Over half the land that is today the United States of America was once part of the Spanish Empire. A huge chunk of land was also part of Mexico. With the increasing number of Hispanics in the US and the increasing call for bilinguals, why do Americans remain so reluctant to learn the language?

Background
-Born in Los Angeles from French parents
-Speak fluent english and french
-Took 4 years of Spanish, I am between intermediate and advanced, I know how to conjugate verbs of all tenses even irregular in a split second, My only problem is that I need to be comfortable with the language and need to speak it fluently.
-I studied Italian for 2 weeks, but big time during the summer. I was surprised how quickly I learned things with the help of French, English, and Spanish.
My question is should I study abroad over the summer in a spanish speaking country to improve and become proficient in Spanish or should I go to Italy to gain Intermediate knowledge.
I mean I do live in LA, with spanish newspapers, spanish tv, spanish radio, hispanics. So I feel that I shouldnt go to a spanish speaking country since there is everything here in LA.Compare to Italy there is only Italia. But I also think Spanish is more important since everyone speaks it here in the western hemisphere. HELP

why is it hispanics normally speaks with a pitch of voice that is higher than any other language?

Their voice generally has a higher pitcher than everyone else that speak other idiom. Why is that? Phonology?

I think that would stop a lot of the non-sense that goes on in america with teachers having to be biligual and workers and etc. What do you think? You dont see Hindi people coming to america and creating a demand for us to learn their language and what makes hispanics so special that we all need to learn spanish? By the way not trying to sound racist its just a question so dont go saying I must be a part of the black panthers or whatever, its just a question! And if the question has been asked before I apologize I guess its just an easy two points for you to sa the same thing over again

In my husbands family there are many who have lived here for over 20 years but still do not speak english! Then they have the balls to get mad at me for not learning spanish so I can speak with them! Is any one else sick and tired of people coming here and not speaking the language? That would be like me moving to Mexico and saying "Well I am here now speak english"
question should have read "Why do some hispanics" rather than hispanics. Sorry!

I have no problem with learning something new but when the assume that I should learn it just to communicate with them that is where I have a problem.

Instead of the immigrants coming here to an English speaking country learning our language. Every other generation of immigrants were forced to learn English why can't all the Hispanics and mexicans do this too? Why are we labeled as intolerant and hateful for demanding this? Every other sane country does this why can't we

Ive always felt this way but I was watching Hogan Knows Best last night (an episode ive seen before but never saw all the way through) and they moved from somwhere else in Florida, to Miami Florida a few months back. And theyre all goin out, trying to go to the gas station, and even in well known chain stores (The GNC Live Well store that sells vitamins and such) and no one spoke a lick of english...NO ONE..IN MIAMI FLORIDA! In the United States! Isnt that stupid? Terry (hulk) was tryin to buy vitamins at a store chain he always goes to and hes asking "is there some one in here who can speak english?" and the bitch knows she understood him, so he gives up and tries to work with her any ways, asking for diff types of vitamins and he says the name in english and this dumb ass is telling him no and sayin it in spanish. I dont see how he didnt loose his temper. Even in subway...she said everything in spanish asking him if he wanted it toasted or not and what he wanted on it. knowin this blonde guy doesnt speak a word in spanish. I mean sure, lots of kids take spanish in middle school and high school..and a lot of people in America population can speak enough spanish to 'get by' in mexico(even me)..so why cant they learn enough to 'get by' here?

Why is it that when/if I look in the newspaper or online at job sites half of the jobs in this valley(Funky ass Fresno, central valley ca) say bilingual preferred? Why should I learn a language other than english to get by in my country just because immigrants dont know english? And its mainly mexican/hispanics, whatever you wanna call it. Im not racist, I ahve friends of almost every back ground. but I dont see asians trying to make us learn chinese or vietnamese or anything else that they speak. Most of them do their best to learn a few basic words, and some watch tv and pick up on it like its nothing. The others who stick to their culture have a kid or some one in their family with them translate, and then they eventually pick up on it effortlessly. Its not fair and its not right.. Does the O.C. have this problem? If they do Im sure its not one fourth as bad as fresno's problem..and I cant wait to move out of here.

The way the most of these people act is sickening to me..I dont see how you can come to a country, knowing what its like, knowing that the language is something other than your own and still not make an effort to learn it so that you can talk to every one (im sure..i KNOW most of this country speaks english). Its just a total piss off..I dont know what this country is coming to..people are getting fined for flying their country's flag on their property IN the country (Donald trump included..he had his u.s. flag on some property in FL too..and they fine him a little more than 00 a day...like he cares...he can blow his nose with that..) I just dont understand Why....Why is it so hard to adapt? Why are people allowing this type of thing go on?

Why should I learn to speak spanish in my own country?

Don't you just hate that when you go to a store or any other place and White people think that you cannot speak English. They assume that you cannot speak English because many think that you are illegal.

Do you just go with it and pretend not to speak English or do you really get offended?

How about when another Hispanic-American does it?

I hate it when another Hispanic that speaks perfect English like if he is the cashier or something just starts to communicate with me in Spanish like if I didn't know the language.
Like I mean White Hispanics. You know what I mean dont act like a dummy. I know Hispanics are a various races, but American whites dont know this.

If your job posted you in a rural American town which is full of Hispanics & no English speakers - would you work in that town & learn Spanish so as to interact with the locals?

Just wondering whether German language is being studied nowadays by so many people , or most of people prefer choosing Spanish as their second language. And If so , why do people avoid learning German and go for Spanish ? Though Germany has a strong economy and being able to speak German can be a really great asset in contrary with Spanish as the person will only be able to communicate with Hispanics ; especially those who come from south America . Thereby , they won't be able to utilize from their Spanish in Business world .

What do you think ??

Thanks in advance .

I wanna learn a language, I already know some Spanish and it is pretty easy for me. But I wanna learn a language where I won't get heat for being a "gringo" and speaking a certain language. I think that, for me anyway, Spanish so far compared to Italian or German is easiest for me. I haven't decided which one's easier between Italian and German, though. Some things I can't pronounce in German, and it kinda frustrates me. But, I don't know which is easier to me: Romance languages (Spanish or Italian specifically) or German. I also don't wanna get people to laugh at me because I'm a gringo and am speaking their language. Really, though, if they don't like it they can go back TO THEIR COUNTRY. Also, I'm sick of people thinking I wanna be Mexican because I wanna learn Spanish.

Besides, I'm just learning the language to impress their women. haha Honestly. I mean, I don't get heat all the time from Hispanics because I speak some Spanish. One Mexican dude actually told me some Mexican women like white boys that speak Spanish. haha
LitMit: Don't ever comment on any of my stuff again, racist.

By that I mean when there are non-Spanish speakers around, at a work environment (coworkers) or similar.
I'm not talking about a public place, like the people at the next table in a restaurant speaking Spanish to each other, for example.
I'm talking about a common area, small-talk type of environment where otherwise it would be normal for anyone within earshot to interject into a conversation.
It seems like it should considered as rude as two people whispering a conversation to each other when it is a common area.
Or any non-English language (in the USA).
And this is obviously regarding people who are bi-lingual and a decent fluency in English.
Although English fluence ought to be the goal for anyone residing in the USA.
Okokok
let me reiterate:
they are here legally
speaking in a common place
example: I work in a Spanish oriented field, some coworkers speak Spanish and English, both with perfect fluency
in our shared office area two of them will start talking to each otherin Spanish when I'm there in the same shared office
if they want to have a private conversation in Spanish then they should go somewhere else
it seems very rude
If I were to learn another language it wouldn't be Spanish- in Texas I'm sick of Spanish
I'd learn sign language, mandarin or Vietnamese
or finish up the French I started learning in high school
but I'd love to order my pho in Vietnamese
Smart Kat <---------- BINGO
you seem to be the only one who understands what I'm talking about, exactly
the other answerers seem to be jumping to conclusions without really trying to grasp what I'm talking about

this idiot is hilarious:
"I question if you would have said the same thing if they were speaking Italian or French, or is it only because they are Hispanics."

I would be talkng about the exact same thing
French, Italian, Korean or whatever

your experience with them talking in the car is exactly the type of thing I'm talking about

it is extremely rude
Getty- get over yourself

this has to do with manners- zero to do with race

95% of my girlfriends have been hispanic- and bilingual
it's one thing if the GF is talking to her no-English grandma, totally different thing if the entirely English-able dinner table excludes one and the rest carry on in Spanish

you are the one being a prejudicial jacka**

I couldn't believe it. in my city in california there was a recent change that i do not agree with. The people working at the bus terminal usually announce the bus line that has arrived so that people know and can get into the bus they need. But just recently they began to say it also in spanish. VERY VERY stupid. Numbrs from 1 to 20 should not be hard for any spanish speakers and specially since the spanish speakers here who are mexicans have lived here for years, spanish speakers from spain or europe are likely to already know english,, that's not even asking the people to learn english. it's just 20 numbers. I think it's the fault of the dumb bus station or government for that useless nonsense change. It's just making hispanics not want to learn english, cause they don't need it . I'm hispanic mexican and i can't believe they had to have translation for 20 numbers.

She received a slew of hateful answers.

My question is why do Hispanics expect other immigrants to learn three languages when they are unwilling or unable to learn two?

Remember, no previous group of immigrants has ever expected government services to be provided in their native language. Why are members of The Race so special? And do you realize it would only take one word to turn La Raza into the The Master Race....and we all know where that led.

If people who are bilingual have the potential for earning more money than those who are not, and if our communities are being saturated with non english speaking individuals (primarily hispanics), but we are unable to sell them anything because they do not speak or understand english, and if so many non-english speakers work in the workplace and are unable to provide adequate assistance because they are unable to speak or understand english, do you believe the government should provide non-english speakers with free english lessons, or english speakers with free spanish lessons, or neither, or both, and why?

My friend resides in GA and she told me her boss asked her and her coworkers not to speak in spanish in the workplace. She said he order them not to speak that language in his office since it was a English speaking company. They are only allowed to speak in spanish with Hispanics customers and not go over that. Is this legal in the State of GA? What are their right in this case? This is not even in their employee handbook and he don't want to do it in writing neither.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you want to do business with another country, you should learn their language. (Chinese sell cheap crap to us, they know English) In the case of immigration, Mexicans are coming HERE to do business, so why are we being forced to learn their language? Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if we were forced to learn, lets say, Chinese? Hispanics provide cheap, dependable labor, and that's why we hire them. But really, aren't they taking advantage of us by making us learn their language? Spanish wouldn't be the best language to learn, in my opinion. There aren't nearly as many business opportunities for Americans in Spanish speaking countries then there are in Asia, and I really think we're wasting our time learning Spanish. Some of them have been in this country for YEARS and still can't speak fluent English. Why? Because we accommodate to them, and burn money on services to help them. When everyone came to Ellis Island, they were forced to learn English. Why is it different now?

This may seem over the top, but I think that some people don't want Hispanics to learn English because they wish for them to remain a permanent underclass. That way, they can keep hiring them to do work for 2 bucks an hour.
Yeah Obama would rather have us learn Spanish then them learn English. He actually did say this.

It pisses me off when someone that is fluent in spanish that comes from a Latin American country tells me that its good to learn spanish....WHY!?!?! I'm already over here, and YOU want to come over here! If I were to go live in Mexico or any other country, I would have to learn their language in order to survive! I think the same should hold true for ALL people that emigrate to the United States too!! If you want to live in the United States, you should learn how to speak the language!! Let me just say I am not racist, and there are alot of hispanics that do not speak spanish that would agree with me! What do you think?

I went out to eat with a couple of my friends and one of them said:

"I'm sick of everyone having to study and speak Spanish everywhere we go just to communicate. It isn't fair that we have to do so. If you went to any other country in the world, you'd have to learn their native language FIRST, not they learn ours. If you want to communicate in France, you must know French. In Germany, German. It is simply not right. By us Americans requiring everyone to learn Spanish and make our businesses and schools speak it, we are enabling Hispanics to be delinquent; we are allowing them to not do what is required to become citizens, which is speak English, because you can't become a citizen without knowing English. We are letting them slide, which is not fair to the other immigrants, and it is not fair to us at all. This is America, we speak English. Hispanics are having their way around here."

What do you think?

Many people think that since it's said Hispanics will about 30% of the U.S. population by 2050, they will have to learn Spanish? The Hispanics who speak only Spanish are the recent immigrants. Their children speak english and they prefer to speak english over spanish, so why would Spanish be necessary?

as simple as it sounds like. i've heard many disputes that include the language. ok so we had to learn english enable to communicate. why don't you try to learn spanish. if you complain so such that hispanics are taking your jobs. maybe because a bilingual person is more usefull to the company, it will make the company more productive? why aren't you willing to try????
i don't mean it in a disrespecfull way. am just curious to know what you gux think. since we live among hispanics..

Also, why don't hispanics speak spanish with a lisp

I Just wanted to know. I mean, I know in the U.S learning Spanish isn't mandatory, but it might as well be. America has to always print everything thats in English, in Spanish also. I Just want to know why we virtually have to comply to Hispanic needs. They want us to learn to speak Spanish, but do they realize that they are in America? Why shouldn't they be the ones to learn our language because they are in your country. A lot of jobs here in California want you to be bi-lingual just to be hired. If the U.S is going to virtually force us to learn other languages to keep up with the other countries (gosh, how to say this; other countries' schools make it mandatory that students
have to learn more than one language, and the U.S doesn't, so they are trying to "make us smarter" by forcing another language upon us.)
Why should we adhere to Hispanic needs? If they're going to make us learn more languages, we need to lean French, Spanish and other languages too. Not just Spanish. I feel this way because I feel that some immigrants (some illegal) feel that we Americans need to learn to speak Spanish. So, my question is, why should be adhere and comply to what they want, when they should be the ones learning the English language since they're not in their home country? I have made it a goal of mine to learn Spanish just so I have a better chance of getting a job. I mean, its just, I feel almost forced to learn Spanish or else I am not likely to get a job. I plan on going to Mexico to learn Spanish fluently, but I wouldn't go over there in a mindset that the Hispanic in Mexico need to learn English! Thats disrespectful to go to another countries and force your wants upon its people.

So, tell me your thoughts on this....

And no, NOT ALL Hispanics feel this way, and I didn't say that all of
them did. If you read the question carefully, it says SOME.

The spanish do not want to forget their language and it is estimated that by 2050 will be required to speak Spanish because there will be 130 million Hispanics who do not know how to speak English and 20 who are billingue We have reached a point where we need to speak Spanish

experts say that in 2050 spanish going to be the first language of USA and from america

What do you think about this? We should speak Spanish? Historically, texas, florida, colorado, new mexico, california, and arizona was from spain and spoke Spanish,
But now? We must upgrade and learn Spanish or continue with our language?