Press 1 for English

i hate when i call some place and you HAVE to press 1 for english or 2 for Spanish. im sorry but i feel it should automatically go straight to english.

if you moved to france but refused to speak french or learn it they wouldn't go "oh ok here you go its ok that you don't want to learn our language WE will learn English."

just sayin..

 

America is one of few countries that has many different cultures. It's not so bad to press 1.

 

one day i dont wanna find out im fucked and cant communicate with anyone because i never learned spanish

 

I don't think that'll happen. English is not a foreign language class, all of our president's have spoken english (primarily), english is on all of our currency, rarely is a spanish speaking film ever made in hollywood, computers are made with english alphabet, and 99% of TV is english speaking. It would take tremendous amounts of outweighing spanish speakers to english speakers for something so drastic to happen. It's just society being acceptable. However, I do think people should learn to speak English while here, but it is nice to be in another country and have they with english subtitles or people who speak English too. That's the first time I capitalized english, nore sure why.But I am with you on not wanting to be required to know spanish, even though I am learning it.

 

I'm 100% for learning English when you move here, but that's just stupid. So a newly-made citizen who has to cancel her jury duty because she needs to work her job to support her family, who has no car and has to ride the bus to Downtown otherwise, can't press 2 to hear instructions on how to postpone because it was SUCH a hardship for whitey to press 1? Sorry, this is the real world, not fucking Isolationist America circa Woodrow's first term.

When people make fun of the little thing that drive Republicans crazy, this is near #1.

 

not all English speaking people are white.

 

So you say you shouldn't have to accommodate the 30million Spanish speakers in the country?

 

no i'm not saying that. and i know no matter what i say about it ill get people telling me i'm racist or whatever. i think if you decide to live here, you should take the time to learn the language most of the country speaks. if i wanted to live in Mexico then i would learn their language. or if i wanted to move to japan even. it would probably be a good idea take up Japanese.

 

I totally agree that you should adapt to the language and laws of the country you immigrated to. I myself am from a spanish speaking country and I see people who have lived here for 20 years and didnt learn a drop of english. I saw it in school all the time, they would place these people in ESL, and instead of teaching them in english, they would teach in spanish, which is wrong. That being said, when you have the option of what language you want spoken to you, is simply a marketing tool from companies to get as much business as possible. Its understandable. some companies cater to many different people, and their customer service should reflect that.

 

Ever thought that Spanish may be their first language and they'd prefer to listen to something in Spanish?

You can't deny someone of something just because they can't understand English.

 

AND you speak better English than the original poster.

 

haha Thanks! Yes, I was born in Mexico, came here when I was Five and spanish was the only language spoken at home. this was waaay before they put the spanish speaking kids immediately into ESL. I was one of the last to not be placed in ESL and saw how the teachers themselves held these children back by not implementing english into their education. I grew up in a poor predominantly hispanic and black neighborhood where i attended elementary through HS with the same people and was able to watch how their lives progressed, and how different people who come from the same place can be.I refused very early on to become another statistic, which was expected of me. 3/4 of my graduating class had a 5th grade reading level and most had children or dropped out. it is not true that you behave and act where you come from. some people refuse to adapt. they are either are too stubborn, or have no desire to learn a new language, when they know people, especially people who want their money will give the option of speaking to them in their native language. Hey, I would start to worry when you have to press 1 for spanish and 2 for english.

Im proud of myself for being educated and not being afraid to show it. I am doing good for a mexican stoner from the hood.. hahhah

 

I live in the U.S. and speak Spanish as a second language I learned Spanish traveling around Spanish speaking countries. I would never expect to go to a Spanish country and have everyone speak English to me. I think it is ignorant to move somewhere and expect them to speak a different language to accommodate you.

I live in Colorado and there is so many Mexicans that don’t speak any English and when you go to the book store and go to the language section it is full of learn to speak Spanish books and you will be lucky to find even 1 learn how to speak English book.

I had to go to the county building a few months ago and a Mexican came in demanded to speak to someone who spoke Spanish and the proceeded to demand to know where her welfare money was.

That is just so ignorant I would never go to another country and demand stuff and demand them to speak my language.

 

thanks, too bad you've never heard me speak before. don't come here and insult me because i don't TYPE on a forum using proper grammar.

 

Hilder, where in Texas are you from?

I'm originally from San Antonio, which is predominantly hispanic. My parents are from out of state, and my mom grew up around the world, so she wanted me to learn spanish. She put me in a bunch of spanish classes as a kid and I HATED it. I refused to learn, and although there are times now when I wish I knew it, for the most part I feel my parents pushed it on me too much. I'm white, and I knew I lived in America, so as I kid I had absolutely zero motivation to learn it. It wasn't my culture, and I resented having a foreign language pushed on me.

What annoys me is that my mom and her sisters are all diplomat brats who speak 3 languages each, and every single time we have a family get together, the subject of language ALWAYS comes up. It's the same conversation over and over. Someone always has to mention the famous factoid that "if you don't learn another language by age 10, you'll NEVER become fluent, and you'll die poor and lonely!!!" Please. If you know another language, cool. But the vast majority of people outside the US speak more than 1 language, it doesn't make you a genius.

But yeah...I support adult ESL programs, because most adults don't have the opportunity to learn English even if they wanted to. Problem is, of course, even if the adults wanted to learn English, it gets harder when you're older. That's why I don't judge people if they can't speak English, just as long as they don't get appalled when I speak to them in it...I've had people in San Antonio look at me like I was nuts and go, "Que?" when I asked them something in English. But other than that I'm pretty understanding...I can't imagine how hard it is to be an immigrant.

 

im in Houston. the shitty part, well, one of the shitty parts.

 

No, but the only people who complain about insignificant shit like having to push 1 on a phone are.

 

Sheesh. Tone down the hostility. We have enough of it on here. I just made a simple observation.

I think you'd benefit from taking a big step back and reevaluating the selfish, and simply racist comments you've made in this thread. I know you probably did not intend for them to come out that way.

Peace.

 

Haha!

 

What if they are learning english and they just don't know enough to make a business transaction? Can't be too careful with something like that IMO. I wouldn't classify immigrants as lazy or ethnocentric for not speaking perfect english when they arrive here. That comes with time. At least they try as far as I've seen. We had many Mexican and Puerto Rican neighbors in our last neighborhood and they were very friendly and willing to speak what english they could. They even helped me with my spanish.