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Should we have to learn to speak spanish?

If you are qualified to do a job, is it fair to have to be able to speak Spanish because they don't know how to speak English? If I was dealing with people abroad and must speak their language in order to do business, then yes I would understand. But, this is to deal with people right here in America. What's your take?

Asked By: ucpleasure - 3/11/2008
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
I have personal experiences that elucidate my feelings on the subject ... I was born in Los Angeles, California to a Danish mother and an Anglo-American father. At age three I lived in Denmark for two years ... guess what language I had to learn at three years old? Danish. Afterwards we moved back to California, but when I was twelve we moved to Florianópolis, Brazil ... guess what language I learned. Portuguese.

After high school I worked for a friend of the family in Marseilles, France for a year ... guess what language I learned. French. And later, during my post-graduate career when I attended Linköpings University in Sweden ... guess what language I was required to understand and speak. Swedish.

Seeing a trend here ...? Do you have any idea the amount of chutzpah it would take to move to a country that speaks another language and not even try to learn the native language? Suppose when I moved to Brazil I just said, "nah ... I'm going to make everyone speak English." I can tell you right now the Brazilians sure as hell would have no sympathy for me, and why should they ... I'm in their country.

I've learned the Spanish language by osmosis ... I can actually speak better grammatical Spanish the majority of Spanish speakers I encounter in the United States, and I've never even formally studied the language. Now if I can do that it is beyond possible for them to at least learn rudimentary English. Some people are better at languages than others, but there's no excuse for not even attempting to learn the language of the country in which you reside. I'll let the recent arrivals slide, but I've met dozens of immigrants who have lived in the US for 40+ years, and still can't even say "hello." I mean, our governor has that unique Austrian accent, but he can speak coherent, fluent English (even if he mispronounces the name of our state).

You can learn a language if you want to no matter who you are, or what your background. The problem with these type of people is the system enables them and isolates them from learning English ... if you speak Spanish in Southern California you don't need to speak English, and that is a sad fact. It has gotten to the point now where there is a backlash against the English language where many are arguing we should HAVE TO learn Spanish. If I were in Mexico or Argentina I would be fine with that, but we're not ... we're in the United States of America. You can speak your own language on your own time, or any number of languages, but you better speak English.

This isn't the politically correct thing to say, but I'm not asking them to do anything I haven't done (several times even). I don't think its a lot to ask ...

Before I went to Brazil I didn't speak a single word of Portuguese, and I was just proverbially "dropped in the middle" of a new language with nothing but a English-Portuguese dictionary and an In-Flight Portuguese tape (the same was true in Denmark, France, and Sweden). But guess what ... in three months I could speak functional Portuguese and understand 90?f what was being said. Why ... because I tried. I didn't need classes, native English speaking instructors, special "Portuguese and a Second Language" curriculum, or all these other things they use to cripple Spanish speakers into believing they can't learn English. I just refused to speak English, studied the Portuguese language every chance I had, and surrounded myself in native settings -- and it worked. For example, I don't understand how someone can live in the United States for over a year, and not figure out that Bank=Banco ... they're almost the exact same word!
Answered By: blursd2 - 3/11/2008
Additional Answers ()
We should at least try to learn it because their are a lottta emigrants coming over here and we should try to at least figure out what their saying....also sometimes if you know a second language some jobs will pay you more.
Answered By: CHASE™ - 3/11/2008
Yes!

Learn Spanish, because if you look at these posts you will soon learn that people cannot speak ENGLISH properly!
Answered By: spacemanpandora - 3/11/2008
I don't think anyone should be forced to learn a language. You should learn a language because you WANT to. Learn another language to help expand your intelligence (because it does that) and it also makes learning other languages a lot easier once you learn a second. Plus after that you can work anywhere in the world, travel anywhere you want to, and you won't have to worry about not understanding something or getting lost because you can't read the signs. I do agree that if people from Mexico or Japan or wherever come to the USA, they should definitely learn English. But people in America also need to broaden their horizons and try to learn about more of the rest of the world. Americans are way too closed off for their own good. We need to expand.
Source(s):
American in Denmark, learning a second language.
Answered By: snugglebunny_in_denmark - 3/11/2008
I work at a place where a lot of hispanics come, and I def. dont speak spanish. If they want my service< they can speak in english... they are in America and therefor should have to speak what we speak!!!
Answered By: Patty - 3/11/2008
I think that you should be glad to have an incentive to learn Spanish and to get so much practical experience of the language on the job. This can only enrich your life. We all need an incentive to learn a language and this has always been the problem with people in the US. Once you have mastered Spanish, you will find that it will help you go on to learn other languages. Your mind will be expanded and your horizons enlarged. Wonderful! A win-win situation!
Answered By: Caicos Turkey - 3/11/2008
I don't think we should be required to for a job we a qualified to do, unless you need Spanish to deal with clientale and bussiness transactions. I do think it is helpful to know Spanish and wish I had taken that instead of German and Latin. Most Hispanic speaking people are reqired to take English in school, so I really don't know why so many can't speak it.
Answered By: Gayle L - 3/11/2008
No one should have to learn any other language, but it is in everyone's best interest to learn as many languages as possible
Answered By: Alex - 3/11/2008
If it is for business, then learning Spanish may be in the business's interest to broaden their customer base by making their employees be able to communicate to people in a language they are comfortable with. There is no official language in the US, so this may be more about customers than anything else.
Plus, additional knowledge only makes you better.
Answered By: Giddygoon - 3/11/2008
As a Canadian, I was required to learn French (one of the official languages) in Elementary and High School and it is required for many jobs. I believe that, although Spanish may not officially be a second language in the US, there are enough Spanish speaking citizens that it would be beneficial not to mention courteous of you to learn to speak the language.
Answered By: Gen L - 3/11/2008
I agree with what you're saying, but...

If I own a business selling something I want to be able to sell to as many people as possible. If a significant portion of my market speaks Spanish as a first language and I want them to buy my product, I will do whatever it takes to accommodate them. This is why banks have the annoying Spanish option on the ATMs.
Source(s):
pd
Answered By: Peter D - 3/11/2008
Why not?

I speak Spanish and English.
Answered By: ÑUSTA - 3/11/2008
Have to? No.

This is not even an issue. If I illegally cut fences, invade the country to our south, perhaps shooting at the Federali boarder guards as I sneak through the night, live as an underground criminal without documentaion, lie about my name and credentials to get on welfare, medicare, public education, demand that other people go to work everyday as my slave so that I may live off of their paycheck and taxes...

... do you think I should then demand that Mexico force its population to learn my language too?
Answered By: Hypnotic Spiral - 3/11/2008
Sadly few people know how to speak any language well. I struggled with Latin, Spanish, and French requirements when I was in school. Now that I am old and hopefully wiser, I wish I remembered more than I do and have started to listen to audio tapes to try to recover some of that knowledge. Consider all the language knowledge it took to get that computer in front of you. Face it, our world extends way beyond our borders.
Answered By: Michele Boyd - 3/11/2008
Well, what you want to learn or not, is your choice entirely

I don't understand your reluctancy to learn something. It doesn't hurt

If you choose to stay an ignorant, that's your choice

Besides, as somebody said, in the usa people don't speak english, but a dialect. They are just too obtuse and arrogant to realize that
Answered By: physician - 3/11/2008
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