when we call a bank, phone company, credit union,ect we have to press 1 for english. whats up with that?
2006-06-17 09:04:14 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Yes, the main language is English. There are 4 states right now that have more Spanish speaking people then English. They are Texas, New Mexico, California and Maryland.
2006-06-17 09:07:20 · answer #1 · answered by Hawk996 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
That is because the original European settlers refused to learn, and adopt the language of the people that were currently living here.
And in an ironical twist, they now have the gall to complain that recent immigrants refuse to learn English. This can be seen as a symptom of the severity of monolingualism, and the refusal of those who suffer from it, to be cured of that Disease.
What you should have here is :
1: Tslagi
2: Dwamish
3: Miami
4: Ontario
etc
with the first European language being at least 50 stars down the line, coming after the 500 languages that are native to the US.
BTW, English is a minority language in 10% of the states, and will be a minority language in half of the states, within 30 years.
English is losing ground because, on one side, the First Nations are reclaiming their language and culture, and on the other side, recent immigrants are saying "No" to the cultural imperialism that WASPs inflict upon others.
2006-06-17 17:12:38 · answer #2 · answered by jblake80856 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because some people speak both Spanish and English or whatever else in the United States, and if they speak the other language (not English) better, then obviously they are going to want to here it in that language. Why do you care? Companies are just trying to be helpful and such..
Oh, and the person above who said there are only 2 spoken languages in the US.. not really. i have a few friends who speak Korean, and then my girlfriend speaks Czech. So, there are many other languages spoken here besides English and Spanish, i mean i myself speak Spanish, English and Italian. But anyways. ciao
2006-06-17 16:08:43 · answer #3 · answered by Kai 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Companies are aware that a certain percentage of their customers have English as a second language. When dealing with critical issues such as banking and credit, it's best to be able to communicate clearly.
2006-06-17 16:09:09 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Banks and other businesses want to serve as many customers as possible, even nonenglish speakers. The USA is one of the few countries in the world where only knowing one language does not hold you back from success although I think this becoming less and less true
2006-06-17 18:15:58 · answer #5 · answered by erik c 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are TWO languages spoken in the USA. English, which is the primary language, and Spanish, which is secondary. The US Constitution does NOT declare an official language and neither do most state constitutions.
2006-06-17 16:08:28 · answer #6 · answered by cyanne2ak 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
english is the main language used ,but not official.
2006-06-17 20:13:31 · answer #7 · answered by m 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
25 million Americans speak Spanish as their first language. That's 25 million. It's simply good business to be inclusive.
2006-06-17 16:09:35 · answer #8 · answered by regularguyz 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What's up with that?!?!?! you should press 9 for English. Everybody knows that! Come on!!
2006-06-17 22:33:07 · answer #9 · answered by kamelåså 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some people might just be learning English or still have trouble with it.
Before anyone throws a hissy though, they are probably not illegal immigrants.
2006-06-17 16:09:55 · answer #10 · answered by KAiT 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋