I live in the South - North Carolina, to be specific. And Hispanics are the fastest-growing population group in this state right now, or so I've heard at least. Personally, I think it's kind of cool - I mean, being in the U.S. right now, I'm not surrounded by Spanish all day long like I was in Chile, so it's neat to be able to meet new friends that are native Spanish speakers, with whom I can practice the language. I talk to Diego almost every day, but unfortunately, a lot of that is done on Windows Messenger, so... I'm able to practice reading and typing Spanish, but speaking it... not so much.
Anyway, being that I live in a fairly small town in N.C., I'm basically in a pocket of conservatism. Which is not a bad thing, in and of itself. But when it comes to the immigration issue, there are a lot of people here who would rather turn away and pretend it's not happening - or even worse. And a lot of the people who are like this are people in my parents' generation. They're used to being around people who look like them, talk like them, etc. So basically, if I had a nickel for every time I've heard, "Learn English or go home!", I could retire to a mansion in Malibu right now. Here's the thing: I understand their gripe, on the surface level. They're citizens of the U.S., they're native English speakers, and they get frustrated when they go to a restaurant or what have you, and can't understand what the person working there is saying. So they proclaim to anyone who'll listen, "They need to learn our language, we speak ENGLISH here in America!"
Ok, point taken. But what they don't bother to do is listen to the other side. Look, a lot of people immigrate to this country looking to provide a better life for their family. And what needs to be understood is that learning another language is not easy. Now, that sounds logical, doesn't it? But to people who have never tried to become fluent in another language, they just don't get it. Here's my personal experience, as a native English speaker trying to learn and become fluent in Spanish. I took 3 years of Spanish in high school. I took one semester in college. I spent 2 months in Spain. I spent a total of 7 months in Chile. Am I fluent, after all this? No. Advanced maybe, but not yet fluent. And that's the thing - the BEST, quickest, most efficient way to become fluent in another language is to be immersed in that language, i.e. spend a significant amount of time in a country that speaks that language. Sound familiar? So yes, I'm sure there are Hispanics who immigrate here and for whatever reason don't care enough to make that effort to learn the language (although I'd argue they are the minority). But there are also a lot of Hispanics who have immigrated here knowing some English, but still working on becoming fluent. And the best way is to be here, in this country, immersed in our language. So to my co-workers: you can't judge these people until you've walked a mile in their shoes, and I bet most of you haven't. You have no way of knowing which of them are people who aren't making the effort to learn, and which are busting their butts to learn this language. Meanwhile, what would you have them do? Remain in their countries, earning a wage below the poverty line, and taking English classes every day for years upon years to try to learn? A lot of them simply don't have that time, and it would be crazy to ask that anyway, when they could come here and immerse themselves in this language and learn it, REALLY learn it.
Alright, I'm going to climb down off my soapbox now. This is actually pretty cathartic, to write about this topic, because it's one I've been thinking about for awhile now. I guess having a boyfriend who speaks a different language than me has made me more sensitive to this topic, but I don't think that's a bad thing. I just get tired sometimes of living where I do, and hearing these comments all the time. What do these people who make those comments want, isolationism? Personally, I think it's great to embrace people of different cultures and languages. Variety is the spice of life, right?
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Oh yes, I understand this one. A year or two ago they had a bunch of protests in LA over illegal immigration and some friends would say things like this. While to I realize that obviously we can't just open our borders to anyone who wants to come in, and that just as I don't expect people here to speak English, immigrants can't expect people in the US to speak their language, it's obviously an issue that upsets me, since we at some point want to move back to the US! There are some people who don't have any real interest in learning English and just live in their little immigrant areas - just like here there are gringos who only know ex-pats and speak very little Spanish - but I feel like those people are the minority. Most people do want to learn, but they don't have the time and money to take classes and have to just jump in at the deep end! Good luck getting through these next few months, maybe we'll meet up when you're back in Stgo!
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