Ok. I wake up this morning. Look out the window. Ahh! the new phone book is here. I traipse outside, pick it up. Nice collage of assorted animals to be found at Lincoln Park Zoo on the cover. I look closer. Caption reads: “Lincoln Park Zoo…Celebrando 135 años de Historia.” Hmmm. I check out the pages. CPR instructions…Citizenship exam tips…“Victima de negligencia?” blurbs for the ambulance-chasing abogados. Well…you get the idea.
I’m thinkin’ “Why? Why is there a phonebook ALL in Spanish on my front porch?” Granted, I live in what the real estate sharks call a "changing neighborhood’…but is it really that hard to look up a lawyer in the English yellow pages? What’s the deal? And…before I go any further, I’ll give you my disclaimer: I’m Spanish. My mom emigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador 50 odd years ago. Not knowing a word of English. No bi-lingual programs for her…no employment ads reading: “Bi-lingual required/preferred.” She learned it on her own. Read newspapers, went to movies…asked everyone to speak to her in English, because she wanted to learn. Because this was America, and she wanted to be an American. She became a citizen, married my father, and had kids. She never taught us Spanish. (After all, her kids were American, and English was the language spoken here.) I regret the fact that she never taught my brother & myself Spanish, because now, as an American, I am at a disadvantage in the job market because I CAN’T SPEAK SPANISH!!! What the fuck is wrong with this picture? I am Spanish…I am proud of my Hispanic heritage. But why should I be stopped on the street, (because, yes, I look Spanish)asked questions in Spanish, and then feel almost embarrassed because I can’t answer back…because, well…I’m sorry, but I only speak English…'cause…this is America, ya know. Am I being overly-sensitive? I showed my mom the phonebook, and she was appalled! Her response? “This is why no one bothers to learn English anymore. You should send it back!” Well, I can’t. I won’t bother. Hey…I believe everyone should have a chance to take advantage of what’s offered…but how come I didn’t get a Polish or Italian…or Greek phonebook on my porch this morning? Just wondering…
If there’s a market for it, it’ll get made, amigo.
Es verdad, querido. The way of the world. Si? Si.
If you’re in the US and your Mom came here from somewhere else, then she immigrated to here, and emigrated from there. BTW, wouldn’t the family history you relate above make you Hispanic?
Just a couple of questions on English usage is all.
I don’t give a shit how many phone books in how many languages they make. The more languages, the merrier. No skin off any of our noses, I should think. However, you need an English language phone book, so you should speak up and get one.
While I would love to learn Spanish (have half-ass tried a few times, still intend to learn) I don’t think I am obligated to learn. I am not obligated to learn Farsi, or Chinese, or Japanese either. And yet, sometimes, I think that a some people are starting to have the attitude that we are obligated to learn. I, for one, am not. I will do it for myself (hopefully, some day) but I sure as hell am not going to learn it for someone else.
I know I sound like a curmudgeon, and no, not many people have actually given me “attitude” because I don’t know Spanish (or Farsi, or whatever). At least not yet. But I am firm in my position. I learn for myself, not for anyone else. Unless I am in a job where I will be paid for my ability to speak other languages. But not on my own time, no.
I bet a lot of people in Cydonia think you’re right. They’re offended too.
I can probably hook you up with some neo-nazi skinheads who feel the same way about the telephone book.
Would that be a problem for you?
I now remember with shame the time I was approached for directions by a guy who could speak Spanish and French and a bit of German and I tried to help him using my knowlege of those languages when I just could have sent him home to Mommy and told him to learn to speak English.
Well, I’ll know better next time.
2trew, was the guy who knew spanish, french and german somebody who moved to the US 15 years ago, and didn’t bother with english? For some bizarre reason, people seem to think it’s OK to move here and not bother to learn the lingo. Would people move permanently to the UK, or France, or Germany, or Japan, or Korea, without learning the language?
The really sad part is that regardless of the concessions made by government and private industry, a person who doesn’t speak english is at a significant disadvantage in our economy. Millions and millions of jobs are completely off limits. I think these people would be better off if they were forced to learn english, and not coddled by the government.
I also feel that I’m “expected” to be able to communicate in another language. I refuse. While it probably would have been prudent to have paid attention in spanish class, I think that the “expectation” should be on the other side of the board. While it’s hard to be absolutely certain, I like to believe that if I had to (chose to) live in another country and raise my children as citizens of said country that I would try to assimilate in the best manner possible. That means learning the language and customs so that my children could benefit. I really don’t think that I would expect government assistance in that assimilation either.
Yes, we are a nation of immigrants(thank you Monty)and when my mother makes tamales for the Christmas season, I don’t browbeat her into making grilled cheese sandwiches instead.
And don’t give me any of that neo-nazi shit, either. I KNOW what it’s like to have racial slurs hurled at me. When we first moved into my neighborhood, it was 98% white. 11 years old, and I’m riding my bike down the street, and some kids on a porch yell at me: “Keep going, Taco-bender…you fuckin’ spic…” Did I hop off my bike and say; “Hey…I was born in Chicago, and I speak English, and I’m just as American as you?” Nope. Maybe I should have. But, I kept on going, because I was scared. I went home, told my parents about it. My father (who was of Scottish extraction) was livid. My mom? She just shook her head and said: “It happened to me. It’s the biggest reason I tried my best to learn English as soon as I came here.” So…when I am approached on the street by someone who can’t speak English (and where I live, it’s usually a Spanish-speaking person), I don’t whip out the American flag and scream: “Go back to Mexico!” (or Honduras, or Guatamala, etc.) I try to do the best I can to help them, using the little bit of Spanish I know. I remember my mom, and what she had to go through. But I wonder if she would have been as driven to learn English if she’d come to today’s Little Village, or Pilsen, or Humboldt Park. Those Chicago neighborhoods have become pockets of “isolation” instead of “assimilation”, and where’s the benefit in that?
It’s obvious.
Your telephone is Spanish. It phones home to it’s Mommy in Madrid every evening while you’re asleep.
That’s why your phone bill’s so high. 
You think it’s bad there, try coming to Miami. Half the time we go to Denny’s they give me the Spanish menu by mistake. At least once a day at my place of work someone comes up to me and starts talking to me in Spanish–and I don’t look even remotely Hispanic, they just assume that everyone here speaks Spanish. I had an incredibly difficult time finding a job here for which being bilingual was not a requirement. Miami is no longer part of the United States, it’s Latin America. I have no issue with recent immigrants, but there are way too many people here who have been in the US for a long time and have made no effort to learn English. It bugs me.
When reading English novels I often find French phrases interspersed. I have no French and have enough trouble with some of the Britishisms so an Agatha Christie novel can be a headache inducing event and I may miss vital clues. It sounds like this may be becoming the case in the US with Spanish. Is that a correct assessment? it is hard to tell from over here.
You were born in the U.S., your mother immigrated from El Salvador and that makes you…Spanish? And Italians and Poles are Anglo. Why shouldn’t foreigners be wary of learning a language that its native speakers have so little respect for? I mean, if you can just go using any old word to mean anything you want, what’s the point? Looks “Spanish” means “from Spain”, “Anglo” means “English”, nothing more, nothing less.
There is no such thing as “looking Hispanic” We come in all races. That’s why people, especially in Miami assume you might know Spanish.
But believe it or not, I mostly agree with your assessment of Miami. I live in Texas, and I think most Hispanic people here - other than new immigrants - speak primarily English. Many of the kids I know can’t speak fluent Spanish, just ‘kitchen Spanish’. Also I would make an argument that as far as the Southwest is concerned we were here before English-speakers, so we should be able to speak Spanish here. I’m no lunatic separatist who wants to rejoin Mexico, but I find it odd that people object to Spanish in places with names like San Antonio and Santa Fe.
But Miami is a different. I don’t think the Hispanic community there dates from before the middle 20th century. Anyway, there many people have the mentality that they are “exiles” of Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and so on - and they are bound to go ‘home’ soon - and English isn’t as necessary.
Incidentally, that crowd isn’t too kind to ordinary Hispanics (especially those who are more Indian looking and speak ‘broken’ Spanish). I resented having to explain I wasn’t a Cuban or Spaniard, but a lowly Mexican-American, even though I look “white” and am middle class.
But even then, I wouldn’t blame the immigrants or exiles so much as I would the policies of governments, who have essentially allowed Miami to become the intrigue salon of Latin America.
It seems like where you live they speak English and Spanish. The language of a place is the language of that the people there speak. Looks like you live where they speak a couple languages. Just be glad you don’t live in India.
I don’t know about your locale, but out here in the Peoples Republic of California, multilingual phone books, state documents, bathroom signs, McDonalds menus, etc are mandated. We must not make anyone feel left out.
On a happy note, I had a kid at Jack in the Box floor me. When picking up my order at the drive-thru, he actually said “Would you like some catsup with your order?” I was speechless. He said a complete sentance. Properly too!
Usually the drones just give you the Blank Look™ and say “Castup?” to which I reply, “It’s a red, tomato based condement usually available in small foil or plastic packets.” which is almost always lost on them.
Cheers,
Vega
Debes usar el libro de telefono para aprender español 
/Shadez
Hey, you could use the telephone book to learn Spanish!
Enjoy,
Steven