Are other languages other than English INSULTING you?!?!?!
So I have a situation I need to get off my chest:
I work at a bank and this certain bank has an ATM setup where when you use your debit/atm card for the first time you have to go through and set your "Preferences" one of those preferences is your "Default" language in which the atm will display - now I had a customer come in and say he was having problems with his card b/c everytime he put it in the machine it would always default to spanish (he is your average english speaking caucasian) - b/c obviously he accidentally hit that button on the first initial setup or skipped through it and didn't read it at all!
So I proceed to tell him this and he raises his voice to a tone I take offense to - (which is pretty loud b/c I am a loud person!) and says " WELL FRANKLY I AM INSULTED THAT THIS MACHINE WOULD EVEN DO THAT TO ME - HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSE TO UNDERSTAND ANYTHING AND FUNCTION" so me blindsighted by this whole event I just stood there and with out further a-due he continued "THIS IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - WE SPEAK ENGLISH NOT MEXICAN!"
so you quick ones here will see where I am going with this b/c obviously there is no "mexican" language it is called spanish - and of course I was taking offense to this man's words b/c my husband is Mexican and I am VERY PROUD to be raising my daughter and future children in a Bi-lingual household. and who is he to be insulted anyway? I would be insulted if it wasn't an option to choose a language preference! he should be happy he lives in a country where many different races and cultures live together and share their way of lives! Is it ignorance that keeps these people's minds from thinking the way I do?! (not saying my way of thinking is right - just my way of thinking in this specific situation!)
So in the end he threatened to take his bank accounts elsewhere since we made him attempt to read spanish which is something his minuscule brain couldn't comprehend so I walked him out to the atm and showed him how to fix it since he couldn't figure it our for himself!
Now this isn't the worst form of discrimination I have been a witness to - but seriously what do some Americans think about incorporating other languages into this country?! I mean the USA is the melting pot what kind of example are we setting for our children to teach them to be unaccepting and discrimanatory towards others who speak other languages or talk with an accent?!
Is this really what this country has come to? I know in some of your towns this may not be a problem but here in the burbs of cincinnati it is a huge problem - our sheriff's go out of their way to use scare tactics on the illegal immigrants and legal immigrants for that matter - why must we force hate and disapproval onto people whom we don't know anything about - and correct me if I'm wrong but learning other languages other than your own it expands your mind and makes you think quicker - just like learning how to read music and playing an instrument does.
So anyway I will quit babbling on - I just wanted to share this with all of you to see what kind of feedback I could get and where this thread could actually go from here!
On a side note ----- if you live in a community where immigrants have been accepted and your community is doing great things in helping them whether it be community outreach or helping them learn english - please let me know as I am open to ANY AND ALL ideas to help make this situation in my community better and more comfortable for them - because no one deserves to be treated differently and certainly no one deserves to live in fear.
I work at a bank and this certain bank has an ATM setup where when you use your debit/atm card for the first time you have to go through and set your "Preferences" one of those preferences is your "Default" language in which the atm will display - now I had a customer come in and say he was having problems with his card b/c everytime he put it in the machine it would always default to spanish (he is your average english speaking caucasian) - b/c obviously he accidentally hit that button on the first initial setup or skipped through it and didn't read it at all!
So I proceed to tell him this and he raises his voice to a tone I take offense to - (which is pretty loud b/c I am a loud person!) and says " WELL FRANKLY I AM INSULTED THAT THIS MACHINE WOULD EVEN DO THAT TO ME - HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSE TO UNDERSTAND ANYTHING AND FUNCTION" so me blindsighted by this whole event I just stood there and with out further a-due he continued "THIS IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - WE SPEAK ENGLISH NOT MEXICAN!"
so you quick ones here will see where I am going with this b/c obviously there is no "mexican" language it is called spanish - and of course I was taking offense to this man's words b/c my husband is Mexican and I am VERY PROUD to be raising my daughter and future children in a Bi-lingual household. and who is he to be insulted anyway? I would be insulted if it wasn't an option to choose a language preference! he should be happy he lives in a country where many different races and cultures live together and share their way of lives! Is it ignorance that keeps these people's minds from thinking the way I do?! (not saying my way of thinking is right - just my way of thinking in this specific situation!)
So in the end he threatened to take his bank accounts elsewhere since we made him attempt to read spanish which is something his minuscule brain couldn't comprehend so I walked him out to the atm and showed him how to fix it since he couldn't figure it our for himself!
Now this isn't the worst form of discrimination I have been a witness to - but seriously what do some Americans think about incorporating other languages into this country?! I mean the USA is the melting pot what kind of example are we setting for our children to teach them to be unaccepting and discrimanatory towards others who speak other languages or talk with an accent?!
Is this really what this country has come to? I know in some of your towns this may not be a problem but here in the burbs of cincinnati it is a huge problem - our sheriff's go out of their way to use scare tactics on the illegal immigrants and legal immigrants for that matter - why must we force hate and disapproval onto people whom we don't know anything about - and correct me if I'm wrong but learning other languages other than your own it expands your mind and makes you think quicker - just like learning how to read music and playing an instrument does.
So anyway I will quit babbling on - I just wanted to share this with all of you to see what kind of feedback I could get and where this thread could actually go from here!
On a side note ----- if you live in a community where immigrants have been accepted and your community is doing great things in helping them whether it be community outreach or helping them learn english - please let me know as I am open to ANY AND ALL ideas to help make this situation in my community better and more comfortable for them - because no one deserves to be treated differently and certainly no one deserves to live in fear.
Tags: -, Immigration, Spanish
Views: 0
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Artery~ on -
I agree strongly, yet disagree just as strongly.
It could be insulting to an American, that is proud to speak English, proud to be American, where you speak English.
And i could see how it would be insulting, since immigrants are required to be able to speak, read, and write in English.
Yet somehow, a lot can't. And its not technically not illegal, to not know English, its THEY'RE rights as citizens to NOT know English, just as its his RIGHT, to criticize THEY'RE right, to NOT know English.
Does that make sense?
'
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Permalink Reply by Jessica Miranda on -
confusing....but yes ironically I do see where your coming from! :)
Putting aside though immigrants being required to learn english in order to gain citizenship - it is okay for him to be insulted he is entitled to his opinion but what I didn't mention up there that I should have is that I felt as if the latino population was being targeted b/c it was spanish being defaulted to his screen - there are many different languages he could have chosen/accidentally hit - we even have swedish and mandarin to illustrate the wide range!
So for him to be proud is different for me than him being offended ya know?!
Thanks for your thoughts!
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Permalink Reply by mikethorn on -
i love to see other people that can agree and dissagree at the same time on the same subject, i do it all the time and i never know how to explain that where yeah i agree i dissagree too....its wierd hahaha i always feel like in the end i just look like one of the assholes that dissagrees with everything but im trying to explain that i see and agree with their points too..... i agree with you completely though hahaha
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Permalink Reply by lowkey on -
OK there is a language that is "Mexican" even if it doesn't have a official name. The Spanish they speak in Mexico is a very distinct dialect from what is spoken in Spain, Argentina, Chile or many other places. Much like Chinese, Spanish has grown in a wide variety of distinct sub-languages and just because you speak one doesn't mean you will understand all. I spent 5 years in Chile where I learned to speak their dialect of Spanish fluently but still find it hard to understand the Mexican dialect at times. Of course it could be friends fscking with me too.
But thats a total tangent that really isn't relevant to the discussion.
The only time I find someone speaking Spanish to be insulting is when they assume I can't speak it just because I'm a "gringo". Although it has been to source of many laughs when I've proven people wrong in their assumptions.
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Permalink Reply by Xeranar on -
The fact that the US has no official language is reason enough to offer Spanish as an option. I know just enough Spanish to know when I am being insulted and the same for mandarin. But as much as I abhor trying to understand foreign languages since I struggled to pass my language proficiency test at the PhD level I respect the fact people are bi-lingual.
I'm personally inclined to set English as the official first language of the United States and Spanish as the second. We live on the American continents where the 3 1/2 major languages are English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. Since the french speakers are located in one province of Canada largely and Portuguese while nice is located in Brazil the best answer for a backup language to English is Spanish. Though as our society begins to learn Spanish and Mandarin the rest of the world already knows English. Regardless of the US's place in future politics we left the world one great gift. A poorly conceived anglo-saxon language that is full of foreign words to make due for our lack of originality.
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Permalink Reply by nimasco on -
"I mean the USA is the melting pot"
i see it more as a salad. we're all together but we're not lol. idk about other places but here there are tight knit communities that dont encourage english to be taught/learned. i take offense when i go into their stores and talking to them is like pulling teeth. i understand where youre coming from that we're all supposed to appreciate other cultures but sometimes i feel like people who come over here dont give us the same courtesy. so in that case i also understand what the man was saying.
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Permalink Reply by lowkey on
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I like the salad metaphor. It's much more accurate today than the melting pot theme. The melting pot may have been true of early immigrants but today everyone is staying truer to their roots.
A salad it is!
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Permalink Reply by Jessica Miranda on
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oh yea I totally agree with this nimasco - I take offense to that too - thanks for that viewpoint.
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Permalink Reply by SivartKceBael on -
any linguist will tell you that the English language borrows more words from others...often directly with no alterations...no other language adopts such a wide range of forein vocabulary...the American(is that derrogatory?) language is quite possibly the most vulgar of all languages...or maybe its just the culture...does anyone know what the jamaican word bomda-clat mean? u get in big trouble for saying it, and it was too bad to say on tv...and lets face it u can say anything on tv...
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Permalink Reply by SivartKceBael on
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except for true reality...let me tell you...there is no over here, no over there...there is only here and everywhere...no past, present, future...only no and forever...ppl veiw language barriers as they do chainlink fences, national borders, and nuclear warheads continuously proliferated as a "deterent" they are weapons of mass separation...the greatest language is not the one most spread, it is the human language...the language of love, wait thats italian... which influences french and spanish...
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Permalink Reply by SivartKceBael on
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english is 1/2 french...America was 1/3 England, France, and Spain...100% native american...vikings a long time ago but lets not go there...i'm sensing a pattern of interconnectivity here... but you may ask where does the mandiran chinese come in? well chinese wyrms were strikingly similar to the legends of dragons discovered on wall carvings in mayan and aztech ruins...european dragons were the only ones perceived as evil...savages must be converted...so now outsiders must speak american to fit in`namaste
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Permalink Reply by SivartKceBael on
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makes you wonder if we'll ever have a black president? how about an American Indian(cooladge doesnt count sp?) how about a non-english speaking leader... i wonder if government will ever fall to people with no religions only campfire tales brimming with spirituality...i am Coyote...shortest bow...weakest of all animal people but gifted with cunning...i steal for you fire from gods ... pass it on, dont let them catch you give it to Wood who will gobble it all up and we will all be free...
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