be an a-hole. Nothing to see here folks. Move along.
Last edited by Bronxguyanese; 04-08-2019 at 07:27 AM..
It's not just the most popular but it is our national de facto language in every way. No, Spanish is not a part of our identifying culture. It's merely a minority language spoken just as other minority languages. We aren't known a a Hispanic country, culturally.
I think these states that print documents in Spanish or any other foreign language are discouraging assimilation into our society. It has nothing to do with freedom. It has to do with respect for our nation's language out in public when they know how to speak English or their refusal to learn it.
You aren't the cultural arbiter of America. Never will be.
Whatever langauges people wanna speak, they're going to speak it. Suppressing it, as you've hinting at, backfires in spectacular ways. Like in Catalan, Spain. In the same way, you have to respect other people's free choice to speak what they want.
Last edited by silverkris; 04-08-2019 at 10:49 AM..
Why would you care if someone is trash talking you in a language you can't understand? How would it be better to be insulted in your native language?
What are you doing to people that causes you to be so paranoid about what they might say about you?
Not once have I ever walked by my coworkers, heard a foreign language and decided that they must be talking about me.
Even if your worry was rational, how does that apply to going off on a complete stranger in a convenience store? Are you paranoid that everybody you see is talking about you behind your back?
If it were to happen to you in the workplace at it was negative towards you, you would care. I guarantee it.
You aren't the cultural arbiter of America. Never will be.
Whatever langauges people wanna speak, they're going to speak it. Suppressing it, as you've hinting act, backfires in spectacular ways. Like in Catalan, Spain. In the same way, you have to respect other people's free choice to speak what they want.
Oh but he wants so badly to be in control of other people actually all of these people demanding that only English be spoken in public don't believe in freedom of expression.
The cashier who flipped out should have told her fellow cashier who was speaking in Spanish to a customer that knew English that she was being rude and inconsiderate on the job. Many companies require their employees to speak English on the job and this customer knew how to speak English.
The cashier who flipped out should have told her fellow cashier who was speaking in Spanish to a customer that knew English that she was being rude and inconsiderate on the job. Many companies require their employees to speak English on the job and this customer knew how to speak English.
On the contrary - she was catering to the customer's needs, and should be lauded for that. Haven't you heard of the saying, "the customer is always right?"
The company doesn't require the customer to speak English. I've been at my Wells Fargo and they have tellers who are multilingual to cater to client's needs. The only language that counts is money. Good for business.
Kindly go choke on your nativism and ethnocentrism.
Last edited by silverkris; 04-08-2019 at 06:19 PM..
I still don't understand why people get so over the top angry just hearing Spanish, especially in private conversations. I grew up around it in California (where the use predates the United States even), studied it for 4 years in high school, etc.
There are plenty of reasons why someone might use it or another language that don't involve talking smack about people around them or whatever negative reasons people try to argue. They may know English well but just want to speak that language.
My husband and I are both white American citizens, but boy it's useful to talk in Spanish sometimes around our kids, for example, so we can discuss things without them understanding. Usually it's very benign things like whether we want to get ice cream after dinner or go to a place, where we want to come to an agreement without them knowing and subsequently whining for whatever.
We recently went to Italy. Learned a little bit and picked up a bit more along the way. All but one person were very kind to us. Maybe the one was just grumpy while working at McDonalds.
Many spoke English. Knowing several languages is common in Europe, of course. I want to learn more Italian now in part because of how I was treated. If I had been berated or chastised or whatever for not knowing more than my small vocabulary, it would make me feel more negative towards the language.
We have 50 states and 50+ cultures, really. All sorts of pockets of places with this language or that, or other cultural practices. It's been true since long before we were a country. Trying to pretend they dont or shouldn't exist is silly. It's part of what makes the US great.
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