No hablo ingles
Try speaking English, this is the United States
Lauren E. Geary
Issue date: 2/17/08 Section: Opinion
I've been biased against the Spanish language ever since I was tortured by my Spanish teacher from kindergarten to fifth grade. My private school felt that we needed to start foreign language at a young age, and that it would somehow help us succeed later. Since kindergarteners can't exactly pick between Spanish, Italian, Latin, French or another language, it was decided for us.
Let me tell you, the idea that Spanish would be useful later was completely wrong. The teacher wore this horrendous smelling perfume, which I can still smell to this day. By the end of class, I would sit there with a pounding headache, hoping the punishment would end. She spoke with this heavy Spanish accent that I couldn't even understand. How the hell am I supposed to learn Spanish if I can't even understand the teacher? I spent most of the time looking up curse words in my Webster's English-Spanish Dictionary.
I was only 12 when I finished what I would later swear would be my purgatory when I die. Of course, this was an exaggeration, and now it no longer seems like the devil. But I did promise myself on that last day of Spanish class that I would never speak that language again, or any other language except English, for that matter. Little did I understand the concept of immigration and how it would affect me years down the road.
I grew up in the metropolitan suburbs of Washington, D.C., surrounded by politics and a multitude of ethnicities. Sure, there are your average brilliant Asians, successful blacks, and of course, millions of Hispanics flooding our area. Please don't consider me a racist--I am nowhere near that.
And honestly, my problem is not really with the people themselves.
How many times have you walked into McDonald's and not been able to order easily, or at all, because the person taking your order can't understand English? Perhaps I'm the only one absolutely frustrated by the fact that we have Mexican grocery stores. And you know, I also think you shouldn't be able to hold a driver's license if you need a translator for the test. That thought makes me scared to get on the road. All the street signs are in English, and I know what you're thinking: we should resign them in Spanish, too. No, we shouldn't! Just like we shouldn't allow our government to spend millions of dollars on re-signing all the metro stops in D.C. in English and Spanish. I'm also irritated by the fact that more money was put into ESL classes than art classes. Why are we accommodating?
The United States was once called the melting pot. My great grandparents immigrated here from all parts of the world including Ireland, Hungary and Poland. When they did arrive in the United States, their parents forbid them from speaking their native language. They wanted their children to succeed in the new land of opportunity, and speaking English was part of the transition. What happened to this idea?
No, I'm not saying give up your native language. No, I'm not telling you to forget your heritage. I still uphold Polish and Hungarian values and traditions. I'm saying that if immigrants expect to be accepted into the American culture and way of life, then they must learn English. The United States government has made it far too easy for immigrants not to.
People immigrate to America looking for better opportunities and a new life. The language barrier hurts those opportunities and causes racial turmoil, like the protests that took place last year in the Capitol. The language difference also hurts the employer-employee relationship, the student-teacher relationship and the citizen-immigrant relationship. This makes it harder for immigrants to find a job, be accepted into the work place, gain educational achievements, and find true success within the United States.
The United States has yet to declare a national language. But if they declare English as the national language it will take away racial turmoil and allow for more opportunities for citizens and immigrants. It will set the stage for what is required at jobs and schools, removing citizen and immigrant conflict. Isn't it time the United States took a stand?
Contact Campus Press staff writer Lauren E. Geary at Lauren.geary@colorado.edu.
Let me tell you, the idea that Spanish would be useful later was completely wrong. The teacher wore this horrendous smelling perfume, which I can still smell to this day. By the end of class, I would sit there with a pounding headache, hoping the punishment would end. She spoke with this heavy Spanish accent that I couldn't even understand. How the hell am I supposed to learn Spanish if I can't even understand the teacher? I spent most of the time looking up curse words in my Webster's English-Spanish Dictionary.
I was only 12 when I finished what I would later swear would be my purgatory when I die. Of course, this was an exaggeration, and now it no longer seems like the devil. But I did promise myself on that last day of Spanish class that I would never speak that language again, or any other language except English, for that matter. Little did I understand the concept of immigration and how it would affect me years down the road.
I grew up in the metropolitan suburbs of Washington, D.C., surrounded by politics and a multitude of ethnicities. Sure, there are your average brilliant Asians, successful blacks, and of course, millions of Hispanics flooding our area. Please don't consider me a racist--I am nowhere near that.
And honestly, my problem is not really with the people themselves.
How many times have you walked into McDonald's and not been able to order easily, or at all, because the person taking your order can't understand English? Perhaps I'm the only one absolutely frustrated by the fact that we have Mexican grocery stores. And you know, I also think you shouldn't be able to hold a driver's license if you need a translator for the test. That thought makes me scared to get on the road. All the street signs are in English, and I know what you're thinking: we should resign them in Spanish, too. No, we shouldn't! Just like we shouldn't allow our government to spend millions of dollars on re-signing all the metro stops in D.C. in English and Spanish. I'm also irritated by the fact that more money was put into ESL classes than art classes. Why are we accommodating?
The United States was once called the melting pot. My great grandparents immigrated here from all parts of the world including Ireland, Hungary and Poland. When they did arrive in the United States, their parents forbid them from speaking their native language. They wanted their children to succeed in the new land of opportunity, and speaking English was part of the transition. What happened to this idea?
No, I'm not saying give up your native language. No, I'm not telling you to forget your heritage. I still uphold Polish and Hungarian values and traditions. I'm saying that if immigrants expect to be accepted into the American culture and way of life, then they must learn English. The United States government has made it far too easy for immigrants not to.
People immigrate to America looking for better opportunities and a new life. The language barrier hurts those opportunities and causes racial turmoil, like the protests that took place last year in the Capitol. The language difference also hurts the employer-employee relationship, the student-teacher relationship and the citizen-immigrant relationship. This makes it harder for immigrants to find a job, be accepted into the work place, gain educational achievements, and find true success within the United States.
The United States has yet to declare a national language. But if they declare English as the national language it will take away racial turmoil and allow for more opportunities for citizens and immigrants. It will set the stage for what is required at jobs and schools, removing citizen and immigrant conflict. Isn't it time the United States took a stand?
Contact Campus Press staff writer Lauren E. Geary at Lauren.geary@colorado.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 87
Hugh Jardon
posted 2/17/08 @ 11:52 AM MST
"I would never speak that language again, or any other language except English, for that matter" "Perhaps I'm the only one absolutely frustrated by the fact that we have Mexican grocery stores"
Lauren, it seems like you suffer from xenophobia. (Continued…)
Jon Swihart
posted 2/17/08 @ 3:21 PM MST
Good for you, Lauren. Anyone who would call you a racist clearly isn't thinking beyond knee-jerk emotion. It has nothing to do with racism or xenophobia, but cold hard practicality. (Continued…)
Jean
posted 2/17/08 @ 11:08 PM MST
If I was a tourist in a non-English-speaking country and didn't speak the language I would not be very smart. I would do my best to learn enough phrases before the trip to make myself understood in emergencies, at at least enough for common manners (please, thank you, etc). (Continued…)
Steph
posted 2/18/08 @ 2:42 PM MST
"Sure, there are your average brilliant Asians, successful blacks, and of course, millions of Hispanics flooding our area. Please don't consider me a racist--I am nowhere near that. (Continued…)
Rita
posted 2/19/08 @ 6:12 AM MST
How the hell are they to learn English, American culture, integrate themselves into a nation peppered with people who are frustrated or even infuriated that they have access to groceries from their own culture -- if they can't even understand the teachers? Or, worse, if the teachers won't even really listen to their needs, demanding the communication here be a one way street?
From your opening tales of the horrors of trying to learn a language in a classroom you found to be a "hostile environment", I actually expected to find more empathy and attempts at understanding how difficult it is to try to learn a new language AND build a new life in a world becoming increasingly hostile to you simply because of where you were born. (Continued…)
Mae
posted 2/19/08 @ 9:43 AM MST
Excellent article. Once we get rid of the Mexican grocery stores, Olive Garden is next. Don't those Italians understand this is AMERICA? And damn that Panda Express and Pei-Wei. (Continued…)
Rachel
posted 2/19/08 @ 11:19 AM MST
If you're not racist, then why do you feel the need to defend yourself. I am a first-generation American and it is ignorant people like you who make me ashamed to be an American. (Continued…)
Jacob
posted 2/19/08 @ 4:34 PM MST
The US is probably the only country in the world where the majority of its population speaks only one language. This is a continuation of the dumbing down of the population. (Continued…)
Lauren
posted 2/20/08 @ 3:29 PM MST
I have to agree with you, Lauren. I do think that you have an unnecessary hostility towards Mexicans (what, exactly, is wrong with them having grocery stores?), but I do think that we need to implement ways for immigrants to learn English faster. (Continued…)
Jayana
posted 2/20/08 @ 4:53 PM MST
Hey Lauren - language barriers do cause turmoil so why don't you just suck it up and get over your "traumatic" experience as a child learning spanish and decrease the turmoil by encouraging the acquisition of spanish which is very practical. (Continued…)
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