# Press 1 for English **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 22, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612 "2013-06-22T03:21:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/1 "2013-06-22T03:21:12Z")
We all have called companies where we have to press 1 for English, press 2 for Spanish, etc. In what other countries do people have to press 1 to continue? Do people in France have to press 1 for French? Do people in Spain have to press 1 for Spanish? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/2 "2013-06-22T03:36:24Z")
That seems fair. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/3 "2013-06-22T04:37:44Z")
Do other languages even have numbers? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/4 "2013-06-22T04:51:59Z")
> [@sahirrnee](#): > > We all have called companies where we have to press 1 for English, press 2 for Spanish, etc. > > In what other countries do people have to press 1 to continue? > > Do people in France have to press 1 for French? Do people in Spain have to press 1 for Spanish? I wouldn’t be surprised if Canada had something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/5 "2013-06-22T04:52:22Z")
Here in Canada, it’s pretty common. The choices are English and French; some have added Chinese. Of course, most companies in English Canada (\*) will offer 1 for English, 2 for _français_. But a few companies go to great lengths to make us (French speakers) feel welcome by swapping them (offering 1 for French and 2 for English), presumably based the area code from which we’re calling. The Bell Canada 411 service asks you to say the word “English” or “français” instead of using buttons. (\*) Those that bother with bilingual service, of course. Mostly big coast-to-coast companies like banks, airlines and cell-phone providers. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/6 "2013-06-22T10:54:25Z")
> [@sahirrnee](#): > > Do people in France have to press 1 for French? Do people in Spain have to press 1 for Spanish? Europeans usually speak more than one language anyway. Most Europeans, at least in the EU get English in school. Often another language as well. So the hypothetical caller could use French, English, or maybe Spanish. Although certainly people prefer their native language. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/7 "2013-06-22T13:38:20Z")
In China you sometimes get “press one for English.” Cameroon will offer you the option of English or French. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/8 "2013-06-22T15:16:58Z")
I always chuckle inside at the attitude of people in this country acting as if they’re being unduly put upon by having to press a number to select their language, and wonder how they’d even cope in places like India or China or Israel or Malaysia where there are multiple common languages in use everyday. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/9 "2013-06-22T16:08:18Z")
And the federal government in Canada, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/10 "2013-06-22T16:44:32Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I always chuckle inside at the attitude of people in this country acting as if they’re being unduly put upon by having to press a number to select their language, and wonder how they’d even cope in places like India or China or Israel or Malaysia where there are multiple common languages in use everyday. We only have one official language. It’s redundant to have to choose the default language. Kind of like asking “if you know what company you dialed press one”. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/11 "2013-06-22T16:49:38Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > We only have one official language. What country are you in? And what’s the language? ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/12 "2013-06-22T16:52:26Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > We only have one official language. It’s redundant to have to choose the default language. Kind of like asking “if you know what company you dialed press one”. The US doesn’t have an “official language”. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/13 "2013-06-22T17:38:51Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > What country are you in? And what’s the language? According to his profile, he lives in the cosmopolitan metropolis of Dayton, Ohio. Same country as mine. Nope, we have no official language here… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/14 "2013-06-22T17:51:48Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Do other languages even have numbers? Yes. But they’re _metric_ numbers. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/15 "2013-06-22T18:09:23Z")
Here in the Quebec part of Canada, you always have to press a number for English. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/16 "2013-06-22T19:08:48Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > According to his profile, he lives in the cosmopolitan metropolis of Dayton, Ohio. > > Same country as mine. Nope, we have no official language here… It’s a country made up of virtually everybody on the planet but unlike other countries it was not established with Providences distinctly different in language such as Quebec. So we do have a de facto language and it’s codified in over half the states. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/17 "2013-06-22T19:11:16Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Here in the Quebec part of Canada, you always have to press a number for English. Well that makes sense. French is the official language of Quebec. And as long as Quebec is part of Canada it makes sense that there are choices for English and French in all of Canada. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/18 "2013-06-22T19:49:58Z")
I don’t always hear, “For English, press 1,” and I’m in the U.S. Many times the recorded voice will only say, “For Spanish, please press 2,” in Spanish. If you don’t press 2, it continues on in English. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/19 "2013-06-22T20:11:12Z")
Magiver, try to write a little more carefully. You say: \> It’s a country made up of virtually everybody on the planet . . . Huh, what country is made up of virtually everybody on the planet? If you put together virtually everybody on the planet, you get virtually the entire planet. That’s the whole world, not a country. I suspect that what you meant was that it’s a country composed of people whose ethnic ancestry comes from virtually everywhere on the planet. That’s a little exaggerated, and it’s not unique (since there are other countries with lots of immigrants over the past several centuries), but it’s more or less true. \> . . . but unlike other countries it was not established with Providences . . . The word is provinces, not providences. . . . distinctly different in language such as Quebec. . . If you’re trying to claim that Canada is neatly split up into provinces so that everyone within one province speaks the same language, that’s wildly false. \> . . . So we do have a de facto language and it’s codified in over half the \> states. It’s true that some states have passed so-called official language laws. These laws have little effect. It’s still the case that election ballots and official notices and elementary school classes (which try to integrate their students into speaking English) are in a variety of languages in most places in the U.S. where there are enough non-English speakers to warrant them. We have no official language in the sense of forcing anyone to speak or write in a given language in ordinary circumstances. Furthermore, you seem to think that the U.S. is different in having such things as ballots, notices, or answering machine messages in several languages. Far from it. There are many countries with a large variety of languages spoken. Most people in the world probably speak at least two languages fluently. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612/20 "2013-06-22T20:35:36Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Magiver, try to write a little more carefully. You say: > > \> It’s a country made up of virtually everybody on the planet . . . [QUOTE=Wendell Wagner;16405464Huh, what country is made up of virtually eve[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner;16405464rybody on the planet? [/quote] The United States is a country made up of immigrants from all over the world and I have to believe you understood this even though you felt the need to try to construct an argument over it based on the literal meaning of “virtually everybody”. > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > The word is provinces, not providences. you got me. Pin a gold star on your forehead for pointing that out. don’t mess with the self sticking kind, spring for one with an actual pin. > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > If you’re trying to claim that Canada is neatly split up into provinces so that everyone within one province speaks the same language, that’s wildly false. no I’m pointing out the obviousj and you’re trying to create your version of it for the sake of again arguing a non-point. One of the PROVINCES has an official language (French) whereas the rest of Canada generally speaks English. It makes sense that Canadians who travel between PROVINCES would have English and French options when using the phone. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/press-1-for-english/661612.md?page=2)