Habla Inglés
Re “Overheard and under fire,” May 28
I am a second-language Spanish speaker, and I work hard to improve my fluency. I remember when I had a major breakthrough: I was in line at the checkout at a grocery store and I overheard and understood a conversation between a little girl and her mom. The girl wanted some candy, and the mom told her no but she could earn another treat that evening if she was good.
All at once, I realized that when we hear people speak in languages we don’t understand, what they are saying is, in most cases, boring. We all talk about the same everyday things in whatever language we choose. There is nothing to fear. Paul Andersen Santa Ana
Someone shouting at a Spanish-speaking child proves there are rude people on every side of every debate. Besides citing a few incidents of Spanish speakers being accosted in a country of more than 300 million people, there is no real evidence of how common this is.
It is nice to learn a language other than English. I’m on my third. But it is not necessary. For decades I was able to deal with many Spanish-speaking clients, even though I don’t speak Spanish.
English is the world’s language. When Italians meet and do business with Japanese people, English is spoken. Doctors in many countries need to know English because medical texts are not translated into many languages.
Fluent English is more necessary here, and the sooner children learn to speak it, the better. This is why my father and fatherin-law didn’t speak their parents’ native languages as children. David Goodwin
Pasadena
As an American, I am embarrassed that some of us denigrate those who speak another language in public.
English is my first language, but I also proudly converse in Spanish, some German and a bit of French, and I read Hebrew and can muddle along in Yiddish. When visiting other countries, I try and learn enough of their language so I can converse with locals. Sometimes, English may be the common currency.
I say I proudly speak Spanish, because it gives me pleasure to speak to people I may not otherwise have a chance to know. As a result, my life is richer for it.
If you’re “offended” by someone speaking another language in your presence, that makes you a fool. Ricc Bieber
Northridge