Speaking other languages in public in the U.S.

[LiveYourLife]

I have no issues with people speaking their primary language in public. What I does kinda-sorta rub me the wrong way is when you approach me (for example), and say "se habla espanol?" . I say "No", and then you proceed to have a perfectly good conversation with me in English. Don't assume based on my looks that I speak: Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Portuguese (I've gotten all of those before). I don't know why that torques me, but it does. I guess I'm weird like that. LOL!

 

[lizabu]

It's funny. The prime time what would you do tonight had a segment with a lady speaking Spanish in a restaurant and someone at another table being rude to her.

 

[Syrreal]

I've done it my entire life and now do it with my kids. I'm trying to teach them the other languages I speak so I don't speak English at all with them.

 

[CaliBear]

Where I live there are signs on businesses and highway billboards that are not in English and many of them do not even use the english alphabet. This means I cannot use that business' services and cannot read the billboards. I wish our country would adopt the official language of English. I'm 100% for bi-lingualism and I don't care what language you speak in public but when it comes down to the marketplace, let's get it together. A country divided cannot stand.

Disclaimer: I am Puerto Rican and am not against any minority.

I am very curious what you mean by the bolded part. A country divided in the market place can not stand? Are you aware there are numerous countries with multiple languages in use that work perfectly fine? I'd say more, but I'm not sure I'm understanding you correctly.

 

[Teacher Princess]

I've done it my entire life and now do it with my kids. I'm trying to teach them the other languages I speak so I don't speak English at all with them.

I've done it the same thing with my daughter. We are puertorricans and we talk Spanish at home.. This topic it's so funny, I teach head start and I translate for them as need it.. One of the parents complain to my supervisor about me talking to another Latino family in Spanish ,my supervisor said to her well I'm sorry that you feel that way but Mrs.xx it's here to provide a service as a translator for the Latino parents in this center ( I live in a small town where there are not too many qualified teachers with Spanish background and legally here ) and I can't let her go.. I am a very humble person and I worked hard to get what I have now... I'm bless that I can count with her support and they can count with mine..

Life is not all roses and rainbows but I believe that we can all help each other and be open to learn new things.. If someone hear me translate in Spanish to dn at wdw next Christmas pls my apologies but English is our second language in P.R. Even thought she is in a private and bilingual school there, she's only five years old and still learning.. .

I'll be sure they all follow the rules.. To the op don't worry is she complains about you talking other language.. She sound like a very rude and insecure person.. . IMHO..

My people do their best to learn English as soon as we come to the USA even thought PR is USA Commonwealth and USA Territory we don't prractice English as much as we should do and that's why go to community colleges in our area in order to improved our English skills and conversations.. As you can see I'm still a work in progress.. Sorry..

Just love the lyrics for the Tarzan move theme song " You'll be in my heart " and there is a part in the song that goes like " they can't don't trust what they can't explain " ... Or something like that.. Love that song..


Teacher...

 

[KennesawNemo]

My DD is learning Mandarin. It is offered at our HS. She plans to take it all 4 years of HS and we have found an interesting program at a college she would like to attend. Time will tell if all that happens. it is a VERY difficult language! She loves to have me repeat words because I have a hard time "hearing" the correct pronunciation. It sounds correct to me, but she says no! Sadly, there are only 4 classes (one at each level) at the HS--a school of approx. 1800-2000 students in grades 9-12. I think more kids would take Mandarin, but, they only offer Spanish, French, and German in the MS so most kids just continue in the language they have been studying for two years once they get to HS. (If you take 2 yrs. in MS, you can start at Level 2 in HS foreign language classes.) Also, I think fear of the difficulty keeps some kids away. It is a pretty competitive school grade-wise. My DD says that other kids--even Honors students--always say, "You take Chinese! That must be so hard." She is one of only 2-3 Caucasians in the class. Most of the class of 17 kids are Asian and at least speak it or a version (like Cantonese) at home. Some of the class didn't have high enough grades to continue to Level 2 next year. You needed a final grade of 75--all 4 quarters averaged with the mid-term and final exam--to continue. Fortunately my DD made it! She really needs to put some time studying this summer, though, so she doesn't lose it since she has no opportunities to use it in our daily life. It did get a LOT harder as the year progressed so I hope she can keep her grades up and not have it ruin her overall GPA. I believe that it looks good on her transcript to take it even if she gets a C, but I'm not sure colleges will feel that way. She is our oldest, so we will see!

Good job to your daughter. Mandarin is my first language and it's beautiful!

 

[dreamin_disney]

What do you think of people in the United States who speak languages other than English in public places?

My family and I went out shopping the other day and we were speaking in Arabic as we were looking at the clothes. Now, we are Americans and speak fluent English (I was born and raised here) but we speak Arabic at home just as much as English since we are of Arab descent. This lady starts huffing and puffing that "in AMERICA, people should speak ENGLISH," etc. I told her that I can speak whatever language I want in the U.S. and she just walked away muttering to herself.

What do you think? Is it rude to speak languages other than English in public?

It doesnt bother me, unless they are talking another language and laughing and pointing at me-lol!

 

[HelloMimi]

I live in Houston, right in the heart of Chinatown, which is surrounded on all sides by a large Spanish-speaking population. I'm very used to hearing all sorts of languages being spoken when I'm out and about, so it's weird for me to think that there are places where everyone only speaks English.

My family has gotten used to speaking in Chinglish (Mandarin/English) at home, so more often than not, we tend to slip into that habit when we're in public as well. I don't think any of us consciously decides to speak in a language other people may not understand, but sometimes, it just comes out easier. I do get paranoid I might offend someone, and I know it must offend some people because I've heard people mock us on more than one occasion (Mandarin does not sound like "ching chang chong," thanks). However, sometimes when we're checking out at a store and we ask each other questions in Chinglish, the cashier can understand what we're saying just from the few English words we use. It baffles us every time!

My mother, grandmother, and uncle all moved here around 35 years ago when they were about 21, 50, and 14, and my uncle's English is practically fluent, my mother's is pretty good, and my grandmother's is nearly non-existent. My mother learned most of her English from working and taking classes when she got here, but my grandmother never really tried to learn English, and she always surrounded herself with Chinese-speaking friends. She's lived here longer than I've been alive, but I would be surprised if she knew more than 100 English words and could pronounce them properly. My mother has lost most of her accent now, and while she's probably considered fluent, she still has trouble reading/spelling simple words, and she ALWAYS mixes up he/she and past/present tense. She's convinced English is much harder to learn than Chinese. Strangely enough, she's lived here so long that she's starting to forget some of her Chinese!

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

It doesnt bother me, unless they are talking another language and laughing and pointing at me-lol!

I did this to someone the other day and felt awful. I was on the subway with my 14 year old DS and a mother got on with a very cute sleeping toddler wearing a truck on his shirt. It happened to be identical to a shirt my kid was obsessed with 12 years ago and that we have lots of pictures of him wearing. So I knudged my kid and said "Does that shirt look familiar? He looks as cute as you did! " and stuff like that, nothing offensive about the baby but I admit I was kind of teasing my son about having been "little" so we were laughing.

I saw the mother looking and quickly started to explain "your son is adorable, he reminds me ..
" when I realized they didn't speak English (or Spanish or French or Russian or ASL the languages in which I could have at least mumbled through "cute baby"). I'm pretty sure some tourist went home thinking I was making fun of her baby.

What I did was rude, if inadvertant.

 

[SettinSail]

What do you think of people in the United States who speak languages other than English in public places?

My family and I went out shopping the other day and we were speaking in Arabic as we were looking at the clothes. Now, we are Americans and speak fluent English (I was born and raised here) but we speak Arabic at home just as much as English since we are of Arab descent. This lady starts huffing and puffing that "in AMERICA, people should speak ENGLISH," etc. I told her that I can speak whatever language I want in the U.S. and she just walked away muttering to herself.

What do you think? Is it rude to speak languages other than English in public?

I think the great thing about America is that you can or should be able to speak your Mother tongue anytime and anywhere you want!

I have lived in another country where I did not feel comfortable speaking English (my native language) in public and it is just an awful feeling.

If I hear another language spoken in public here, which I do quite often, I try to discreetly check it out just out of curiosity to see if I can tell what it is.

 

[Arkansan]

Good job to your daughter. Mandarin is my first language and it's beautiful!

Thank you so much! We are proud of her. You're correct, Mandarin is a beautiful language!

 

[carolnog]

I personally feel it's mandatory to know the basic "good morning/afternoon/evening - nice to meet you - thank you - please" in the primary language of the country I'm visiting, even if it's a short visit.

In Brazil, for example, is kind of alarming how little English people know (well, at least the " educated rich"), even when they have all the opportunity to learn - I guess it's what bugs me the most: many Brazilians don't make the effort to learn and speak English in Orlando, just because they realize they can get by without speaking it at all. (I haven't seen anything like this on Dis yet, but I got really tired of misconceptions/generalizations and prejudice towards Brazilians on Disney FB groups).

Long story short: I think people should make the effort to speak English, but I don't see any problems in speaking another language to the people I'm with (but if a single person in the group doesn't understand it very well, then English it is!).

PS. I HATE it when people assume I don't speak English just because I'm speaking Portuguese or German, and go on to make snarky comments. And that happens A LOT, even a CM did it once (the story: my family - as group of 5, chose to take single riders line and we were speaking Portuguese to each other - then the CM said to her colleague something like "how stupid, they don't even realize they are getting in the single riders line" - which made me boil in rage! I know I should have filed a complaint, but, you know, I wouldn't like to waste precious Disney time with someone so ignorant).

 

[Jedana]

I don't care who speaks what, as long as it's done in a reasonable noise level.

No need for chanting all the darn time. Or screeching out your conversation.

 

[MIGrandma]

It doesn't bother me to hear people speaking to each other in a different language.

In the OP's circumstance the woman (I won't call her a lady because she certainly didn't act like one) who was upset because they weren't speaking English was the rude one.

But what does bother me is when someone from another country comes to the United States to make a new life for themself and their family but doesn't make any effort to learn at least a little of the English language. I wouldn't expect them to be fluent in English, but at least learn some greetings and a few of the more common phrases one would say to others in public or at their place of work. But what they speak in their own home, or to their own family/friends while out shopping or at a restaurant, etc. wouldn't matter to me at all.

I know that if I were going to live in another country I would want to learn the language, or at least enough to get by.

 

[carolnog]

I don't care who speaks what, as long as it's done in a reasonable noise level.

No need for chanting all the darn time. Or screeching out your conversation.

I couldn't agree more - I'm right there with you! You see, not all Brazilians are the same (last time someone counted the population was of around 200 million - I can't seem to stress that enough)

 

[Teacher Princess]

I personally feel it's mandatory to know the basic "good morning/afternoon/evening - nice to meet you - thank you - please" in the primary language of the country I'm visiting, even if it's a short visit.

In Brazil, for example, is kind of alarming how little English people know (well, at least the " educated rich"), even when they have all the opportunity to learn - I guess it's what bugs me the most: many Brazilians don't make the effort to learn and speak English in Orlando, just because they realize they can get by without speaking English at all. (I haven't seen anything like this on Dis yet, but I got really tired of misconceptions/generalizations and prejudice towards Brazilians on Disney FB groups).

Long story short: I think people should make the effort to speak English, but I don't see any problems in speaking another language to the people I'm with (but if a single person in the group doesn't understand it very well, then English it is!).

PS. I HATE it when people assume I don't speak English just because I'm speaking Portuguese or German, and go on to make snarky comments. And that happens A LOT, even a CM did it once (the story: my family - as group of 5, chose to take single riders line and we were speaking Portuguese to each other - then the CM said to her colleague something like "how stupid, they don't even realize they are getting in the single riders line" - which made me boil in rage! I know I should have filed a complaint, but, you know, I wouldn't like to waste precious Disney time with someone so ignorant).

 

[Hrhpd]

 

[carolnog]

Oh, I brought Batman and Robin up! Sorry, I'm so obviously an excited newbie

 

[Hrhpd]

Oh, I brought Batman and Robin up! Sorry, I'm so obviously an excited newbie

I personally don't see the problem in resurrecting old threads, but I came across this pic, thought it was cute and you provided the perfect opportunity to use it

 

[usnuzuloose]

Oh, I brought Batman and Robin up! Sorry, I'm so obviously an excited newbie

Welcome!! It's okay, a lot of new people do...