[PRCo] Re: Europa (Foreign Languages)

[Herb Brannon]

Please don't take this the wrong way John, however, I find your statement about knowing only one Hispanic person very hard to believe, especially in 2007. All US major cities have quite large Hispanic populations. However, before I go on, let me make one observation: Pittsburgh, during my time there, did not have any concentrated Hispanic area as Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, ect. have always had. I took Spanish (two years) in high school (1960s) which I selected as my foreign language since Latin was too "old fashioned" (I was not going to be a doctor anyway) and French could only be used in France, Eastern Canada, and a small handful of French holdings. However, Spanish was being used just across town plus all over our Southern neighbor, Mexico and in the Island Nations just off the Southeastern US coast. It was a sound decision.
   
  Today, I use Spanish  frequently. Especially when driving the bus in the Clark/Fulton/Metro and the Dennison/Lorain neighborhoods. Advertising "car cards" in RTA's buses, cars, and trains are in either English or Spanish. Outdoor billboards are in Spanish all along West 25th Street, Fulton Road, Dennison Avenue, Clark Avenue, etc. I used Spanish when I lived and worked in Austin, TX, Houston, TX, and Orlando, FL.
   
  To paraphrase that old Oldsmobile ad slogan, "It's not your fathers United States, anymore".Come to Cleveland for a visit and I will take you on a tour of "an American urban neighborhood, 2007."
John Swindler <j_swindler at hotmail.com> wrote:
  >
> Fred Schneider mentioned: >> What is important here? Spanish is important because 1 in every 5> U. S. citizens speaks it in the home or will shortly. We should all> bite that bullet and be bilingual and quit arguing about whose> culture is ruined by learning a second language.> 

I find this hard to believe. You have a source, Fred?

The only hispanic I know arrived in US at age 23 - and she didn't know a word of Spanish, only spoke English. Has about ten decendents, and none interested in Spanish. One did try Chinese in high school - another German, and the rest took a pass on foreign languages.

John



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Herb Brannon