Do you speak spanish?

[pennwalk]

More and more lately I have been thinking it would be handy to speak spanish. Just last weekend the power company had a pruning crew in my back yard cutting the trees back from the powerlines. I was curious what they were going to do. Turns out they spoke mainly spanish and so comunication was minimal. Why the heck did they teach french in my high school. Even if I could remember it and I hadn't been the worst french student in my high school , who would I talk to? Even though that was a long time ago couldn't the powers that were have forseen that spanish would be real handy? Come to think of it they did teach us quite a bit of stuff that has turned out to have no earthly use.

Chris

 

[DocHeb]

Well, with our recent trade agreements, and the way the world economy is going, you should learn Chinese.

 

[pennwalk]

Doc.
I don't think I have run into a chinese person who didn't speek good english. I don't know what to make of that. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Chris

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( it would be handy to speak spanish )</font>

It certainly would; especially if you lived in Texas as I do. I took one year of high school Spanish (my sophomore year), but you had to take two years to get credit for it, and that summer we moved to another town and a school that didn't offer Spanish. I've always regretted not having finished learning the language. I can read a little of it, but can't speak or understand it hardly at all.

 

[Gatorboy]

<font color="blue"> ( I don't think I have run into a chinese person who didn't speek good english. ) </font>

Ugh /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[pennwalk]

Bird.
It is amazing how many spanish speaking workers you run into even up here. I guess the power company has half a dozen trucks in my neighborhood this week and there are 6 guys to a truck. Last summer there was a big excavater working next door and the operator was telling me that they are bringing in laborers from El salvador. We were down at the Jersy shore last summer and the cleaning company has replaced it's college girls with latino maids.

Chris

 

[Gomez]

I know a few words, but I'd like to learn as well. I'm in Puerto Rico (I know, it's not really spanish /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif) every other week for business. Don't really need to know it since the majority of people I deal with speak english pretty well. I thought of trying that Rosetta Stone program they sell everywhere but don't know anyone that's tried it.

Latina maids. Interesting /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

(like Paz Vega in Spanglish?)

 

[Spiffy]

DocHeb, you speak a scary truth, but pennwalk's followup I'd say is even scarier, and plenty of truth to that too.

Anyway [opinionated response warning! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif ]:

I've heard that learing a second language is great excercise for the brain (or so a college proffesor tried to convince me, when I was debating a second semester of it). So if you want to learn a language, and Spanish is the one that appeals to you, "Go for it." However, unless your business is tourism or the like, I'd have no desire to cater to someone living or working in the USA if they don't have the courtesy to speak English.

 

[MossRoad]

Dave! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue"> I'd have no desire to cater to someone living or working in the USA if they don't have the courtesy to speak English. </font>

My ancestors came over from Europe on the boats. They forced their children to learn English and wouldn't let them speak Hungarian so that they would fit in faster and be sucessful. There weren't any Hungarian speaking doctors, lawyers, store clerks or employers. They learned English to survive. Now compare my family's story to the Hispanic population. The Hispanic population is thriving in the U.S. They don't have the need to learn English because there are Spanish speaking doctors, lawyers, store clerks, employers, etc.... everything they need in their native tongue. English speaking people will have to adapt, not Spanish speaking people. Spanish speaking peoples in the Americas already did their adapting. Remember, Spanish speaking people in the Americas didn't come from Spain. They were native Americans that had Spanish forced on them. They adapted and apparently are thriving, as the population numbers indicate. English speaking peoples in the Americas are the ones that will have to adapt to Spanish, in my opinion. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Estoy interesado en tractores. ¿Es usted? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif