Lo siento, no hablo español

IMO, the reason many spanish speaking immigrants never learn to speak english is because they don't have to.
I took spanish in school a hundred years ago and never learned to speak it fluently, but if I HAVE to, I can communicate in spanish, albeit very very basic.
And the more I do it, the easier it gets...it's like riding a bike...it comes back to me.
So I say we need to stop making it so darn easy to avoid english. people will do what they gotta do if they gotta do it. :)

R12RTee wrote:

John&Joey wrote:
I think the Valley might be the only place in the whole USA that a person would have to state that they did not speak the national language of English in an ad.

Please quote a source that defines English as the official "national language" of the United States.

Well Sir. I stand corrected.

Clicky

As someone once told me "If you don't take care of your town, it won't be long till it's someone else's town" comes to my mind right now.

R12RTee wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:

TomG2 wrote:
I listed my RV on the McAllen, Texas Craigslist but left off the above words. Three calls today and all hung up when I could not reply to their questions in Spanish. I really don't know, and won't know, if they were serious shoppers or not. I am not complaining, that is just the way of the world in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

It's not just Texas.
This happened to me too when I listed some items on craigslist while I was in Florida. I just asked them why they were calling if they couldn't speak or understand English?:R

I dunno I am old school. If you move to a different country 'learn the language'.

I have traveled abroad and USA is the only country that encourages/caters to foreigner speaking people to NOT learn English. I think it's sad.

My grandparent emigrated from Germany and Poland and they learned the language as did all of the immigrants of years gone by. They didn't demand that all informational items and signs be printed in both English and their language....they learned the main language of the country they moved to. Just saying "I" don't have the tolerance.

I think the statement that "they learned the language as did all of the immigrants of years gone by" may be a bit of an over statement. Most immigrants that I have met spoke very little English. They also tended to cluster in communities that they are comfortable with and didn't need to learn another language. The second and third generations are the ones that make the transition.

Agreed. But I think it depends on the language as well. In the case of my parents language (Dutch) the community was small and it made sense to become more proficient in English. Their business depended on it. But the US is the second biggest spanish speaking nation in the world (depending on your stat sources) and entire communities speak the language. The need to speak English outside the home is much less in these communities. Official languages of countries are important from the point of view of publication costs etc but have little effect on the actual society and culture of communities. This is an ever changing landscapes. Right now I can't imagine any superviser, manager or business owner not filing job applications from monolingual applicants at the bottom of the pile, at least in the Spanish speaking parts of the USA...including Puerto Rico. :).

I hope this does not get too political, but I was somewhat surprised to hear the callers respond in Spanish to an ad that was written in English. I should have known, as the people that want to sell their goods and services to the Winter Texans learn English. Those who want to sell to immigrants, use their language. Ironically, the scammer from a thousand miles away who offered to buy my trailer sight unseen at my asking price used very correct English.

rockhillmanor wrote:

TomG2 wrote:
I listed my RV on the McAllen, Texas Craigslist but left off the above words. Three calls today and all hung up when I could not reply to their questions in Spanish. I really don't know, and won't know, if they were serious shoppers or not. I am not complaining, that is just the way of the world in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

It's not just Texas.
This happened to me too when I listed some items on craigslist while I was in Florida. I just asked them why they were calling if they couldn't speak or understand English?:R

I dunno I am old school. If you move to a different country 'learn the language'.

I have traveled abroad and USA is the only country that encourages/caters to foreigner speaking people to NOT learn English. I think it's sad.

My grandparent emigrated from Germany and Poland and they learned the language as did all of the immigrants of years gone by. They didn't demand that all informational items and signs be printed in both English and their language....they learned the main language of the country they moved to. Just saying "I" don't have the tolerance.

I think the statement that "they learned the language as did all of the immigrants of years gone by" may be a bit of an over statement. Most immigrants that I have met spoke very little English. They also tended to cluster in communities that they are comfortable with and didn't need to learn another language. The second and third generations are the ones that make the transition.

John&Joey wrote:
I think the Valley might be the only place in the whole USA that a person would have to state that they did not speak the national language of English in an ad.

Please quote a source that defines English as the official "national language" of the United States.

gbopp wrote:
Could you create an email address just for the sale and use Google Translate if you get something in Spanish?

Excellent solution and used quite often. Consider adding something along the the lines of "please send any questions in Spanish to this email address". Or something to that effect. Depending where you live your audience will be a lot bigger if you include the Spanish speaking population. Spanish is now the second most spoken language in the world with English being third. Spanish is also growing faster than English so it will be a continuing trend. Where we are in Palm Springs pretty the majority of the working population here is spanish speaking so business knows to have adds and media in Spanish. The vast majority of employees in stores like Home Depot, Lowes, grocery stores, restaurants are spanish speaking. Just makes good business sense. I spend entire shopping days without speaking a word of English here. Kinda fun. :).

Good luck with the sale.

Try some time in "CAlimexico". If you give people the choice, they will stay with what they know and not change. Same thing happened with the metric system in the U.S. It has to be changed all at once or people won't convert to it. Just sayin'

TomG2 wrote:
I listed my RV on the McAllen, Texas Craigslist but left off the above words. Three calls today and all hung up when I could not reply to their questions in Spanish. I really don't know, and won't know, if they were serious shoppers or not. I am not complaining, that is just the way of the world in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

It's not just Texas.
This happened to me too when I listed some items on craigslist while I was in Florida. I just asked them why they were calling if they couldn't speak or understand English?:R

I dunno I am old school. If you move to a different country 'learn the language'.

I have traveled abroad and USA is the only country that encourages/caters to foreigner speaking people to NOT learn English. I think it's sad.

My grandparent emigrated from Germany and Poland and they learned the language as did all of the immigrants of years gone by. They didn't demand that all informational items and signs be printed in both English and their language....they learned the main language of the country they moved to. Just saying "I" don't have the tolerance.

FWIW, I was in a Starbucks a couple of years ago when I overheard a recently college graduated girl telling a customer that she could not find a job in the valley because she only spoke English. Starbucks was the only employer that did not care in the Valley. So after four years of college, there she was making latté's.

I think the Valley might be the only place in the whole USA that a person would have to state that they did not speak the national language of English in an ad.