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Does The US Need Bi-lingual Employees? »

Posted by: JaneMay 2 years, 5 months ago

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40 percent of the people in California speak languages other than English at home. Spanish is most common (26 percent) followed distantly (2 percent or less) by Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, Armenian, Japanese, German and Persian. What does this mean for businesses?

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JaneMay

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Comments: 106

Avg rating: (+6/-5 1)
trnscndr
May 24, 2007, 1:19 p.m.
How about multilingual? And should we discriminate against Americans in order to accommodate this job requirement?
It has become the number one excuse for excluding Americans from jobs in America.
Avg rating: (+7/-0 7)
jordan11
May 24, 2007, 1:25 p.m.
What concerns me about this, is the disadvantage it puts us in. An outstanding employee may be passed over simply on the basis of language skills, & an employee added that is not the best choice.
Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)
jovial
May 24, 2007, 2:31 p.m.
Knowing another language is invaluable in the business field. Being able to speak in more than one one language is invaluable to international customer service. We need to emphasize multilingual enducation in order to stay competitive in today's markets.
Avg rating: (+6/-4 2)
Waterkeeper
May 24, 2007, 2:42 p.m.
I do business with customers throughout Europe and Mexico. Just about everybody speaks English nowadays. Its very easy to communicate and make my way around. Who needs another language?
Avg rating: (+2/-8 -6)
BronxBomber
May 24, 2007, 3:52 p.m.
It's a necessary implement for jobs that may require interaction with people who are not so americanized as the case nowadays. Heck! I wish I could speak better Spanish than I actually could. I'd get more opportunities job-wise,& I'm of hispanic descent.
Avg rating: (+9/-1 8)
Hobe
May 24, 2007, 5:01 p.m.
'Does The US Need Bi-lingual Employees?'
The US Congress and Senator's refuse to Control Illegel Immagration... Southern Cal. and South Florida is a disgrace.
This trend will never be controlled??? With Open Boarders and Uncontrolled immagration, English will be a second Language..
Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)
DrWatson
May 24, 2007, 6:08 p.m.
I have no problem if you can speak multiple languages but if you can't speak fluent English, then how can you progress in the work place.
Just like you would struggle in Mexico if you don't speak Spanish, or Chinese in China.
Avg rating: (+4/-0 4)
oldgringo
May 24, 2007, 6:12 p.m.
I remember most of us were required to take a second language in junior high and high school. I took Spanish and "arrogantly" told my teacher I would never have any use for it. 30 years later I'm working in Mexico, married to a beautiful Mexican woman who is just learning English. The problem for most of us is that although we took a foreign language, we rarely had the opportunity to use it. The idea that our education system is to blame or that we're all "arrogant" is just ridiculous.
Avg rating: (+8/-2 6)
2Labs
May 24, 2007, 7:07 p.m.
Our government shouldn't be burdened with accomodating those who come from other nations. The U.S. has alot to offer and that draws people here. The least they could do in return is assimilate and learn the language. I don't think thats asking to much.
From a business stand point. A business should do whatever is wise to increase its profitability and if that means learning your customers language then so be it.
Avg rating: (+1/-12 -11)
Tigra
May 24, 2007, 8:15 p.m.
It would only make sense for America to have multilingual employees being that America is comprised of so many ethnicities and foreigners. BUT, at the same time, I dont believe any qualified candidate should be excluded even if they dont speak another language. In the MYC metro a lot of employees for smaller businesses advertise they seek spanish speaking candidates, and if one doesnt meet that requirement, they are excluded. I personally do not speak another language, but I wish I did.
Avg rating: (+0/-5 -5)
denden79
May 24, 2007, 9:27 p.m.
As the saying goes: "Welcome to America, now speak english!"
This is our national language. The Italian, German, Polish, Chinese, African, emmigrants all learned the NATIONAL language of America: ENGLISH.
The latinos are no different. I will not learn their language, they are expected to learn ours. It doesn't matter is they are in Rhode Island, Los Angeles, or Birmingham, OUR language is ENGLISH, and that's a fact!
If they choose not to, then they don't fit in, they are NOT part of the UNITED STATES, and they are NOT welcome here!
Avg rating: (+0/-5 -5)
jonmaverick
May 24, 2007, 9:39 p.m.
Peace everybody. Different languages exist so people can talk about other people without them knowing. If there was one world language, it would have to be English, so we arrogant and stupid Americans could understand.
Avg rating: (+1/-0 1)
ningyo
May 24, 2007, 10:08 p.m.
la rasa propaganda
Avg rating: (+4/-0 4)
Natureboy
May 24, 2007, 11:12 p.m.
I've got news for you. Many US employees cannot even communicate a coherent thought in ONE language. I worked in corporate America for many years and I have seen middle and even top management suits that could not draft an intelligible memo or even differentiate between a complete sentence and a phrase.
Bilingual would just be gravy...
Avg rating: (+5/-0 5)
match
May 24, 2007, 11:29 p.m.
I completely agree with most people not being able to coherently communicate in 1 language, let alone 2. People should strive to communicate effectively in all languages they know.
Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)
thalazy
May 25, 2007, 12:48 a.m.
I think first we need people who live in America and work must be fluent in English, then we can worry about Americans learning a foreign language. I don't think we need them(bi-lingual employees), but are they beneficial? You bet.
Avg rating: (+1/-0 1)
AntiNeoCon
May 25, 2007, 1:15 a.m.
I think we should learn to speak the language of whatever country we live in. A second language would be nice learn however. I don't see the Mexicans, French, Germans, etc putting a "for english press 2" on their telephones.
Avg rating: (+12/-0 12)
aceofspades1
May 25, 2007, 2:11 a.m.
Like it or not we live on a global scale now & the ability to communicate in several languages is just good business. I do a lot of travelling & know enough words in the language of the country I am visiting to be able to meet my basic needs. Most business people in other countries have some knowledge of English, so if you make any attempt to speak in their language I have found that they really try to speak English.
Air Traffic control is done in English because it meets the needs of a common language to speak to the pilots.
Avg rating: (+11/-1 10)
aceofspades1
May 25, 2007, 2:14 a.m.
While travelling in other countries I have found a humorous condition afflicting many Americans, When they are confronted by someone not very well versed in English they tend to speak louder & louder as if the person was deaf & shouting at them will make them understand.
Avg rating: (+14/-0 14)
CatholicRedneck
May 25, 2007, 3:24 a.m.
Oh sure. The next fifty years will look pretty much like the last fifty years, with the usual ups and downs. Globalism will march on. BALONEY!
I'm convinced the US has no future. Instead, I believe it'll be dissolved into a multitude of squabbling nations. And the Europeans will have their hands full with their unassimilated Muslims. Then there's peak oil. We're living in the golden age of globalism - enjoy it while it lasts.
Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)
RabidBanana
May 25, 2007, 3:58 a.m.
i don't know about dissolving i can defintely see states like Hawaii Alaska Texas and California removing themselves but as for the midland i think it' stuck together
Avg rating: (+7/-0 7)
nostalgia
May 25, 2007, 6:25 a.m.
Look at the help wanted section in the newspapers. Many require English/Spanish language skills.
What really is troubling in the Dallas-Ft Worth area - we are seeing more stories about US citizens actually losing their jobs because they can't speak Spanish. Most are low income workers.
Avg rating: (+5/-0 5)
tomtomtomtom
May 25, 2007, 6:32 a.m.
Whilst Spanish is the most widely spoken second language of the US, I see it as merely another community language, which shouldn't be allowed more of a status than any other foreign language spoken in the US. In that sense, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Thai, Lao, Khmer, Malay, German, French and even Zulu should be regarded in equal terms, the only difference being that Spanish has considerably more speakers.
Whilst it is relevant to ask for a job applicant to possess language skills other than English, what I can't understand is that in a world where even in Spanish speaking countries foreigners get spoken to in English, there are people who can't speak the world's most important language in the United States. The fact that they speak with a strong accent isn't the issue, that's normal. In any case, as I mentioned above, it is impossible to get a decent job in the US without an ability to speak English.
Avg rating: (+1/-8 -7)
tomtomtomtom
May 25, 2007, 6:41 a.m.
While I haven't been to the southern US in many years, the last time being when I was a young boy, what I would like to know is this: If someone who looks obviously non-Mexican or non-South American (i.e. non-hispanic), say a westerner, Asian or African American talks to a hispanic person, I would imagine that the hispanic person would assume that the non-hispanic looking person can't speak Spanish and thus start speaking English (or not speak at all) until or unless the non-hispanic person can prove or make it clear that they can indeed speak Spanish.
While I understand that in countries where a person who to the local population looks like a foreigner (or is indeed a foreigner, but may be living in that country) would be addressed in English until or unless they make it clear that they can speak the local language, I can't imagine that to be any different in the southern US amongst the hispanic population or in any south American country.
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