“Its not my job to speak their language, I am not the one moving to their country”
I understand that sentiment, but money talks: if the clients of a bank/supermarket/realtor are Spanish speakers, then those companies have no use for people limited to speaking English (especially when so many bilingual workers are imported here annually). My biggest objection is that if this is how it is, then our schools have to teach American children Spanish (or whatever other languages will help them get a job in this country).
What % of people in rural NH speak only spanish?
My experience here in NW Arkansas has been that the Mexican immigrants really have no incentive to learn English. The people who wish to do business with them hire Spanish speaking employees and cater to them.
Salvadorans, on the other hand, tend to assimilate very rapidly. They learn English, teach their kids English, become eager participants in the American way of life. They know they will never go back to El Salvador. A majority of Mexicans, however, intend to make lots of money and return to Mexico.
My biggest objection is that if this is how it is, then our schools have to teach American children Spanish (or whatever other languages will help them get a job in this country).
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I graduated HS in 1960. Every student was required to have two years of a foreign language or they could not graduate. I took Spanish in 9th and 10th grades, as the other languages then offered were Latin and French.
I can still understand much of the Spanish language and figure out what it means when written, but when listening to a Mexican speaking very fast I often don’t understand what he/she has said.