American Citizens - "If you speak Spanish - Press 1"; "If you speak English - Press 2"......
406767
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.
926408
It very much depends on where you live.  Spainish-speakers are the second most populous group in the United States.  Personally, I would learn Spanish.
59641
Spanish: Tengo que responder D. Soy guatemalteco y mi lengua materna es la española, aunque confidencialmente, muchas veces no utilizamos una gran cantidad de terminologías correctamente, pero bueno, eso sucede en cualquier idioma.\n\nEnglish: I have to answer D.  I am guatemalan and my mother language is the Spaniard, although confidentially, many times we don´t utilize a large quantity of terminologies correctly, but hey, that happens in any language.
1129561
En ingles, por favor.
575968
yes, if you are a citizen!!!
1079822
Do you speak English?
441714
Wheee!!! Really looking to stick it to Americans... until we look at your written mechanics. LMAO!!!\n\nNo capital letters, internal comma is missing, hmmmm....\n\nGotta love it!
177476
Yes, I speak English AND American.
356236
A Spanish rendition of the national anthem does not "incurage" (by the way, isn't it a bit humbling that you don't know how to write in your own language, and are being scorned for it by people whose first language isn't even English?) illegal immigration.  It encourages provincial, monolingual, illiterate simpletons to learn at least one more language.  Heh.
396094
I came to this country at the age of 23, my only words in English were, THANK YOU and GOOD MORNING, I went to English as a Second language classes for four months and paid very closed attention to my surroundings, I also watched The Golden Girls every day (ha ha), it sounds very silly but nine years later my English is as good as it could be,(Spanish accent included)\n\nIt is wrong to say that emigrants are seeking for Americans to learn Spanish, we are really aware that this isn't our country, but since we came here pursuing a dream, we want to have the rights that paying taxes and contributing entitled us of.
332768
English language, Spanish language, Christianity.
453488
spanish is BETTER!! It's already turing into OUR country now gringo, or haven't you noticed? little by little we have been importing our culture and our peopole into the u.s. It's too late for the gov of america to do anything now!!ajajajjaja! better learn some spanish gringo, cause soon your kids will HAVE to!! we even got our flags on some american schools in ca. and tx. georgia is being taking over too. WATCH the news and SEE!!
913539
english as a second language?\nno comprende, senorita.
199740
I from the USA and I speak English aka American
1151202
It makes sense. Some people ARE American citizens but struggle with English. You wouldn't want them to vote for the wrong person just because they couldn't read the ballot. Right?\n\nI see many people bringing "issues" into play. And I'd like to mention that they could have been very interested in the issues. There are many Spanish (and other language) news channels in the U.S. that cover American issues (as well as closed captioning in other languages) in which case they'd understand them perfectly. So that can't be used in a debate against multi-lingual ballots.\n\nThere's multi-lingual tax forms and they pay American taxes, so why should voting be treated differently? If they are American citizens they have EVERY right to vote as one. (Actually probably even MORE of a right then random rednecks in nowheresville USA that don't even have a tv to watch the debates or anything else.)\n\nJust thought of an analogy here (I'm not trying to start a fight, just make a good debate).\n   Say you were taking a foreign language in school or something. We'll say French. You're pretty good at it, but not great. It's still a little tough. Then you go to France and still hang out with a lot of your English-speaking friends and family and use English a lot. Don't practice your French too much. Then you need to do something REALLY important. Would you want to do it in French? I mean, your French isn't all that good, and it IS really important, you wouldn't want to mess anything up. You would ask to do it in English. Right? (personally, I know I would).\n      Same thing.\n\nAgain, no offense (seriously, I don't want to piss anyone off, I'm not being sarcastic or anything), I'm just trying to help make a sturdy, well-founded argument. Many people don't seem to have a clear grasp on WHY exactly we have multi-lingual ballots. I think it's perfectly fair and everyone should have a chance. But hey, that's just me :-)\n\nPS: Back to Bow Wow. I know it takes 7 years to become a citizen. But have you ever tried to learn an entire language in 7 years? It's HARD! I mean seriously HARD. I have been taking Spanish for almost 9 years and I'm STILL not fluent and I've studied abroad twice. And Spanish and English are at least somewhat similar languages. What about if they're from Japan? They need to learn a whole new alphabet, new numbers, a new political system, new everything! That must be even harder! So that can't really be used as an excuse either.
1132908
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...
444923
Huh?!  Speak American, Please...