I have worked with a lady from Peru for 9 years. she has lived in the U.S. for 20 years. she is making me crazy, she still speaks spanish at home and listions to all spanish t.v. and radio. making it STILL hard for her to comprehend the english language. how far do we need to bend to accommodate.!???!!!!! she trys to enter conversations with co-workers, but because she refuses to except english as her first language, she can not keep up with us. HELP, she is a wonderful worker, but cannot communicate with us very well! she admitted that english was her 2nd language! give me a break. 20 yars in the U.S. someone help me understand.
2006-07-01 12:37:32 · 16 answers · asked by retta 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
I know way too many people like that, I always get in trouble for not speaking perfect Spanish to accommodate their needs. Hello... I was born here, so were my parents, and their parents, I think it's great that I can communicate in Spanish, but I shouldn't need to. Seriously, if they don't want to adapt, you can't force them, but I know if I moved to Peru and didn't really try to learn perfect Spanish it would be difficult for me. I have to much drive and ambition to live like that. It's really just sad. It says something about their personality. My husband came out here with so much drive and ambition to speak english and work hard. He speaks english perfectly & spanish. His brother and sister on the other hand. LAZY!!! But it's not just the language it is their whole life.
2006-07-01 12:48:52 · answer #1 · answered by smiles 2 · 7⤊ 1⤋
What she speaks and listens to at home is not causing her language barrier. The issue that she has with the English language is due to the fact that, from an early age, she has been programmed to analyze, speak and communicate in another language. Spanish was learned before English, therefore the English language will never become her first language. As far as her viewing and listening habits... she realizes that in her daily grind she "can not keep up" (as you put it) with the English language, that she cannot control. But she can control her TV. Although the situation is a bit frustrating keep in mind, she is no less human than you are.
2006-07-01 19:56:10 · answer #2 · answered by Kootie Guru 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all, Engish can never be her first language no matter how much she speaks it , accepts it, or even if she never speaks Spanish again, because it was not the first language she learned. Second, my advise is that you learn some Spanish. This country does not have an official language, and I don't even consider Spanish a foreign language anymore. Almost everyone I know knows enough Spanish to atleast get by, and none of us are Hispanic. It is so natural and easy to pick up, and it is everywhere, just like English, that everyone in the western hemisphere should know both. It isn't a matter of accomidating, it is a matter of not being stupid.
2006-07-01 19:53:40 · answer #3 · answered by sldolphins 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I work with a handful of Mexicans who were brought to the US when my company closed the plant that they worked at. These people still hold Spanish as their primary language and still have family in Mexico. They try to get back home at least once a year to see friends and family. If the lady in question is planning on moving back to Peru when she retires that is her business. Most immigrants to the US throughout history has maintained there home language for at least the first generation.
2006-07-01 19:43:38 · answer #4 · answered by andy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Years ago I worked at the place and the guy next to me is of Spanish descent. Unintentionally I made him my live dictionary. Within a year I built a Spanish vocabulary and today I speak enough Spanish to hold an easy conversation. When life gives you lemon, learn to make lemonade.
2006-07-01 22:17:50 · answer #5 · answered by alpha & omega 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My mother is exactly like that, but she came here legally! Just because they don't speak english doesn't mean they should be kicked out!!! It may be frustrating at times, but you should learn to open your mind, cuz her life may be a f****n hell and she can't take the time to learn! The people who should be kicked out of the country aren't the spanish speakers but the ignorant asses who don't understand that they didn't come from america, no one comes from america! It greatly pisses me off when you anti-immigrant arses don't understand **** and yet you complain about it! And thats coming from a WHITE dominican immigrant.
2006-07-01 20:00:36 · answer #6 · answered by maddyaddy 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm from Texas, I know what you're talking about...
There is really nothing you can do, beside force her to learn to do her job better, such as not translating at work. She'll either quit, be fired, or learn English. As for her speaking Spanish in her home...that is all her rights.
2006-07-01 19:42:49 · answer #7 · answered by Mark D 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
English is one of the hardest languages to learn so it will always be difficult for someone her age to be learning. Maybe her language is her last connection to her homeland....who would want to lose that. I refuse to give up Gaelic in my home because it is one of the few things I have of my native culture/identity.
I do agree she should learn though.
2006-07-01 19:45:03 · answer #8 · answered by anonymous 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I work with a girl from Peru,
Who does everything well she must do -
But she does it in Spanish :
I think she would vanish,
Or learn to speak English, don't you?
2006-07-01 20:59:01 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
tell her that if she want to communicate with people at her work she needs to learn how to speak english but she dosen't have to stop watching the spanish TV or stop listening to the spanish radio.
2006-07-01 23:25:03 · answer #10 · answered by bloch_andrew 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋