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US now has more Spanish speakers than Spain – only Mexico has more

WCH said:
I took Spanish in HS. Don't remember much.

If you come to my country, learn English. I would do the same if I moved to yours.
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Except most other countries in the world learn English. I went to France and people there knew English. Of course if I were to live there I would probably just pick it up from the locals
 
Crovax said:
Why? Seems like Chinese, Japanese or German would be much more beneficial
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Because people south of the border and in Latin America mostly speak it, thats why. Those countries are far closer to the US than Europe or Japan is plus many American citizens are already speaking Spanish- it will help integrate them into society if we all learn it.
 
joG said:
Chinese or Spanish are the ones to go for with Chinese maybe taking first seat as fewer Americans speak it. The competitive advantage might therefore be greater. On the other hand only China and Formosa speak it.
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Greetings, joG. :2wave:

:agree: The average person in China, on the other side of the globe, is more likely to speak English than people living in Central and South America! Schools in China have taught the English language for years to all students, starting in grade school. Why is that, and could that explain the difference in general economic well being between the two locations? Both have their elite classes who run things, so that's not it. I wonder how many average schools in the US teach Chinese? Since it appears that China has become a major competitor on the world stage, our children are probably going to be dealing with them on a routine basis some day - will they be at a disadvantage by not knowing the Chinese language, because rest assured, the Chinese will understand English. Interesting....
 
HorseLoverGirl said:
Except most other countries in the world learn English. I went to France and people there knew English. Of course if I were to live there I would probably just pick it up from the locals
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English is the language of international finance.
Me too! When we visited Minnesota, I started talking like [picking up the lingo] the locals within hours.
 
Crovax said:
and yet exclusivey spoken by very few who matter
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People don't matter? Uhhhh.....what? Could you please elucidate why Spanish speaking people don't matter?
 
WCH said:
English is the language of international finance.
Me too! When we visited Minnesota, I started talking like [picking up the lingo] the locals within hours.
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I've heard that immersion is the best way to learn a language. In fact my grandparents used to complain that I had a Carolina accent. I don't know what that is but if I have it its from spending most of my life in North Carolina!
 
I am by no means a language expert, but learning any one of the romance languages,
will go a long way towards being able to get by in any of them.
Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, I have heard even Romanian,
all have a Latin root.
I have found that knowing some of the local language, adds a lot to visiting a another country.
 
HorseLoverGirl said:
I've heard that immersion is the best way to learn a language. In fact my grandparents used to complain that I had a Carolina accent. I don't know what that is but if I have it its from spending most of my life in North Carolina!
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I have the same issue wifh my TX accent but, most people love it
.
 
Crovax said:
Not really that useful
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No, it is. Under-educated English speakers will continue to slide away from well-educated English speakers in lifetime economic worth (that whole increasing Gini coefficient thing), and will certainly find themselves in similar trades and jobs with recent arrival Spanish speakers. Mutual intelligibility is an advantage and "useful" for the cheap labor pool. You can't take the personal damaged pride of living in a state with people not speaking English to the bank and cash it in, but you can certainly benefit from rudimentary Spanish in almost every aspect of lower-end services and undifferentiated labor, especially in South Texas. That ain't changing, either.

In terms of the intellectual or cultural benefits of learning another language, it is somewhat akin to higher education - if one has to justify it against doing nothing for the sake of not spending effort or the unease of consorting with others, it is perhaps better left alone.
 
It would seem these people are more receptive to left wing ideas and " solutions.

Probably why the Democrats want them here.
 
Crovax said:
Why? Seems like Chinese, Japanese or German would be much more beneficial
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Bah, you gotta jump a plane for using it, with Spanish just head South a bit.
 
WCH said:
I have the same issue wifh my TX accent but, most people love it
.
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I hear the Texas accent is fading away amongst the yutes. That's a shame.
 

The article is from the UK based pulizer prize winning newspaper "The Guardian."

They didn't rip it from anywhere, they cited a study... I suggest reading the article
 

I honestly don't see anything wrong with that, as a great number of Spanish speakers are citizens and speak English as well. But it is still not an excuse for illegal immigration or not securing the borders.
 
I'd be in favor of mandatory Spanish classes for high school students, as opposed to the status quo of ambiguous foreign language classes being mandated. Having a bilingual population would certainly be beneficial for tourism and would bring advantages to the country in the global marketplace.
 

We were better off when people had to learn our language rather than us learning the language of trash countries.
 

Of course you would. :lamo
 

So?

Usted debe aprender a hablar español , es muy útil .
 
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