Everything going bi-lingual (In USA)

How does everyone feel on things being mostly bi-lingual (Spanish) these days?

I see it pretty much everywhere now - billboards, food labels, even jobs are requiring that certain positions be bi-lingual. But by bi-lingual, it only refers to Spanish.

For those of you who live in other countries, do you face the same thing with other languages slowly becoming more dominant in society?

Canada is a bilingual country and I barely notice the French. It must be because I grew up with it.

So long as French-speaking communities recognize the equal standing of English, I couldn't care less if both are recognized official languages of the country.

I can't say it's really like that here in Indiana, but ultimately I'm cool with it. Diversity is hardly a bad thing.

I don't mind it. About the only time it upset me was when I went to the theaters and the movie I wanted to see at the time I had wanted to see it was for a dubbed version for Spanish speakers. Oh the horror.

It's annoying. I hate when people talk to me in Spanish expecting me to understand. It would be fine if they started and then when they realized I didn't speak Spanish they could speak English, but that has yet to happen to me once. I can't tell who's been here long, or who are tourists or visitors so I remain calm and accommodating but in my mind to every person in this entire country (U.S.) if you live here and are not attempting to learn English then you are an asshole.

I live in Florida and the only time I see stuff in another language is in relation to instructions or those signs that say "If you do not speak English, point to your language and an interpreter will be provided."

Been like that in Texas for a while now

Hispanics here in Minnesota make up a paltry 5% of the population, so I don't notice this bilingual trend, except in Home Depot and self-checkout machines at Wal-Mart.

Canadian so french is basically the countries second language. Other then the french not displaying English on there signs I'm cool with it. But as it stands English isn't treated the same in Quebec as french is here in Ontario. But that's the way shit goes.

Yeah the northern states don't really have to deal with it much. I encounter very little Spanish here in Michigan.

I'm from NH so it's english and french

Or here in Ohio.

Here in the Netherlands most products I buy have Dutch, French, German and English and if you buy anything a little more complex than a pack of crisps you are probably going to get a booklet in 20 languages XD I like it being that way.

I can't see how that can be a bad thing. Other than serving the purpose of catering for Spanish speakers in the U.S, it also has the added value of prompting Americans to learn a second language which, needless to say, can be infinitely beneficial. I think its great. I wish I was brought up in a bilingual country.

@GazaAli: I think the TC would be really pissed off living in Portugal. I remember sometimes buying stuff that was ONLY in Spanish, not even Portuguese =P

Well I might find myself pissed off if I were a national of some country where I was not expected to speak some other language and was confronted with the reality that there were situations where that other language was indispensable lol

How different Portuguese is from Spanish anyway? I doubt they're that different.

@GazaAli: Different enough for most conversations I've witnessed between Portuguese and Spanish to be extremely awkward since they could barely understand each other =P I got used to hearing Spanish so it's pretty easy for me (to read and hear, speaking is a bit slower since I don't have the experience)

But ideally what's happening is that the country is leaning towards the Spanish speakers like it's a disability. You can pretty much speak only Spanish and make a living in this country without ever having to learn English - the primary language. That's the stuff that bothers me. These people migrate here from other countries (not Spain, mind you - but more like Latin America) for a better life - I get that. But, to what extent are you willing to go for that better life? I mean, if I was going to up and pack my bags and move to another country that pre-dominantly spoke a Native language, you'd be sure I'd at least learn enough to make my stay easier. That's just not the case with Latinos here. America caters to them and I don't know why.

"everything" ?? i've hardly noticed it here ( NY, not city )

@jasean79: Yeah, I don't agree with that either. The main effort has to be from the person who moved to a different country to adapt to natives of that country, not the other way around.

@comp_atkins:

That's because they've all migrated from NY to PA where I live. :/

They aren't actually.

Yah, and sometimes there's just pictures because a lot of people can't read English OR Spanish.

good luck to you then :P

I find it as a good thing. If there wasn't any spanish translations, then there would be lots of people asking questions. " What does that say ? " Lol .. Imagine going to another country, and there was no english translations ? Then what would you do ? You would have to ask questions, and they would be sick of hearing your english, lol .. Its best to have the spanish translations everywhere.

Va pues word

Spanish is the second most common language used in the US. So it would make sense that you see it being used. When I went to Hawaii, a lot of the menus were in English and Japanese, because of the tourism.

It's completely normal to travel throughout Europe and see things written in three languages.