We are not an "English-speaking country."

Wishful thinking.

Many languages are spoken in the USA. In fact, Spanish is not just a native language in the US: we have unique dialects that are found in no other country in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexican_Spanish

People who choose to speak a language other than English in their own homes are not concentrated in one place in particular. They are spread out over many different states. This graph shows that, in many places in our country, you would be a minority.

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However, you do not have to be able to speak English in order to comply with the law. You can even pay your taxes without needing a single English word in your vocabulary.

http://www.irs.gov/espanol/index.html?navmenu=menu3

Young people who only know Spanish still need to learn math.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08133/881136-298.stm

Try getting a job in South Florida without knowing a word or two of Spanish.

That was their choice. It was not forced upon them.

Spanish is not being forced upon you. Only in areas that have extremely large Spanish-speaking populations would you be likely to find yourself under pressure to actually learn the Spanish language, just as a native speaker of Spanish is under pressure to learn English in most other parts of the country.

Go ahead. Throw a tantrum over it. It won't change the graph posted above, though.

If you want to live in the United States, fine. However, you are going to have to learn to live by our ways. You will have to adapt to our customs.

1. Discriminaton doesn't fly here. Understand this, or you will eventually find yourself in a serious law suit
   
2. In our schools, your children will be taught a foreign language, so they will have better chances of getting a job
   
3. As suggested above, your job prospects are pretty crappy if you don't know a second-language
   
4. We are not going to throw 12% of our population out of the country just because you complained about them
   
5. "Freedom of speech" applies to everyone, not just to people who are speaking in English
   
6. We are a republic, not a democracy. You do not get any kind of special treatment just because you are "the majority," and we are working toward the abolition of laws that do confer a special benefit to people who fall into some "majority". If you don't like this idea, then perhaps this is not the right country for you
   
7. The America your ancestors or grandparents came to is gone. America has been progressively changing, in one way or another, since the instant that our constitution was ratified
   
8. Oh, you don't have to pick up a second language if you don't want to. In fact, there are plenty of very nice enclaves, throughout the USA, where almost nobody speaks any language besides English

That only puts you in the same position as a Spanish-speaking American who refuses to learn English, if perhaps to a lesser extent: it severely hobbles your job prospects, and it might make your day-to-day life more difficult.

I can still read it.

http://barackobamadelegate.com/images/ballot.png

Your language is usually the first on the list, though. All you have to do is push one button, sometimes just utter a single syllable.

No, the height of arrogance is wanting things done your way and only your way, all the time.

 

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And some of the darker areas in the map were Spanish speaking before they were English speaking. Before they were excised in a war started over Gulf of Tonkin-like BS from a Spanish speaking nation.

 

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I have never understood the language debate. To me, it's all about conducting a cost benefit analysis. If the benefits of adding another langauge to the llist oif options exceed the costs, go for it. If the costs are higher, sorry single Farsi-speaker from Fargo, but we can't accomodate you I'm afraid.

Spanish is so widely spoken that I'd think it would be a no brainer to include it in some areas.

I think the opposition to Spanish comes from people who just are happy to punish non-English speakers into conformity. I tend to assume that having a vibrant collection of Spanish speakers will enrich the English language.

 

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And indeed, it is. Where I live, Spanish is common and it doesn't appear to ruin anyone's day to have signs printed in two languages, the option of Spanish on automated telephone systems, etc.

Many street signs contain only Spanish, since almost all of the place names around here are Spanish. I have never lived in a city that didn't have a Spanish name. Although in some places entire regentrified towns have been renamed to bland English names like "Lakeglen" and "Cedarview," apparently to attract gated-community types that would never live in ethnic shitholes such as... er... Santa Barbara or Santa Monica or La Jolla...

 

I'm tired of Spanish. I live in Houston, Texas.........and I'm tired of hearing Spanish and I'm tired of the Mexicans that don't know what country they're in.

 

Then you should move to a place where people don't speak Spanish frequently. Somewhere that wasn't part of Mexico would probably be your best bet. Freedom, eh?

You're the one who appears to be confused. This country has no official language, and people have been speaking Spanish in that part of the land since long before there was any such country.

It's always baffled me how people hate on Mexicans. They're some of the nicest, most hospitable people on the face of the Earth, and exhibit one of the world's greatest cuisines to boot. They also gave the world Lucha Libre!

 

I don't care what language anyone speaks in their home as long as they speak English in public. I don't want to hear any other language and prefer not to hear any accents. This is America. My opinion is speak English or shut up until you do.
I don't care where you're from. This is the USA. Act like it. Respect it. Don't try to change this country into your country of origin. I especially do NOT want to see your flags. It infuriates me to see a Mexican flag flying over an American flag which has been turned upside down.
I don't know anyone who hates Mexicans, foreigners, or immigrants. As long as they are here legally they are welcome.

 

Then don't go places where people speak other languages, or with accents. It's not up to others to cater to your irrational prejudices.

A great thing about America is everyone is entitled to their opinion, and nobody is beholden to yours.

If someone doesn't want to speak English well, then, they'll have problems talking to a big section of the country. And probably be worse off for it. But that's hardly any problem of yours.

I hear a lot of people bitch about seeing Mexican flags, yet nobody seems to bat an eye at the Union Jacks that fly outside every British Pub in the country, nor the Irish flags on their pubs, nor the Italian flags on their restaurants, the tricolors on the French places, etc.

 

what if their helping a newbie who doesn't speak english yet?

so you don't want any adult immigrants than. speech paterns are set at an early age. its why no matter how hard I try I will always have the accent of a damn iggnorant hillbilly because i was raised down south for most of my life and that what i heard.

So than they can't get jobs and would have to become "losers"/people fucked over.

clearly you do.

funny coming from you. You don't repect it and you demand other do.

no one does.

so people can't be proud of their hertiage. well sense you don't like other countries flags I should just chuck my class ring in the trash because it has the polish flag on it.

that only happens in your head or after america has abused them.

 

And you are free to want this. And they are free to ignore your wants. The price of freedom is that other people have it also.

Exactly. A country where people have always had accents and ever since we got some of those states like CA and NM, etc., there have always have been Spanish speakers.

Do you hate America?

And you are free to this opinion and they are free to ignore you.

Um. Many of these Spanish speakers are descended from people who spoke Spanish in Texas, NM, etc. before these were part of the US.

And again, you are free to be infuriated.

And free to put up other flags, speak with accents and speak Spanish in earshot of you. If you don't like it you can move to Iceland.

 

Nope. All over IL and CA. LaRaza has stated its goal is to reconquor the USA. They are succeeding one state at a time. Look at what a Hell hole CA has become. Hint; it's not from declining real estate prices.

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I like how there are at least 4 right-side-up US flags in the hands of other protestors in that photo.

For a second I was tempted to disabuse you of this notion. But then I realized that might improve the chances of you moving here, or even visiting, and thought again.

/heads to nearest taco shop for massive California burrito

 

California is a fairly good state. They are weird (so I have heard from hearsay), but they are really nothing that I am particularly inclined to argue with, at least not with any of my usual vigor or enthusiasm. Any argument that I struck with California (in general), assuming it were to occur, would be rather uninspiring.

Unless it were pertaining to their law pertaining to ferrets, for which I still maintain they should be expelled from the Union.

 

But if you go to dictionary.com you will find that Hellhole (Noun) means anywhere more than 1 out of 6 US flags are displayed upside down, so she has a point.

 

It should have an official language, though.

Nonsense. They perpetuate crime, waste our funds, and hold us back.

Not all of them. Just the bad ones, of course.

 

The only time people with poor English skills bother me are when they work the drive thru speaker or any other customer service related area where they have to speak to and understand English speaking customers, it's frustrating to want to ask a question but no one who works there understands me. Other than that I don't care. Just today my co-worker was talking to his mother in Chinese/English and I thought it was cool how he could just switch back and forth like that.

 

Oy vey. SoCal was once a nice place to live. Now, in some parts you can't walk into a Karls Jr. without being asked your order in spanish. RIP Anaheim, population fifty years ago when my German grandparents settled there: 120,000. All English-speaking (and almost all white). Outside the town, orange groves as far as the eye could see. The very few mexicans that resided there were respectable, integrated, and well-educated, and their kids had no accents, spoke and dressed like everyone else, and their parents had good jobs. My father's high school class picture has 200 students in it... all clean cut white guys and girls, with a smattering (3 or 4) of equally clean cut Mexican-American students. The 1960's were and still are known as the golden days of California -- and for good reason: the place wasn't a bustling shithole with unsupervised, naked Mexican toddlers running wild in the streets.

Today that same high school is 90% mexican, much of them illegal. Parts of the city look like a sprawling ghetto. Mexicans at every street corner, now forming over 50% of the population. The LEGIONS of illegals that now exist in Anaheim (and indeed, all of SoCal) are all new. Last ~30 years type new. I've been visiting there my whole life, and the difference from just fifteen years ago is staggering. My dad says he's just glad he was there, back in the golden days. I don't blame him. I'm just glad I live in the northeast.

 

I suppose the remnants of Native American Tribes in CA would have similar tales about how nice it was before English (and Spanish) were heard all over the place.

 

No the height of arrogance is migrating to a foriegn country, often illegally, and expecting everyone to change the language they speak to match yours.
That is arrogance plain and simple. I would not migrate to Sweden and expect everyone there to speak my language. So why would Mexicans migrate to the US and expect us to adopt there tounge?

Two, I have enjoyed a great career in the US and never spoken a syllable of Spanish. If you want to compete in the US labor market beyond the mom and pop businesses pandering to illegal aliens, then you don't need to speak Spanish. If you want to work in my business, an international business, you had better know English. Spanish and other languages are optional, English is mandatory.

As for your map, there is a huge area that does not speak Spanish. And did you notice the areas with large areas of Spanish speakers was along the Mexican border?

All that said, it does not mean that there are good hispanic families or that hispanic people are bad. It means, they come to this country and want to be a part of American, they had better learn the language most widely spoken in the land and that is English.

 

I wonder what we should be speaking today because for over 20,000 years there were Native Americans that spoke many different languages living here. So why should we speak English when America was speaking Native languages long before the white man came here and destroyed their culture. I guess Americans are enjoying what it is like to have their "English" language subjugated to another language like the Native Americans had done to them.