[PRCo] Re: Europa (Foreign Languages)

[John Swindler]

 Hi Herb 
Not only did I only recall knowing "one hispanic", I also know very few railfans.  (:>)  A lot depends on where one lives.
Afterwards, I recalled two other instances.  There was the daughter of a missionary who worked in PennDOT during 1980s.  Management got upset when she pulled a "I'm hispanic" in a labor-management situation.  While wasn't the intent for the preference, she still met the criteria for classification as a hispanic - was born in South America.  And her descendents would also meet this census bureau classification, because she was born in South America. The other is a church family in which the wife's family came from Portugal couple generations ago, with stopover in Brazil.  The grandfather still speaks Portuguese, but the usual family language is English.  But this family situation would meet the criteria for the 15% of the families in which English is not used exclusively.  And the later is why Fred's claim that:   "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." 
 
The statistics do not say that 1 in 5 US citizens speak Spanish in the home.   It says 1 in ten households have people conversing sometimes, most of the times, or exclusively in Spanish.  That is no more reason to be bilingual and learn Spanish then it was to learn German 200 years ago, or learn Italian or Slovak 100 years ago.  Useful in some situations, but not necessary.
 
(speaking of which, if you were in certain Union regiments from mid-west at the Battle of Gettysburg, you had best know German, because the commands were given in German)
 
So if you are driving a bus in certain neighborhoods, Spanish might be useful; and if you were driving a bus in certain parts of Astoria, NY, Russian might be useful, and Jim Holland might suggest that if you are driving a bus in certain parts of San Francisco, Chinese might be useful.  Being useful is far different then 'biting the bullet and being bilingual.'
 
But for the rest of us, English will suffice.  TV and the internet will take care of that.  
 
John
  p.s.  did I mention that my other grandfather (not the one in the Univ. of Pgh. yearbook for 1911) was a director of the Anglo-Chilean Nitrate Company, according to his business card.  That should provide a hint as to the 23 year old 'hispanic' who didn't know a word of Spanish.
 
 > Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2007 12:11:17 -0800> From: hrbran at sbcglobal.net> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Europa (Foreign Languages)> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org> > 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> > > > _________________________________________________________________> Help yourself to FREE treats served up daily at the Messenger Café. Stop by today.> http://www.cafemessenger.com/info/info_sweetstuff2.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_OctWLtagline> > > > > Herb Brannon> > 
_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live Hotmail and Microsoft Office Outlook – together at last.  Get it now.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102225181033.aspx?pid=CL100626971033