We don't get annoyed that they speak Spanish. We get annoyed that some can't even speak basic English. We're basically required to learn Spanish in school, and it's considered a huge disadvantage if you don't take it. I'm aware that this country has no official language, but it's pretty standard that you should at least be able to hold a basic conversation in English, and some can't even do that. And please understand that if the Spanish speakers we're talking about came from Mexico, there's a good chance they didn't //have// to leave, but //wanted// to leave.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Almost required? Most schools where I live let you choose between French and Spanish... German too, but that one got cut.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Most elementary and middle schools that have languages only have Spanish, from what I've seen. You don't get a choice until you get into high school.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Really? Maybe our school system's weird... No language in elementary, and you can pick Spanish or French in middle school and high school.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I dunno. I know that personally, I took Spanish from kindergarten through 8th grade, and then was given a choice in high school between Spanish and French. I guess it was weird that I had a language in elementary school, but I haven't heard of many middle schools with more than 1 language.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

My school teaches French, Spanish, and Chinese.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

My school doesn't require Spanish. Also, it doesn't bother me, because there's no one that I really HAVE to talk to that can't speak English. It just isn't a problem for most people. Also, we can't make the assumption that "they don't even bother".

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'm didn't say that they don't even bother. Let's put it this way: If you were moving to another country where they speak a different language, wouldn't you at least make an effort beforehand to at least learn a little bit of that language?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I took Spanish in middle school, but it wasn't required or anything and you didn't learn anything. Then in high-school we can pick between Spanish, french, and Latin. I don't know a lot of fluent Spanish speakers that didn't learn it from home.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

You really don't know what your talking about. Have you any idea how dangerous it is in Mexico, especially for women? For over a decade Juarez, Mexico was the center of the mass genocide of young girls anywhere from 7-14. They were raped, bodies mutilate, and murdered. Nobody helped the families. As soon as the authorities found out the missing person was female they brushed it off as her " running off with a boyfriend" and suggested she must be "promiscuous." There is no help and no fucking justice. Women have REPORTEDLY been raped by policemen, which are run by the drug cartels like everything else. Last year on the news it was reported that the chief of police was a girl in her early twenties, not because she was qualified but because she was the ONLY applicant. Everyone who holds that job is threatened. She lasted less than a month I believe. My 13 year old cousin was raped and is now pregnant. My boyfriend's grandfather went missing, after a month they found him FUCKING BEHEADED. Somebody killed him gor his goddamn social security check. Trust me, they aren't coming over here for a fucking vacation. Mexico is a broken country and they are DESPERATE.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

As horrible as that is, that's still a case of wanting to leave, not having to leave. When I say have to leave, I mean being forced out by the government.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'm sorry, but you're full of shit. When you have a family that depends on you their safety should not be a luxury. Getting out of there is a NECESSITY.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I don't think you understand that I'm not looking at it from an emotional standpoint, I'm looking at it from a logical standpoint, which is why I guess you feel as if what I say means less than what you say. That's just how I look at things: from a logical standpoint.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I fail to see how people immigrating to America for a better life is illogical. THAT'S WHY WE'RE ALL HERE. How much of the immigration in our history was "legal??" Mexicans have as much of a right to be here as any of us, you included.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I agree. When you live in a country you really ought to learn it's native language. You're putting yourself at a disadvantage if you don't. Also, I'm not sure how all these people live in the United State for years without learning any English. It seems like you'd have to go out of your way to not pick up any English.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

If I moved to another country, I would have to try to learn the language to get by. It's better. You should speak the language of the majority. Do people complain when someone speaks in their native language to their family?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

About the family thing, I mean't like in public when they speak to each other and English speakers hear it and assume that they can't or don't want to learn English.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

The problem is that many of Hispanics don't even bother trying to learn English. And all the government forms and such have Spanish on them so they aren't forced to learn English.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Why?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

So that they are more a part of our country and their communities. If they don't want to be able to interact with us, they shouldn't be here.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

But if they don't want to have to learn English why should they have to? I doubt your ancestors learned English when they first arrived. Most immigrants didn't.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

The ancestors had to because there was no accommodations for immigrants. They had to learn English to be able to live in America.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Actually that's not true. Many immigrants lived their entire lives with little to no immigrants because they lived in communities surrounded by people of their ethnicity.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

If I were to move to a country that didn't speak primarily English, I would learn that country's main spoken language beforehand. And none of the Hispanics "had" to come to America. They chose to. If the American government is going to support them through welfare and public education, they should learn the damn language spoken by the majority of America.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

But really does it affect you personally in any way or are you just up on your American high horse?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Did the Iraq war affect me personally in any way? No. That doesn't mean it's not an issue. What pisses me off about Hispanics is the general lack of effort they give towards education. There are none of them in any AP or IB classes in my school for my grade, the graduation for Hispanics is only slightly above 50%, and their parents never seem to know any English. Yet still America provides the majority of them with free school lunches and some of them with additional welfare. That was a major generalization and racist, I know, and obviously not all Hispanics are going to be high school dropouts that can't speak English. But they just seem to bitch about the American dream only being a possibility for whites while they put no effort into their education and refuse to learn English.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I guess I just do me... I don't really care who's in my classes, but there are a lot of kids who don't give a shit, but really that's their loss and I just mind my own business.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Bitch, i'm full Mexican, my parents don't know any English, and i'm a first year Biochemistry major at UCLA. Gtfo with your generalizations. Most Mexican parents that come to this country come to provide a better life for their kids. Did they give me just that? Damn right they did. The reason they don't have the English literacy skills of the common "American" is because they spend most of their day working and providing a living for the kids, leaving no time and really, no urgency to learn English. Am I going to make sure their sacrifices were not in vain? FUCK YEAH

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Wait how are they citizens if they don't know any English?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I can't believe this actually has a positive score.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Why?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Sure, a good amount of Hispanic people weren't forced by any means to come to the US, they chose to. However, I can honestly say that every Hispanic I've ever met has made an effort to learn English. As for the "holding a conversation" thing, generally holding a conversation in a foreign language is hard for anybody. Most people who come to America are older and can't learn a new language as well as someone younger. As for the "learning the language beforehand", where do you honestly think most immigrants would get the opportunity to learn English in their less developed countries, and much less practice it well? Also, for government forms and such being in Spanish, when you look at a good amount of those words do they look like words you'd learn in Elementary/Intermediate level ESL course? Generally not. There's a lot of complex stuff on these forms, and Spanish just makes it easier to understand, since sometimes even Americans don't understand their own forms. As for the comment about Hispanics in school, your stereotyping seriously upsets me. I'm Mexican, and I graduated as the valedictorian of my HS class, and I'm in a great University. That was a very insensitive comment.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I think the problem has more to do with illegal immigrants...

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Maybe it's just my family, but I'm Hispanic (born and raised in 'murricah though) and most of the older people in my family can't speak English very well. But they at least make an effort on learning it. The only thing I worry about is my cousins who recently moved here from Mexico. They're having trouble with English and are actually being made fun of for that.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

America was founded on the backs of non-English speakers. Remember that. Yeah, there was a huge push to Americanize and learn the language, but in that effort, a beautiful culture was lost. My grandparents both spoke fluent Italian but my mother never learned it because it was considered a useless skill. She regrets not being able to learn it. I see absolutely nothing wrong with non-English speakers if they're never in situations where they'll need to learn. For example, f you're an old Mexican woman living with your son, you're probably relying on him for income. You don't really need to learn English because it's not like you need to be interviewed for a job or anything. And it's not like these people don't want to learn how to communicate. It's not like these people are going out of their way to avoid speaking English. There isn't some big Spanish conspiracy or anything. Most likely they aren't given the opportunity to learn. If you think American citizens with Spanish as their first tongue should speak English, why don't you campaign for a program in your town or state that offers ESL educations for adults at an affordable price?

by Anonymous 12 years ago