Bilingual a plus or necessary in Texas? (San Antonio, Austin: home, construction)

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by kidicarus89

Irritating to listen to it? Redneck much?

I don't understand that sentiment. Most exchange students I run into from Europe know a mix of decent English, German, French, Spanish, whatever. But only in the U.S. do you find hostility to learning other languages.

Every person should try to know AT LEAST two languages. Widen your worldview. I'm not very great at Spanish but I'm brushing up on it. You live in Texas. Second biggest Hispanic population in the country.

Redneck much. What does that mean? I speak English and quite properly. I don't do redneck either.

I live in Texas, but I'm not learning Spanish. The sentiment is as simple as that. If I learn another language, it will be German because that's my ancestry. I should have learned it many years ago, but I did not. It's never too late though. Is German useless in the U.S.? Maybe so, but I wouldn't be doing it for any reason except I like how it sounds and would love to converse with my relatives who know it well. Writing a letter to my relatives in Germany in German would be delightful.

Perhaps the exchange students know a variety of languages because they don't stay in their country and travel hither and yon. If that were my case, I would want to know different languages as well. If one is in America, one needs to know English. 'Nuf said.

[HoneysuckleHobo]

Texas already encourages high school students to take at least 3 credits of a foreign language in order to prepare for university study. To get a bachelor's from a public university, the students MUST be either at the intermediate or high-novice stage (depends on the language; the Asian languages, Farsi, etc don't require the same level of understanding that German, French, Spanish and so forth do) in a foreign language.

There's no lack of students wishing to learn another language. But many of us resent the hell out of the fact that the other languages are overshadowed by the incessant and IMO moronic pushing of Spanish onto the population.

True story: I'm fluent in 3 languages. On my teacher application, I duly noted these languages, duly noted I was "bilingual" (they didn't have "trilingual" as a choice). Got a call, come interview! Got to the school, shown into the principal's office where she and 3 other women sat and commenced speaking to me in Spanish. WTH? It wasn't even a SPANISH-REQUIRED position, people. They just saw the word BILINGUAL and took it to mean "Spanish-speaking." Kerls!

I'm sick of BILINGUAL being perverted to mean SPANISH-SPEAKING.

[TexasHorseLady]

Honeysuckle, I agree with you on that one. Bilingual, literally, can mean English and any other language, or it can mean any two languages NOT including English.

[doss1]

This is an interesting topic. It's an advantage to know Spanish, especially in Texas. I spoke OK Spanish growing up since I have family on my dad's side that dont' speak English, but the older I get, the less I am finding I need it. I am running into lots of other third-generation people my age that are leaving their Spanish roots behind, believe it or not. I was looking at the language charts during WWII and saw that only 7% of the US population spoke Spanish. I think some 50% were German speaking, but the Europeans did much better than Latinos in assimulating into society.

I find it laughable that people compare Americans to Europeans in being bilingual. The reason why it's good to know more than one language in Europe is because most countries can be fit into the size of Texas and you often walk across borders to do business. The US is far, far, far bigger than most European countries and a unified language was needed. Europe is having migration problems right now (see France) and they are even trying to pass English as the official language to get things back in order.

In conclusion, I don't think that just because someone is bilingual that it makes them any more special than someone whom is unilingual--the real issue is, can this person master one language well? With the way people speak and write today, I'd rather they focus on mastering the English language before they go on to other languages. You can thank the Ipod generation for screwing it up for us

[kidicarus89]

Originally Posted by Canine*Castle

Redneck much. What does that mean? I speak English and quite properly. I don't do redneck either.

I live in Texas, but I'm not learning Spanish. The sentiment is as simple as that. If I learn another language, it will be German because that's my ancestry. I should have learned it many years ago, but I did not. It's never too late though. Is German useless in the U.S.? Maybe so, but I wouldn't be doing it for any reason except I like how it sounds and would love to converse with my relatives who know it well. Writing a letter to my relatives in Germany in German would be delightful.

Perhaps the exchange students know a variety of languages because they don't stay in their country and travel hither and yon. If that were my case, I would want to know different languages as well. If one is in America, one needs to know English. 'Nuf said.

You never really answered why you find even the sound of hearing Spanish spoken 'irritating'. Why is that? Sorry if I'm misreading you but it comes off as a bit small-minded.

TexasNick, the whole English as official language isn't so much about geographical differences with Europe as it is nativist backlash which has existed since the early 1800s. I agree that every immigrant who enters into the US should have at least a passable command of the English, not as some sort of primitive nationalism but because the great majority of people here speak English. Its just practical. But as America has always seen a huge influx of people from around the world (Hmong is a language option on ATMs in parts of California) it benefits any and all to learn as many languages as they can.

Right now the reality is that hundreds of thousands of Spanish-speaking immigrants are entering the country (illegally or not is another question). I myself am terrible at picking up languages, and my Spanish is still pretty bad, but I recognize that learning new languages is one of life's great challenges, and one that enriches a person. Whether that be German or Spanish or Chinese, its a positive.

[HoneysuckleHobo]

Not one single other immigrant group coming into the U.S. -- Hmong included, Somalis included -- are demanding OR getting school districts to supply teachers who speak and teach content in that language. They go the ESL/ELL route. But the Spanish-speaking parents ARE demanding and getting the requirement for TEXAS and NEW MEXICO teachers to teach content in THEIR language. Many other states are saying WHOA NO WAY and using the ESL/ELL route. And guess what? The students taught in their native language -- Spanish -- do NOT outperform those who are taught in English.

Oh yes, I'm bitter.

We have something like 20 different language choices on our ATMs, including Hmong -- but no one is requiring Hmong in order to teach. Interesting that Oregon is bending over backwards to require Spanish- and Russian-speaking teachers in far too many of their elementary settings -- interesting to follow how THAT will turn out.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by kidicarus89

You never really answered why you find even the sound of hearing Spanish spoken 'irritating'. Why is that? Sorry if I'm misreading you but it comes off as a bit small-minded.

I'm sorry; I didn't read that someone asked me, "Why?"

Small minded. Hmm, no. Some people get irritated when the toothpaste tube isn't squeezed from the bottom. We all have irritants in our life and listening to Spanish is one of mine. The main reason is because we live in America and therefore, English should be known by all. I certainly wouldn't live in Germany or Mexico and not know the language. That would be ridiculous and as the years go by, it gets even more ridiculous in this country.

I also get irritated by people with such strong foreign accents that one can't understand a word they say. This usually happens when I get someone on the phone in a customer service position. It is terribly aggravating because he or she doesn't have a clue what I mean and I can't unscramble their talk.

Let's see. Humid weather irritates me too as do June bugs and tornadoes. Life is full of them, irritants that is.

[TexasHorseLady]

But you assume that people who are speaking Spanish in your hearing don't know English when it's entirely possible that they do but prefer to speak Spanish amongst themselves. May even be practicing their Spanish, for all you know, being only someone who is overhearing them.

As for the strong accent, it might help to consider that they may be equally irritated by your strong accent that they can't understand. Sauce, goose, gander, and all that.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

But you assume that people who are speaking Spanish in your hearing don't know English when it's entirely possible that they do but prefer to speak Spanish amongst themselves. May even be practicing their Spanish, for all you know, being only someone who is overhearing them.

As for the strong accent, it might help to consider that they may be equally irritated by your strong accent that they can't understand. Sauce, goose, gander, and all that.

I'm referring to those who don't know English, and I know they don't.

If those on the other end of a phone can't understand my "strong accent" of which I don't have, they shouldn't be in that line of work. That's a simple solution because if they can't understand me, they surely can't understand Americans in general.

[TexasHorseLady]

If those on the other end of a phone can't understand my "strong accent" of which I don't have,

Whether or not you have a "strong accent" depends entirely on which side of the conversation you're on, you realize? It's amazing, to me, the number of people (who speak fluent English and who were born and bred in this country) who don't realize that, yes, they do have a strong accent of the region in which they were born or in which they've spent the most time recently.