Posted on 06/20/2006 3:12:51 AM PDT by RWR8189
Some years ago, I visited a cafe in an American border town, right across the river. Not a soul was conversing in English.
But this was no "They're all speaking Spanish" experience. The town was Madawaska, Maine. The river was the St. John, and the language was a kind of French.
Last year, I came across a parallel, southern version of border dining -- in Brownsville, Texas. Local friends took me to Betty's Tortas, where everyone was speaking Spanish. A student of Spanish, I tried to order, but the language of Cervantes got me nowhere at Betty's. The confused waiter turned to my Latina dining mate, who, in her rapid-fire border Spanish, told him what I wanted.
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. What makes our northern border different from our southern one, of course, is that millions of Canadians aren't coming into the United States for work. But that's an immigration issue -- which should be kept separate from language.
Believe me, this column does not advocate giving any language other than English an official status. English is our tongue and may she forever wave. Rather, this is a call to reconsider heated claims that Spanish is gaining on English as the language of the United States. That's not really happening. Madawaska and Brownsville are exceptions that prove the rule.
It makes little sense to look at border areas as a predictor of what will follow in Denver and Dallas. Families often spill over both sides. And if a border town is isolated from the big U.S. population centers, it can become a cultural cul-de-sac.
Elsewhere, however, English dominates. American-born Latinos, who now make up 60 percent of the country's Hispanic population, are rapidly moving away from Spanish. The two Spanish-language media giants, Univision and Telemundo, now worry that the immigrants' children seem to prefer "American Idol" to their offerings. Latina magazine, aimed at "today's Hispanic woman," is already mostly written in English.
The immigrants themselves are another matter. Immigrants have always clung to their native language. In the late 19th century, entire towns in the Great Plains spoke the German or Slavic tongues of their immigrant settlers. "Champagne music" man Lawrence Welk was born in German-speaking Strasburg, N.D., (in 1903) and didn't learn English until he was an adult.
I, too, bristle a bit when the recorded message at the bank starts off with "Press one for English." I don't mind if the bank offers a Spanish option, but it should make English the default language. J.C. Penney's bilingual policy is quite unnecessary. You don't need a sign above 10 racks of dresses that reads "Vestidos" -- or "Dresses," for that matter.
The recent Senate vote making English the "national language" is also mostly symbolic, especially since it exempts programs already offering services in other languages. The measure was added to the Senate's immigration bill -- and intended, perhaps, to distract the public from the bill's glaring inadequacies.
Does anyone doubt that English is our language? Perhaps the Senate should resolve that hamburgers are the national chopped-meat sandwich.
Speaking of food, I found it odd that the French toast at the Madawaska breakfast place was called Canadian toast. Proprietor "Big Daddy" Gervais said he didn't know how the name had come about.
Move a few more miles south of the Canadian border, and French toast is again French toast. And nearly all the people, including the ones with French last names, are speaking the language of Katie Couric.
English in the end is the conqueror, not the vanquished. Just ask the French minister of culture, who spends half his hours trying to stop his citizens from using English words. Americans have excellent reasons for wanting to control their borders, but fear of Spanish taking over should not be one of them.
Read post 25.
Because, otherwise, I have to drive at least 75 miles (150 mile round trip) to get what I need, and at a higher price.
How much of the problem is related to stupid state policy?
And I'm not saying Texas Freepers are happy about illegal immigration.
gotya
missed it the first time
:-)
This author needs to try again. It must be my imagination that bilingual education has become a hot topic in many areas of the country. The fact that 40 years ago there were no Spanish TV or radio stations in my area and now there a 2 radios stations and one TV station is just happenstance. Press 1 for English and 2 for Spanish didn't exist 40 years ago in this country. Whole sections of most major cities are overtaken with businesses that have only Spanish signs. Bilingual ballots, bilingual just about everything. Hell, even on some cereal boxes. Yep, Spanish is not making any inroads.
Yep - but the "proper" form of Spanish would be useless for me unless I decided to vacation in Europe.
"The 45 year hiatus on immigration from 1920 to 1965"
I didn't know about that.
"it will be possible for upwardly mobile Hispanics to remain largely Spanish speaking even as they become doctors, lawyers, and business owners."
I know what you are saying about the huge numbers of Hispanic immigrants creating Spanish enclaves in the U.S. that could last generations, and that's true. But I think the doctors and other small businesses would want to expand their customer base enough that they will add English to their Spanish language.
Wishful thinking maybe. This uncontrolled invasion has to stop. It's funny that many Democrats are agreed on that. It's the administration (and business interests?) that doesn't.
Good comments.
That has been my experience.
I don't think it has anything to do with state policy - although there are issues there. The wrath is over the Federal governments unwillingness to control the border.
English is the language of bellhops and dishwashers.
>"I want to laugh; but can't....too true."<
-It is indeed. But laugh anyway!
Regards
Ummmm....I was in a Walmart in Cranston, Rhode Island on Sunday and the same phenomenon caught my attention. Blipverts over the PA in Spanish.
That is hilarious! I showed it to my wife, she said it was so true. She's not a political animal like me, either.
>"That is hilarious! I showed it to my wife, she said it was so true."<
-I got it in an email, I've been sending it to teachers I know...I think it is true, from the feedback I've been getting.
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