Are Spanish speakers to lazy, stupid or anti-American to learn English?

Question

Why is it the only other language to choose from, when given a choice? Seems everyone else learns English, but the spanish speakers. Why is that.

Answer 1

I would say it is all three.

Answer 2

Almost all of the Spanish speakers that I know desperately want to learn English. They know that English is the language of power in the USA. But language learning takes time. Many people work only with other Spanish speakers so they don't get enough exposure to English to learn it. Others lack resources that would allow them to take classes in English. Perhaps some don't see the point because they don't plan to spend a long time in the U.S.

Answer 3

Just like anybody else, they are taking advantage of the opportunity. Our courts mandated bi-lingual signs and government forms, thereby removing an existing need to learn English. Police officers must recite Miranda rights in Spanish and must have a translator present before questioning a suspect. INS has its hands tied by regulations that protect civil liberties rather than nations borders, but that is HOW THIS COUNTRY WAS BUILT! English settlers did not bother to learn the Algonquin and Iroquois languages - they gave them the common cold and small pox. Spanish conquistadors killed anyone who would not convert to Catholicism. What goes around comes around.
Personally, I feel that since the Constitution of the United States is written in English, English is the official language by default. But if our elected officials make stupid laws or appoint stupid judges, that may change. Spanish speakers are not lazy. They are hard workers who will do the stoop labor that privilege born Americans are above doing. They are not stupid. They see that there is a lot of money at the grass roots level. They are not anti-American. They are doing a better job of taking advantage of the opportunities in America than natural born citizens are doing.
Questions like yours are only posted to incite discontent.

Answer 4

No they are not too lazy, etc. Spanish is the foreign language spoken by the largest number of people in the U.S., that's why it's the option given.

I think it's human nature to take the easy way out, so if people aren't forced to learn another language (which, by the way, is not exactly easy to do!), they will speak the language they know best as long as they can get by. I'm willing to bet that in the U.S., there are more Spanish-speaking people who know English (as a second language) than there are people whose primary language is English but also know a second language.

In the U.S., because there are so many Spanish-speaking people, it's less necessary for them to learn English, whereas a Chinese-speaking person is more forced to learn English since fewer around him can speak Chinese. That's why it seems to you that "everyone else learns English".

P.S. I grew up speaking English and sad that I never learned another language well enough to speak fluently. Even tho I was an A student, foreign language is not that easy to learn for everyone!

Answer 5

Most Spanish speakers I know are learning or have learned English.
What people seem to forget is that it takes years to learn a language, can you really expect someone straight out of their homeland to be able to speak English?
People you think might not speak English could be in the process of learning, I am learning German and I don't feel comfortable speaking it in public yet, there is a silent period when learning a language, where you just take everything in.
Most Spanish speakers I know are from poor towns in Mexico where they don't have an opportunity to learn any other language let alone English, that's sort of one of the reasons they came to America, most Hispanic immigrants aren't lazy, many Hispanic immigrants I know do migrant work, have you ever worked in a field you can't be lazy on that job, it is a common misconception.

Answer 6

I noticed the Cubans and Argentinians learn English rather quickly, some Chileans too. In fact many already knew English before moving here. Cubans are pretty pro American, at least openly.

Answer 7

I am not at all Spanish but I am concerned about your question. In your original question, you use "to" instead of "too". Also, speakers are something you use to project sound like in a stereo system. Then your punctuation on the last question ends with a period when it should be a question mark. It seems to me that you are not qualified to be asking such a question. Were you born in America? If so, did you graduate from high school? If you did, I am embarrassed for you.

Answer 8

There are other countries outside America you know, where the learning of English is less of a priority, like, er, Spain for example.

Answer 9

The US makes it too easy for them to not have to learn it. I think it's wrong, if they come here to live in this country, they should have to learn English. I can't stand when I call 800 numbers and they say "for English, press 1" that is RIDICULOUS!!! My mom came here at age 22 not knowing a lick of English and speaks almost perfectly now only with a slight accent. I don't care for excuses as to why they shouldn't have to learn it.

Answer 10

Wow. That's pretty ridiculous. Especially coming from someone who doesn't know how to use the English language properly. That should be "too" after speaker, not "to." Good job.

Answer 11

actually, in all the world, americans are the most unilingual. almost everywhere else they learn at least 2 languages, but most americans can't learn anything but english.