(Untitled)

[pennamealien]

I went to a job fair in Allentown today, and as I was filling out an application, a latino couple sat down next to me. It wouldn't have bothered me, except they were speaking hurriedly to each other only in Spanish. What also bothered me is that I found out (that for some time) WFMZ has an all-Spanish news broadcast. I know I've said this many

Comments

[xxjennaxx]

hear, hear.

i have to select either 1 or 2 for spanish and english...and sometimes i forget that it SHOULD BE IN FUCKIN' ENGLISH, so i press 1 for withdrawal...and then it's in spanish, and then i have to fucking cancel my transaction all because of people that can't speak english...at FUCKING COLLEGE IN PENNSYLVANIA.

>=(

In PA maybe, though in SW, Fla-- Spanish is equal as a public language

[anonymous]

I hear you, I feel like in a place like Allentown of all places, this makes me nervous. But out in the Southwest, and throughout Fla., Spanish has not only a customary status but also legal recognition alongside English as a fundamental language of public discussion. I found this out the hard way a while ago when I was in California and, being the smartass that I was then, refused to learn any Spanish for my job as a paralegal. I was fired soon thereafter, and as I found out later when I started taking legal classes, Spanish isn't considered "just another immigrant language" that people drop when they come here-- in the Southwestern US in fact, it's the primary "foundational language" of the cities, government and administrative units there. In the "public arena" (don't ask, it's a legalese term), there are the "guest languages" of immigrant groups that don't have special status-- and then there are the "foundational languages" that were already present and with legal status in regions that the US annexed, and the foundational