If you are going to live in a country for an extended period of time, you need to speak the language. amirite?

I have to agree, though to be fair, I came to America when I was 3.

by Normal-Emotion 1 day ago

I love the double spaces.

by Primary_Couple 1 day ago

What double spaces?

by Emergency-Adagio-958 1 day ago

Sorry about that. ugh, sighted people and their weirdness about spaces.

by Normal-Emotion 1 day ago

I read this in a William Shatner voice

by Anonymous 1 day ago

lol, why?

by Normal-Emotion 1 day ago

Cuz he speaks with random pauses

by Anonymous 1 day ago

lol, how can he even survive. Also not sure if this is unpopular opinion. Heck if I am travelling even a few weeks I will try to at least use basic language

by Ortizetha 1 day ago

Yeah, even some essentials like how to greet and say cheers go a long way.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

My guess is they are close to the border or in an area with a lot of farmland.

by Crazy-Collection 1 day ago

Judging by all the so called expats in Barcelona that refuse to learn Spanish or Catalan, it's not an unpopular opinion but some people do not agree with it at all.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Some people are just a-holes and think everyone should conform to them while they don't have to put any effort in. Found it fun trying to wing it with broken Spanish when I went on holiday in Madrid. And the locals seemed to appreciate the effort. Even got me an extra churro once 😝

by Ortizetha 1 day ago

Out of curiosity, how many languages can you speak fluently? Historically most immigrants to America were in a position where their children became bilingual and would translate for their parents. From what I have seen first generation immigrants do pretty well adapting but as an adult, becoming fully fluent to where no one struggles on either side of the conversation takes time and we should be patient as we would like others to be patient if we suddenly sound ourselves in a country where little to no one spoke English.

by Yolanda14 1 day ago

You definitely had a major hand up, if your mother was already fluent. Where I live we have taken in many refugees. Wasn't even necessarily a "choice" to come here (unless you count life and death) and many can speak the language to a degree but even still their accents make it very difficult for most locals to understand them. Then you have the fact that for a period of time i worked at a call center and regularly listened to others from my state complain the struggled to understand different Americans from different states due to their accent. Yeah, we are in a position to kinda... force the world to bend to English but trust that there will always be people bitching about language barriers even when people speak their language. Just... hits me wrong for a lot of reasons I guess.

by Yolanda14 1 day ago

Well, no my mom came here not knowing a lick of English.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Right but for you... if she was 32 you must have been very young and she was able to help you. Thus the hand up, for you.

by Yolanda14 1 day ago

Yeah, when I came here they stuck me in a language program in a public school but no one spoke my language in the language program so I just kinda hung out. I learned just by having to interact with people. It's easier when you're a kid.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

You won the lottery speaking english because that's the 2nd language of basically all of europe. A lot of people speak english in those countries. Especially in the larger cities. Do you have to learn their language? Probably not. I think you would feel more like you belong if you planned to stay there for months or more and you did learn it well. It's more just shooting yourself in the foot to not have one common languague imo. Doesnt really feel disrespectful to me as much as it seems dumb

by Anonymous 1 day ago

This should not be an unpopular opinion

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I wonder if that guy is Cuban. Not because he only speaks Spanish, but because he huffed about no one speaking it. I used to teach refugees and I never let on that I speak Spanish. So when my Cuban students asked if I spoke Spanish I played dumb. Then I would hear them talk amongst themselves saying that I need to learn Spanish.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

The age of the language isn't really relevant. But the reality is the majority language / language of business in the US is English. To not try tonadopt basics for ordering food over years is just pure laziness.

by Ortizetha 1 day ago

But the reality is the majority language / language of business in the US is English. The US also has a sizeable Latin American, Asian, & Arab population. You don't see OP demanding themselves able to speak at least 3 languages.

by Playful-Sympathy 1 day ago

Why does it matter if there is no "official"? It doesn't change the fact that most people would be speak English and that it would be incredibly stupid to not try to learn it. Also even then it doesn't give him the right to aggressively scoff and drive away like OP said he does when there isn't someone who speaks Spanish in the building

by wilkinsoncolumb 1 day ago

Why does it matter if there is no "official"? It matters because the United States is supposed to be a melting pot of people around the world, not a colony of the UK. that it would be incredibly stupid to not try to learn it. Or you know, just learn a different language and expand your horizons beyond. Also even then it doesn't give him the right to aggressively scoff and drive away like OP said he does when there isn't someone who speaks Spanish in the building It doesn't. But my issue with OP is demanding everyone to speak English when they can't even speak any other language actually native to the US.

by Playful-Sympathy 1 day ago

Most countries do not have one single language. You should be saying "if you live in a country where multiple languages are spoken, you should learn some of them." The US annexed half of Mexico. Every public school teaches Spanish, but the programs suck and nobody takes it seriously. That is the problem. Learn Spanish, or get a government that will make schools useful.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I see where you're coming from. But if I had to move and learn another language I'd be screwed. I could be trying for ages and people wouldn't even think I was trying.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I'd much rather hear someone trying and constantly messing up than someone who just doesn't care at all and expects everyone around them to cater, like it should be everyone else's problem.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

This is just common sense. Not sure who disagrees with this. If you're just worried about being called racist, that's only used for the people who bully and harass foreigners for not knowing English

by constance32 1 day ago

Alot of people can get by if needed but theyre embarrassed of their accent or lack of knowledge so they dont even try.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Totally agree. I'm married to a first generation Mexican man and he is of the same belief. To all the people saying how hard it is to learn English or that most Americans only know one language- all of the immigrants that are now my in laws ALL know English even the ones who moved here late in life and as an American in America, the simple fact is I don't need to learn a different language. English is quite literally the global language.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I agree with you on the whole that people should learn to speak the language of the country they are in. Like others I also at least try to learn a few words when I travel. Though Spanish in the states you can get by just fine in a lot of places. And I mean... At least in those places, Spanish was spoken before English. If you're near the border or even in florida, OR you're in an area with a lot of farmland that offers work to seasonal field workers, I don't judge any of them not learning a lick of English. And a lot of that goes for other countries too. Pretty blurry in Europe, though most Europeans speak at least 2 languages and finding a common one isn't uncommon.

by Crazy-Collection 1 day ago

Why do you get so mad about it? Live and let love my friend. Watch your blood pressure.

by Crazy-Collection 1 day ago

How come most people from the US don't speak any one of the many indigenous languages?

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Because we aren't them

by wilkinsoncolumb 1 day ago

And now they want others to do what?

by Anonymous 1 day ago

There is a difference though. You would barely ever encounter an indigenous person who speaks one of the languages(even then they probably also would speak English). Most people here speak English and it would just be incredibly dumb to not learn at least enough to get by. This is just a false equivalency.

by wilkinsoncolumb 1 day ago

I am sure your are knowledgeable to answer why that is the case tho

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Now that would be awesome, I would love to see the US switch Navajo as its national language.

by Ortizetha 1 day ago

Indigenous people barely speak those languages anymore if you're being honest with yourself. Not saying that's right or wrong but, day to day the vast majority most definitely are not.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Because most people in the US arent part of the Native Tribes so we have no reason to. And they speak English pretty well too.

by Schulistdarwin 1 day ago

We are not taught them. Frankly we are barely taught anything about native Americans. I am a big history buff. I love other cultures, I took AP classes for history in high school, and still love to spend my free time looking at all kinds of history from Egypt to Japan to British to American. I grew up very close to a reservation and made it through school in America from kindergarten to graduating high school and we BARLEY touched on any Native American languages. From the 19th through the mid-20th centuries, the U.S. government and religious organizations made Native American boarding schools to forcibly turn Native American children into non-Native culture and erasing their Indigenous identities. Because of this A LOT of native culture has been erased and is even barely taught at public American schools. I grew up around a lot of Native American people and they and their parents don't even know the language that their people once spoke. It's truly disgusting that the US did that.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Context I gave but didn't elaborate on. The reason why I mentioned that I love history and took a lot of history classes is because I retained a lot of historical information from my American education and realized that I learned next to nothing about native Americans and had to seek out that knowledge as an adult.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

id go one further: if you leave a country to immigrate to a different one, you must not only speak the primary language, but also adopt its culture. leave all aspects of your country behind. refusing to assimilate is why and how so many people somehow despise immigration. do your part, and assimilate.

by doylewatsica 1 day ago

everyone.

by doylewatsica 1 day ago

No eating rice anymore?

by Weary-Ice6443 1 day ago

pretty sure rice is a nice universal dish. personally, i wouldnt eat any, but thats just because eating every last bit is a bit of a pain.

by doylewatsica 1 day ago

Or conquer the people and force them to speak your language as evidenced in history

by Anonymous 1 day ago

that.... uh, doesnt work. as evidenced by history.

by doylewatsica 1 day ago

Native Americans invented English? before annexation spoke English? TIL

by Anonymous 1 day ago

not what i mean. disregarded.

by doylewatsica 1 day ago

I've always wondered why, if your country is so worth celebrating to you; why did you permanently leave it in the first place? I plan to move to Denmark or Norway, sooner rather than later. You will not find me waving American flags, demanding that my culture be respected and signing up for handouts from the government. I understand that it's not my country of origin, it is not my culture and it is not my place to decide what others there should believe in. Adopting their culture and integrating into their community by their standards is necessary, as it shows them I come with the proper respect. It requires I step out of my bubble and endear myself to the community I end up living in, taking the time to learn any major spoken language, at least a brief overview of their history and understand their beliefs. It's up to me to compromise with them, not vice versa. I'm on their land, in their country, that I want to be a part of. I have to put in the work, not them.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Because Europe basically looted from everywhere and western nations have economic control for the last several decades. Reeks of privileged ignorance lol

by Anonymous 1 day ago

It's "privileged ignorance" to believe that we should learn and respect other languages, cultures and beliefs before moving to another country?

by Anonymous 1 day ago

So we should be better native Americans then. Agreed. But if you're saying assimilate to something else .. that makes zero sense. At no point in the history of the united states has there been a singular culture to adopt. The people who despise immigration because of assimilation are literally just bigots stuck in their own microculture incapable of grasping that they are surrounded by people, even within their own culture, who live and think differently than them.

by Crazy-Collection 1 day ago

At no point in the history of the united states has there been a singular culture to adopt. are you serious? english, later american. it became the default culture of the united states. you just make absolutely zero sense.

by doylewatsica 1 day ago

de facto, though, its english and, for the most part, only english. you cant use that argument.

by doylewatsica 1 day ago

It's why I chose to live in Ireland. Typical lazy American.

by No-Recognition 1 day ago

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to learn a second language? Especially English. It may seem simple to you, but English is an extremely complicated language to learn.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

The dude could learn just his drink order if he goes there often

by Tiny_Perspective 1 day ago

Even still you should be able to know enough to at least get by especially if you have been there for years

by wilkinsoncolumb 1 day ago

There's only so much time in a day. I'm working 60 hour weeks. I'm here for a paycheck and like I said - everyone speaks enough English for me to do my job and run my errands and it's really not an issue.

by ernestinacartwr 23 hours ago

Oh, I wasn't saying you HAVE to or anything. I was just saying that if you do, since you travel; it is never time wasted to expand your mind and language abilities.

by Anonymous 23 hours ago

And then continue to make fun of accents right lol

by Anonymous 23 hours ago

Who's doing that?

by Anonymous 22 hours ago

Harris!

by Anonymous 22 hours ago

I stand corrected.....

by veronaromaguera 22 hours ago