You're lucky to have the opportunity to spend time in Mexico. If I was able to get there I could only be a tourist and would struggle really to understand the culture. I used to spend a lot of time in Spain because it is close by, and I do see the value of being able to spend "slow time" in another country as opposed to 7 days on the beach. Spain has reopened to non-injected recently so I am hoping to get back there for October.
I fail to understand the USA though. Whenever I have been there everyone is incredibly proud of their culture, people tell me they are Irish, or Polish, and it doesn't seem to be a problem. Except Mexicans somehow don't count. I have a Spanish close friend married into an English family here and when they made a Disneyland trip to the US their local friends warned her not to reveal that she was/spoke Spanish because everyone would treat her like dirt. There's something not right with that.
I too am trying to speak Spanish when I am in Spain and it's coming along. A few years ago I went directly from Madrid to Los Angeles so the language was "fresh in my mind" and later while driving north I stopped at a taco place. The Mexican bloke genuinely didn't speak English and seemed absolutely floored when I was able to order stuff in basic Spanish.
I've had the exact opposite in Wales though - they are not keen on the English and switch to Welsh language to piss you off. Not much I can do about that except avoid lol.
I could be wrong, but what you're saying about Irish and Polish are people being proud of their heritage and not necessarily their culture. And to me, one should absolutely be proud of their heritage and culture, but if you move to a new country, you remain proud, but you make the effort to mold into the culture you're in and shouldn't try to turn your new country into your old country.
In any case, I also love the spanish language and am happy you've made efforts to learn it. I love spanish speaking culture and love the opportunity to immerse myself in it, but I want to be able to return home to the United States of America and don't want to leave latin culture only to return home to latin culture again. Just like I don't want to arrive into latin culture to only be surrounded by American culture. Why even travel or move abroad to begin with if that would be the case?
Sounds like we're both enjoying a stroll along a similar path.
What I meant to say was that some countries have official languages; Spain actually has five! Or closer to home for you check out Canada where it's officially English and French.
It's not the same for USA. I believe there is no federal official language? People can speak whatever language they want to. All I am saying is that much as you might want it to be an English-speaking country - it isn't. Latin people have an equal right to enjoy their culture and language in USA as any other nationality. If history had been different I actually think your dominant language could have been French or Dutch. New York was originally New Amsterdam so you can thank our Duke of York for today's large-scale use of English in the US.
Not that means "I know the answer" because I don't. Those other languages I mentioned in Spain cause a lot of conflict. Certainly there are places I visit in Spain - for example Barcelona - where the locals actively dislike and reject the Castellano Spanish language and culture and would prefer that I spoke English.
That’s my point exactly, Catalonia has talked about succession from a Spain for years, although Europe obviously have a much different history than the United States. When the US reached the 20th century, it was still a bunch of European immigrants with many different languages, my family is from Italy and Germany, but they arrived in early 1900s and learned English. They united under the American flag and the English language. One common flag and one common language. Not the “official” language but everyone knew it was unofficially official. I’m not talking about the small German speaking Amish or the French communities, even though they also fly the American flag and also speak English.
In the future we may have many languages far more widespread than the German Amish, and we may have many conflicts due to many languages and cultures trying to co-exist. There may be more talks of succession to accommodate Spanish speakers, and this is a future I do not want. This is a future that will divide. And I say this as a Spanish speaker.
Sweden will probably have a civil war in one or two generations between pro sharia Muslims and native Swedes. UK looks to be on that path too. I don’t want to follow in their footsteps. There is a reason Iceland is so peaceful and is lack of culture and language differences in the population. In any case I’ve said my peace, none of us can single handed change the outcome, good chat, have a nice day.
You're lucky to have the opportunity to spend time in Mexico. If I was able to get there I could only be a tourist and would struggle really to understand the culture. I used to spend a lot of time in Spain because it is close by, and I do see the value of being able to spend "slow time" in another country as opposed to 7 days on the beach. Spain has reopened to non-injected recently so I am hoping to get back there for October.
I fail to understand the USA though. Whenever I have been there everyone is incredibly proud of their culture, people tell me they are Irish, or Polish, and it doesn't seem to be a problem. Except Mexicans somehow don't count. I have a Spanish close friend married into an English family here and when they made a Disneyland trip to the US their local friends warned her not to reveal that she was/spoke Spanish because everyone would treat her like dirt. There's something not right with that.
I too am trying to speak Spanish when I am in Spain and it's coming along. A few years ago I went directly from Madrid to Los Angeles so the language was "fresh in my mind" and later while driving north I stopped at a taco place. The Mexican bloke genuinely didn't speak English and seemed absolutely floored when I was able to order stuff in basic Spanish.
I've had the exact opposite in Wales though - they are not keen on the English and switch to Welsh language to piss you off. Not much I can do about that except avoid lol.
I could be wrong, but what you're saying about Irish and Polish are people being proud of their heritage and not necessarily their culture. And to me, one should absolutely be proud of their heritage and culture, but if you move to a new country, you remain proud, but you make the effort to mold into the culture you're in and shouldn't try to turn your new country into your old country.
In any case, I also love the spanish language and am happy you've made efforts to learn it. I love spanish speaking culture and love the opportunity to immerse myself in it, but I want to be able to return home to the United States of America and don't want to leave latin culture only to return home to latin culture again. Just like I don't want to arrive into latin culture to only be surrounded by American culture. Why even travel or move abroad to begin with if that would be the case?
Sounds like we're both enjoying a stroll along a similar path.
What I meant to say was that some countries have official languages; Spain actually has five! Or closer to home for you check out Canada where it's officially English and French.
It's not the same for USA. I believe there is no federal official language? People can speak whatever language they want to. All I am saying is that much as you might want it to be an English-speaking country - it isn't. Latin people have an equal right to enjoy their culture and language in USA as any other nationality. If history had been different I actually think your dominant language could have been French or Dutch. New York was originally New Amsterdam so you can thank our Duke of York for today's large-scale use of English in the US.
Not that means "I know the answer" because I don't. Those other languages I mentioned in Spain cause a lot of conflict. Certainly there are places I visit in Spain - for example Barcelona - where the locals actively dislike and reject the Castellano Spanish language and culture and would prefer that I spoke English.
It's a strange world we live in but good luck.
That’s my point exactly, Catalonia has talked about succession from a Spain for years, although Europe obviously have a much different history than the United States. When the US reached the 20th century, it was still a bunch of European immigrants with many different languages, my family is from Italy and Germany, but they arrived in early 1900s and learned English. They united under the American flag and the English language. One common flag and one common language. Not the “official” language but everyone knew it was unofficially official. I’m not talking about the small German speaking Amish or the French communities, even though they also fly the American flag and also speak English.
In the future we may have many languages far more widespread than the German Amish, and we may have many conflicts due to many languages and cultures trying to co-exist. There may be more talks of succession to accommodate Spanish speakers, and this is a future I do not want. This is a future that will divide. And I say this as a Spanish speaker.
Sweden will probably have a civil war in one or two generations between pro sharia Muslims and native Swedes. UK looks to be on that path too. I don’t want to follow in their footsteps. There is a reason Iceland is so peaceful and is lack of culture and language differences in the population. In any case I’ve said my peace, none of us can single handed change the outcome, good chat, have a nice day.