Should American Employees Speak English?

a reply to: StallionDuck


I have thought about this a lot. In Europe, almost everyone is bilingual, or even trilingual. Since we have three major languages spoken in North America, It would be good if everyone spoke English, Spanish, and French. The problem would largely be solved at that point. I know a little Spanish and almost no French, but when I was in Europe almost everyone spoke English, which was a lifesaver for me. In answer to the question in your post, I do think if you are employed in a country you should be required to speak its majority language.

a reply to: StallionDuck

Type me a few sentences in British English and I'll tell you if I can understand all of it

You read and replied to my post.

So it's obvious you can understand it.

originally posted by: projectvxn
Those employees are just being disrespectful.

I'm a Spanish speaker. Its my first language. You dont go to anothers country and not make an effort.

When I came to the US my parents enforced learning English.

To add my two cents as a polyglot, linguist, philologist and translator (as a hobby and a profession), I would comfortably bet the farm on the drive-thru employee's being an English speaker from the get-go. I don't mean a person who came from an hispanophone community but who has learned some English now that she is living in the US. I mean that she is either a native Anglophone who learned Spanish around the earlier generation immigrants in her family, or she was raised completely bilingual in both languages, an "hispanohablantenglophone".

If you didn't notice what I am honing in on, I bet you will at least remember hearing it and thinking, "how odd!" I already bet the farm so now I'll have to bet your sweet ass that it doesn't require a philologist or linguist to see red flags shooting up regarding one thing. That is that it takes quite the proficiency in English and also a considerable amount of time observing and participating in countless exchanges between everyday people whose common parlance or vernacular is specifically American colloquial English to have the command of the language it requires to say, "ain't nobody here speak English, pffft," in lieu of what a foreigner would say who could only communicate on an elementary level which would be more along the lines of, "I am sō-ree, dare eez nobody here who esspeak-a English!" Aside from simply repeating a phrase you have heard, you really just can't fake it when it comes to syntax and diction and actually expect to be understood or to blend in. Finally, being an hispanohablante myself (well, a castellanohablante), I and anyone out there who knows the Spanish accents found in the Americas and Caribbean knows that what she says in English with a Spanish accent is all bullshish. That is an accent that an English speaker would use to suggest he or she is struggling. Likewise, even a Spanish speaker who operates at the level of native fluency in English would tack on, unaware that it ain't foolin' nobody.

originally posted by: alldaylong
a reply to: StallionDuck

Type me a few sentences in British English and I'll tell you if I can understand all of it

You read and replied to my post.

So it's obvious you can understand it.

I can't its all very confusing for example in britain an escalator is a lift. Where in amarica a lift is what mechanics use. In Britain a boot is a trunk how crazy is that. And a cookie us a biscuit who would of thought you could have chocolate chip biscuits? Id apologize to the English on problem is they spell it differently and looks like this apollgise. To say there are not differences between the US version and other countries is silly. Wow i need a vacation after all that but in britain it be a holiday so now im thoroughly confused

originally posted by: neo96
I say yes.

The majority of people speak english.

If you do they'd get more out of what 'Murica has to offer.

Not really. They have interpreters down at the old social services office. You can also make your bilingual kids handle everything else. No English necessary ever! Arriba!

originally posted by: openminded2011
a reply to: StallionDuck


I have thought about this a lot. In Europe, almost everyone is bilingual, or even trilingual. Since we have three major languages spoken in North America, It would be good if everyone spoke English, Spanish, and French. The problem would largely be solved at that point. I know a little Spanish and almost no French, but when I was in Europe almost everyone spoke English, which was a lifesaver for me. In answer to the question in your post, I do think if you are employed in a country you should be required to speak its majority language.

Should everyone have to use the majority language or the language which was historically endemic to the region?

I know that for the US, this causes quite the predicament. Would English be the language everyone should use or should people stop being lazy and dismissive of the peoples who inhabited the various regions before conquest (wow that sounds so condescending and patronizing for some reason lol I don't mean it like that at all! I am serious, I have no idea how you'd reconcile these issues so I'm asking what others think)?

Everyone knows how it works in Europe...or do they? Well, why is it that we don't have regional communities where people speak both English and Diné, English and Mohawk, English and Cherokee, English and Sioux, English and Seminole? English and Cajun French?

And if we were to go with the majority, France and England, if the current population trends continue just one more generation or so, will flip and become predominately Muslim nations and the common language shared by the majority in that case will be Modern Standard Arabic. Do you let English and French fade into the background and perhaps, after a century or two, cease to be spoken in those countries?

IMPORTANT REALITY TO KEEP IN MIND:

Finally, I just want to say that I think people have a somewhat inaccurate view of how languages work in Europe. I bet most Americans have no clue that there are around 14 languages which are spoken in France and I mean every single day by the different regions of the country. I don't mean dialects of French, I mean very ancient and very much living languages like Occitan, Les langues d'oïl, Provençal, Walloon, Corsican, Alsatian, Basque, Lorraine Franconian, Breton and it goes on and on. Or Spain where five languages are recognized. Castellano, Catalan, Basque, Aranese, and Galician.

People, depending on where they live, speak one of these in appropriate regions with family, friends, at the store, have their news broadcast in these languages, and often one to half of the classes at school are done in regional languages. For official stuff and broadcasts that go out to the whole country, French or Castellano will be used. This is because of the fact there were just countless kingdoms, duchies, counties, bishoprics, principalities, grand duchies, etc. all having their own languages before all the places united to create a large nation.

And it's this way in more countries than not. Italy again for example. You may watch national news in Italian and see movies in Italian but in your village, you do everything in Dalmatian, Limousin, Piedmont's, Friulian, Venetian, Slovene, Tuscan, Nepolitan, Emiliano Romagnolo, Ligurian, Lombard, Ladin, Sardinian, Sassarese, I mean it gets ridiculous. And keep in mind, just because these examples, for example, have a romance language as a national language, these other languages are not always romance languages. And almost always, these languages are NOT mutually intelligible with the neighboring ones. Like I speak Greek with my family. In Italy, there is a language which has survived from Ancient Greece which people in parts of Sicily still speak. You cannot make out but one or two words a dozen if you are lucky as it sounds nothing like Italian, Greek, or the Ancient Koini Greek that I know and most Greeks do.

Always find it funny, I keep getting told if I s as y I want English as our official language I'm racist. But if Hispanic try to make Spanish the official language in florida that's just progress.

I also get told we should be more like Europe, but while living in Europe many many job options were closed to me because I wasn't fluent in German. (country I lived in)

When I worked in a theme park decades ago, if a non English speaker approached and just tried I would take all the time I had to help them.
While living in Germany I got to understand German pretty well, though speaking it not so much.
I can also speak and understand some French, Spanish and a little sign language.

So when I encounter folks that can't or won't speak English (in America) it pisses me off, it's a level of arrogance I don't want around me.

To sum up, I am certain some view me as an old white racist.

a reply to: Irishhaf

Being here illegally tends to isolate you from English speakers making learning English more difficult

a reply to: dragonridr

I can't its all very confusing for example in britain an escalator is a lift.

Not so.

In Britain an " Escalator " is a moving stairway that goes both up and down.

In Britain a " Lift " is a box you walk into which goes up and down to various floor levels.

Americans use many English words which we British stopped using. For example what you call a " Highway " we call a " Motorway " The term in Britain " Kings or Queens Highway " went out of fashion donkeys years ago.

originally posted by: projectvxn
a reply to: TheLead

Sorry, I'm not a technophobe.

Us paranoid types aren't worried about the technology, just the people who control it...

originally posted by: alldaylong
The term in Britain " Kings or Queens Highway " went out of fashion donkeys years ago.

If you miss that you can come to southern Ontario. We've still got them.

Common occurrence in El Paso, Texas.
It was years before I would go into a Home Depot store. The employees of the North Mesa Street Home Depot store would go around a English speaking person to accommodate a Mexican citizen. Saw it numerous times in the 2001 to 2009 time frame.
In 2007, after returning from Afghanistan, I went to the Walmart on Mesa. On that day, the Hispanic checker allowed a couple with beer under their cart to go through without paying for the beer. I commented that the couple did not pay for the beer and she just shrugged. The 'two greeters' at the door who were checking receipts spoke for a long time to the couple (I had over $300 worth of items in two carts), when I departed, I was scrutinized very carefully, so I commented about the free beer in the cart in front of me; they shrugged.
I took my items to my truck. ,returning to the store and asking to see the manager. I pointed out and explained about the checker and greeters. He said it happens all the time and walked off! I went home, wrote a long letter, including a copy of the receipt for the lane ID and time stamp. About two weeks later there was a house cleaning at the Mesa Street Walmart. New employees and new manager. I never saw a repeat of the incident as long as I was in El Paso.
Bottom line. When it happens to you, report it to the corporate head quarters...

originally posted by: intrepid

originally posted by: alldaylong
The term in Britain " Kings or Queens Highway " went out of fashion donkeys years ago.

If you miss that (King's Highway), you can come to southern Ontario. We've still got them.

Indeed!

a reply to: daveinats

Interesting post. I live in Texas; been denied service at a restaurant in Del Rio; denied service, i.e., check out at a Grocery store in Corpus Christie.

I dont really care anymore. I understand the hatred and bigotry. As the numbers increase, it only gets worse.

a reply to: daveinats

LOL, i've seen fistfights over retail merchandise at Cielo Vista Mall. This was in the 80's, pre "black friday" and during the summer.

I saw someone at Frugal Franks (probably not there anymore) hit someone else with a box of shoes so they could wrestle another box of shoes from them.

It was typically someone who would drive away in a car with Juarez plates. In fact, the poor driving of people with Juarez plates caused a song to play on the local stations. "Drive like a mexican" done to the tune of "walk like an egyptian".

originally posted by: Bluntone22
English should be made the national language of the united states.

I hope you know such a law would be immediately challenged in courts on 1st Amendment grounds, AND there would be a good case in overturning it too. There's a reason these bills never pass when lawmakers bring them up.
English as a First Language

Minimum wage jobs can be tough to keep a steady staff. Hence, why you see a non-English speaker working the drive through.

Then again, you're paying for cheap low quality food made by low-payed employees. Wha the do you expect?

All the well spoken English speakers with a decent job history probably have better jobs.

Don't like it, then stop supporting it with your dollar... It's that simple.

a reply to: blueman12

Then again, you're paying for cheap low quality food made by low-payed employees. Wha the do you expect?

I expect the cashier to be able to take my order in the language the menu is written in. If they can not accomplish that basic task then find someone else for the job.

originally posted by: Grimpachi
a reply to: blueman12

Then again, you're paying for cheap low quality food made by low-payed employees. Wha the do you expect?

I expect the cashier to be able to take my order in the language the menu is written in. If they can not accomplish that basic task then find someone else for the job.

It should be noted that is the fault of the company in question. If you are dissatisfied with service because a customer service rep had a language breakdown at the point of sale, then take it up with the company. There should never be a reason we should be telling the government to mandate a primary language of our country.

PS: I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm just speaking my mind here.

a reply to: Grimpachi

Why shouldn't it be on you to find a business that caters to what you would prefer? If they don't speak English, and you don't like it, then go somewhere that they do speak English.