[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.

[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.

[NonValueAdded]

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

[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.

[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?

[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.

[Calpernia]

Ah, Froma, try visiting a GATEWAY COMMUNITY and stop thinking this is isolated to borders.

[longtermmemmory]

tell this BS to the employees of Telemundo and Univision.

They promote the fact english is a dying language.

They promote that english is IRRELEVANT in the USA.

[DumpsterDiver]

ping

[gubamyster]

ping

[N. Theknow]

No Danger of Spanish Overtaking English

Woo-Hoo!

English will always be "Press 1"

Damn! What a great day!

[Clemenza]

Very true. I lived in a 95% Latino neighborhood in Miami when I first got out of college. While the mostly Colombian kids in my neighborhood spoke Spanish with their parents, they spoke English with eachother, watched English-language TV, and listened to pop and hip-hop in ENGLISH.

I had the same experience working as a youth counselor working with Mexican American kids in Chicago while in Grad School. English is a seductive language and I have yet to meet a second generation (or an immigrant who was brought here as a child) who has not mastered at least spoken English.

I hate to be so blunt, but all of those folks who believe that "English is dying" and "Latinos don't speak English" are a bunch of...nah shouldn't say it.

[Clemenza]

BTW: My great grandmothers on my father's side never learned English. They were stay-at-home moms in a solidly Polish neighborhood in Newark, NJ. Their children (my grandparents and great aunts and uncles), however, all spoke/speak the language perfectly.

[4Freedom]

Observe how many high-paying, federal jobs with full benefits and pensions are for fully bilingual applicants only?

They're actually being filled with naturalized citizens from south-of-the-border and Socialist, honorary American citizens from Puerto Rico that are functionally illiterate in two languages, but that's beside the point.

These federal jobs, funded by the U.S. Taxpayers, have become a new entitlement.

[FrankR]

So when will it start being against the law to post a job ad that requires one to be "bi-lingual"? You can't require them to be "white", or "young", or "male"...so with the rare exception of a job as "translator", what's the deal with the Spanish. Didn't they just say that English is our native language?

So, I speak some German, (stationed over there for 3 years), and that makes me technically "bi-lingual"...I should qualify insofar as they don't specify "spanish"...just "bi-lingual".

I could have some fun with this.