ebrown_p wrote:I have found that most business here treat their customers, both English speaking and other, with respect. They do go more than half-way.
If a business is rude to their customers, they will lose business. I don´t see how language has anything to do with it.
Would you prefer that business were rude to you in English? Would this change your reaction?
I also have found that most immigrants are working very hard to learn English. Maybe you don´t know how much work it is to master a new language.
1) don't know anything about beantown. i'm talking about l.a. that's a completely different reality. you need to understand that.
you also need to understand that there are a lot of businesses here that don't give a **** if another american ever comes in their store. language, or lack of it is used to dissuade us from returning.
2) no. i don't like rude service in any language and it's silly to throw that out.
3) once again, don't know about where you live. but seeing as how my wife is part of the esl staff at the local community college, and that esl enrollment has been falling the last couple of years, despite the continuous influx of immigrants....
you figure it out...
4) yeah, learning a new language is hard. as hard a you make it, that is.
i've never taken a spanish class in my life, yet i can hold rudimentary conversations when i want to. not great, but enough to work things out with coworkers and joke around a little with my mexican pals. (yeah. i have a few. my best man at our wedding is mexicano.
spanish, like drew said, has become a big part of life in so.cal.
but, with the gazillion channels of english language television, dvds and radio, those who want to, can learn passible english fairly quickly. but there's no excuse for a person to have lived here for as long as 20 years and speak no english.