Will Spanish overtake English in America?

[TWA]

I've added to my first post.

You guys are wrong about English. It will ALWAYS be dominant.

 

[deafskeptic]

I've added to my first post.

You guys are wrong about English. It will ALWAYS be dominant.

You're already wrong. Before the colonies became the states, there was a wide mix of languages: French, German, various Native American languages (Iroquoian, Cherokee and Navaho, etc) among others. In many sections of Pennsylvanna and parts of the Shenandoah valley, German - not English - was the dominant language. Who's to say English will always remain dominant.

 

[TXgolfer]

LOL at some of the fear mongering on this thread. Sure, new immigrants are slow to learn English, but their children learn, and their children, etc.

English will always be the dominant language of the United States. It will always be the language of those in power, and it will always be the language one needs to learn in order to be successful and navigate our society.

Not only that, English will always be the dominant language of the ENTIRE world. This is not going to change. Don't worry about it.

Always???? I dunno. I am thinking in 20 years we will be speaking a language from space. In fact it would probably happen now but they are waiting for Will Smith to get too old to stop them

 

[Jiro]

Some people go on to learn more, some don't.

hhmm... "some"... let's see... if I recall correctly, somewhere around 45% of Americans do not know their basic American history. I think it's pretty safe to say that majority of them do not know Spanish any more than "mi casa es tu casa" even though they have taken Spanish courses in high school and colleges. The only "Spanish" experience they had is a Spring break in Cancun with college discount

Wow, that's a prejudicial statement! As an "American Caucasian" I resent that remark.

c'mon now... why the fake surprised face :-o? You know very well that I'm not a prejudicial person in here

Knowing me - you should know that I'm not referring to ALL American Caucasian but a growing significant portion of them are ignorant.

Colleges have always offered a variety of foreign languages. So?

I said that colleges are adding more courses in Spanish, credit and non-credit. That's because there is an increase in interest in taking Spanish.

more courses in Spanish? Ah yes - it's same as for other languages. [Language] 101.... 102.... 103.... Yes it's part of liberal arts studies. It's not limited to Spanish only. Some colleges have more resource and courses in a certain language. For ie - Boston University has more resource and in-depth curriculum on ASL than Rutgers University.

It's so they can communicate better with the employees that they have. My state has been seriously cracking down on companies that hire illegal workers (huge fines).

it's about time the government started cracking down on employers/companies, not workers!

 

[KristinaB]

I do know that when we moved from Florida to Missouri in 1996, there was a standing joke that went: "Will the last American to leave Miami please bring the flag!" Now, we come back to Florida this past June and find that Miami grew so much that they renamed Dade County to Miami-Dade County. What a sad state of affairs.

The local stores and restaurant all have both Spanish and English on everything. They are even talking about adding other languages like Creole.

I realize the USA is a "melting pot" of nationalities, but I also remember the old saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." I feel that these people who come to the USA looking for a better life should also take the time to learn English as well. We should not have to learn their language and we should not have to change our rules or laws to benefit them.

Okay - off my soap-box for now. Sorry.

 

[xsuperchick]

No tenemos la culpa!

It's not our fault!


:P

 

[TWA]

You're already wrong. Before the colonies became the states, there was a wide mix of languages: French, German, various Native American languages (Iroquoian, Cherokee and Navaho, etc) among others. In many sections of Pennsylvanna and parts of the Shenandoah valley, German - not English - was the dominant language. Who's to say English will always remain dominant.

Okay, I think we have different ideas on what "dominant" constitutes.

English is the common language of world economics/banking/business, the scientific community, the technology development community, diplomacy, the United Nations, etc. etc.

English is not dominant because it is the most spoken language in the world, even though it is, but because it is the lingua franca of the power elite, and because it is a dynamic, easily accessed language throughout the entire world. Even poor starving children in Africa are given opportunities to learn English. And by learning it, by god some of them are able to rise out of that life. Language is power, and English is the most powerful language. It has achieved a snowball effect where it has gained enough momentum that it is rapidly being learned by those people who want to share in that power. That is the difference between English and Latin, or French, or any other lingua franca that has appeared in modern civilization. In the case of English, the power elite WANT the lower classes to learn the language. This is what will ensure English's continued dominance. People who rightly understand that in order to achieve success they will have to learn English are the key mechanism in sustaining English's influence.

I suppose if the United States and Western civilization were to enter a period of abject squalor, or some sort of worldwide economic catastrophe or major war were to upset the balance of power (much more than what is going on right now), then things would change, but if that were the case, we'd all be in a lot of shit (hence the "self-destruct" comment I made earlier). Ironically, this is how English emerged as the dominant language in the first place. Before WWII, it was French that was the lingua Franca and the language of power. After WWII, it became American English as a result of our remaining military and diplomatic influence across the world.

The English language, in the form of pop culture, music, movies, literature, etc. is the biggest export of the United States, and it is far-reaching. Aside from perhaps some neolithic tribal peoples that are still living in the Nicobar islands and a few other select areas in the world, there is not a single person on this planet that has not felt the influence of English in one way or another.

There will always be many, many, many language in the world, but I really don't see things changing in the power structure of those languages unless something drastic happens, god forbid.

 

[Foxrac]

See this again appears to be a regional thing. Here in TX and NM.....GENERALLY SPEAKING.....Blacks and Hispanics do not get along at all. In fact the divide between Blacks and Hispanics here is greater than the divide between either black and white or Hispanic and white. In New Mexico it is worse. I have a real good friend here in Dallas that is Black. I have offered to let him use my vacation home in Alto many times and he refuses to accept because there are too many Hispanics and Native Americans there. Personally I don't have a problem with anyone. This is just an observation.

Yup, that's true, you would be similar experience if you are in CA, NV and AZ that where relation on between blacks and latino are bad, I had seen school fighting on between of them everytime when I attend so I just like oh man, not cool.

 

[Calvin]

Mod note:

Some posts are removed and let's have some civil debate about the culture or race. We're going to give this thread another chance for you guys to debate more.

Thanks

Thus, this thread is re-opened.

 

[Calvin]

Believe it or not! most school require all students to take Spanish language class that's why Hispanic population will overtake white in America.

2020
1. Hispanic
2. Caucasian (white)
3. Black
4. Asian

2040
1. Hispanic
2. Asian
3. Black
4. Caucasian (white)

Census sees Hispanic surge Blacks likely to be overtaken in 2013
population growth of whites will slow
December 04, 1992|By James Bock,Staff Writer

Hispanics will overtake blacks in the year 2013 as the largest U.S. minority group, according to government projections being released today.

The United States will become far more ethnically diverse in the 21st Century as white population growth slows, Latin American and Asian immigration remains high, and the younger minority population has more children than whites, the Census Bureau predicted.

The new projections offer this portrait of the United States in the year 2050: a population of 383 million that is 53 percent white (excluding Hispanics), 21 percent Hispanic, 15 percent black, 10 percent Asian-American and 1 percent American Indian, Eskimo and Aleut.

Source

11.a) Provide a link/source whenever 'copying and pasting' contents from any form of the media. We take copyright infringement seriously.

Please provide a source link to back up your statement.

Thanks.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

yes, It will happen 10 to 20 years from now. Spanish will overtake California and Texas for sure! also it will complete in 15 to 20 years. Good bye to English in America?

Yes, and I don't care. I'm not even white anyway. I would like to learn the language of Ojibway and Cherokee people, as I am a Native American, and these are my tribes.

I know some LSM anyway, and am re-learning LSM and Spanish anyway. LSM was my first language, ASL my 2nd langauge, and English is my 3rd language. I like to learn new languages anyway. I learned LSM from my deaf friends who had moved to Milwaukee from Mexico at about the same time I had moved to Milwaukee from Colorado. Here in Texas everything is in Spanish under English. It doesn't bother me, I am used to it, sometimes I read Spanish signs instead of English because sometimes the Spanish is on the top with English below it so I end up reading Spanish first sometimes. One of my doctors is from Mexico and another doctor speaks ASL, Spanish, and English. Almost everyone I know has a Spanish last name, including my fiance.

I hope it annoys my dad, cause he's such an asshole. Maybe then he will move to Germany or some other country. The further the better, and I then can no longer worry about him.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

I like to mess with the forms that require me to mark my ethnic identity on it...most forms indicate 'Caucasian (non-Hispanic)'. If it doesn't indicate 'Other', then it forces me to mark Caucasian (non-Hispanic) yet I'm half Mexican. Sometimes I even draw the line over (non-Hispanic), then add the word 'Mexican.' :P I even don't like the word, Hispanic.

I always mark mine as Native American since that is what I am. I never knew I was Native American until college when my maternal grandmother told me the truth. My dad lied to me, and he's not my biological dad anyway. He just doesn't like anyone who's not white. He's a racist, and growing up I always felt that I was something else, that I wasn't white. I asked many questions to my dad and he kept telling me that I am white and to stop asking. Finally in college my ethnics 201 teacher had us do research on our heritage for our papers and I decided to ask my maternal grandmother and that's when I finally got the truth - that we are Native Americans - Cherokee and Obijway. Now I am proud of my heritage, and happy to know who I am now. My sister had the same gut feeling growing up too, and when she came to visit me in 2005 I told her the truth. She said "I knew it, Dad lied!" and she was happy to learn the truth.

 

[Cheri]

I do know that when we moved from Florida to Missouri in 1996, there was a standing joke that went: "Will the last American to leave Miami please bring the flag!" Now, we come back to Florida this past June and find that Miami grew so much that they renamed Dade County to Miami-Dade County. What a sad state of affairs.

The local stores and restaurant all have both Spanish and English on everything. They are even talking about adding other languages like Creole.

I realize the USA is a "melting pot" of nationalities, but I also remember the old saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." I feel that these people who come to the USA looking for a better life should also take the time to learn English as well. We should not have to learn their language and we should not have to change our rules or laws to benefit them.

Okay - off my soap-box for now. Sorry.

I absolutely agree.

English is our official language and should remain our official language. America was founded on English just like how Mexico was founded on Spanish. I'm not against people having a second, third or fourth language, but English should be here to stay. I don't see why we should change our culture for other people. What if a whole bunch of Americans moved to France, how do you think the people in France would feel if we refused to learn French? Probably the same as Americans would feel, learn our native language, our culture. We shouldn't have to change for anybody.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

I absolutely agree.

English is our official language and should remain our official language. America was founded on English just like how Mexico was founded on Spanish. I'm not against people having a second, third or fourth language, but English should be here to stay. I don't see why we should change our culture for other people. What if a whole bunch of Americans moved to France, how do you think the people in France would feel if we refused to learn French? Probably the same as Americans would feel, learn our native language, our culture. We shouldn't have to change for anybody.

America wasn't founded, it was STOLEN. From us. We were happy to share. But the white people took advantage of us and took everything away and made us live on reservations, made us walk the Trail of Tears, tried to kill us all off with smallpox blankets, and all that shit. They even made us speak English and took away our Native languages and our cultures and our religion, and made us adopt their language, their culture, and their religion. Founded, my ass.

 

[shel90]

America wasn't founded, it was STOLEN. From us. We were happy to share. But the white people took advantage of us and took everything away and made us live on reservations, made us walk the Trail of Tears, tried to kill us all off with smallpox blankets, and all that shit. They even made us speak English and took away our Native languages and our cultures and our religion, and made us adopt their language, their culture, and their religion. Founded, my ass.

The part about killing Indians off with smallpox blanket I didnt know. How horrible.

You are right, America was stolen from the Native Americans. Otherwise, why would they be called "Native" Americans?

 

[Barbaro]

Mexico was stolen,too. Same stuff. The French Army was commanded by Napoleon III to invade Mexico. Benito Juárez was the first Indian to become the president of Mexico and more. There ya go..

 

[somedeafdudefromPNW]

I absolutely agree.

English is our official language and should remain our official language. America was founded on English just like how Mexico was founded on Spanish. I'm not against people having a second, third or fourth language, but English should be here to stay. I don't see why we should change our culture for other people. What if a whole bunch of Americans moved to France, how do you think the people in France would feel if we refused to learn French? Probably the same as Americans would feel, learn our native language, our culture. We shouldn't have to change for anybody.

America has no official language at a federal level, by the way.

 

[somedeafdudefromPNW]

Mexico was stolen,too. Same stuff. The French Army was commanded by Napoleon III to invade Mexico. Benito Juárez was the first Indian to become the president of Mexico and more. There ya go..

You're thinking of Spanish Empire that stole the lands from the indigenous people, right, not French? The Mexican conservatives, aka Spaniard-born Americans, ASKED Napoleon the Third to "save" the Mexican Empire from the liberals because they wanted a royalist figurehead.

 

[Foxrac]

America has no official language at a federal level, by the way.

Right, only states can declare English as official language, not all states are declare it like that.

 

[xsuperchick]

Es español es bonito!