No Danger of Spanish Overtaking English

Creator's Syndicate ^ | June 20, 2006 | Froma Harrop

[AngelesCrestHighway]

but fear of Spanish taking over should not be one of them...unless you have the U.S. government speaking spanish...

[samtheman]

I live in a heavily Spanish-speaking neighborhood (mixed in with some old-time New Jersey folk and a sprinkling of yuppies) and I agree with this article. I think young Hispanics want to speak English. Like rock'n'roll, English is here to stay. It will never die.

[R. Scott]

A student of Spanish, I tried to order, but the language of Cervantes got me nowhere at Betty's.

No, Castilian Spanish is not the Spanish of Central America. From the above statement alone I would have to conclude that Froma Harrop is well sheltered from some of life’s realities.

[LegendHasIt]

Well, I notice that the announcements at our local Walmart, and the constant commercials they play on their TVs hanging every twenty feet from the ceilings are ALL in Spanish now.

And I'm 150 miles north of the border in what used to be a very upper-middle to middle-upper income community.

They don't even pretend to cater to their English Speaking customers anymore.

[BJungNan]

The author of this article is obviously not very well traveled. In Southern California, you can go into a WalMart or other similar mainstream stores and find many employees that do not speak English.

I don't mean limited English. I mean no English as in being completely incapable of understanding any question, no matter how slowly or simply put, that an English speaking person might ask.

This is not in a border town. Contrary to the writer's impression, it is not cute. It is a pain.

[BJungNan]

I live in a heavily Spanish-speaking neighborhood (mixed in with some old-time New Jersey folk and a sprinkling of yuppies) and I agree with this article. I think young Hispanics want to speak English. Like rock'n'roll, English is here to stay. It will never die.

I'd love to hear your Spanish speaking neighbor speaking with a Jersey accent. Then I'd love to see you try and function in an area where you can not go into a store and get service, where the literature is printed first in Spanish and English as an aftertought.

You really ought to get out of Jersey, see the world.

[FastCoyote]

"I live in a heavily Spanish-speaking neighborhood (mixed in with some old-time New Jersey folk and a sprinkling of yuppies) and I agree with this article. I think young Hispanics want to speak English."

That may be the case in the northwest, but here in the southwest there is an anti-english movement among illegals. The illegal in my favorite illegal taco shop had a t-shirt that said "no hablo ingles", which is by the way a declaration of war rather than a statement of fact.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

There are many more Latinos than Quebecois. As for the Germans, most Americans probably don't know that after Spanish, German is the largest language that isn't English in the United States; and a large segment of the American population of German descent immigrated over a century ago. English usage could be under an attack from Spanish, and English should be more widely promoted in Latino neighborhoods. Also, some Americans of European and African descent should recognize that there can be Americans of Latin American and Asian, etc., descent. Assimilation has two parts: a. the individual has the responsibility to adopt American culture and become fluent in English and to try to become part of American society. b. but mainstream American society (primarily of European and African descent) have an obligation to recognize the naturalized immigrant (and their descendants) as a fellow American, as a full American, and to encourage the naturalized immigrant to become part of the American mainstream population. While some Freepers seem to recognize both, some only consider a. (liberals could tend to not promote either, and instead promote multiculturalism, which is divisive and detrimental to all of American society.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

There are many more Latinos than Quebecois. As for the Germans, most Americans probably don't know that after Spanish, German is the largest language that isn't English in the United States; and a large segment of the American population of German descent immigrated over a century ago. English usage could be under an attack from Spanish, and English should be more widely promoted in Latino neighborhoods. Also, some Americans of European and African descent should recognize that there can be Americans of Latin American and Asian, etc., descent. Assimilation has two parts: a. the individual has the responsibility to adopt American culture and become fluent in English and to try to become part of American society. b. but mainstream American society (primarily of European and African descent) have an obligation to recognize the naturalized immigrant (and their descendants) as a fellow American, as a full American, and to encourage the naturalized immigrant to become part of the American mainstream population. While some Freepers seem to recognize both, some only consider a. (liberals could tend to not promote either, and instead promote multiculturalism, which is divisive and detrimental to all of American society.

[doberville]

They built it. They KNEW you would come.

[NonValueAdded]

I can tell that the author has never been to Miami.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

They could be extremists, and not representative of all Latino immigrants, or Americans of Latino descent. Just as Americans of European descent shouldn't be represented by racists who would kill those who aren't of European descent (same goes for those of African descent), Latinos who promote sending Americans of European descent to Europe and forming some Aztlan shouldn't be considered as a representation of mainstream Latino immigrants or Americans of Latin American descent.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

They could be extremists, and not representative of all Latino immigrants, or Americans of Latino descent. Just as Americans of European descent shouldn't be represented by racists who would kill those who aren't of European descent (same goes for those of African descent), Latinos who promote sending Americans of European descent to Europe and forming some Aztlan shouldn't be considered as a representation of mainstream Latino immigrants or Americans of Latin American descent.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Funny article about the type of French spoken at the Canadian border.

A friend tells me that French Canadian movies are shown in France with French subtitles.

Sounds about right to me. Canadian French is full of false stops, slang, slurring etc. such that it is very hard for a schoolboy to understand.

[TexasCajun]

* Press 1 for English

* Press 2 for Spanish

* Press 3 for Ebonics

[RoadTest]

True. There is, and always has been, a very powerful Americanization force in this nation, thank God. It has always transformed the language and culture of immigrants to American. That's as it should be. If they should have kept their language and culture then they should have stayed in the country they came from.

As for the Arabic Muslims, they are an enemy within the gates insofar as they don't assimilate, and the incarceration of the Japanese Americans in WWII comes to mind as a solution. They could be offered the option of going back where they came from. What nation has survived a Trojan horse?

[spintreebob]

"Harrop is well sheltered "

Yes, the author seems totally ignorant of reality and writes a vapid article of no significance.

[SmoothTalker]

"My reaction to places with U.S. post offices but little English spoken was: Big Deal. It always nice to find parts of America that don't seem like every other part."

Problem is these parts are not just confined to the border. There are several towns in NC now where it is hard to find English spoken and our schools are full of young spanish speakers, many of whom are in ESL programs and speak little English.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

I was in El Paso for 10 days about two years ago. Most of the local population is Hispanic. I noticed that in restaurants, shops and stores either people spoke English to each other, or people would use both languages in a conversation. For example, a waiter, Hispanic, would approach customers, Hispanic, and ask them in English if they wanted to order. The customers would reply in Spanish, which was understood by the waiter, who replied in English, the customers would reply then in Spanish. Both parties understood both languages, but the individuals spoke the language that was probably their best speaking language. When I lived in Germany, I understood others better than I could speak German to the locals.