Every where I look now, businesses are accomodating everything for spanish speaking people. They even held a citizen swear in in spanish. I thought to be a citizen here you had to know english and be sworn in in english. They don't accomodate the french, chinese, japanese or german in their language, so why make allowences for just spanish speakers? If they can't speak the nationally spoken language that many other nationalities learn painstakenly to speak, then how can they be allowed here?
130518
see... it's a little thing called freedom... maybe a grandpa of yours died for it... but people are free to talk how they want to talk and write how they want to write... if you don't like it... you don't have to talk to them... or do business at a place that caters to spanish speaking people... \nI mean in China towns accross the nation for years, Chinese and other asian languages are spoken and advertised...\n\nThe government has a lot it needs to do before it needs to worry about what language people are speaking... and as people of your "sort" seem to often say... if you don't like how America is doing it... maybe you should leave...
644841
Think about it. If you were to emigrate to another country that speaks Spanish, do you think the locals would all learn English just for you? Hell no. They would expect you to learn the country's official language. I don't see why that is such a hard concept for some people to grasp.
631117
I believe you people are missing the point. English IS the official language of the U.S. Just because some people don't speak English here does not mean everyone here can't. If you go to a store and can't communicate with the clerk, leave, and don't return. If it's a national chain contact the corporate office. It's more than likely a local problem caused by the manager ( that is highly replaceable). \nJust because something is difficult is no excuse not to do it. It has been my experience that you can do ANYTHING you decide you really want to do. It takes hard work and determination but even someone with "learning issues" is capable of much greater things than learning the English language.\nStop making excuses and get to work!
644103
I don't recall there being any article in the Constitution that gives the English language any official status or that guarantees that American citizens should never be subjected to hearing languages other than the majority tongue. If anything, the United States was actually founded to encourage acceptance of diversity. Remember the First Amendment? It guarantees not only freedom of religion but also freedom of speech, and that means not just WHAT you want to say but also HOW (and in what language) you want to say it.\n\nI agree that immigrants should be encouraged to learn English, but not because Americans have some God-given right to never have to hear any language but English. If you're really all that concerned about immigrants who are having a hard time acquiring the English language, perhaps you should volunteer some of your time tutoring immigrants in English.\n\nEDIT: After all, it can take years to acquire a second language. How many years did it take for you to learn Spanish, and how fluent are you in it? That is, are you conversational? Would you be comfortable speaking in only Spanish all day long in every situation? How about when you travel to Mexico? Do you speak Spanish every second you're there, or do you just use Spanish when you have to ask for directions of something and revert back to English when speaking to other Americans you're traveling with? \n\nOr are you perhaps a second or third generation Latina? Did your parents or grand-parents speak Spanish? And if so, why is it that your mother tongue is English and not Spanish? It's amazing how quickly people become assimilated in this country, isn't it? It is admittedly difficult for those who immigrate to this country as an adult to pick up the English language, especially when most of them work long hours, rely on others for transportation, and can't afford college English classes. After all, it can take YEARS to become fluent in a foreign language. Don't you agree? Yet more often than not, the children and grand-children of these immigrants not only learn to speak English fluently but don't even learn to speak their parents' language, which is a shame, if you ask me. In the meantime, it does admittedly take those first generation immigrants a while to pick up the language, so maybe we should be a little more patient and stop being so judgmental. Those of use who have learned to speak a second language fluently realize how difficult a process it can be. If more Americans took it upon themselves to try to learn a foreign language, they might be a little less judgmental.\n\nFYI: French is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is spoken as a first language by people in France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, etc..., but more importantly, it is spoken as a second language in countries where it is the official language or where it has a historical presence, including, but not limited to the following countries: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Tchad, Senegal, Guinea, Congo, Gabon, Central African Republic, Burkina-Faso, Cameroun, Ruanda, Burundi, Zaire, Egypt, Guyana, Guadelope, Martinique, Reunion, Corsica, French Polynesia, etc...
628022
As a citizen - absolutely.  It amazes me that there can be any discussion about that.  This does not necessarily mean that you become fully proficient, but you need a working command of the language and have the skills to communicate with others in normal day-to-day situations.  If someone were motivated enough to learn then they should be able to grasp the basics in a couple of years. This is already a requirement for US citizenship. The problem is that a vasty majority of people sneaking in have NO desire to become part of the mainstream.  All they want to do is get what they can get and send it back to Mexico and that's it.  In the meantime, they are supported by US taxpayers for everything from hospital emergency rooms to public schools.  These are the ones who need to be rooted out and tossed into the slammer. Sending them back won't work because they will just creep back in.  \n\nThe result of all this refusal to learn English is the outright absurdity that not a day goes by but that I have to press 1 for English.\n\nJesus H. Christ Almighty, we are not living in Spain.
138331
This whole immigration thing is just the flavor of the month.If i move to Mexico, i would make the effort to learn the predominant language of the area. Right now i speak a little Spanish and a little Tagalog. It helps to break down barriers to communication.We do have laws in place dealing with this issue. Both sides of the border have just been working it for mutual benefit. We don't need new laws either enforce the ones that we do have or do away with them. Peace.
325999
I agree with you on one thing (but I'll proofread mine)... "If you give people to take the path of least resistance, generally they will take it."\n\nBeing unable to use the native language of the country of one's residence renders one poor, and it's true that options are few. Soooo many people here don't learn English EVER because there are Spanish newspapers, television, books, services of all kinds, Hispanic businesses where some of the staff don't speak a lick of English, etc etc. Almost everything Southern California has to offer has a Spanish version of it. People can come here and live out most of their lives and still never learn English. A shame, that's just laziness. I mean, night school is FREE! However, there's really no incentive if everything is in Spanish. That should change, I believe that citizenship should be contingent upon learning English. No need to be a master at it, but enough to communicate decently in public.\n\nHowever, to say that they don't belong here, I will COMPLETELY DISAGREE with you. This country is for immigrants, no matter where they're from and no matter what language they speak. Once they're here, they do have the obligation of learning American ways, including the language, this is true. But how dare anyone say that a certain group "doesn't belong" in this country!!! I'm Hispanic, and find this VERY OFFENSIVE.
658900
I don't think it's necessary to get my panties in a whad over it, but I do agree that it should automatically be English, especially with the most recent ruling over our national language.  On the other hand, there are those who are doing the right thing by going through the procedure to become a citizen properly and they are learning as best they can to speak our language - English (which should honestly be called Americanese since we wouldn't even understand English if it were spoken properly!).  To reiterate, not worth getting saddle-sore over.
647864
Under current US law, there is no strict limitation on your English skills.I know many US citizen who barely mutter a few words in English.\nIn my country, you go thru a hard fluency exam and you must have lived there for at least 3 years. They don't just hand out citizenship to anyone, but I come from Europe and we do have an identity to keep and be proud of. We are NOT a rootless immigrant society like US...They have nothing to lose by letting foreigners in. We do.
558552
It is a privilege to be a United States citizen and the official language of a US citizen is English. If your mother truly wanted to become a citizen she has had the last 15 years to learn English and unless she is incompetent she should would have learned the language if she wanted to. I understand this is your mother and I would be upset if someone talked down about my mother but you are wanting to bend the rules for yet another immigrant. I think even to live here you should know English because I'm tired of going somewhere and everything is written in 3 or 4 languages, it's ridiculous. Invest some time and money into her so she can learn the language, you obviously speak the language so you and everyone else have just been enabling her not to learn the language by continually translating everything for her. When I learned Spanish, why you may ask because I was going to Mexico and they shouldn't have to speak English for me (what a concept learn the language of the country you are going to and not expect people of that county to cater you) back on track in my Spanish class a single English word could not be uttered it was full submersion. Quit speaking the native language to her and force her to learn English if becoming a citizen is what she wants to do she'll learn.
609276
There's nothing wrong with learning a language. But, in the USA, you shouldn't have to know Spanish to get a job. And yet, employers want bilingual employees especially in Texas. Many classified ads say "bilingual preferred" which means they only hire bilingual, which isn't right. We shouldn't be pandering to people who can't speak English. It's the responsibility of everyone living in the USA to learn English. Americans can't be expected to learn the language of every immigrant (German, Italian, Chinese, Thai, etc.) who moves here.
131681
I have been to Cancun. It was nice. Yes, most people spoke English, not all though. I dont have a problem with people speaking Spanish here, in fact I speak Spanish here sometimes too, at work they gave me a hard time that I was talking to a Cuban co-worker in Spanish, people thought that we were talking about them, I think that is stupid, like we had nothing better to talk about than them. It got to be a real issue. But understand, it is discriminitory for them to tell us we cannot speak Spanish (not to mention ridiculous). So go ahead and talk it up.
401241
That's because our government has catered to them. Instead of following the laws that state they have to learn English. My feelings are if you live in a country learn the language. But our government gives them to many incentives to not learn our language.
180123
I think people miss the point of that.  Why do people hold the U.S. to a different standard than other countries.  EVERY country has an official language, and they all have people from other nationalities living to them.  If EVERY country tried to cater to EVERY language spoken in it, no one would get anything done ever.  Just because English is the national language of the U.S. does not mean that the U.S. is somehow slapping other languages in the face.  If you want to live here, work here, and thrive here...learn the language.  That does not mean that there is anything wrong with other languages or that we as U.S. citizens should not learn other languages, we should.  However, just like any other country we do have a national language and people should learn it to function here.  That is no different than if I went to Germany, Russia, Cuba, Japan...those countries businesses and schools will not cater to me...its in my best interest if I want to succeed in their country, to learn their language.  That is true of the U.S. also.  So, yes,it bothers me to with the press one or two thing....learn the language...but don't come here to BE an American and then DEMAND that everyone else here conform to your language so that you can function.  If you choose to operate here, then learn how we operate and do it.  I would have to do it in another country, so anyone who comes here should have to do it here.
411853
I am very sorry for that. It really is terrible how people discriminate against ANY culture just because they are like another. ANYWAY they shouldn't discriminate against the first one in the first place! I live in a city with a high Latino population, and everytime anyone says "Mexican" I feel that I need to correct them. It has gotten me into some sticky situations, but I've also made some friends through it. I am a Spanish student and it disgusts me to see how people can just pretend that because they speak Spanish they must be bad. It makes me SICK. I lived in Spain for a while to practice my Spanish and even though I was American *most* (not all, just most) of the people there could still respect me. And when I speak to the Latinos in my city they can still respect me even though I am not the same race as them. And it's amazing, it's not even just latinos either. It is anyone who speaks Spanish. My host family sent their daughter here and everyone was rude to her simply because she spoke with a Spanish accent.\n\nOne last rant and then I am done.\n\nSo my friend and I did an experiment. Even if we are AMERICAN and we speak in Spanish, will they do the same thing? The answer is yes. We went downtown and spoke in Spanish to each other for the day. If someone spoke to us we answered in English, with our American accents, and we were still treated the same way. So my conclusion is that it isn't just the people themselves that are Latino or Hispanic that are discriminated against, but the whole Spanish language.\n\nThis didn't really answer your question....sorry....
168107
People who are Spanish come from Spain, and they are not part of the campaign you speak of (almost all Spanish people come to the US with visas and proper immigration papers). Perhaps you are thinking of MEXICANS and other Latinos who insist on making the immigration issue one based on race.
383396
It a messed up racist comment and for all te people on here are saying it is the truth are messed up too.  I speak spanish stupid A__es and I was born here.  You can't do anything about it.\n\nAlso English is not the official language of the US.  The US has NO official language.  For all the people stating that English is should check up on this before speaking on it.   I agree since most people speak english here people need to learn it, but why direct it at the spanish speakers.  Asians, africans, etc come here and don't speak english either.