English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking it.

[Urethra Franklin]

Just sayin'

 

[Carjosse]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

No, it isn't. Spanish is becoming more popular, being spoken by more Americans but it is in no way overtaking English. That is like saying French is overtaking English in Canada.

 

[Captain Adverse]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Just sayin'

I think you were trying to say that English was the primary language and Spanish is now over-taking it.

English is still the primary language and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

We do have a growing Spanish speaking population and it is the largest second language. It will not replace English for all the Asian and African, and even European language speaking immigrants.

 

[Urethra Franklin]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Ooh dear, the irony fairy's on holiday :roll:

 

[Carjosse]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Ooh dear, the irony fairy's on holiday :roll:

It still does not make any sense, English was always the primary language of the Untied Sates. That is what happens when you have a population that historically is mostly of British stock.

 

[Urethra Franklin]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

It still does not make any sense, English was always the primary language of the Untied Sates. That is what happens when you have a population that historically is mostly of British stock.

Ô putain :roll:

http://www.debatepolitics.com/europ...e-sweden-centuries-now-arabic-overtaking.html

Alors, ça y est???

 

[Carjosse]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Ô putain :roll:

http://www.debatepolitics.com/europ...e-sweden-centuries-now-arabic-overtaking.html

Alors, ça y est???

See for your thread to make sense a language would have to be overtaking Spanish or Spanish overtaking whatever the second language of the US used to be which I would think was probably German.

 

[Urethra Franklin]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

See for your thread to make sense a language would have to be overtaking Spanish or Spanish overtaking whatever the second language of the US used to be which I would think was probably German.

Thank you Carwash. You have given me the excuse to pour myself another cointreau.

 

[Gathomas88]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Just sayin'

When was English the "second language" of the United States? :screwy

 

[joG]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Just sayin'

Doesn't everyone learn Spanish as a second language now?

 

[joG]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

When was English the "second language" of the United States? :screwy

In the 15th century?

 

[Gathomas88]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

In the 15th century?

There wasn't a "United States" at that time, sooo...

 

[joG]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

There wasn't a "United States" at that time, sooo...

Don't be soo picky.

 

[Urethra Franklin]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

When was English the "second language" of the United States? :screwy

By the time it is, you might just get it :hammer:

 

[Carjosse]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Doesn't everyone learn Spanish as a second language now?

Well if it is anything like French education in most of Canada they learn it then quickly forget it because it is taught too late and improperly.

 

[joG]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Well if it is anything like French education in most of Canada they learn it then quickly forget it because it is taught too late and improperly.

Funny. I would have thought parents would want their kids to be able to communicate with everyone in the society. And seeing Spanish is the most spoken language worldwide after English, it makes a lot of sense on a commercial level as well.

 

[PIPEWRENCH]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

I think we need to speak a single language in this country. While it may have its roots in English I think the addition of words from many other languages is important. The English we speak here is already a mix of many languages and should he become more diverse. With the mix of different cultures over the years it is a shame we have not incorporated more words from each language into our language.

I believe a universal language that all the people understand is a strength for any country. I think a country such as the US with so many immigrants form all over the world that our language should contain more words from each language and culture.

 

[Chagos]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Ooh dear, the irony fairy's on holiday :roll:

From what one hears it's been incapacitated by intake of large dollops of Cointreau. :mrgreen:

 

[Chagos]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

When was English the "second language" of the United States? :screwy

It still IS.

Closely following American but still 2nd. :2razz:

 

[Chagos]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Funny. I would have thought parents would want their kids to be able to communicate with everyone in the society. And seeing Spanish is the most spoken language worldwide after English, it makes a lot of sense on a commercial level as well.

Where Canada is concerned the Quebecois (despite their territory being vast) need English to converse in the rest of the country (even vaster). Anglos OTH need French only in Quebec when they meet someone who refuses to speak English on nationalistic grounds.

Of course the government position is such that virtually any document is issued bilingual but that doesn't change the demographics in their distribution.

I've found similar behavior in Switzerland in the universities of Lausanne and Zurich conversing in English and in Flemish Zaventem (Bruxelles:mrgreen when asking directions to the airport in French and being replied to in English.

Heck, down here it's enough for me to speak Castilian in Barcelona to get a reply (just on my complexion) in English.

Being able (educated) to speak obviously doesn't always mean willingness to do.

 

[Carjosse]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Funny. I would have thought parents would want their kids to be able to communicate with everyone in the society. And seeing Spanish is the most spoken language worldwide after English, it makes a lot of sense on a commercial level as well.

Well Canada does not really trade or have anything to do with Spanish speaking countries on top of the fact we have Quebec and French is one of our official languages. I have also never seen an Hispanic person and they make up <1% of the population, even in Montreal the Spanish speaking immigrants all speak French as their primary language now. There is a big difference between having a large Spanish speaking population and having a viable Spanish speaking market. French is much more useful since it has a lot of primary speakers but also a lot of people who speak it as a second language. Take North Africa for example their official language is Arabic but in reality it is actually French and French is fairly widespread throughout the world whereas Spanish is not. By the same logic everyone should learn Chinese.

 

[Tigerace117]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Just sayin'

What was the first language then ? Swahili?

 

[Carjosse]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Where Canada is concerned the Quebecois (despite their territory being vast) need English to converse in the rest of the country (even vaster). Anglos OTH need French only in Quebec when they meet someone who refuses to speak English on nationalistic grounds.

Of course the government position is such that virtually any document is issued bilingual but that doesn't change the demographics in their distribution.

I've found similar behavior in Switzerland in the universities of Lausanne and Zurich conversing in English and in Flemish Zaventem (Bruxelles:mrgreen when asking directions to the airport in French and being replied to in English.

Heck, down here it's enough for me to speak Castilian in Barcelona to get a reply (just on my complexion) in English.

Being able (educated) to speak obviously doesn't always mean willingness to do.

Well the rate of monolingualism is actually pretty high in Quebec because of political issues so it is not that they do not want to speak English it is just that often they were never taught to or never taught effectively just like Anglophones outside of Quebec. Belgium is horrible horrible for language integration, no one speaks both languages not even most of the government and politics are divided even more so along language than ideological lines.

 

[Chagos]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

Well the rate of monolingualism is actually pretty high in Quebec because of political issues so it is not that they do not want to speak English it is just that often they were never taught to or never taught effectively just like Anglophones outside of Quebec.

It's been years since I've been and you're on the spot there and now. So I'll bow to your superior knowledge and experience. I also experienced more the somewhat more rabid Francophone nationalism of years ago, even where it was hardly representative.

Belgium is horrible horrible for language integration, no one speaks both languages not even most of the government and politics are divided even more so along language than ideological lines.

Actually it isn't so much the ability that's wanting, it's the wish. But there're actually more in the deep Flemish West that have French than there are those with a command of Flemish in the Wallonie. The spite is however particular rampant in Greater Bruxelles where you can go from one district to the next and you're in another country.

 

[German guy]

Re: English was the second language of the US for centuries. Now Spanish overtaking i

What was the first language then ? Swahili?

BAD English.