I often had the same question while I was studying Spanish, and made a few attempts at speaking to strangers in the states in Spanish, and I did get some dirty looks...which I didn´t understand at the time, but do now.
I went on to finish my B.A. in Spanish, and moved to Mexico where I have perfected my use and accent of the language. I also got married here, and now speak Spanish with a northern Mexican accent (husband is from Sinaloa), and many people say that if you weren´t looking at me (tall, white, blonde), you would think I was Mexican.
Now that I live here, and speak the language quite well, I get irritated when people come up to me and speak English. Now I get it. There are a lot of reasons for it, 1) It took me a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to speak Spanish the way I do and I don´t really appreciate people assuming I don´t. 2) I live in Mexico, and in Mexico people speak Spanish.....it is embarrasing and a negative call of attention when some random person starts speaking to you in English. 3) It´s rude to assume that just because I´m an american I am interested in spending my time (remember, I´m just some random person on the street) helping you practice your English....I have other things to do.
So, if you can apply my English/Mexico experience to your Spanish/U.S. question, you can probably understand why you will get some people that don´t want to chat it up in Spanish just randomly. That said, generally Americans (like me) tend to be more easily irritated with these sorts of things, so you might get ok results.
My advice would be to try to make some spanish-speaking friends and get your practice on with willing and consenting participants! :)
2007-02-13 07:46:14
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answer #1
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answered by Darcy D 1
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Speak Spanish To Me
2016-10-01 11:16:16
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answer #2
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answered by ? 4
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i guess that depends on if you know the person. I hate when people walk up to me and start speaking spanish, even if they are latino as well. I would rather speak english, especially in public. Now if its a friend, it doenst bother me. I have a white friend who is pretty well at spanish, and we speak to each other in spanish once and a while. but to assume i know spanish just cause i am latino is wrong. cause i know lots of mexican americans who dont speak the language.
2007-02-10 05:26:40
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answer #3
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answered by david 2
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Hispanic implies that they share the Spanish language and certain customs, so places like Brazil are not Hispanic (they were colonized by Portugal, not Spain). Latino/a is often used to refer to anyone south of America, including the Caribbean and Brazil. White doesn't have anything to do with it since they are ethnicities and not race-specific. There are black Hispanics AND black Latinos all the way to white Hispanics and Latinos.
2016-05-25 02:16:05
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answer #4
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answered by ? 4
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Where i work people talk to me in spanish but i dont get offended unless they are clearly non spanish speaker struggling with their spanish. I sometimes get offended because they assume i dont speak english. But if you have speak spanish pretty well or have no struggle then i guess it'll be okay.
Also be careful because it's offending when you speak spanish to a Brazilian because they speak portuguese not spanish. I made that mistake, they got offended.
2007-02-10 18:52:26
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answer #5
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answered by Micheal 1 1
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No way, why would anyone think that?? Obviously no one can speak for everysingle person but the majority of hispanics are very nice and open minded and would find it nice to hear someone that is learning the language, they would probably correct you if you said something wrong or mispronounced but not in a mean way, just to help you. They would probably find it very amusing :) I speak for me and every hispanic I know that it is not offensive at all. We would feel proud.
2007-02-10 05:42:38
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answer #6
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answered by ~Sophi@~ 1
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Learn Spanish Fast and Easy!
2016-07-24 00:37:39
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answer #7
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answered by ? 4
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In my experience, Spanish speakers think it's great that people are interested in learning their language. When people found out that I knew enough Spanish to have a conversation and explain my opinions about things, they asked me all kinds of questions. A word of warning, though -- a lot of Hispanics in the U.S. don't actually speak Spanish.
2007-02-10 05:22:53
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answer #8
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answered by drshorty 7
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I hate when Americans speak Spanish with a really, really awful pronunciation and think we should understand them. I'd rather to speak in English.
But if they take the trouble to ask me to help them practice Spanish, I'm always more than glad to help.
2007-02-10 12:41:49
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answer #9
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answered by Anonymous
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My friends grandmother speaks spanish only. So when I learned spanish I would try and talk to her. She found it amusing.
But I think what is insulting is when you try to speak spanish to a latin strange as if to say you dont think they speak english.
2007-02-10 05:22:12
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answer #10
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answered by $0.02 3
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