The assimilation of Hispanics into the American Culture has been slowed because of a number of reasons. In the past, the arrival of immigrants to the United States adopted the melting pot of cultures, languages and nationalities that is the United States. This assimilation was so effective in the past that most European ethnic groups, with their ethnic background, came to an end by the third generation. These early immigrants learned quickly that assimilation is the path to upward mobility. Being bilingual or monolingual (in English) is the key.
One of the factors that have slowed the bilingual and bicultural identity of Hispanics is Mexico's close proximity to the United States. This continuous influx of new arrivals, and concentration of predominantly Mexican barrios and colonias (neighborhoods), enables Mexican Americans to maintain ties with their culture identity longer.
And it is not just the new arrivals that are keeping Hispanics speaking Spanish longer. Hispanics are the fastest growing racial group in the United States. A 2007 U.S.Census estimate shows that persons of Hispanic origin account for 15.1% of the U.S.population (9.8% of the State of Idaho). This makes them the nation's largest minority group at 45 million. It has been estimated that half our nation's population will be Hispanic by the year 2050. Today, one out of every five immigrants now living in this country is Mexican born. This immigration was propelled by the rapid growth of Mexico's population--which tripled in 50 years and the higher working wages found in the United States. These wages are at least six times higher than those in Mexico. In the 1980’s, Hispanics were also avoiding civil unrest in Central American countries. Hundreds of thousands of refugees from these civil wars pushed into the U.S.
Could it be peer pressure that helps keep people speaking "Spanish only" for generations? Should there be materials, such DMV Manuals and driving tests printed in Spanish for citizens to take? Has bilingual education in schools become to broad that it is now counter productive? Moving up the social ladder could be faster if English is known. The ready availability of service jobs, however low their wages is so tempting that many young Hispanic teenagers to drop out of school, often to help support their families, to work as a maid, a nanny, a gardener, work on new houses, on the streets and in high rise buildings. By providing an education and training for jobs that pay better than minimum wage really benefits our economy and everyone involved are much better off. Having a more skilled job earns a higher wage. This means that higher paid workers will pay more taxes. Better jobs means better benefits, such as medical and life insurance, which provides better care. This relives the government, city, state and other tax payers to provide for basic needs.
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I have found the education of the Spanish language to be lacking. I studied Spanish for two years in high school but did not retain any of the information after the course. I think the idea of anyone being bilingual in this country is a highly positive one. As an American, who only speaks English, the main complaint I hear is that immigrants move to America but do not try to assimilate. As a bank teller, many foreigners are easily frustrated when I don’t understand them. This is frustrating to me because I feel like I am expected to accommodate them because they don’t know English. At the bank, we now have adapted to Hispanic immigrants by including Spanish writing on all our forms, but they don’t take the time to fill them out. I feel like if America accommodates immigrants, immigrants need to accommodate America too. Hold on to your culture but not too tight.
ReplyDeleteAs with any education you get in you life, it is "use it or lose it". You have practice it to make it permanent.
ReplyDeleteI am sure that as a bank teller that you have customers that do try hard to take care of their financial needs using English, even if they are not fluent at it. We all have to start to crawl, before we walk and then run. I would like to “Thank” your bank for providing bilingual forms for customers, even though they don’t take advantage of this service. The bank is just trying to capitalizing on the Spanish-speaking market any way it can. Some of your customers may not be taking advantage of these available forms because they are not totally literate in the Spanish language. They may be able to speak it, but not be able to read and write it. Some surveys show that a majority of Spanish only speakers do not attain a high school diploma.
I do not know what bank you are employed at, but I have heard that some “Non-Spainish Speaking” people have issues with their banks call center concerning all the menus they have to go through when using a telephone to communicate with their bank. The most common arguments are “As Americans living in America, why do I have to push a button to speak English or hear English?” Some of these customers probably forget that as a nation, we are comprised of hundreds of different ethnic groups. This is what has given us our strength. It takes time to assimilate, but some seem to have no patience.
An observation from the other side of the spectrum is that I have met some people who would begin talking to me in Spanish. I have asked them to speak to me in English so that I could better understand them. A few seemed to consider it an assault on their heritage by me asking them to switch languages.
In the past, with German spoken in the Dakotas, Italian in New York, Swedish in Minnesota, Chinese in California, and Spanish throughout the Southwest, it seems that we have made it through all these languages and English is still the language that still binds us together.
I totally understand. If I say "hello" in Spanish or use the few words I know, I get myself into trouble because suddenly I am expected to be fluent. As far as the phone options are concerned, I honestly think people just need something to complain about. It takes one extra second to push a number for English and I have no problems working that system. Maybe it is something I am use to because I’ve grown up with all this but to me it seems there are better things to complain about than that. I think its fun to be able to communicate with the Spanish speaking customers and most of them really appreciate my efforts and encourage me to learn more Spanish. In the end, I think it comes down to both sides being encouraging and patient. :)
ReplyDeleteTrista nailed it with the last line of her response. I think it should be everyone's responsibility to try to increase the possibilities of communication. We who were born in the US are simply lucky that the language we grew up with is becoming the most common language in the world. It's not because the language is better. In fact, it lacks logic in terms of spelling and grammar, and it is very difficult to learn. Learning a second language is very difficult, and it can be embarrassing and frustrating, but it teaches people so much about who they are and where they come from. It's worth it to learn a new language, especially Spanish, at least in this country. If you have English and Spanish, you can communicate in a huge portion of the world.
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