Alma speaking English
I was. Glad Alma finally spoke English and getting high with xiomara was hilarious.
shareyeah she is so rude speaking spanish when everyone talks to her in English
shareIn the U.S., everyone should speak English and English only.
Spanish is for Spain.
When will Democraps stop trying to "change" everything?
I wouldn't go that far...Spanish language is part of their legacy and they should embrace it but I hate it when someone speaks English to Alba and that she answers in Spanish wth is up with that??!
shareU.S. citizens speak English ... If you can't learn to speak English, or refuse to speak English, you should stay in your native country of origin or go to where they speak your language. If you want to live in America, learn and speak English -- it's fairly simple.
When will Democraps stop trying to "change" everything?
Go away, xenophobe
shareSo, deaf people and others who cannot talk shouldn't be allowed to communicate in ASL because it's not English?
share[deleted]
ASL = American Sign Language, which is the native language of deaf Americans and the third most commonly spoken language in the country.
shareAmerican Sign Language (ASL) is not the native language of deaf Americans. Not all deaf Americans speak ASL. ASL is, however, the predominant language of deaf communities in the US and English-speaking parts of Canada
Regarding how common the language is, what Schein and Delk said in their 1974 report for the National Census of Deaf Population was that it's the third largest population to need an interpreter in court. That doesn't mean it's the third or even the fourth most commonly spoken language in the country. What you stated is a misquote of this statement, a misquote that's unfortunately been around since the report's release over 40 years ago. Note that Schein and Delk didn't distinguish between different forms of sign language in their 1972 survey that the report was based on (e.g., ASL, Black ASL, Tactile ASL (TASL), Manually Coded English (MCE) such as Signed Exact English (SEE), contact sign such as Pidgin Signed English (PSE) and using fingerspelling only, etc.) so their data was actually about the use of signed languages in the US, not ASL.
There has never been an accurate count of ASL speakers in the United States. Unfortunately, the US census doesn't collect this data. Current estimates of speakers are all based on Schein and Delk's 40+ year-old report(!). We can't simply guess the number based on the number of deaf individuals in the US because 1) not all deaf individuals speak ASL and 2) this number wouldn't include hearing children of deaf parents, who may learn it as their native language with English being their second language or hearing people who learned ASL as a second language such students who studied it to fluency in high school and college or hearing parents, relatives and friends of deaf individuals.
For information on the need for updated data, see http://research.gallaudet.edu/Publications/ASL_Users.pdf.
There's nothing wrong with speaking your native language, Spanish or whatever, but there is a time and a place. I live in Miami and the majority here are Hispanic and one of my BIGGEST pet peeves is when they speak Spanish unnecessarily in professional settings, especially when they know that not everybody speaks Spanish. If we're in the middle of a meeting of the administrative team, you should not try to switch over to Spanish halfway through, especially when you know that 3 of your administrators don't speak Spanish. Time and place is important and I've found that a lot of Hispanics don't seem to grasp that concept. I think that's what leads to so much resentment. That and the fact that in some places, you're hard-pressed to find English anything. I've been to more than one store where the sales papers are all in Spanish, the employees don't speak anything but Spanish and even some of the products have labels written entirely in Spanish. It's a bit frustrating that people seem to assume that just because we live in Miami, we must be Hispanic or speak Spanish.
And before anyone starts screaming Xenophobia or that I'm too America-centric or 'what's wrong with learning another language', I have no issue with learning other languages, but this is an English-speaking country. And being a language of immigrants from everywhere that speak hundreds of languages, English is the one thing that bonds us all. Or it should be. Speak any amount of languages you want, I'm trying to learn Japanese though it's slow-going. Just recognize the time and place.
Usagi-chan
Miami is just northern Cuba. While a lot of the older people there speak Spanish by choice (as in many know English), the youth and 2nd/3rd generation seem to have the better grasp on English like any other Americans; some probably don't even know Spanish either.
The bad thing is when people try and learn Spanish and are ridiculed for it.
I'd love it if one of these snobby, ill-advised, nutbag, "you're a racist" folks like SarahCynical would go to Miami not knowing much Spanish and take the grand tour to be laughed at for whatever reasons (possibly appearance/apparel).
My friends and I usually call it Little Cuba. It sucks quite a bit for the people living here. I've found that many, even when they speak perfect or near perfect English, will still switch to Spanish in professional settings and around people they know don't speak Spanish. It's just rude imo, yet none of them seem to see anything wrong with it. And then the things they'll say about you when they think that you don't speak Spanish... My mom was married to a Puerto Rican and learned Spanish from him. The amount of Hispanics she's caught making nasty, rude or outright nasty and racist comments about her when they thought she couldn't understand... It's ridiculous. My brother as well, he looks fully Hispanic, so they often speak quite freely around him. He's come home pissed, talking about how spectacularly racist they are when they think they're alone. The N-words flow freely. They don't realize that he's half Black so they don't hold back. I always find it ironic when people throw around accusations of racism to defend Hispanics when I've found them to be just as or more racist than most 'White' people I've met
I think a lot of people like her would find a lot of opinions shifted after a time in Miami. This place makes you hate people...
Usagi-chan
[deleted]
Why?, first of all she's at her house. Jane, Xiomara, Rogelio and Rafael understand her perfectly, and Alba talking to them in her native language is the reason why Jane and Xiomara are bilingual today.
Being bilingual they have better chances to find a job in a world that is more globalized every day. For instance, if Jane weren't bilingual she couldn't have worked in "la pasión de Santos", also as a waitress she needs to talk to tourists, and not all of them are going to talk in English, so by knowing Spanish she is a better at her job.
The fact that she's able to speak English was evident, since she doesn't need anyone translating to her to answer, she's just more comfortable talking in her own language as would you if you lived in another country.
And please (not you, the other user), don't come telling that in the USA you should only speak on English, when you're the first ones to ask for people that can speak your language when you are out of the USA. Why should everyone learn English so they can communicate with you while you do no effort at all?
But anyway, keep thinking like that, you and your children will have less opportunities on life thanks to that point of view, because while you keep being happily ignorant, Latino (Asians, European...) kids are learning their third language.
Like!
shareThis, a hundred percent!
shareI never seen Alba as rude, since she's talking to people that understand her, she's just more comfortable that way. However, I think it was rude when Xiomara talked to Jane in Spanish in front of Rafael and told him "sé que le preparaste, no soy tonta", because the whole point of switching languages was so he couldn't understand her,so I loved when he answered in Spanish.
shareI agree that was rude of her.
"I think I liked it better when I thought Sylar ate brains." -Warriorrenegade
Like others, I don't think it's rude at all. But then again I live in a very multi-cultural city where hearing many different languages is common. Most understand English, but because everyone's accepting, they're more comfortable speaking their own language. I have relatives who answer me in my language when I talk to them in English. It's just the way it is.
shareSpanish is her native language. People should be thankful she makes the effort to learn English and speak it, because other people certainly aren't taking the extra mile.
It's not easy for people to just learn a new language that easily, especially from an older generation of Hispanics/Latin people.
Besides, English-speaking people shouldn't act so high and mighty. America isn't even their land. They stole it from the Native-Americans (which is why they're called Native-Americans).
Don't Judge a Book by Its Movie
Nothing made me more sympathetic to the difficulties of speaking in a second language than moving to France for four years. I had one college course in French beforehand, and took classes while I was there, so I could read and hear it (to a certain extent, depending on the speed and accent). However, I was so focused on translating that I would panic and struggle when conversing with French people. It did not help that I was a naturally inverted and anxious person. People would lecture me about not translating and sometimes treat me like I was stupid. The more insecure I got, the worse my spoken French became even as my vocabulary and understanding of the grammar increased. All I ever wanted (and rarely got) was for people to speak to me in French, and let me answer in English, so we all could be on an level playing field in our ability to articulate our thoughts.
share