[Talk Host]

I am sitting in the Orlando International Airport terminal. Virtually everybody who is passing by me, TSA Agents, Airport employees and passengers are speaking spanish. What is going on?????? : :

[MMC24]

If you think Orlando is bad - try sitting in Miami Airport you'll be hard pressed to find any employees speaking English.

[Talk Host]

Back in the 70s I use to be big in the CB radio hobby. At that time, we would always get skip signal from Puerto Rico and it always sounded like cartoon talk. That's what this sounds like to me.

[F16 1UB]

Originally Posted by MMC24

If you think Orlando is bad - try sitting in Miami Airport you'll be hard pressed to find any employees speaking English.

Amen to that. I used to take a shuttle from MIA to the car rental agency. The shuttle would be full and NOBODY was speaking English.

Steve

[JohnZ]

Just curious. Whats wrong with speaking Spanish in this country? Almost every major city has an enclave where the "predominant" language spoken is Spanish. In some Florida towns and cities it is the "dominant" language spoken. I lived in south Florida 27 years ago and the dominant language then was Spanish and it still is. How about L.A., Tucson, Phoenix, El Paso, Del Rio, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Albuquerque Las Cruces...just to name a few places?

This migration has been going on for quite some time. In New York it was Puerto Rican migration. South Florida, Cuban....and the rest now Mexican. I don't understand the the topic of this post....is this a surprise to you guys?

[MMC24]

JohnZ.

At least Americans are more tolerant of other languages spoken in the US. Try going to Quebec or Montreal and ask a question in English and watch their reaction. It is even worse in Paris. I have done business in Montreal for years and they made me rewrite all our sales literature in Canadian French eventhough they spoke and wrote excellent English. Their attitude is if you want to do business in French Canada you have to speak their language. At least in the US it's "Press 1 for English or Press 2 for Spanish"!!

[ripwho]

I guess what starts to bother me is when it becomes 'hit 1 for Spanish, 2 for English'... I'm a new yorker for all my life.. certainly in the 'melting pot', so I've heard it all....

[Russ_Boston]

From my own point of view:

If i moved to Italy i would, rightfully so, learn the Italian language. I would not expect or demand that the government just give in to us English speakers just because we had large numbers.

I'm not saying that ethnicity isn't a good/great thing since that is what this country was built on but we can expect to maintain just one language. I have many Indian and Russian friends who speak their native language at home or amongst themselves but do communicate with everyone in the office in English.

Originally Posted by JohnZ

Just curious. Whats wrong with speaking Spanish in this country? Almost every major city has an enclave where the "predominant" language spoken is Spanish. In some Florida towns and cities it is the "dominant" language spoken. I lived in south Florida 27 years ago and the dominant language then was Spanish and it still is. How about L.A., Tucson, Phoenix, El Paso, Del Rio, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Albuquerque Las Cruces...just to name a few places?

This migration has been going on for quite some time. In New York it was Puerto Rican migration. South Florida, Cuban....and the rest now Mexican. I don't understand the the topic of this post....is this a surprise to you guys?

Good points, John Z. Think what English must sound like to native German http://german.about.com/library/blvoc_gerloan.htm , French http://french.about.com/library/bl-f...glish-list.htm , Italian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...Italian_origin or Spanish http://spanish.about.com/cs/historyo...shloanword.htm speakers as so many words from each of those languages have crept into the English language over the past few centuries. It would be hard to know how you pronounce many words if you put every word into the local way (like that of the US, whatever that actually means) of pronouncing words http://ask.metafilter.com/25605/Funny-Native-Accents. Then you have local dialects and variations in pronunciation http://www.evolpub.com/Americandialects/AmDialLnx.html within each language. I know that I could not often understand someone from Virginia when they were talking with their local accents. From what I have heard, each Borough in New York City also has its own lingo. Pronunciations of certain words as well as slang probably also varies within a city as large as New York City. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_dialect

Press 1 from Virginian English. 2 for Valley speak http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valspeak English (Los Angeles). 3 for Minnesotan English http://wikitravel.org/en/Minnesota . 4 for south Texan English. 5 for Bronx English. etc.

And, for those people who speak the Queen's English in different parts of Great Britain, I often have a hard time understanding much of anything they are saying. I often have to put the English subtitles on in British movies just to get what they are actually saying in various English movies. I can usually understand Simon Cowell on American Idol, but he seems to be an exception.

[Avista]

My son and daughter in law lived in a small city in France for a couple of years. I spent some time with them. The first thing they taught me was to say IN FRENCH, "I am sorry, I don't speak French." Once I said this French people were very helpful to me. So much better than saying, "Do you speak English!" as if you expected them to.

[jtdraig]

AVISTA hit right on the head....I learned that lesson years ago and I never had any problem in any country including Russia. I never expected them to speak my language but once you acknowledged this, it was amazing how helpful they would be.

I also remember sitting in a staff meeting in Tucson, AZ in the 1980's when an Economist from the University of Arizona told us that by the early 2000's we (caucasians) would in the minority....I'm not sure how close we are but I think it must be close now.

[JohnZ]

Originally Posted by jtdraig

AVISTA hit right on the head....I learned that lesson years ago and I never had any problem in any country including Russia. I never expected them to speak my language but once you acknowledged this, it was amazing how helpful they would be.

I also remember sitting in a staff meeting in Tucson, AZ in the 1980's when an Economist from the University of Arizona told us that by the early 2000's we (caucasians) would in the minority....I'm not sure how close we are but I think it must be close now.

"we" caucasians? Are you assuming that we are all caucasians in this forum?I woudn't say that .

[JohnZ]

I'll open this can o'worms a little more....about caucasians becoming a minority in this country? I don't see it as a problem....it makes our country what it is....diverse, accepting, respectful.....and that....that....is what makes us strong as a nation. So....is there a problem with that?

[Hancle704]

This was circulated on the 'net recently. Can't attest to it's validity, but I think it still makes sense.

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

[JohnZ]

"Teddy" is a personal hero of mine. Read Theodore Rex...pretty good biography. Many people speak their "native" tongue in this country with their ethinic brethren because they are comfortable with it. Many of these folks also speak English, especially if they have obtained their citizenship. There are many Spanish speaking guys, for instance, that are fighting now in Iraq and elsewhere and at other times and conflicts in our history....many have given their lives. Some of those that have died while serving were in FACT not citizens....but they were loyal to our country, our flag and they respected our heritage. I think Teddy would understand and appreciate that.....and maybe.....that's the kind of loyalty he was speaking of. It has been my experience that it is rare to find a Hispanic person in this country that does not understand or speak English. Should we require the speaking of English only in this country and let not an utterance of another language occur? Man, think about that.

Oh, and by the way.....Teddy was a Long Islander....Oyster Bay, NY....he's buried there. A place I call home.