Why are so many people worried about the Spanish language in the USA

[Phenomanul]

So are you Italian or German smeagol?

He was being sarcastic... Smeagol embraces and defends his language - Castellano (aka Spanish).

[Wild Cobra]

I hear many people complaining (mainly Repubs) about how all people immigrants should be forced to learn English and how bad it is that they continue to speak their native language (mainly Spanish).

It is a requirement for nearly all legal immigration purposes. It's the illegal immigramts who fail to follow such requirements.

Some have even gone as far as to say that no legal, govt., do ents should be translated for Spanish speakers.

So? Now I disagree with this idea as an absolute. There are reasons why immigrants should have some translated do ents available. It's one thing to know english, and another to be fluent in it.

Even that immigrants should be forced to watch TV and listen to the radio in English (Tell me how they plan to enforce that one)

Yes, there are some silly ideas out there.

Now I understand why certain people are scared, they are worried they will be forced to learn Spanish or else they might not get that job they want.

Worry? It's a reality! Sure, some jobs should require knowing other languages. However, no job should require you to speak someone else's language to other employees. Only social service jobs, translator jobs, etc. Any retail, manufacturing facility, food service job etc. should be barred from requiring employees speak another language.

But isn't that what the free market is all about? The free market has dictated that they want Spanish speakers (and Chinese speakers will be wanted just as much very soon). So I can't understand why Repubs are the main ones trying to keep this an "English speaking country" when the free market is the one dictating that English only is just not enough.

Any thoughts on this?

I haven't heard any republican pundits say to speak English only. Only that this is the USA and English should be the official language.

Anyone who wants to become a citizen must speak English. This has become an issue partially because of the push to make America bi-lingual. This will be fought against fiercely by all American who know what it means to be an American.

smoke n mirror racism.

I hope you don't really think that of people like me and others. It has nothing to do with racism. I suggest you learn more about other peoples values before suggesting such lies.

Also consider this. If any law deems we must accommodate the native language of one nationality, equal rights will force us to spend so much on all languages!

ing liberals never think of the long term ramifications of their actions. Why stop with the Spanish language? What about the illegals, and legals from other lands and cultures?

Funny how nearly all legal immigrants want to learn the English language because the came here to live and prosper. Those who choose not to learn the language, it seems to me, are not here to assimilate, but just to rob us of our prosperity.

[Holt's Cat]

There's certainly some component of racism to such movements. In South Texas it's not that big of an issue as elsewhere as Hispanics have been a part of the culture here for centuries. At the national level, where you find Hispanic immigrants in places such as North Dakota and Rhode Island, the major issue is not the "jobs" issue, it is the racial and cultural component. Especially when you consider that those immigrants comprise such a small percentage of the overall population.

When the ethic enclave is European in origin, it's not that big of a deal. It's quaint when the language from the Old World is still spoken. But all of a sudden it's a major national security and economic issue when Jose and Hector show up looking to do jobs for pay.

If you ever have the misfortune of coming across Lou Dobbs on the boob tube you'd think armageddon was upon us.

[AFBlue]

If you ever have the misfortune of coming across Lou Dobbs on the boob tube you'd think armageddon was upon us.

I've never actually seen a segment with him until I ran across one this evening, when he was talking about the USAF Tanker deal. Talk about overdramatic! He even had a guy on who brought up "freedom fries" and somehow tied that back to this deal.

It was hilariously over the top. I'm guessing by your commentary that's how he usually is.

[AFBlue]

There's certainly some component of racism to such movements. In South Texas it's not that big of an issue as elsewhere as Hispanics have been a part of the culture here for centuries. At the national level, where you find Hispanic immigrants in places such as North Dakota and Rhode Island, the major issue is not the "jobs" issue, it is the racial and cultural component. Especially when you consider that those immigrants comprise such a small percentage of the overall population.

Agreed 100%.

As I said, I've lived in middle Georgia for a few years and the level of racism I've experienced has been greater than any to this point and will probably be greater than any after I leave.

The black/white racism is covert. The two groups have learned how to co-exist without truly co-existing. Let's just say...they stick to their own.

But Hispanics are new to this dynamic...and let's just say the racism is much more overt than covert. They're pretty much hated by everybody, and it's apparent.

Both cases are sad, but the case with Hispanics is especially so.

[Holt's Cat]

Do Hispanics hate anyone?

[possessed]

Do Hispanics hate anyone?

Obama

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Now I understand why certain people are scared, they are worried they will be forced to learn Spanish or else they might not get that job they want. But isn't that what the free market is all about? The free market has dictated that they want Spanish speakers (and Chinese speakers will be wanted just as much very soon). So I can't understand why Repubs are the main ones trying to keep this an "English speaking country" when the free market is the one dictating that English only is just not enough.

English is the language of the business world, world wide. If it's good enough for the world economy, why isn't it good enough for this country?

One third of the nations in the world have an official language, it makes sense for the U.S. to have one.

That, and I shouldn't have to pick 1 or 2 when I dial in to my bank/credit card co./cable company/cell phone company/etc.

[Holt's Cat]

English is the language of the business world, world wide. If it's good enough for the world economy, why isn't it good enough for this country?

Business is conducted in other languages, world wide.

One third of the nations in the world have an official language, it makes sense for the U.S. to have one.

How many of those are English?

That, and I shouldn't have to pick 1 or 2 when I dial in to my bank/credit card co./cable company/cell phone company/etc.

The horror.

[Wild Cobra]

But Hispanics are new to this dynamic...and let's just say the racism is much more overt than covert. They're pretty much hated by everybody, and it's apparent.

It might be that way other places, but not where I live. I'm sorry others of you lived in such ed up places if the racist issue is real. Where I live, it truely is the ILLEGAL aspect of it, and nothing else, except a very small margin of people who are racist.

[fyatuk]

Any thoughts on this?

While I personally don't care one way or the other (although, I will say I feel no pressure to learn Spanish and if people need to communicate with me they can learn English), I really don't think it's about racism.

It's about history and cost. English is what has historically been used in this country. English is the international language of business. And it costs a LOT of money to print government forms in more than one language.

I have never seen anyone suggesting trying to rid the US of Spanish or require anything more than government forms being single language (and requiring a low level of proficiency, about middle school level for naturalization and more than that is supposedly required to pass high school). None of that would affect how people live or do business except on a side effect basis, which should be fairly minimal.

One problem with not declaring English a national language is that it leaves open to possibility that at some point, it will end up being required that classes be taught in Spanish or other languages as well, meaning entire classes of people will perpetually not speak the same language, and our school system will have an even harder time finding decent teachers.

There's a whole mess of possible issues that can pop up if we don't restrict certain things to English. Just a matter of how much of a cost you want to spend to protect Spanish only speakers.

[fyatuk]

* This would be why I detest the Confederate flag, not merely because it might represent "hate," i.e. an affirmation of white supremacy over blacks, slavery, and segregation, but rather because it represents "heritage," i.e. Anglo-Celtic white Southern nationalism. Such regional nationalism is utterly inimical to American ideals, just as much as when some Mexican-Americans start prattling about Aztlan, except that the former is near-universal in the South, while the latter is a fringe belief.

I know I'm in an extreme minority on this, but I've never associated the Confederate flag as anything to do with race or ethno-centric thought or anything of the sort. When I see the Confederate Flag, I always think of state's rights, the 10th amendment, and the fall of the form of government the Founders' wanted for this country.

Like I said, I know I'm in the extreme minority. I understand the way most people see it, so I'd never dream of displaying it, but because of what it means to me I have a personal respect for that flag.

[j-6]

This argument always fascinates me because I can't believe more people don't try and learn Spanish to increase their wages and employability. It flat out pays better to be bilingual in a professional capacity - depending on the position, somewhere between 5% and 20%. Bilingual pay is written into most contracts that civil servants work under. Salary increases and promotions are more likely. , telemarketers pay bilingual people a dollar an hour more than the rest of the lackeys.

Most of this is a moot point though. No Child Left Behind gutted the Bilingual Education Act - which means that instead of teachers instructing in English and also in the students primary language, there's no support available in any language other than English and all testing must be in English. Couple that with an illegal immigration crackdown and the unwillingness of English-only Americans to pick up Spanish, and Spanish as a viable second language in the US starts circling the drain.

By the way, this is how some of our friends south of the border deal with people that don't speak their language.

[Wild Cobra]

This argument always fascinates me because I can't believe more people don't try and learn Spanish to increase their wages and employability. It flat out pays better to be bilingual in a professional capacity - depending on the position, somewhere between 5% and 20%. Bilingual pay is written into most contracts that civil servants work under. Salary increases and promotions are more likely. , telemarketers pay bilingual people a dollar an hour more than the rest of the lackeys.

This is fine for jobs that actually require interpretation. The real push is to make the USA a bilingual country like Canada is, and nobody in their right mind wants the problems associated with that.

When you start accommodating some, you end up with liberal stupidity like this:

Qapla'! Hospital seeks Klingon speaker

There were better articles than this when the news of this first hit the fan almost five years ago, including the link to the actual job posting.

[xrayzebra]

Do Hispanics hate anyone?

I am not saying they do. But you can the number of blacks
almost on one hand along the border regions of Texas.

New Subject: What is so wrong with having an official
language? Almost ever other country in the world does.

There is even a official language that must be used in
air traffic control. English, strangely enough.

[Extra Stout]

The real push is to make the USA a bilingual country like Canada is, and nobody in their right mind wants the problems associated with that.

The real push? By whom?

[Extra Stout]

One problem with not declaring English a national language is that it leaves open to possibility that at some point, it will end up being required that classes be taught in Spanish or other languages as well, meaning entire classes of people will perpetually not speak the same language, and our school system will have an even harder time finding decent teachers.

Not educating children in English would be the single most stupid possible action to take regarding this issue. The problem with having entire classes of people who cannot speak to one another, and normalizing that through the education system, is larger than just having trouble finding teachers. If we make it so not only the immigrants, but their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren don't speak English, we then repeat the mistakes Europe made in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, and ultimately would suffer the same consequences, i.e. horrific wars of nationalism.

If you ever run into anybody stupid enough to suggest that, slap them.

[smeagol]

So are you Italian or German smeagol?

Next time I will not only respond in blue letters, but I wil also bold them.

[smeagol]

That, and I shouldn't have to pick 1 or 2 when I dial in to my bank/credit card co./cable company/cell phone company/etc.

I'm hoping there is an ounce of sarcasm in the above quote.

Otherwise, it is pretty sad . . .

[Purple & Gold]

Next time I will not only respond in blue letters, but I wil also bold them.

Have no idea what that means. It must be some cooool internet talk.

[Purple & Gold]

While I personally don't care one way or the other (although, I will say I feel no pressure to learn Spanish and if people need to communicate with me they can learn English), I really don't think it's about racism.

It's about history and cost. English is what has historically been used in this country. English is the international language of business. And it costs a LOT of money to print government forms in more than one language.

Exactly how much more does it cost? I hear everybody saying that it costs so much money, but exactly how much more does it cost. I doubt it costs that much more, because if they're taking a form in Spanish it means they're leaving a form that's in English. Also now that they can actually understand what the forms say there's no need to find some type of government employee to translate and explain to them what the form says. So exactly how much more expensive is it to have forms in Spanish as well?

I have never seen anyone suggesting trying to rid the US of Spanish or require anything more than government forms being single language (and requiring a low level of proficiency, about middle school level for naturalization and more than that is supposedly required to pass high school). None of that would affect how people live or do business except on a side effect basis, which should be fairly minimal.

Oh you mean it wouldn't effect you. Funny how it has minimal effect when Spanish speakers have to learn English, but when English speakers have to learn Spanish it's a huge injustice and a huge inconvenience.

One problem with not declaring English a national language is that it leaves open to possibility that at some point, it will end up being required that classes be taught in Spanish or other languages as well, meaning entire classes of people will perpetually not speak the same language, and our school system will have an even harder time finding decent teachers.

There's a whole mess of possible issues that can pop up if we don't restrict certain things to English. Just a matter of how much of a cost you want to spend to protect Spanish only speakers.

Honestly what the are you talking about?? Entire classes of people not being able to talk to each other?? You really are delusional about this subject.

I have never heard of an immigrant or a child of immigrants that grew up here that did not learn English. It's actually been said that by the 3rd generation of immigrants, that the original language is basically forgotten. I think that's sad, because not only do people lose out on knowing more than one language (a huge plus), but they also lose the ability to think in more than one language. That's very important and very helpful in cognitive thinking and development. I find it ridiculous that people would actually try to fight against knowledge. The World is much smaller than it was before and the free market has spoken and placed a monetary value on people that speak more than one language. I find it funny how on this issue the free market doesn't matter.

[Heath Ledger]

What really pisses me off is if you are in a room and two spanish people are talking and you know them and know that they can both speak English yet they choose to still speak Spanish knowing that you do not know how. It just ing rude frankly. Also where i live they mail us Kmart ads and WalMart ads in Spanish now that is ed up.

[Purple & Gold]

Not educating children in English would be the single most stupid possible action to take regarding this issue. The problem with having entire classes of people who cannot speak to one another, and normalizing that through the education system, is larger than just having trouble finding teachers. If we make it so not only the immigrants, but their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren don't speak English, we then repeat the mistakes Europe made in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, and ultimately would suffer the same consequences, i.e. horrific wars of nationalism.

If you ever run into anybody stupid enough to suggest that, slap them.

This would never happen and anyone that thinks it's even a possibility has no clue. People that grow up in the US know English, especially since it's such a global language. To think that a whole group of people and all their offsprings would just decide to not learn English is beyond delusional. Again immigrants that grow up in this country learn English. It's really the only way to get a job and make a living.

[Purple & Gold]

What really pisses me off is if you are in a room and two spanish people are talking and you know them and know that they can both speak English yet they choose to still speak Spanish knowing that you do not know how. It just ing rude frankly. Also where i live they mail us Kmart ads and WalMart ads in Spanish now that is ed up.

Well it seems to be more of an issue between you and your "friends". Tell them it's rude and you don't like it.

And as for you getting ads in Spanish. How do you go on through the day?

[Purple & Gold]

It is a requirement for nearly all legal immigration purposes. It's the illegal immigramts who fail to follow such requirements.

And where did you get this data? I know many legal immigrants that don't speak English. Most of them are older, so it is harder for them to learn. But they know enough to get by; please, thank you, and excuse me in any country/language will get you far.

Worry? It's a reality! Sure, some jobs should require knowing other languages. However, no job should require you to speak someone else's language to other employees. Only social service jobs, translator jobs, etc. Any retail, manufacturing facility, food service job etc. should be barred from requiring employees speak another language.

So what happened to the business owner being able to make requirements for his own business? If his clientele happen to speak predominantly Spanish, don't you think he has a right to higher employees that cater to them. As long as he/she is not discriminating against a certain group (and no English only speaker is not a certain group) then there should be no problem with that. Sounds like smart business to me.

I haven't heard any republican pundits say to speak English only. Only that this is the USA and English should be the official language.

And what exactly does that mean "English is the official language"? People act like it's a dying language in this country. To me it seems like only a roundabout way to make sure that certain do ents do not have to be translated. A disservice to many people IMO.

Anyone who wants to become a citizen must speak English. This has become an issue partially because of the push to make America bi-lingual. This will be fought against fiercely by all American who know what it means to be an American.

No this is only an issue because politicians play on peoples prejudices for votes. And please enlighten me and explain what it means to be an American. I'll be waiting for this one.

I hope you don't really think that of people like me and others. It has nothing to do with racism. I suggest you learn more about other peoples values before suggesting such lies.

Also consider this. If any law deems we must accommodate the native language of one nationality, equal rights will force us to spend so much on all languages!

ing liberals never think of the long term ramifications of their actions. Why stop with the Spanish language? What about the illegals, and legals from other lands and cultures?

Funny how nearly all legal immigrants want to learn the English language because the came here to live and prosper. Those who choose not to learn the language, it seems to me, are not here to assimilate, but just to rob us of our prosperity.

And this is not racist??

Those who choose not to learn the language, it seems to me, are not here to assimilate, but just to rob us of our prosperity.

Are you serious?? "If people are not here to assimilate they are only here to rob us of our prosperity." Wow I have heard a lot of bull before, but this takes the cake. This is pretty blatant to me, lumping a whole group of people together like that, but I guess since you don't notice it's nothing but lies. And equal rights as well, those ing liberals. Don't they know how much money it costs.

And explain to me again what exactly it is to be a true American.