Is the Spanish language the defacto 2nd language of the U.S.A?

Question

As I look around there are plenty of TV Spanish Channels and Radio Stations in the USA. ATM and govertment forms are in English and Spanish. States like Texas, New York, New Jersey, Arizona, California , Florida, etc. have large Spanish speaking populations and some states were originally spanish colonies. All Puertorricans are american and their main language is Spanish and then English as their 2nd language. As I look at congress, many of the members are fully bilingual(English-Spanish) And most politician speak or at least attend to speak Spanish. Even the President speaks spanish. It seems to me that English language domination is over. What do you think?

Answer 1

Although the United States currently has no official language, English has long been the de facto national language. English is spoken by about 82% of the population as a native language and nearly everyone in the United States uses it daily. On May 18, 2006, the Senate voted on an amendment to an immigration reform bill that would declare English the national language of the United States.[2] The immigration reform bill itself, S. 2611, was passed in the Senate on May 25, 2006, and now has to go back to the House of Representatives in conference to make sure amendments are agreed upon.

Approximately 337 languages are spoken or signed by the population, of which 176 are indigenous to the area. 52 languages formerly spoken in the country's territory are now extinct (Grimes 2000).

Spanish is taught in various regions as a second language, especially in areas with large Hispanic populations such as the Southwestern United States along the border with Mexico, as well as Florida, the District of Columbia, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York. In Hispanic communities across the country, bilingual signs in both Spanish and English may be quite common. Furthermore, numerous neighborhoods exist (such as Washington Heights in New York City or Little Havana in Miami) in which entire city blocks will have only Spanish language signs and speaking people.

In addition to Spanish-speaking Hispanic populations, younger generations of non-Hispanics in the United States seem to be learning Spanish in larger numbers due to the growing Hispanic population and increasing popularity of Latin American movies and music performed in the Spanish language. Over 30 million Americans, roughly 12% of the population, speak Spanish as a first or second language, making Spanish easily the country's second-most spoken language; the United States thus has fifth-largest Spanish speaking population in the world, after Mexico, Spain, Colombia, and Argentina. [3]

Answer 2

I couldn't agree with you more. I think that Spanish is taking over a lot of parts. Not too long ago, I wanted to learn Italian. It was interesting for a while, but all of a sudden, I had nobody to speak it to, hence no way of knowing whether my Italian is correct! So then I switched back to Spanish (which I had been learning previously) because I know there will always be Spanish speakers. I'm a university student and all I have to do is go to the foreign language department building in order to find a native Spanish speaker (i.e. Professors of Spanish). In some parts of the U.S., such as Miami, FL, you probably HAVE to know Spanish to get a job or even get around! You are right that some states were originally Spanish colonies, hence one reason for the popularity of the Spanish language in those states. It seems like everyone in the U.S. will have to learn some Spanish at some point in the future. But at least Spanish is easy...I bet it is much easier for English speakers to learn Spanish than vice versa...Spanish is a very 'phonetic' language unlike English, and many words in Spanish do come from English/Latin. Plus, speaking a language can be a fun and exciting experience sometimes! Another way of looking at it is that Europeans now HAVE to learn English in school...they have no choice! In Europe and elsewhere, English is a requirement for a lot of jobs! So, yeah...that's what I have to say about that.

Answer 3

Interesting question. Here's the deal, the reason why we have so many Spanish things, Spanish Channels, Spanish Class, and so on is because in the United States we have a growing number of Hispanic People living here. And with those people, come their customs and their children in which the customs and language is passed down, just as in most other cultures. So, many things in return, are in Spanish becuase of the great number of them living here. In Canada, even though they have 2 official languages, English and French, they have everything in both languages which means that schools are taught fluently in either of the languages, the President/Prime Minister speaks both, the news is in those languages, and everyone basically must have some idea of both languages in order to get around. If we were to make 2 official languages in the United States, everyone would be required to learn both pretty much fluently. The United States is made up of many different cutures and languages, and to, in a sense, force everyone to learn both languages would be bad. We are not a Latin American country. The American culture is a mixture of all cultures that live here and made this country what it is, yes the Spanish, or Hispanic rather, have and also are doing a lot for the American culture, we cannot rule out all of the other languages and cultures that already made a great impression on the country and is culture. If you go around to Europe you will see things written in many different languages, that's because of all of the close together and different speaking countries. However, pretty much all of the time you will also see things in English, becuase English has become the modern-day Universal Language. Our country is one of the driving forces in making that so, so why would we abandon it? It just doesn't make any sense. Already most things are written in English, Spanish, and French. That is because of our neighbors, Canada and Latin America. It is a complicated and arguable matter, though interesting at the same time. It would take a lot to explain it, but I think this shall do. Just understand that it just wouldn't work if we messed around with our languages and culture. And yes, the United States of America does not have an official language, we just use English, so why would we go making two official if we don't even have one. You can check all around the web and libraries about that, I am a Law Student after all ;) I hope this is clear and helps!

Answer 4

The US has a huge Spanish speaking population, so it is just logic for Spanish to become the de facto 2nd language.
Why not? Here in Europe most of the countries share two or three different languages without any problems.

Answer 5

Yes it is, if you didn't notice it was last year when they voted on the state language of Arizona! Spanish lost to English :)

Answer 6

lets just say in California, this is quite a shame...u need to speak spanish to get a job there...i hear spanish ppl speaking all the time! i no some spanish. i truly hope that english will remain thruout USA! but....english is taking over major parts of the world. even canda and ireland no longer speak that much french and gailic

Answer 7

no i just think that there are also a lot of people who speak spanish that are entering or now live in us and that many are increasing their knowledge and learning spanish too. this way people can interact and communicate with them too.

Answer 8

No spanish is not becoming dominant, but spanish people are not very intelligent, many of them live in the US for over 20 years and still can't say a whole sentence in english... all the other immigrant groups learn english, for instance I'm Arab and I have only been in the US 5 years and I HAD TO learn english because I CAME TO AMERICA... (you dont see translations for every thing in korean, chinese, arabic and french, its only in spanish) so considering the fact that they have a hard time learning things, we have to provide translations for everything.. basically like handicapped parking spaces, only here its for the mentally handicapped ;)
And spanish is only learned in the US as a second language in all other countries its either English or French as a second language..

Answer 9

I think the two will coexist like the languages do in Europe.

Answer 10

Si