Why is it that people assume that you should speak Spanish in Texas?

Question

I have no problem with being bilingual. Spanish is not my 2nd language. There are people that were born right here in Houston that only speak spanish, and then to demand that I learn to speak spanish??!!

In what world does that make sense?

Just because I live near the border is no excuse for people that live in the US not to speak english. I lived in Germany for years, and I made a very diligent effort to speak German. Might not have been perfect, but I tried.

I work in the medical field and we hear it all the time.

I reiterate what I said before. Living on the border is no excuse. You do not see the same problem in the northern states. When was the last time anyone was in North Dakota and had a problem with language? Or Minnesota It was heavily populated with French. (Well the majority of the setlers were french at one time.)

If it being the case of the immigrants that settled to area. Every state would speak a different language.

English must be the accepted language of the country.
1. europeans that immagrated 100 years ago were told to learn english.
2. In the military it is punishable for 2 or more soldiers to be speaking something other than english infront of another serviveman. The 3rd party may have to take offense. I'm not sure. I do know that english is the spoken and written language in our government.

Answer 1

I live in Southern California and it's all over here too. What pisses me off is that I am half Greek so I have dark skin, eyes and hair and everyone assumes I'm Mexican, gets mad at me for not speaking Spanish, that I'm dissing my heritage and says I act White!

My other half is German I sprechen Deutsch too! I wish I could speak Spanish just so I could understand what they are saying about me.

I'm really f'n tired of seeing my taxes pay for all their social programs...you work in medical, you see them come in w/medi-cal, you know you are the one paying for it and they act like we should be happy they are in the doctors office!

Whew! Thanks for letting me get that out.

Answer 2

It doesn't make sense but times are changing and whether you like it or not speaking Spanish is almost mandatory in some parts of the country. For whatever reason, people don't speak or ven try to speak English, only Spanish. I can see how someone that wasn't born here can't speak English but someone born here? That is unacceptable. We primarily speak Spanish at home and my kids have picked up English in less than a year at school. I told my wife that this would happen. I did not know a lick of English because neither of my parents spoke English when I was growing up. So I had the best of both worlds. I had Spanish at home and English at school. By the way, I picked up French in high school and I got a degree in it in college. If I did it, anybody can. Pretty soon, people will really begin to lose jobs because of their inability to speak Spanish, Farsi, Hindi, Tagalog, Armenian, Vietnamese, etc. etc. and that is a national tragedy.

Answer 3

I'm astonished that you are not willing to speak spanish. It's a beautiful easy language, which has the same right as english to be officially used in the USA. Nothing about the use of language in the american constitution. The hispanic culture and lifestyle is better adapted to the southern states' climate anyway. To me Texas, Arizona, California, Florida and so on sounds very spanish, so why wouldn't people there speak spanish?. It's all natural, and it's all going its natural way I guess. Most funny, the only people in the whole world who almost never make an effort to speak any other language than theirs are anglophones... so just open up your mind a bit for cultural diversity, and learn some spanish! It will make you richer.

Answer 4

You know what doesnt make sense is your question. So your saying your bilingual but spanish is not your 2nd language, so what is then? Its not because you live in Texas its they way you look. You probably look mexican or like you would know spanish. I live here in Houston and i am Mexican and there a lots of ppl that think im a white girl and assume i dont know spanish and i seriously doubt that these damn mexicans demand that you learn to speak spanish... it probably would'nt be a bad idea cause ppl who speak both languages get paid more.

Answer 5

Well, I am amazed that that surprises you. It is perfectly natural.
That makes perfect sense in where you live.
I think that you forgot that the USA declared war to Mexico to steal its lands, beginning with Texas. Mexicans still feel that Texas IS their land, stolen from them. To make things more interesting, the final battle was fought by cadets of the Mexican army, who fought bravely against the USA army, in spite of their disadvantage. Mexico considers those cadets like the "hero children of Chapultepec."
Did I answer your question ?
By the way, to Autum Anne:
That is not what the english did when they came to this country almost four centuries ago. According to what you say, the english should have learned the language of the Indians, which was the official language then. Instead, the english forced the Indians to speak english and they pushed them into reserves, making the Indians live like tenants in their own land.
According to your words, now all of us, including you should be now speaking the Indians' language.
How, how, Pow wow, the Indian boy, me want wampum

Answer 6

The truth of the mater is that Texas is one of the top three states with the highest percent of Mexicans. There is alot of Mexican tiendas down there and a very high amount of Mexican workers everywhere. It is just a common thing because of the percentages of mexicans down there, but it is not just all Texas Mostly just in the larger cities. If you are bilingual then it shouldntbe a problem if they speak spanish to you. Instead ask, "Ingles porfavor." If they speak english they shouldnt have a problem with conversing in english.

Answer 7

Spanish in Texas? Why not. The name of the state is Spanish. Actually it is Tejas, except that centuries ago was customary to use ´´x´´ for ´´j´´. In Spanish Don Quixote is Don Quijote. ´´Oaxaca, Uajaca´´ and so on. So if we live in ´´Shingles, (Tejas)´´, then we may have a need to learn history and recognise the Spanish ancestry of the once Mexican territory and Spanish colony. Entiendes? ;)

Answer 8

It doesn't because this is AMERICA and our native language is english! They need to learn how to speak it! t would be different if you were going to thier country. You would learn at least a little bit right? I know a little soanish, but am a big believer in the fact that if you come here to the US, you should speak our language! Anyway, just my thoughts!

Answer 9

Don't forget that back in the day,
waaaaaayyy baaack,
Mexico (once called "New Spain") had a territorial expansion that reached almost as far north as the American Mid-West, and nearly all of California. Using that as reference, draw an imaginary line from north Cali to the Mid-West and fill it in as Mexican territory.

that's why certain places are named in Spanish:
Colorado
Las Vegas
Nevada
Calabasas
Modesto
San Francisco
Los Angeles
El Paso
etc....

Answer 10

well, since a very large part of the population speaks it, i don't see a reason why you shouldn't. i now regret never having learned russian or arabic, and intend to rectify that once i feel confident enough in the language i'm currently learning (japanese). i think it is wonderful to be able to speak to many people, especially when living in a multi-cultural society. and in the medical profession, this is especially important, so you'd be able to talk to your patients and understand what they're trying to say. i think a basic knowledge of spanish in your own field would not hurt you.
but, just as you owe them nothing, they owe you nothing.

Answer 11

I'm in Dallas and I've never had anybody tell me I need to speak Spanish. Mexicans are everywhere here too though.