Well now, I am sitting here writing again after not such a long time between posts, pretty good, if I say so myself.
I would like to pride myself on my extensive vocabulary and mostly proper use of the English language. I am also proud to say that I can say “Thank you.” in several other languages, probably not real important, but if I am stuck somewhere with a person of a different language background, I can hopefully say thank you to them without sounding like a jerk.
Don’t get me wrong, I like English, I speak it very well, it is my first, and only language. I have attempted to learn French, German and Spanish throughout my years, I can’t hold a conversation in any of them, but I can probably get my point across if necessary.
I understand that when a person comes from a different country (or even a different part of our country), English may not be their first language. They may not feel comfortable speaking English in public, but this being a primarily English part of the country, I think the effort should be made. I know when we went to Cuba back in November of 2013 we tried to speak Spanish to the locals, we probably made a good joke to them too. However, we did it. In a few weeks we’re planning on going to New York and Montreal, of course I will try to speak Spanish in New York and French in Montreal to the locals, at least to let them know that I am not trying to be rude.
One thing I REALLY hate is when you are in a public place and people speak in their native tongue (not English), and you are pretty sure they are talking about you. I know that can sound paranoid but still there should be some common decency. I suppose that some of these people are visiting and English isn’t their preferred language. I can understand that, but I know for a fact that when I go out to the mall or a restaurant the majority of the people are residents of our fair country and in my opinion should be speaking English.
I know that some people will switch into a different language when speaking to their family, perhaps it’s just easier to get their point across, perhaps it’s to talk disparagingly about the worker serving at the time, perhaps it’s to discuss finances without the rest of the world knowing; either way I believe that if you have something to say in English, and you can say it in English, SAY IT IN ENGLISH.
Now, this is not the reason for my blog post, I am wondering if I should close this rant and put my original idea in another post, this way it looks like I post a lot more than I probably do.
That’s what I will do. See you in my next post!
PANTALONES!!