What do you think about the line of thinking that latinos in america should

I say speak English damnit.Stevo_the_gamer

The land of freedom should let its people express and communicate themselves freely, you'd expect. So I am against this idea.

To me it comes across as absolutely unrealistic to expect people to not talk their native language in the privacy of their own homes. I might move to the UK in the next year, but if a friend comes over from Holland and starts talking English to me in my own appartment, I'll slap them in the face. I'm not even kidding.

Among themselves they should use whatever language they want, it's nobody else's business.

[QUOTE="Stevo_the_gamer"]I say speak English damnit.Lonelynight

[QUOTE="Stevo_the_gamer"]I say speak English damnit.Lonelynight

If the US doesn't watch out, it's going to have a Quebec on it's hands.

[QUOTE="Stevo_the_gamer"]I say speak English damnit.Lonelynight

Who said they did?

I think it should be determined geographically where there is an expectation of English use... For example... I don't think you should be criticized for using Spanish in a border state like Texas or New Mexico... Large portions of the population there speak Spanish and I bet most of the non-Hispanic peope there at the very least understand some of it, and can still adequately communicate with Spanish speakers if they don't...

But for me... I grew up in a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio... Ohio's Hispanic population is like 3% compared to border states being like 30% or more... 97% of the population here is guaranteed to speak English (apart from maybe some of the Amish speaking German, lot of Amish in East Ohio)... So if you want to be Hispanic and live in Ohio, you should learn English so you can communicate with the population here and they can communicate back...

And the fact that English is the de facto language of the entire nation, and official language of many states, I don't see why you can't be bothered to learn it... I am not expecting you to work at it until you are near native in your speaking... I just think simple conversational English and specific items directly related to you and your needs isn't asking for much in terms of learning a little English...

If the US doesn't watch out, it's going to have a Quebec on it's hands.

Storm_Marine

[QUOTE="Storm_Marine"]

If the US doesn't watch out, it's going to have a Quebec on it's hands.

dave123321

The hispanic part obviously.

[QUOTE="dave123321"][QUOTE="Storm_Marine"]

If the US doesn't watch out, it's going to have a Quebec on it's hands.

Storm_Marine

The hispanic part obviously.

[QUOTE="Stevo_the_gamer"]I say speak English damnit.Lonelynight

[QUOTE="Storm_Marine"]

[QUOTE="dave123321"] Which part will be the us Quebec?dave123321

The hispanic part obviously.

The mexican border states that are being flooded with hispanics.

inb4 Storm is racist

If I were to move to another country that does not have english as the most commonly used language, I would talk it upon myself to learn the native language.

But that's just me.

I don't care what people do at home, but in public everyone should speak english and we shouldn't cater to people who won't learn our language.

If the US doesn't watch out, it's going to have a Quebec on it's hands.

Storm_Marine

Spainsh is actually more popular than English in the Americas. I don't see why I should care what people want to speak, expecially in their daily lives.

I say speak English damnit.Stevo_the_gamer

*dammit

[spoiler] Couldn't resist. :P [/spoiler]

lol Freedom of (English) Speech :D

I don't care what people do at home, but in public everyone should speak english and we shouldn't cater to people who won't learn our language.

airshocker

I'm not talking about not learning the language, but demanding that people shouldn't use their native language in public places.Lonelynight

lol have you even considered the u.s. tourist industry?

'VISIT AMERICA!' (english speakers only)

Freedom of speech. They can say whatever they want in whatever language they want.

I don't care what people do at home, but in public everyone should speak english and we shouldn't cater to people who won't learn our language.

airshocker

but what about in a store where everyone is a Hispanic and everyone speaks spanish? and btw, how would you americans feel if jobs in the southern states start to require spanish as a job requirement?Lonelynight

I don't care what businesses do to cater to people. So long as the government isn't catering to those people.

Obviously some jobs will require the person to be fluent in a different language. But to say just because there are a lot of spanish people that means Americans have to learn spanish in order to be employed is ridiculous.

I'm not talking about not learning the language, but demanding that people shouldn't use their native language in public places.Lonelynight

[QUOTE="airshocker"]

I don't care what people do at home, but in public everyone should speak english and we shouldn't cater to people who won't learn our language.

Lonelynight

[QUOTE="Lonelynight"]but what about in a store where everyone is a Hispanic and everyone speaks spanish? and btw, how would you americans feel if jobs in the southern states start to require spanish as a job requirement?airshocker

I don't care what businesses do to cater to people. So long as the government isn't catering to those people.

Obviously some jobs will require the person to be fluent in a different language. But to say just because there are a lot of spanish people that means Americans have to learn spanish in order to be employed is ridiculous.

If the company's customers are mostly Spanish-speaking natives, it makes sense. For instance, if I open a restaurant that will mostly cater to Mexicans, then it makes sense to have Spanish fluency as job requirement.

I think that's stupid. People should be able to speak in whatever language they want to. I mean, if you are going to live in a primarily English speaking country it would be wise to know English, but that doesn't mean you should have to speak it all the time.

If the company's customers are mostly Spanish-speaking natives, it makes sense. For instance, if I open a restaurant that will mostly cater to Mexicans, then it makes sense to have Spanish fluency as job requirement.

nunovlopes

And, as I said, I really don't care about that. That's a private business and it can be run however the owner wants it to be.

I'm referring to public sector jobs.

If they speak spanish among themselves I don't mind it. When I interact with them in a place of business I expect them to be able to speak English. If I go to a different country I would try to learn their language, why can't they do the same?

I have no problem with them speaking spanish in public, just not when I am conducting business with them (such as buying something from a store and the cashier doesn't speak English).

To me it comes across as absolutely unrealistic to expect people to not talk their native language in the privacy of their own homes. I might move to the UK in the next year, but if a friend comes over from Holland and starts talking English to me in my own appartment, I'll slap them in the face. I'm not even kidding.

DraugenCP

I really don't care what language someone chooses to use. If a person refuses to learn any English (which, by the way, nobody does) then they're only hindering themselves.

I really don't care what language someone chooses to use. If a person refuses to learn any English (which, by the way, nobody does) then they're only hindering themselves.

worlock77

I can only speak from experience of working in part of the UK that picks up a lot of Polish, Pakistani/Bangladeshi and East African immigrants. I don't have a problem as such with them speaking their own language in their own homes, but clearly some of them actually need to practice their English much more than they do (I work as a teacher). Without practicing the dominant language of where they are, people are setting themselves up to be isolated from mainstream society (be it in the UK or the US and of whatever background) and stuck in a rut.

(But then I also come across British teenagers with a lower level of literacy than some eastern european kid who has only been here 3 years...)

[QUOTE="worlock77"]

I really don't care what language someone chooses to use. If a person refuses to learn any English (which, by the way, nobody does) then they're only hindering themselves.

bnarmz

I live in a town that has a majority hispanic population. Of that majority a huge amount of them are immigrants. In my experience dealing with them day in and day out pretty much all are going to understand enough English to at least perform their job.

speak english instead of spanish, even if they are talking among themselves, simply because English is the defacto language of the US? or phrases like " this is 'murica, not mexico, SPEAK ENGLISH PLEASE" Lonelynight

For them personally, life would be easier if they learned English, I have however come across immigrants that are very clearly hiding the fact that they are illiterate (both spanish and english).

It does not benefit you to not speak the main language of the country in which you reside.

Now, people that get mad at people speaking a different language than them, I have found that they are almost always ignorant and not on the smart end of the intelligence spectrum.

I learned spanish, german and ASL because learning new languages is good for you, and people that only know one language are at a disadvantage

As a fellow Latino. I say everyone in the US should learn English for their own benefit, and not to make others feel better. You don't know how annoying it is to have a family member call you to translate something while you're in the middle of an important task.

The land of freedom should let its people express and communicate themselves freely, you'd expect. So I am against this idea.

undergroundLPx