Having had the television on all weekend, I noticed that many commercials are now all in Spanish. I am watching basic cable here, not the Spanish speaking channels. From the images on the commercials I can understand what product they are advertising, but their presence as interruptions for all English programming is quite alarming.
At first, Spanish was introduced as an option on certain cable channels. All Spanish programming has been in existence in America for quite some time. Next the language is offered as an option on all customer service calls. Today, billboards, signs, menus, just about everywhere you go there is alternative brochures written in Spanish. Slowly, Spanish is entering our local programming - now with a Spanish commercial every now and then, but what is next? Is the media trying to tell us something?
It seems to me that everyone in America will soon know Spanish, not out of necessity or desire, but since so much is being translated to Spanish we can't leave the house or make a phone call anymore without seeing or hearing the language. I'm almost wondering if English will be phased out and Spanish will be the new language of the United States. The media and all businesses appear to be stressing the importance of learning Spanish. I know a fair bit of espanol and don't mind speaking it, but I'm just wondering where our country will be left if we continue to adapt to all who come here, whether legally or illegally.
Say French Canadians decide they want to move to America as well (though, with the American economy the way it is, I can see 50 years from now all of the Mexicans moving back to Mexico to get better paying jobs than those available here - since American production companies seem to be moving to Mexico), will we then need to wait when calling customer service for all of the numbers we would press depending on which language we would prefer? I can see the television programming of the future! The same show aired every hour, but each version with a different language to be sure to accommodate everyone! It's not like many are coming up with creative new ideas for awesome network shows anyway, so why not just air the same episode 12 times to cover any language an American may speak.
I'm not really sure how I feel about the slow transition to a Spanish speaking America, but in some aspects, I don't think it's really all that fair. My great-grandparents came to America not speaking any English - only Polish. Did everyone in America fight to learn Polish and air only Polish programming so they would feel more at home? Nope. They had to use their children to help them communicate with the world - their children who were taught English. What I don't understand is why those immigrants from Mexico are more important than those who came over to America from the rest of the world speaking other languages? Is this only being done so we can further promote cheap labor? Is introducing Spanish as a new national language being to to encourage more to enter out country illegally and take jobs under the minimum wage? Are bribes to blame? There MUST be some sort of reason for these changes and my bet is that it has to do with money.
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Where do you live? With the exception of a few (very few) late night commercials on the local channels, I've never heard a Spanish commercial on my TV, and I live in an area with a pretty good hispanic population.
Also note that not all spanish-speaking individuals come from Mexico. There's plenty of other Latin American countries they could come from as well.
~C
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I'm in Indiana. We have quite a substantial Hispanic population, but I was still surprised about the commercials. It just seems that our country is slowly preparing us all to learn the language, which I am not entirely against since I already know quite a bit of Spanish. I am more concerned that perhaps the change is being initiated by business owners in possible bribes so they can hire cheap labor.
Just a conspiracy theory of mine - I have too much time on my hands apparently!
It's not a discreet conspiracy by the media to change us all into Spanish speakers, it's about the money. Those TV stations don't care what commercial is on their channels as long as they're getting paid in full for them. On a slightly related note, I think it's a good idea for English to be officially named the national language, for national cohesiveness, but the many languages spoken in the US, including Spanish, lend to the diversity in the US that is extremely rare elsewhere in the world.
You're right - it isn't the media, it's those who create the commercials. I do question their motives, though.
There isn't really an official language in the US, just a majority one. If Spanish speaking becomes the majority, then so be it. We don't have a national language.
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Your Tongue is a Rudder; It Steers the Whole Ship, Sends Your Words Past Your Lips or Keeps Them Safe Behind Your Teeth... [Brand New]
Right, I know there isn't one. Our official language, according to World Book, or any other encyclopedia, is "None." I'm saying there should be one. Preferable English.
Factual segue: did you know that there are more English speakers in China than there are people (speaking ANY language) in America? English would make a good national language because it's widely spoken in the US and the entire world. In fact, it is the most spoken language in the world, topping off Spanish, Arabic, French, and even Mandarin.
Good point :)
I know you didn't say much [in that comment], but I've never really heard a decent argument for national language. I'm still not sure there should be one, but I'm not denying that the arguments for it are invalid :)
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Your Tongue is a Rudder; It Steers the Whole Ship, Sends Your Words Past Your Lips or Keeps Them Safe Behind Your Teeth... [Brand New]
Right. Arguing for English as the national language will just open a whopping big can of worms... I'll also agree that our diversity is important. Besides, what point is there in having English as the “official” language when it's already the de facto national language? The arguments can go both ways; I favor making English officially the national language, but either way, it probably won't matter very much...
Not having a national language sort of segregates everyone. Maybe it's just me, but I always get royally pissed when I call a customer service line and I get someone in India that I can't understand and who can't understand me. I hate taking the extra time to try and reword my reason for calling 500 times until the person on the other end figures it out just so they can repeat the solution to my issue 500 times because I don't understand them. I hated even going to a fast food place when I lived in Washington D.C. because no one that worked there knew English. I once spent 10 minutes trying to explain what mustard was.
On the plus side, I guess more jobs would open up if every retail store and restaurant needed to hire a representative of each language so customers will not have to experience any inconveniences with language barriers.