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Learning Spanish is a great idea for kids. In our family, we have several kids who have taken Spanish throughout their school years and are fluent. Sadly, many Hispanics who have lived here a long time do not learn English. This is mainly because they live in Hispanic communities where everything, including grocery stores, etc., is available and they don’t need English.
Recently, we tried to make a reservation at a Latin American restaurant in our city and the woman who answered the phone didn’t know any English, and so put her 8 year old son on the phone to translate!
Plus, if you have Spanish speakers working for you (maid, landscaper, etc), you can communicate and also know if they are talking about you behind your back!
I couldn't care less about anyone talking about me behind my back in a foreign language. Why would they do that anyway unless I did something to them?
Why should we have to learn Spanish to communicate with Hispanics? Most Hispanics here legally know English so we have our common language of English to communicate in. What about all the other ethnic groups of immigrants? Should we also learn all of their languages also? Sorry, but we are an English speaking country. Learn our language or feel free to leave. No one should be pandering to you in your native tongue. I certainly wouldn't expect to be pandered to in English if I moved to a non-English speaking country.
Why would I hire a non-English speaking Spanish speaker to work for me? I would want to hire people I could communicate with. Are you suggesting that we should hire maids, landscapers, etc. that are here illegally?
I couldn't care less about anyone talking about me behind my back in a foreign language. Why would they do that anyway unless I did something to them?
Why should we have to learn Spanish to communicate with Hispanics? Most Hispanics here legally know English so we have our common language of English to communicate in. What about all the other ethnic groups of immigrants? Should we also learn all of their languages also? Sorry, but we are an English speaking country. Learn our language or feel free to leave. No one should be pandering to you in your native tongue. I certainly wouldn't expect to be pandered to in English if I moved to a non-English speaking country.
Why would I hire a non-English speaking Spanisheare speaker to work for me? I would want to hire people I could communicate with. Are you suggesting that we should hire maids, landscapers, etc. that are here illegally?
Don’t know where you live, but you are sadly out of touch. I can’t believe all the Hispanic people living in your areas speak English. We Americans certainly don’t have to learn Spanish but it is a very good skill to have in this world. Just because they are legal, doesn’t mean they speak English. Remember “wet foot, dry foot,” where people from Cuba coming on rafts were allowed to stay in FL? So all the people who mow your lawn or trim bushes in your ‘hood are legal, English speakers? Amazing!
Do you really think women don’t gossip about their employer or their fellow English speaking employees? Wake up and smell the coffee.
Have you been to Europe? People in those countries learn English in school. They are prepared to deal with Americans in business or tourism.
Don’t know where you live, but you are sadly out of touch. I can’t believe all the Hispanic people living in your areas speak English. We Americans certainly don’t have to learn Spanish but it is a very good skill to have in this world. Just because they are legal, doesn’t mean they speak English. Remember “wet foot, dry foot,” where people from Cuba coming on rafts were allowed to stay in FL? So all the people who mow your lawn or trim bushes in your ‘hood are legal, English speakers? Amazing!
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Have you been to Europe? People in those countries learn English in school. They are prepared to deal with Americans in business or tourism.
English, for whatever reason, has evolved to become a world language. This role was envisioned for Esperanto, which never really took off. Learning Spanish is not a bad idea in areas where Spanish is a second working language. Makes doing business a bit easier.
Quote:
Originally Posted by staywarm2
Do you really think women don’t gossip about their employer or their fellow English speaking employees? Wake up and smell the coffee.
At my son's sleepaway camp in July 2007, some children and a counselor were doing just that. My son understands some Spanish. We complained to a head counselor about the episode.
Don’t know where you live, but you are sadly out of touch. I can’t believe all the Hispanic people living in your areas speak English. We Americans certainly don’t have to learn Spanish but it is a very good skill to have in this world. Just because they are legal, doesn’t mean they speak English. Remember “wet foot, dry foot,” where people from Cuba coming on rafts were allowed to stay in FL? So all the people who mow your lawn or trim bushes in your ‘hood are legal, English speakers? Amazing!
Do you really think women don’t gossip about their employer or their fellow English speaking employees? Wake up and smell the coffee.
Have you been to Europe? People in those countries learn English in school. They are prepared to deal with Americans in business or tourism.
Wake up and smell the coffee.
I live in the thick of it here in So. Calif. So what if many Hispanics here don't speak English does that mean I should learn Spanish to accomodate them? Many of of them in my state are illegal aliens. It would be cold day in hell I would learn Spanish to communicate those law breakers.
Yes, those who landscape my yard are English speaking whites Americans and I don't live in a hood. If they are here legally and are bi-lingual I would have no problem hiring Hispanics either.
I didn't say people don't talk about others in a foreign language or English but I don't care if they do it to me personally. I don't give them reason to anyway.
I don't know what you mean by "wake up and smell the coffee". I have no reason whatsoever at my age to learn a foreign language. English the national de facto language of the U.S. and English is my native language. It's up to immigrants to assimilate to us not the other way around!
I live in the thick of it here in So. Calif. So what if many Hispanics here don't speak English does that mean I should learn Spanish to accomodate them? Many of of them in my state are illegal aliens. It would be cold day in hell I would learn Spanish to communicate those law breakers.
Yes, those who landscape my yard are English speaking whites Americans and I don't live in a hood. If they are here legally and are bi-lingual I would have no problem hiring Hispanics either.
I didn't say people don't talk about others in a foreign language or English but I don't care if they do it to me personally. I don't give them reason to anyway.
I don't know what you mean by "wake up and smell the coffee". I have no reason whatsoever at my age to learn a foreign language. English the national de facto language of the U.S. and English is my native language. It's up to immigrants to assimilate to us not the other way around!
That doesn’t mean young people, or others besides you, shouldn’t learn Spanish. I live in a very nice upscale development. All of the landscape workers here are Hispanic. I’m amazed that living in So. California, that you don’t have the occasion to interact with any Spanish speaking people. A few words of Spanish wouldn’t hurt you—maybe please or thank you? Por favor or gratias?
Of course the immigrants should assimilate. But English is a difficult language to learn. Some of these folks are your age or older when they come here. Harder to learn new things then.
And for those of us who like to travel, knowing a few words of the country’s language makes us have much better, more gracious service.
Hey, I wonder if Melania’s parents, who are recent immigrants, speak English? Almost never see or hear anything about that couple, who jumped the line and became citizens extremely quickly. Chain migration?
Last edited by staywarm2; 08-09-2019 at 08:35 PM..
That doesn’t mean young people, or others, shouldn’t learn Spanish. I live in a very nice upscale development. All of the landscape workers are Hispanic. I’m amazed that living in So. California, that you don’t have the occasion to interact with any Spanish speaking people. In a bubble?
Sounds like my mother-in-law's advice...my wife and her siblings needed to learn Spanish so they'd be able to tell the help what they wanted done.
That doesn’t mean young people, or others besides you, shouldn’t learn Spanish. I live in a very nice upscale development. All of the landscape workers here are Hispanic. I’m amazed that living in So. California, that you don’t have the occasion to interact with any Spanish speaking people. A few words of Spanish wouldn’t hurt you—maybe please or thank you? Por favor or gratias?
Of course the immigrants should assimilate. But English is a difficult language to learn. Some of these folks are your age or older when they come here. Harder to learn new things then.
And for those of us who like to travel, knowing a few words of the country’s language makes us have much better, more gracious service.
Hey, I wonder if Melania’s parents, who are recent immigrants, speak English? Almost never see or hear anything about that couple, who jumped the line and became citizens extremely quickly. Chain migration?
Those that I personally encounter are bi-lingual so we have our common language of English to communicate in. I have no reason to communicate with illegal aliens and yes they are usually the ones that can't speak English. I know a few words of Spanish but I have no intention of becoming fluent in it because I will never use it. If you want to converse with me then you'd better do it in English which is our national de facto language.
If I had my way, all immigrants would have to know passable English to migrate here. I do know of some Spanish speakers that have been here for years and years that don't know English. That's laziness on their part, not mine.
Traveling is a whole different ball of wax. That's where learning a few words of the language of that foreign country can come in handy but we aren't talking about that. We are talking about those who migrate to another another country to become a permanent resident that refuses to learn or speak the language of the country they chose to migrate to. The host country's citizens shouldn't have to learn the languages of several different migrant groups. That's ridiculous!
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