Woman kicked out of a Starbucks, was complaining that other customers were speaking Korean

tarheelmjfan · Dec 15, 2017

AnnaFloridaLover said:
It's frustrating that we don't take second languages seriously. Taking an elective even in grade 4 and up is not going to make anyone fluent in another language. It needs to be done by age 6, and seriously. I know many Germans and every one of them speaks at least 6 languages, fluently.

Also, it's horrifying that so many people actually have the audacity to laugh at Asians speaking English. I would love for them to try to say one sentence in any Asian language, let alone converse and take a food order. The level of intelligence and perseverance it takes a person from Asia, etc, to learn and speak English is astounding. And yet the disrespect shown to these people is shameful.

We have so many languages spoken in this country that it's not that easy. I took French in school, but don't remember most of it. I never had a reason to use it, until I moved to South Florida. Spanish is the language I needed to learn, but that's not easy either. From our Spanish speaking friends, we've learned that dialects in different countries can be very different. We've known native Spanish/Catalan, etc. speakers who resorted to English to be able to communicate. They found it impossible to communicate with the different dialects. We would need to learn all of those dialects, French, German, Mandarin, Creole, Hindi, etc. Those would more than take up the entire school day. There would be no time left for science, math, English, etc. There are only so many hours in a school day. There's a good reason we have a universal language. Attempting to teach all the languages that are spoken here would be impossible. If we were in a situation, where there were two official languages in the country, it would be easier. It's just not that simple for the US. How do we decide which languages are more important to learn than math, science, history, etc? Core subjects would have to be sacrificed for our students to learn all the languages spoken in this country.

mnrose · Dec 15, 2017

Gumbo4x4 said:
Oh please. I don’t know ANYONE in South Texas who doesn’t speak Spanish.

None of my relatives in Northern Scotland know a second language, but the ones in Southern England all know French.

Moreover, in places where English is not the primary language, it’s almost ALWAYS the most common second language.

It’s nothing to do with laziness or worldliness. It’s a matter of need.

I dunno. You don't have to read very far into to Trip Advisor reviews to find Americans "complaining" that the staff at a Mexican resort doesn't speak English well. It constantly amazes me that people travel to a foreign country and EXPECT that everyone will speak English. That's an ugly American thing. And, it's more common than we thing. When I travel to a foreign country, where English isn't the norm, I make it a point to learn a few simple phrases in the native language. That's called courtesy and cultural awareness. My general experience is that people in other industrialized countries place far more importance on learning another language than Americans do.

Gumbo4x4 · Dec 15, 2017

mnrose said:
I dunno. You don't have to read very far into to Trip Advisor reviews to find Americans "complaining" that the staff at a Mexican resort doesn't speak English well. It constantly amazes me that people travel to a foreign country and EXPECT that everyone will speak English. That's an ugly American thing. And, it's more common than we thing. When I travel to a foreign country, where English isn't the norm, I make it a point to learn a few simple phrases in the native language. That's called courtesy and cultural awareness. My general experience is that people in other industrialized countries place far more importance on learning another language than Americans do.

Meh, demanding tourists come from all over. I spent 6 Summers as a tour guide. There were a LOT worse tourists than Americans, believe me. And again, coming from such a large nation where English is spoken, people come to expect it. Plus, the ugly American thing seems to be quite overblown:

http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/life/worlds-best-tourists-026319/

And no, I do not deny that Americans place less emphasis on learning a second language than do other nations. But, the reason is simply one of practicality, and nothing else.

Mackenzie Click-Mickelson · Dec 16, 2017

DisneyOma said:
So, if they don't need it they won't learn it? That, to me, is the epitome of laziness and arrogance.

ETA - the reason English is second is that it was agreed on to be the language for science. They almost picked German. I wish they had.

Well learning a language like truly learning it means also using it for retention purposes.

I took french one trimester in middle school, all 4 years in high school and 3 semesters in college (I had 1 semester in high school taken as college credit). In order to get my B.A. I had to take 4 total semesters (again for me 1 of my semesters in high school was taken as college credit). However, I used none of that outside of college. I can recognize french better than speak it but I'm still fairly rusty nowadays especially having been out of college for over 7 years and it's been a tad longer since I had taken a french course.

Now I can say that if I visit France or other francophone countries (even Canada) I can at least attempt to speak some french but in the grand scheme of things truth is I didn't actually need to learn it.

Now granted in my area spanish would have been more useful if we're just talking about exposure.

FWIW french is the official language in 29 countries and 15 dependent territories. English is the official language (and is the 3rd most spoken language in the world besides spanish and standard chinese) in 67 countries and 27 non-sovereign entities.

scrhsa · Dec 16, 2017

My husband's uncle brought a french bride back from WWll. When her girls were starting school the teacher told her to stop speaking french to them. It would confuse them. And she did. She regrets it now! That broke my heart when she told me!!

My great grandmother came over from Czechoslovakia and they would speak English out in public but speak Czech at home. I wish it had carried on down to my generation. I would love to be able to speak Czech...I could learn now but like an upthread poster talked about...I'm a bit too lazy for that

I've tried and learned a few words etc but too complicated for me!

declansdad · Dec 16, 2017

Gumbo4x4 said:
Meh, demanding tourists come from all over. I spent 6 Summers as a tour guide. There were a LOT worse tourists than Americans, believe me. And again, coming from such a large nation where English is spoken, people come to expect it. Plus, the ugly American thing seems to be quite overblown:

http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/life/worlds-best-tourists-026319/

And no, I do not deny that Americans place less emphasis on learning a second language than do other nations. But, the reason is simply one of practicality, and nothing else.

If that list is in reverse order I would agree with it completely.

Wishing on a star · Dec 16, 2017

mnrose said:
I dunno. You don't have to read very far into to Trip Advisor reviews to find Americans "complaining" that the staff at a Mexican resort doesn't speak English well. .

To be fair, and I do not feel that I am an 'Ugly American'...
IMHO, I think it is entirely reasonable for most all resorts in the Cancun area, which are closer to many in the U.S. than many other U.S. than some U.S. destinations, and who market VERY heavily to vacationers from this country, to have staff who can communicate and serve these vacationers, to some level, in English.

I would NOT expect this at hotels/resorts in all of Mexico, or in most other countries.

I think when it comes to an area like Cancun, it is it's own situation.

Wishing on a star · Dec 16, 2017

It has been a while since we traveled to a foriegn area, other than the Cancun area....
But, back the last time we did, at the airport in Europe, almost EVERYTHING was presented in 3-4 languages.
It actually really hit me, when we arrived back to the U.S. thru Chicago, a major international arrival, that everything was only in English.
Yes, that might be a real issue. And does show a lack of effort/diversity/etc...

Mackenzie Click-Mickelson · Dec 16, 2017

mnrose said:
I dunno. You don't have to read very far into to Trip Advisor reviews to find Americans "complaining" that the staff at a Mexican resort doesn't speak English well. It constantly amazes me that people travel to a foreign country and EXPECT that everyone will speak English. That's an ugly American thing. And, it's more common than we thing. When I travel to a foreign country, where English isn't the norm, I make it a point to learn a few simple phrases in the native language. That's called courtesy and cultural awareness. My general experience is that people in other industrialized countries place far more importance on learning another language than Americans do.

Well I sorta look at it a bit differently. If someone, anyone not just an American, went to Mexico itself and complained that people don't speak english well that's a different story than someone going to a heavily tourist spot, especially one where most visitors speak english, then I sorta get that viewpoint a bit more. Appreciation for the culture and those who speak another language is certaintly appreciative but so is also communicating with staff at a resort you are at--it's basic really if you're needing things or if you are ordering food or whatnot. Doesn't mean you have to be rude about it for sure. If you were visiting a heavily tourist spot where majority of visitors who didn't speak english went and then complained about lack of speaking english well then I would view that also like going into Mexico itself and complaining about lack of english being spoken well.

When we went on our honeymoon we went to St. Lucia and stayed at Sandals. Now St. Lucia has a complicated past. It is techincally a francophone country but is a commonwealth of nations connected to the U.K. as of 1979. However 95% of the population speaks a creole language that is derived from french and other languages mostly West African languages (so even knowing french wouldn't have helped me there as their creole was very different). The official language is english. St. Lucia relies heavily on tourism to support its economy (when we were there there were plenty of people from the U.S., Australia and the UK).

Their currency is Eastern Carribbean Dollar but U.S. dollars are accepted all over (though moreso in tourist-populated places). We went to an obscure, how in the world would you even know this was there unless someone local took you to it, small eatery on the side of the Piton mountains (remnants of a volcano) and their menu had prices in both Eastern Carribbean Dollars and U.S. dollars. We went there because we had an excursion where you were taken privately in a tour guide's vehicle touring Soufrière.

Now even if St. Lucia didn't have english as the official language I would hope that I could communicate enough with staff members at the resort. I heard plenty of creole spoken when staff and our tour guide was speaking to people they knew. That def. didn't bother me, we found it quite interesting really, but it would have made it more difficult if I couldn't have communicated with people at the resort. Now if I was visiting a resort where majority of visitors do not speak english then my expectations would obviously be different.

CarolAnn856 · Dec 16, 2017

I find it interesting that the people I know IRL who expect English to be spoken in foreign tourist destinations are the very same people who whine about having to give up all of 4 seconds of their lives to listen to "Para español, marque el número dos" when they call a US company that has Spanish-speaking customers.

(Oh, right, it's because "them durn foreigners otta be learnin' English!" Never mind that speaking about insurance or your cable bill or getting customer service help is far easier in your native language. SMH)

Wishing on a star · Dec 16, 2017

WOW.....
painting with a very very broad and negative brush, aren't you.

That was just plain rude....

dish rag · Dec 16, 2017

CarolAnn856 said:
I find it interesting that the people I know IRL who expect English to be spoken in foreign tourist destinations are the very same people who whine about having to give up all of 4 seconds of their lives to listen to "Para español, marque el número dos" when they call a US company that has Spanish-speaking customers.

(Oh, right, it's because "them durn foreigners otta be learnin' English!" Never mind that speaking about insurance or your cable bill or getting customer service help is far easier in your native language. SMH)

I wonder how many people you know who expect English to be spoken in foreign destinations. But my guess would be that them wanting people to speak English in the US is that they feel that people living there should learn to speak English. There is only one official language in the US. It's not right that my voting card and info in Florida comes in Spanish. I'm getting telemarketing calls in Spanish. The stop signs now in construction areas along I-4 are now in Spanish. In Canada things are in French and English as there are 2 official languages. That's the way it should be in that case. Unless the US becomes officially a duel language country, every thing should be in English only.

JaneBanks · Dec 16, 2017

The US does not have an official language. https://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_lang.html

declansdad · Dec 16, 2017

dish rag said:
I wonder how many people you know who expect English to be spoken in foreign destinations. But my guess would be that them wanting people to speak English in the US is that they feel that people living there should learn to speak English. There is only one official language in the US. It's not right that my voting card and info in Florida comes in Spanish. I'm getting telemarketing calls in Spanish. The stop signs now in construction areas along I-4 are now in Spanish. In Canada things are in French and English as there are 2 official languages. That's the way it should be in that case. Unless the US becomes officially a duel language country, every thing should be in English only.

There is no official language in the USA.

kimblebee · Dec 16, 2017

Gumbo4x4 said:
Meh, if every state had their own language, Americans would speak more languages. If you’re a tour guide in a part of the World where you might experience a dozen different languages in a 500 mile drive, of course you’re going to know more than one.

That’s not necessarily true. At my new job, our trainer is from India as well as a few of the trainees. I learned today that India has 26(?) states and that they all speak a different language. Our trainer ‘only’ spoke Hindi, and two others that I can’t remember. So, no, you won’t learn new languages if your country has different ones.

Heck, I’m Canadian and only speak English. I know French to get the jist of what’s being said, but just barely.

low-key · Dec 16, 2017

This is why I only eat at restaurants that no foreigner would want to eat at

Marchand63 · Dec 16, 2017

A few pennies shy of a dollar. Or just a whacko.

bcla · Dec 16, 2017

kimblebee said:
That’s not necessarily true. At my new job, our trainer is from India as well as a few of the trainees. I learned today that India has 26(?) states and that they all speak a different language. Our trainer ‘only’ spoke Hindi, and two others that I can’t remember. So, no, you won’t learn new languages if your country has different ones.

Heck, I’m Canadian and only speak English. I know French to get the jist of what’s being said, but just barely.

For the educated from India, English seems to be the common language. I was asking one coworker from India if he could carry on a conversation in Hindi and he said his English is much better. I think a lot of Indians might understand some Hindi (even if not fluent) because of how ubiquitous Hindi movies and TV are.

Marchand63 · Dec 16, 2017

bcla said:
For the educated from India, English seems to be the common language. I was asking one coworker from India if he could carry on a conversation in Hindi and he said his English is much better. I think a lot of Indians might understand some Hindi (even if not fluent) because of how ubiquitous Hindi movies and TV are.

Well the one I talked to today didn't quite grasp the concept if my hotel in Puerto Rico wasn't reopening until June 30 2018, why I needed to cancel my reservation for April 26, 2018, so English not so much.

tcufrog · Dec 16, 2017

My dh is from India. There are two official languages: Hindi and (British) English. Which language(s) are your first one(s) are mainly determined by your religion and region. For example, many Muslims won’t speak Hindi. My dh grew up attending an Indian consulate run school in Nigeria. The school language was British English because there was no way to choose an Indian language without offending someone.

Woman kicked out of a Starbucks, was complaining that other customers were speaking Korean

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