Why must Latinos have everything in Spanish, and why won't they assimilate?

In another thread relating to Hispanic Heritage Month, I asked if Brazilians and Argentines counted as Latinos. Now I figured that I'd ask another question: Why must Hispanics and Latinos have everything in Spanish? And why wont they assimilate into the English-speaking majority? If immigrants come from Europe, Asia, or Africa, they assimilate into the English-speaking majority, but if they come from Latin America, they don't assimilate, and they continue to use Spanish as their first language. Why is that? Though it probably has to do with the fact that Spain conquered the majority of those countries (with the exception of Brazil, which was conquered by Portugal, and speaks Portuguese as a result), but still, why won't they assimilate?

Why can't you just learn spanish instead? Knowing two languages is pretty much standard outside of the US. You're the weird ones.

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Originally Posted by Mirage

Why can't you just learn spanish instead? Knowing two languages is pretty much standard outside of the US. You're the weird ones.

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I always see/hear this but, at least in my area almost everyone takes a second language in high school. And considering the majority of kids go on to college now, they are required to take a second language in high school in order to do so.

You learn a second language in elementary school elsewhere in the world :p. 3rd grade for me, not sure when they start nowadays, but probably earlier. It's not optional either.

I'm pretty sure you've made this thread before, SM. Anyway - you ask why they don't. The question they would have is "Why"? If the reason why isn't good enough for them, then that's why not.

Actually, the majority do speak English

And if they speak Spanish on their own time? So what? That doesn't really matter. People should be allowed to keep some of their own culture when they move somewhere. I guess I could say more but I feel like it'll just fall on deaf ears.

Plus, you know, what BoB said

Thanks for that link, pumpkin. Turns out Supermillionaire was just doing sweeping generalizations again.

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Originally Posted by Mirage

Why can't you just learn spanish instead? Knowing two languages is pretty much standard outside of the US. You're the weird ones.

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Not just the US, all English speaking countries. Global lingua franca privilege, baby. :cool:

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

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Originally Posted by Mirage

Why can't you just learn spanish instead? Knowing two languages is pretty much standard outside of the US. You're the weird ones.

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Not just the US, all English speaking countries. Global lingua franca privilege, baby. :cool:

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Ewch allan gyda ti'n braint Saesneg, arglwydd yr cachu :colbert:

Al Bhed doesn't count.

Here's some in depth thoughts in response to this question.

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Originally Posted by Shauna

Here's some in depth thoughts in response to this question.

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I like that my attitude has done a 180, even down to my acknowledgement/dismissal of the Welsh.

A) It's already been pointed out that a majority do speak English.

B) You singled out Spanish speaking immigrants as unique for some reason, when it's easy to point out pockets of immigrants in the U.S. and other countries where they predominantly use their native language when in that area. Little Italy, Little China, Little Korea, etc. Why? Because for better or worse, when you migrate to a new country it's difficult enough to learn how things work. Moving to an area where you have a lot of people who are going through a similar experience makes it easier as far as getting help, advice, and support.

I do think that someone moving to another country to make an effort to learn the language there. However, I'm not at all against them speaking their native language, teaching it to others, etc.

If an immigrant population grows large enough, it's probably best for other people in that country to learn that language as well.

I've been trying to learn Spanish! I went to south Texas recently and felt out of place with a lot of the Spanish-speaking people. They spoke English but would talk in Spanish with themselves. So if that's how south Texas is, if I want to be able to communicate completely, then I should probably take the effort to learn the language so many people speak. It's understandable that they speak that too! It's right near the border of another country that doesn't natively speak the same language as our own country. I plan on doing more visiting in that area so if I want to interact with people, I should take an effort to learn their language since they take an effort to learn mine.

Plus I like languages. If I had the time I would attempt to learn all of them! For now, I attempt to learn some here and there. Everyone should try. Some feel less compelled because they are so far away from another place that natively speaks it but we're melding together so much, the only reason to not do so is just the person being stubborn.

i'm actually currently trying to learn spanish too. I think it's a pretty useful language to know, considering how many regions speak spanish.