¿Hablas español?

The drama in america about Spanish being the unofficial language of the country is getting heated especially with;
- the elections coming up
- Arizona immigration laws
- US-Mexico borders Immigration laws

 English is the official language of the United States of America. Just as French is the official language in some countries, and Chinese in china and Japanese in japan and Russian in Russia and German in Germany and so forth

I do not condone or support the racial implications/insults some people attach to this debate like Newt Gingrich calling Spanish "the language of growing up in a ghetto".

HOWEVER, i do believe that immigrants from Spanish speaking countries should make the same effort other non-english speaking foreigners are making...example...those from the continent of Asia/Africa/Europe....to LEARN ENGLISH.

I maybe wrong but from my observations....I feel like some not all but SOME Spanish speaking immigrants make no effort to learn English. They feel entitled that the american government should instead spend our tax payers money to teach people Spanish so we can communicate with them.

Americans should not be penalized whether as a business or a worker looking for a job because they cannot speak Spanish or do not have documents/signs interpreted to accommodate Spanish speaking individuals.

That is ridiculous.

Secondly, I agree that Spanish should be offered in schools as a foreign language. However priority should not be given to Spanish over learning Latin, German, Chinese or whatever other languages there are out there.

I have seen many foreigners take additional English classes or hire tutors or studied on their own just to improve their English

Given that there are plenty Africans in America, maybe we too should start asking the government to provide translators and resources in our different African languages. Wait I wont even go that far, as a french speaking African, maybe we should get the government to put more resources to accommodate french speaking Americans.

When you travel to a foreign land, you buy a dictionary so you can learn to communicate with the people of that land. You do not go up to them and demand they speak your language.

Plus I feel sorry for other immigrants who had to learn English to intergrate into the american system. Now they with the rest of the america has to learn Spanish. I wonder if they have any resentment on this...Even though am an immigrant, I grew u speaking English, french and Arabic so i didn't have to learn english coming here but now i gotta learn Spanish in other to be competitive in the business and health care industries. Sigh

Now I'm going to play devil's advocate

Despite everything I have said above...if research and statistics show that the spanish-speaking communities are a business and consumer for to be reckon....then they DO HAVE A BARGAINING CHIP.....ie..more Spanish speaking programs, to accommodate them. The number one rule in business is THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT

It's no longer a choice. I need to learn spanish

Next thing you know i'll be typing this blog in  espano l ^_^

Adiós Amigo