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In which states (USA) can someone “live easily without speaking any Englishâ€�
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Russian polyglot Dmitry Petrov said in this video:
...øÑÂÿðýÑÂúøù ÑÂ÷ыú ýðÑÂтуÿðõт ðýóûøùÑÂúþüу ÑÂ÷ыúу ýð ÿÑÂтúø. Üы ÷ýðõü, чтþ ò áèàõÑÂть ýõÑÂúþûьúþ штðтþò, óôõ üþöýþ ÑÂòþñþôýþ öøть, ÷ýðѠøÑÂÿðýÑÂúøù.
Translation for this quote (thanks for @Enguroo for the correct translation):
Spanish is "snapping at the heels of English". We know that in America there are a few states where one can live easily without speaking any English.
Which (USA) states is Petrov referring to?
american-english spanish bilingual
edited Aug 26 at 17:40
Mari-Lou A
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asked Aug 26 at 2:46
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show 32 more comments
up vote
4
down vote
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Russian polyglot Dmitry Petrov said in this video:
...øÑÂÿðýÑÂúøù ÑÂ÷ыú ýðÑÂтуÿðõт ðýóûøùÑÂúþüу ÑÂ÷ыúу ýð ÿÑÂтúø. Üы ÷ýðõü, чтþ ò áèàõÑÂть ýõÑÂúþûьúþ штðтþò, óôõ üþöýþ ÑÂòþñþôýþ öøть, ÷ýðѠøÑÂÿðýÑÂúøù.
Translation for this quote (thanks for @Enguroo for the correct translation):
Spanish is "snapping at the heels of English". We know that in America there are a few states where one can live easily without speaking any English.
Which (USA) states is Petrov referring to?
american-english spanish bilingual
edited Aug 26 at 17:40
Mari-Lou A
60k52208434
asked Aug 26 at 2:46
misdeed
1589
4
Many states, depending on region. Moreso in the Mexico border states, of course. But you can also do it here in New York City itself. And many 3rd generation Chinese in Chinatown - the whole neighborhood - never learn to speak English. There are dedicated media, everything. You speak Russian - you could live in Brighton Beach here and never speak a word of English in your life. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. In New York alone there are 176 different and unique languages spoken! America is a pluralistic society.
– Dan Bron
Aug 26 at 3:17
5
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because determining where one can live without using English isn't really about the English language or its usage.
– Lawrence
Aug 26 at 5:46
3
@Lawrence I’m usually close-vote happy, but I differ from you on this one. Distributional analysis is scholastic topic.
– Dan Bron
Aug 26 at 6:33
7
It’s a ridiculous statement to begin with. First off, what does ‘live easily’ mean? At what point is life ‘easy’? I’ve known several people who lived in very monolingual Beijing and led quite easy lives overall despite not speaking a word of Mandarin (conversely, I’ve known many locals living in the same city and leading exceedingly hard lives). And “some states†is far too vague. You can get by with Spanish only in Spanish Harlem just fine; it’ll be much harder in Ithaca or Binghamton, though they’re also both in the state of New York.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Aug 26 at 10:38
2
@Mitch I agree; my comment was aimed specifically at Petrov, not the question here. I do feel like this isn’t the best Stack for the question, though; Skeptics would probably be a better fit, since it’s basically a question doubting the objective veracity of a claim (about English).
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Aug 26 at 12:10
 |Â
show 32 more comments
up vote
4
down vote
favorite
up vote
4
down vote
favorite
Russian polyglot Dmitry Petrov said in this video:
...øÑÂÿðýÑÂúøù ÑÂ÷ыú ýðÑÂтуÿðõт ðýóûøùÑÂúþüу ÑÂ÷ыúу ýð ÿÑÂтúø. Üы ÷ýðõü, чтþ ò áèàõÑÂть ýõÑÂúþûьúþ штðтþò, óôõ üþöýþ ÑÂòþñþôýþ öøть, ÷ýðѠøÑÂÿðýÑÂúøù.
Translation for this quote (thanks for @Enguroo for the correct translation):
Spanish is "snapping at the heels of English". We know that in America there are a few states where one can live easily without speaking any English.
Which (USA) states is Petrov referring to?
american-english spanish bilingual
edited Aug 26 at 17:40
Mari-Lou A
60k52208434
asked Aug 26 at 2:46
misdeed
1589
Russian polyglot Dmitry Petrov said in this video:
...øÑÂÿðýÑÂúøù ÑÂ÷ыú ýðÑÂтуÿðõт ðýóûøùÑÂúþüу ÑÂ÷ыúу ýð ÿÑÂтúø. Üы ÷ýðõü, чтþ ò áèàõÑÂть ýõÑÂúþûьúþ штðтþò, óôõ üþöýþ ÑÂòþñþôýþ öøть, ÷ýðѠøÑÂÿðýÑÂúøù.
Translation for this quote (thanks for @Enguroo for the correct translation):
Spanish is "snapping at the heels of English". We know that in America there are a few states where one can live easily without speaking any English.
Which (USA) states is Petrov referring to?
american-english spanish bilingual
edited Aug 26 at 17:40
Mari-Lou A
60k52208434
asked Aug 26 at 2:46
misdeed
1589
edited Aug 26 at 17:40
Mari-Lou A
60k52208434
edited Aug 26 at 17:40
Mari-Lou A
60k52208434
edited Aug 26 at 17:40
Mari-Lou A
60k52208434
60k52208434
asked Aug 26 at 2:46
misdeed
1589
asked Aug 26 at 2:46
misdeed
1589
asked Aug 26 at 2:46
misdeed
1589
1589
4
Many states, depending on region. Moreso in the Mexico border states, of course. But you can also do it here in New York City itself. And many 3rd generation Chinese in Chinatown - the whole neighborhood - never learn to speak English. There are dedicated media, everything. You speak Russian - you could live in Brighton Beach here and never speak a word of English in your life. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. In New York alone there are 176 different and unique languages spoken! America is a pluralistic society.
– Dan Bron
Aug 26 at 3:17
5
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because determining where one can live without using English isn't really about the English language or its usage.
– Lawrence
Aug 26 at 5:46
3
@Lawrence I’m usually close-vote happy, but I differ from you on this one. Distributional analysis is scholastic topic.
– Dan Bron
Aug 26 at 6:33
7
It’s a ridiculous statement to begin with. First off, what does ‘live easily’ mean? At what point is life ‘easy’? I’ve known several people who lived in very monolingual Beijing and led quite easy lives overall despite not speaking a word of Mandarin (conversely, I’ve known many locals living in the same city and leading exceedingly hard lives). And “some states†is far too vague. You can get by with Spanish only in Spanish Harlem just fine; it’ll be much harder in Ithaca or Binghamton, though they’re also both in the state of New York.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Aug 26 at 10:38
2
@Mitch I agree; my comment was aimed specifically at Petrov, not the question here. I do feel like this isn’t the best Stack for the question, though; Skeptics would probably be a better fit, since it’s basically a question doubting the objective veracity of a claim (about English).
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Aug 26 at 12:10
 |Â
show 32 more comments
4
Many states, depending on region. Moreso in the Mexico border states, of course. But you can also do it here in New York City itself. And many 3rd generation Chinese in Chinatown - the whole neighborhood - never learn to speak English. There are dedicated media, everything. You speak Russian - you could live in Brighton Beach here and never speak a word of English in your life. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. In New York alone there are 176 different and unique languages spoken! America is a pluralistic society.
– Dan Bron
Aug 26 at 3:17
5
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because determining where one can live without using English isn't really about the English language or its usage.
– Lawrence
Aug 26 at 5:46
3
@Lawrence I’m usually close-vote happy, but I differ from you on this one. Distributional analysis is scholastic topic.
– Dan Bron
Aug 26 at 6:33
7
It’s a ridiculous statement to begin with. First off, what does ‘live easily’ mean? At what point is life ‘easy’? I’ve known several people who lived in very monolingual Beijing and led quite easy lives overall despite not speaking a word of Mandarin (conversely, I’ve known many locals living in the same city and leading exceedingly hard lives). And “some states†is far too vague. You can get by with Spanish only in Spanish Harlem just fine; it’ll be much harder in Ithaca or Binghamton, though they’re also both in the state of New York.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Aug 26 at 10:38
2
@Mitch I agree; my comment was aimed specifically at Petrov, not the question here. I do feel like this isn’t the best Stack for the question, though; Skeptics would probably be a better fit, since it’s basically a question doubting the objective veracity of a claim (about English).
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Aug 26 at 12:10
4
4
Many states, depending on region. Moreso in the Mexico border states, of course. But you can also do it here in New York City itself. And many 3rd generation Chinese in Chinatown - the whole neighborhood - never learn to speak English. There are dedicated media, everything. You speak Russian - you could live in Brighton Beach here and never speak a word of English in your life. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. In New York alone there are 176 different and unique languages spoken! America is a pluralistic society.
– Dan Bron
Aug 26 at 3:17
Many states, depending on region. Moreso in the Mexico border states, of course. But you can also do it here in New York City itself. And many 3rd generation Chinese in Chinatown - the whole neighborhood - never learn to speak English. There are dedicated media, everything. You speak Russian - you could live in Brighton Beach here and never speak a word of English in your life. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. In New York alone there are 176 different and unique languages spoken! America is a pluralistic society.
– Dan Bron
Aug 26 at 3:17
5
5
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because determining where one can live without using English isn't really about the English language or its usage.
– Lawrence
Aug 26 at 5:46
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because determining where one can live without using English isn't really about the English language or its usage.
– Lawrence
Aug 26 at 5:46
3
3
@Lawrence I’m usually close-vote happy, but I differ from you on this one. Distributional analysis is scholastic topic.
– Dan Bron
Aug 26 at 6:33
@Lawrence I’m usually close-vote happy, but I differ from you on this one. Distributional analysis is scholastic topic.
– Dan Bron
Aug 26 at 6:33
7
7
It’s a ridiculous statement to begin with. First off, what does ‘live easily’ mean? At what point is life ‘easy’? I’ve known several people who lived in very monolingual Beijing and led quite easy lives overall despite not speaking a word of Mandarin (conversely, I’ve known many locals living in the same city and leading exceedingly hard lives). And “some states†is far too vague. You can get by with Spanish only in Spanish Harlem just fine; it’ll be much harder in Ithaca or Binghamton, though they’re also both in the state of New York.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Aug 26 at 10:38
It’s a ridiculous statement to begin with. First off, what does ‘live easily’ mean? At what point is life ‘easy’? I’ve known several people who lived in very monolingual Beijing and led quite easy lives overall despite not speaking a word of Mandarin (conversely, I’ve known many locals living in the same city and leading exceedingly hard lives). And “some states†is far too vague. You can get by with Spanish only in Spanish Harlem just fine; it’ll be much harder in Ithaca or Binghamton, though they’re also both in the state of New York.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Aug 26 at 10:38
2
2
@Mitch I agree; my comment was aimed specifically at Petrov, not the question here. I do feel like this isn’t the best Stack for the question, though; Skeptics would probably be a better fit, since it’s basically a question doubting the objective veracity of a claim (about English).
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Aug 26 at 12:10
@Mitch I agree; my comment was aimed specifically at Petrov, not the question here. I do feel like this isn’t the best Stack for the question, though; Skeptics would probably be a better fit, since it’s basically a question doubting the objective veracity of a claim (about English).
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Aug 26 at 12:10
 |Â
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3 Answers
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2
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Summary: For Spanish, southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, southern Florida, plus many urban areas further north. There may be pockets of other languages but they are small. See wikipedia for links to data.
'Easy to live' means, language-wise, that you can show up to most any business and expect that someone there will know Spanish. Groceries, banks, post office. One could be super-rich and hire a translator, or have a family member who is bilingual to do all these things, but those aren't easy to do. The idea Petrov is trying to get across is that there are so many Spanish speaking people and so much cultural acceptance of Spanish that it is not hidden in the home, like many immigrant or colonial languages are, and that there is enough concentration (not just one 'specialty' grocery store).
As to 'state', that's a bit of exaggeration. You can't go absolutely anywhere in those states and be guaranteed someone you don't know will be available to speak Spanish. But, and this is I think Petrov's point, that for large parts of those places I mentioned, you do have a guarantee.
In the big city areas in those places mentioned, there you'll be able to go to banks, buy property, and even conduct some legal matters. Even though the US doesn't have English as an officially mandated language of law, all records of laws are recorded in English. That said, translation services are almost always allowed in a court. Also, almost all US official forms have Spanish translations.
US has a number of immigrants populations with concentrations, but Spanish, as a seemingly non-standard language, is very widespread.
What all this means is that, as a native Spanish speaker, if you don't know any English at all, you'd be able to conduct business/daily life outside the home in Spanish with few problems.
There are a lot of complications to the above. Just one example: there are many 'second generation', children of those who immigrated, who may speak Spanish at home, but very often speak only English, with only hearing proficiency in Spanish.
answered Aug 28 at 13:58
Mitch
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Hardly a neutral phrase, Petrov’s “snapping at the heels of English†ignores three important factors: (1) the history of the states bordering Mexico, which once were part of that country and thus had Spanish-speaking residents before they became US states, (2) English as language of instruction in public schools, and (3) that growth in the Hispanic demographic, which until the Great Recession was fastest across the nation, does not necessarily correlate with native language, now or in the future.
For instance, incumbent Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, by his own admission, speaks rather poor Spanish (his father is Cuban), while his challenger, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who grew up in El Paso, is bilingual, though his Mexican Spanish has a moderate American accent. Cruz has a Texas accent, while O'Rourke does not. These social realities aren't easily crammed into statistics, but do suggest that the cultural and linguistic character of the states bordering Mexico are more nuanced than one might think.
Even so, with 41 million native speakers of Spanish and a further 11 million bilinguals in the US, the only country in the world with more is Mexico.
The statistics for the Hispanic demographic in the states bordering Mexico are as follows:
In both California and Texas 39% of the population is Hispanic, about a quarter of whom speak only English at home. In Arizona, 31% are Hispanic, of which 34% are English only. The population of New Mexico is 48% Hispanic, with 39% English only. This comes out all told to around 29 million people, minus the English-only Hispanics still a healthy majority of Spanish speakers in the US. The lower percentage of English only in California and Texas testifies to both more recent immigration and heavy concentrations of Spanish speakers in particular areas, in Texas basically anywhere south of the Nueces River and in Far West Texas.
South Florida is another example: although only 24% Hispanic in the whole state, 83% speak Spanish at home, likely a result of their concentration in only a few Florida counties. The large number of Puerto Ricans moving to Florida after the hurricane will likely change these statistics if they choose to remain.
What this vast number of Hispanophones in the US does not have, however, is a K-12 mono- or bilingual educational system, like, say, Francophone Canadians in Quebec. This alone prevents any serious heel-snapping: adults can get by in their daily lives, even vote, without ever uttering a word of English, but their children will be at least bilingual, and, unfortunately, uneducated in their first language.
This may be changing. In 2016 California voters approved Proposition 58, which removed previous restrictions on bilingual education, but it is still too early to tell what such a program would look like beyond assurances that families could choose either a traditional monolingual English program or a bilingual one.
So where would be the best place to live if you speak only Spanish? It depends on what lifestyle you prefer, neighborhoods in Los Angeles or San Diego, Spanish Harlem, or something more relaxed but still urban, in which case Beto's hometown has much to offer: El Paso. It's 80.7% Hispanic and has far more amenities than, say, Laredo (95.6% Hispanic). But if your thing is fantastic avocados, canteloupe, and 10 lb. sacks of oranges for cheap, head for the Rio Grande Valley.
answered Aug 26 at 9:08
KarlG
16.7k52749
1
@Mari-LouA: If you've never eaten an avocado or canteloupe from the Valley, you can't possibly know what I'm talking about. I did, however, change the first sentence to eliminate any ambiguity.
– KarlG
Aug 26 at 9:56
Aren't those just Mexican blood advocados too?
– JJJ
Aug 26 at 10:19
1
You are right about the phrase “snapping at the heels of Englishâ€Â. It’s not neutral at all. And that Russian is not a scholar either. He is a polyglot, according to the OP. I wish he would read your answer.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 12:40
Excellent answer, though I think the original quote was misrepresented in the translation. The original line in Russian simply states that "Spanish is at English's heels." The snapping bit was suggested later by another user. It is also correct that the guy is no scholar, he's just a minor celebrity whose popularity among certain audiences is a mystery to many.
– undercat
Aug 26 at 14:24
1
@undercat in the Russian line you are talking about there is an idiom which means to compete strongly with someone or something and have a chance of soon defeating or replacing them, so it’s very similar to “to snap at one’s heelsâ€Â. It’s not correct to say that it should be interpreted as “to be at one’s heelsâ€Â. That Russian polyglot really meant that Spanish might replace English, at least in some states (not just neighborhoods).
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 15:14
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The question seems to be simple but there is no single right answer, I think. The national language of the USA is English (de facto). If you want to make your life there easy, you need to be able to speak, read, write in English, and understand what people around you say (not only in some areas but anywhere across the country). But even if you can do all of those things, it doesn't mean your life gets easy. What do we mean by easy after all?
Anyway, in 2009 I visited the USA (the state of New York) and stayed there for 4 months. I was happy to meet a lovely lady in her 50s, whose parents had immigrated from Puerto Rico when she was still a child. And she told me that her parents had never learnt English. They lived in a Spanish-speaking area, socializing with Spanish-speaking people only. Even though they lived in the US for decades, they never used English - they just couldn't and they were not that eager to learn. But I remember I could hear regret in that lady's voice...
I think there may be people able to answer this question better. But let's be realistic. No matter how easy it is for us to live in the US without speaking English, being able to speak English will make our life even easier.
answered Aug 26 at 3:36
Enguroo
1,5151320
4
Feel free to use or ignore en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… and wordsmeet.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/11-13_spanish_2012.jpg
– Mari-Lou A
Aug 26 at 4:53
2
If I remember well, there is no official language at the national level, in the USA. Many states made English official, but not all of them.
– spectras
Aug 26 at 13:19
3
@spectras you are right. English is just the most commonly used, and it is the de facto national language of the United States.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 14:50
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3 Answers
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3 Answers
3
active
oldest
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active
oldest
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active
oldest
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up vote
2
down vote
accepted
Summary: For Spanish, southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, southern Florida, plus many urban areas further north. There may be pockets of other languages but they are small. See wikipedia for links to data.
'Easy to live' means, language-wise, that you can show up to most any business and expect that someone there will know Spanish. Groceries, banks, post office. One could be super-rich and hire a translator, or have a family member who is bilingual to do all these things, but those aren't easy to do. The idea Petrov is trying to get across is that there are so many Spanish speaking people and so much cultural acceptance of Spanish that it is not hidden in the home, like many immigrant or colonial languages are, and that there is enough concentration (not just one 'specialty' grocery store).
As to 'state', that's a bit of exaggeration. You can't go absolutely anywhere in those states and be guaranteed someone you don't know will be available to speak Spanish. But, and this is I think Petrov's point, that for large parts of those places I mentioned, you do have a guarantee.
In the big city areas in those places mentioned, there you'll be able to go to banks, buy property, and even conduct some legal matters. Even though the US doesn't have English as an officially mandated language of law, all records of laws are recorded in English. That said, translation services are almost always allowed in a court. Also, almost all US official forms have Spanish translations.
US has a number of immigrants populations with concentrations, but Spanish, as a seemingly non-standard language, is very widespread.
What all this means is that, as a native Spanish speaker, if you don't know any English at all, you'd be able to conduct business/daily life outside the home in Spanish with few problems.
There are a lot of complications to the above. Just one example: there are many 'second generation', children of those who immigrated, who may speak Spanish at home, but very often speak only English, with only hearing proficiency in Spanish.
answered Aug 28 at 13:58
Mitch
48.5k1596205
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
accepted
Summary: For Spanish, southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, southern Florida, plus many urban areas further north. There may be pockets of other languages but they are small. See wikipedia for links to data.
'Easy to live' means, language-wise, that you can show up to most any business and expect that someone there will know Spanish. Groceries, banks, post office. One could be super-rich and hire a translator, or have a family member who is bilingual to do all these things, but those aren't easy to do. The idea Petrov is trying to get across is that there are so many Spanish speaking people and so much cultural acceptance of Spanish that it is not hidden in the home, like many immigrant or colonial languages are, and that there is enough concentration (not just one 'specialty' grocery store).
As to 'state', that's a bit of exaggeration. You can't go absolutely anywhere in those states and be guaranteed someone you don't know will be available to speak Spanish. But, and this is I think Petrov's point, that for large parts of those places I mentioned, you do have a guarantee.
In the big city areas in those places mentioned, there you'll be able to go to banks, buy property, and even conduct some legal matters. Even though the US doesn't have English as an officially mandated language of law, all records of laws are recorded in English. That said, translation services are almost always allowed in a court. Also, almost all US official forms have Spanish translations.
US has a number of immigrants populations with concentrations, but Spanish, as a seemingly non-standard language, is very widespread.
What all this means is that, as a native Spanish speaker, if you don't know any English at all, you'd be able to conduct business/daily life outside the home in Spanish with few problems.
There are a lot of complications to the above. Just one example: there are many 'second generation', children of those who immigrated, who may speak Spanish at home, but very often speak only English, with only hearing proficiency in Spanish.
answered Aug 28 at 13:58
Mitch
48.5k1596205
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
accepted
up vote
2
down vote
accepted
Summary: For Spanish, southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, southern Florida, plus many urban areas further north. There may be pockets of other languages but they are small. See wikipedia for links to data.
'Easy to live' means, language-wise, that you can show up to most any business and expect that someone there will know Spanish. Groceries, banks, post office. One could be super-rich and hire a translator, or have a family member who is bilingual to do all these things, but those aren't easy to do. The idea Petrov is trying to get across is that there are so many Spanish speaking people and so much cultural acceptance of Spanish that it is not hidden in the home, like many immigrant or colonial languages are, and that there is enough concentration (not just one 'specialty' grocery store).
As to 'state', that's a bit of exaggeration. You can't go absolutely anywhere in those states and be guaranteed someone you don't know will be available to speak Spanish. But, and this is I think Petrov's point, that for large parts of those places I mentioned, you do have a guarantee.
In the big city areas in those places mentioned, there you'll be able to go to banks, buy property, and even conduct some legal matters. Even though the US doesn't have English as an officially mandated language of law, all records of laws are recorded in English. That said, translation services are almost always allowed in a court. Also, almost all US official forms have Spanish translations.
US has a number of immigrants populations with concentrations, but Spanish, as a seemingly non-standard language, is very widespread.
What all this means is that, as a native Spanish speaker, if you don't know any English at all, you'd be able to conduct business/daily life outside the home in Spanish with few problems.
There are a lot of complications to the above. Just one example: there are many 'second generation', children of those who immigrated, who may speak Spanish at home, but very often speak only English, with only hearing proficiency in Spanish.
answered Aug 28 at 13:58
Mitch
48.5k1596205
Summary: For Spanish, southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, southern Florida, plus many urban areas further north. There may be pockets of other languages but they are small. See wikipedia for links to data.
'Easy to live' means, language-wise, that you can show up to most any business and expect that someone there will know Spanish. Groceries, banks, post office. One could be super-rich and hire a translator, or have a family member who is bilingual to do all these things, but those aren't easy to do. The idea Petrov is trying to get across is that there are so many Spanish speaking people and so much cultural acceptance of Spanish that it is not hidden in the home, like many immigrant or colonial languages are, and that there is enough concentration (not just one 'specialty' grocery store).
As to 'state', that's a bit of exaggeration. You can't go absolutely anywhere in those states and be guaranteed someone you don't know will be available to speak Spanish. But, and this is I think Petrov's point, that for large parts of those places I mentioned, you do have a guarantee.
In the big city areas in those places mentioned, there you'll be able to go to banks, buy property, and even conduct some legal matters. Even though the US doesn't have English as an officially mandated language of law, all records of laws are recorded in English. That said, translation services are almost always allowed in a court. Also, almost all US official forms have Spanish translations.
US has a number of immigrants populations with concentrations, but Spanish, as a seemingly non-standard language, is very widespread.
What all this means is that, as a native Spanish speaker, if you don't know any English at all, you'd be able to conduct business/daily life outside the home in Spanish with few problems.
There are a lot of complications to the above. Just one example: there are many 'second generation', children of those who immigrated, who may speak Spanish at home, but very often speak only English, with only hearing proficiency in Spanish.
answered Aug 28 at 13:58
Mitch
48.5k1596205
answered Aug 28 at 13:58
Mitch
48.5k1596205
answered Aug 28 at 13:58
Mitch
48.5k1596205
answered Aug 28 at 13:58
Mitch
48.5k1596205
48.5k1596205
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up vote
12
down vote
Hardly a neutral phrase, Petrov’s “snapping at the heels of English†ignores three important factors: (1) the history of the states bordering Mexico, which once were part of that country and thus had Spanish-speaking residents before they became US states, (2) English as language of instruction in public schools, and (3) that growth in the Hispanic demographic, which until the Great Recession was fastest across the nation, does not necessarily correlate with native language, now or in the future.
For instance, incumbent Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, by his own admission, speaks rather poor Spanish (his father is Cuban), while his challenger, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who grew up in El Paso, is bilingual, though his Mexican Spanish has a moderate American accent. Cruz has a Texas accent, while O'Rourke does not. These social realities aren't easily crammed into statistics, but do suggest that the cultural and linguistic character of the states bordering Mexico are more nuanced than one might think.
Even so, with 41 million native speakers of Spanish and a further 11 million bilinguals in the US, the only country in the world with more is Mexico.
The statistics for the Hispanic demographic in the states bordering Mexico are as follows:
In both California and Texas 39% of the population is Hispanic, about a quarter of whom speak only English at home. In Arizona, 31% are Hispanic, of which 34% are English only. The population of New Mexico is 48% Hispanic, with 39% English only. This comes out all told to around 29 million people, minus the English-only Hispanics still a healthy majority of Spanish speakers in the US. The lower percentage of English only in California and Texas testifies to both more recent immigration and heavy concentrations of Spanish speakers in particular areas, in Texas basically anywhere south of the Nueces River and in Far West Texas.
South Florida is another example: although only 24% Hispanic in the whole state, 83% speak Spanish at home, likely a result of their concentration in only a few Florida counties. The large number of Puerto Ricans moving to Florida after the hurricane will likely change these statistics if they choose to remain.
What this vast number of Hispanophones in the US does not have, however, is a K-12 mono- or bilingual educational system, like, say, Francophone Canadians in Quebec. This alone prevents any serious heel-snapping: adults can get by in their daily lives, even vote, without ever uttering a word of English, but their children will be at least bilingual, and, unfortunately, uneducated in their first language.
This may be changing. In 2016 California voters approved Proposition 58, which removed previous restrictions on bilingual education, but it is still too early to tell what such a program would look like beyond assurances that families could choose either a traditional monolingual English program or a bilingual one.
So where would be the best place to live if you speak only Spanish? It depends on what lifestyle you prefer, neighborhoods in Los Angeles or San Diego, Spanish Harlem, or something more relaxed but still urban, in which case Beto's hometown has much to offer: El Paso. It's 80.7% Hispanic and has far more amenities than, say, Laredo (95.6% Hispanic). But if your thing is fantastic avocados, canteloupe, and 10 lb. sacks of oranges for cheap, head for the Rio Grande Valley.
answered Aug 26 at 9:08
KarlG
16.7k52749
1
@Mari-LouA: If you've never eaten an avocado or canteloupe from the Valley, you can't possibly know what I'm talking about. I did, however, change the first sentence to eliminate any ambiguity.
– KarlG
Aug 26 at 9:56
Aren't those just Mexican blood advocados too?
– JJJ
Aug 26 at 10:19
1
You are right about the phrase “snapping at the heels of Englishâ€Â. It’s not neutral at all. And that Russian is not a scholar either. He is a polyglot, according to the OP. I wish he would read your answer.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 12:40
Excellent answer, though I think the original quote was misrepresented in the translation. The original line in Russian simply states that "Spanish is at English's heels." The snapping bit was suggested later by another user. It is also correct that the guy is no scholar, he's just a minor celebrity whose popularity among certain audiences is a mystery to many.
– undercat
Aug 26 at 14:24
1
@undercat in the Russian line you are talking about there is an idiom which means to compete strongly with someone or something and have a chance of soon defeating or replacing them, so it’s very similar to “to snap at one’s heelsâ€Â. It’s not correct to say that it should be interpreted as “to be at one’s heelsâ€Â. That Russian polyglot really meant that Spanish might replace English, at least in some states (not just neighborhoods).
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 15:14
 |Â
show 5 more comments
up vote
12
down vote
Hardly a neutral phrase, Petrov’s “snapping at the heels of English†ignores three important factors: (1) the history of the states bordering Mexico, which once were part of that country and thus had Spanish-speaking residents before they became US states, (2) English as language of instruction in public schools, and (3) that growth in the Hispanic demographic, which until the Great Recession was fastest across the nation, does not necessarily correlate with native language, now or in the future.
For instance, incumbent Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, by his own admission, speaks rather poor Spanish (his father is Cuban), while his challenger, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who grew up in El Paso, is bilingual, though his Mexican Spanish has a moderate American accent. Cruz has a Texas accent, while O'Rourke does not. These social realities aren't easily crammed into statistics, but do suggest that the cultural and linguistic character of the states bordering Mexico are more nuanced than one might think.
Even so, with 41 million native speakers of Spanish and a further 11 million bilinguals in the US, the only country in the world with more is Mexico.
The statistics for the Hispanic demographic in the states bordering Mexico are as follows:
In both California and Texas 39% of the population is Hispanic, about a quarter of whom speak only English at home. In Arizona, 31% are Hispanic, of which 34% are English only. The population of New Mexico is 48% Hispanic, with 39% English only. This comes out all told to around 29 million people, minus the English-only Hispanics still a healthy majority of Spanish speakers in the US. The lower percentage of English only in California and Texas testifies to both more recent immigration and heavy concentrations of Spanish speakers in particular areas, in Texas basically anywhere south of the Nueces River and in Far West Texas.
South Florida is another example: although only 24% Hispanic in the whole state, 83% speak Spanish at home, likely a result of their concentration in only a few Florida counties. The large number of Puerto Ricans moving to Florida after the hurricane will likely change these statistics if they choose to remain.
What this vast number of Hispanophones in the US does not have, however, is a K-12 mono- or bilingual educational system, like, say, Francophone Canadians in Quebec. This alone prevents any serious heel-snapping: adults can get by in their daily lives, even vote, without ever uttering a word of English, but their children will be at least bilingual, and, unfortunately, uneducated in their first language.
This may be changing. In 2016 California voters approved Proposition 58, which removed previous restrictions on bilingual education, but it is still too early to tell what such a program would look like beyond assurances that families could choose either a traditional monolingual English program or a bilingual one.
So where would be the best place to live if you speak only Spanish? It depends on what lifestyle you prefer, neighborhoods in Los Angeles or San Diego, Spanish Harlem, or something more relaxed but still urban, in which case Beto's hometown has much to offer: El Paso. It's 80.7% Hispanic and has far more amenities than, say, Laredo (95.6% Hispanic). But if your thing is fantastic avocados, canteloupe, and 10 lb. sacks of oranges for cheap, head for the Rio Grande Valley.
answered Aug 26 at 9:08
KarlG
16.7k52749
1
@Mari-LouA: If you've never eaten an avocado or canteloupe from the Valley, you can't possibly know what I'm talking about. I did, however, change the first sentence to eliminate any ambiguity.
– KarlG
Aug 26 at 9:56
Aren't those just Mexican blood advocados too?
– JJJ
Aug 26 at 10:19
1
You are right about the phrase “snapping at the heels of Englishâ€Â. It’s not neutral at all. And that Russian is not a scholar either. He is a polyglot, according to the OP. I wish he would read your answer.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 12:40
Excellent answer, though I think the original quote was misrepresented in the translation. The original line in Russian simply states that "Spanish is at English's heels." The snapping bit was suggested later by another user. It is also correct that the guy is no scholar, he's just a minor celebrity whose popularity among certain audiences is a mystery to many.
– undercat
Aug 26 at 14:24
1
@undercat in the Russian line you are talking about there is an idiom which means to compete strongly with someone or something and have a chance of soon defeating or replacing them, so it’s very similar to “to snap at one’s heelsâ€Â. It’s not correct to say that it should be interpreted as “to be at one’s heelsâ€Â. That Russian polyglot really meant that Spanish might replace English, at least in some states (not just neighborhoods).
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 15:14
 |Â
show 5 more comments
up vote
12
down vote
up vote
12
down vote
Hardly a neutral phrase, Petrov’s “snapping at the heels of English†ignores three important factors: (1) the history of the states bordering Mexico, which once were part of that country and thus had Spanish-speaking residents before they became US states, (2) English as language of instruction in public schools, and (3) that growth in the Hispanic demographic, which until the Great Recession was fastest across the nation, does not necessarily correlate with native language, now or in the future.
For instance, incumbent Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, by his own admission, speaks rather poor Spanish (his father is Cuban), while his challenger, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who grew up in El Paso, is bilingual, though his Mexican Spanish has a moderate American accent. Cruz has a Texas accent, while O'Rourke does not. These social realities aren't easily crammed into statistics, but do suggest that the cultural and linguistic character of the states bordering Mexico are more nuanced than one might think.
Even so, with 41 million native speakers of Spanish and a further 11 million bilinguals in the US, the only country in the world with more is Mexico.
The statistics for the Hispanic demographic in the states bordering Mexico are as follows:
In both California and Texas 39% of the population is Hispanic, about a quarter of whom speak only English at home. In Arizona, 31% are Hispanic, of which 34% are English only. The population of New Mexico is 48% Hispanic, with 39% English only. This comes out all told to around 29 million people, minus the English-only Hispanics still a healthy majority of Spanish speakers in the US. The lower percentage of English only in California and Texas testifies to both more recent immigration and heavy concentrations of Spanish speakers in particular areas, in Texas basically anywhere south of the Nueces River and in Far West Texas.
South Florida is another example: although only 24% Hispanic in the whole state, 83% speak Spanish at home, likely a result of their concentration in only a few Florida counties. The large number of Puerto Ricans moving to Florida after the hurricane will likely change these statistics if they choose to remain.
What this vast number of Hispanophones in the US does not have, however, is a K-12 mono- or bilingual educational system, like, say, Francophone Canadians in Quebec. This alone prevents any serious heel-snapping: adults can get by in their daily lives, even vote, without ever uttering a word of English, but their children will be at least bilingual, and, unfortunately, uneducated in their first language.
This may be changing. In 2016 California voters approved Proposition 58, which removed previous restrictions on bilingual education, but it is still too early to tell what such a program would look like beyond assurances that families could choose either a traditional monolingual English program or a bilingual one.
So where would be the best place to live if you speak only Spanish? It depends on what lifestyle you prefer, neighborhoods in Los Angeles or San Diego, Spanish Harlem, or something more relaxed but still urban, in which case Beto's hometown has much to offer: El Paso. It's 80.7% Hispanic and has far more amenities than, say, Laredo (95.6% Hispanic). But if your thing is fantastic avocados, canteloupe, and 10 lb. sacks of oranges for cheap, head for the Rio Grande Valley.
answered Aug 26 at 9:08
KarlG
16.7k52749
Hardly a neutral phrase, Petrov’s “snapping at the heels of English†ignores three important factors: (1) the history of the states bordering Mexico, which once were part of that country and thus had Spanish-speaking residents before they became US states, (2) English as language of instruction in public schools, and (3) that growth in the Hispanic demographic, which until the Great Recession was fastest across the nation, does not necessarily correlate with native language, now or in the future.
For instance, incumbent Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, by his own admission, speaks rather poor Spanish (his father is Cuban), while his challenger, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who grew up in El Paso, is bilingual, though his Mexican Spanish has a moderate American accent. Cruz has a Texas accent, while O'Rourke does not. These social realities aren't easily crammed into statistics, but do suggest that the cultural and linguistic character of the states bordering Mexico are more nuanced than one might think.
Even so, with 41 million native speakers of Spanish and a further 11 million bilinguals in the US, the only country in the world with more is Mexico.
The statistics for the Hispanic demographic in the states bordering Mexico are as follows:
In both California and Texas 39% of the population is Hispanic, about a quarter of whom speak only English at home. In Arizona, 31% are Hispanic, of which 34% are English only. The population of New Mexico is 48% Hispanic, with 39% English only. This comes out all told to around 29 million people, minus the English-only Hispanics still a healthy majority of Spanish speakers in the US. The lower percentage of English only in California and Texas testifies to both more recent immigration and heavy concentrations of Spanish speakers in particular areas, in Texas basically anywhere south of the Nueces River and in Far West Texas.
South Florida is another example: although only 24% Hispanic in the whole state, 83% speak Spanish at home, likely a result of their concentration in only a few Florida counties. The large number of Puerto Ricans moving to Florida after the hurricane will likely change these statistics if they choose to remain.
What this vast number of Hispanophones in the US does not have, however, is a K-12 mono- or bilingual educational system, like, say, Francophone Canadians in Quebec. This alone prevents any serious heel-snapping: adults can get by in their daily lives, even vote, without ever uttering a word of English, but their children will be at least bilingual, and, unfortunately, uneducated in their first language.
This may be changing. In 2016 California voters approved Proposition 58, which removed previous restrictions on bilingual education, but it is still too early to tell what such a program would look like beyond assurances that families could choose either a traditional monolingual English program or a bilingual one.
So where would be the best place to live if you speak only Spanish? It depends on what lifestyle you prefer, neighborhoods in Los Angeles or San Diego, Spanish Harlem, or something more relaxed but still urban, in which case Beto's hometown has much to offer: El Paso. It's 80.7% Hispanic and has far more amenities than, say, Laredo (95.6% Hispanic). But if your thing is fantastic avocados, canteloupe, and 10 lb. sacks of oranges for cheap, head for the Rio Grande Valley.
answered Aug 26 at 9:08
KarlG
16.7k52749
edited Aug 27 at 10:46
answered Aug 26 at 9:08
KarlG
16.7k52749
answered Aug 26 at 9:08
KarlG
16.7k52749
answered Aug 26 at 9:08
KarlG
16.7k52749
16.7k52749
1
@Mari-LouA: If you've never eaten an avocado or canteloupe from the Valley, you can't possibly know what I'm talking about. I did, however, change the first sentence to eliminate any ambiguity.
– KarlG
Aug 26 at 9:56
Aren't those just Mexican blood advocados too?
– JJJ
Aug 26 at 10:19
1
You are right about the phrase “snapping at the heels of Englishâ€Â. It’s not neutral at all. And that Russian is not a scholar either. He is a polyglot, according to the OP. I wish he would read your answer.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 12:40
Excellent answer, though I think the original quote was misrepresented in the translation. The original line in Russian simply states that "Spanish is at English's heels." The snapping bit was suggested later by another user. It is also correct that the guy is no scholar, he's just a minor celebrity whose popularity among certain audiences is a mystery to many.
– undercat
Aug 26 at 14:24
1
@undercat in the Russian line you are talking about there is an idiom which means to compete strongly with someone or something and have a chance of soon defeating or replacing them, so it’s very similar to “to snap at one’s heelsâ€Â. It’s not correct to say that it should be interpreted as “to be at one’s heelsâ€Â. That Russian polyglot really meant that Spanish might replace English, at least in some states (not just neighborhoods).
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 15:14
 |Â
show 5 more comments
1
@Mari-LouA: If you've never eaten an avocado or canteloupe from the Valley, you can't possibly know what I'm talking about. I did, however, change the first sentence to eliminate any ambiguity.
– KarlG
Aug 26 at 9:56
Aren't those just Mexican blood advocados too?
– JJJ
Aug 26 at 10:19
1
You are right about the phrase “snapping at the heels of Englishâ€Â. It’s not neutral at all. And that Russian is not a scholar either. He is a polyglot, according to the OP. I wish he would read your answer.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 12:40
Excellent answer, though I think the original quote was misrepresented in the translation. The original line in Russian simply states that "Spanish is at English's heels." The snapping bit was suggested later by another user. It is also correct that the guy is no scholar, he's just a minor celebrity whose popularity among certain audiences is a mystery to many.
– undercat
Aug 26 at 14:24
1
@undercat in the Russian line you are talking about there is an idiom which means to compete strongly with someone or something and have a chance of soon defeating or replacing them, so it’s very similar to “to snap at one’s heelsâ€Â. It’s not correct to say that it should be interpreted as “to be at one’s heelsâ€Â. That Russian polyglot really meant that Spanish might replace English, at least in some states (not just neighborhoods).
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 15:14
1
1
@Mari-LouA: If you've never eaten an avocado or canteloupe from the Valley, you can't possibly know what I'm talking about. I did, however, change the first sentence to eliminate any ambiguity.
– KarlG
Aug 26 at 9:56
@Mari-LouA: If you've never eaten an avocado or canteloupe from the Valley, you can't possibly know what I'm talking about. I did, however, change the first sentence to eliminate any ambiguity.
– KarlG
Aug 26 at 9:56
Aren't those just Mexican blood advocados too?
– JJJ
Aug 26 at 10:19
Aren't those just Mexican blood advocados too?
– JJJ
Aug 26 at 10:19
1
1
You are right about the phrase “snapping at the heels of Englishâ€Â. It’s not neutral at all. And that Russian is not a scholar either. He is a polyglot, according to the OP. I wish he would read your answer.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 12:40
You are right about the phrase “snapping at the heels of Englishâ€Â. It’s not neutral at all. And that Russian is not a scholar either. He is a polyglot, according to the OP. I wish he would read your answer.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 12:40
Excellent answer, though I think the original quote was misrepresented in the translation. The original line in Russian simply states that "Spanish is at English's heels." The snapping bit was suggested later by another user. It is also correct that the guy is no scholar, he's just a minor celebrity whose popularity among certain audiences is a mystery to many.
– undercat
Aug 26 at 14:24
Excellent answer, though I think the original quote was misrepresented in the translation. The original line in Russian simply states that "Spanish is at English's heels." The snapping bit was suggested later by another user. It is also correct that the guy is no scholar, he's just a minor celebrity whose popularity among certain audiences is a mystery to many.
– undercat
Aug 26 at 14:24
1
1
@undercat in the Russian line you are talking about there is an idiom which means to compete strongly with someone or something and have a chance of soon defeating or replacing them, so it’s very similar to “to snap at one’s heelsâ€Â. It’s not correct to say that it should be interpreted as “to be at one’s heelsâ€Â. That Russian polyglot really meant that Spanish might replace English, at least in some states (not just neighborhoods).
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 15:14
@undercat in the Russian line you are talking about there is an idiom which means to compete strongly with someone or something and have a chance of soon defeating or replacing them, so it’s very similar to “to snap at one’s heelsâ€Â. It’s not correct to say that it should be interpreted as “to be at one’s heelsâ€Â. That Russian polyglot really meant that Spanish might replace English, at least in some states (not just neighborhoods).
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 15:14
 |Â
show 5 more comments
up vote
11
down vote
The question seems to be simple but there is no single right answer, I think. The national language of the USA is English (de facto). If you want to make your life there easy, you need to be able to speak, read, write in English, and understand what people around you say (not only in some areas but anywhere across the country). But even if you can do all of those things, it doesn't mean your life gets easy. What do we mean by easy after all?
Anyway, in 2009 I visited the USA (the state of New York) and stayed there for 4 months. I was happy to meet a lovely lady in her 50s, whose parents had immigrated from Puerto Rico when she was still a child. And she told me that her parents had never learnt English. They lived in a Spanish-speaking area, socializing with Spanish-speaking people only. Even though they lived in the US for decades, they never used English - they just couldn't and they were not that eager to learn. But I remember I could hear regret in that lady's voice...
I think there may be people able to answer this question better. But let's be realistic. No matter how easy it is for us to live in the US without speaking English, being able to speak English will make our life even easier.
answered Aug 26 at 3:36
Enguroo
1,5151320
4
Feel free to use or ignore en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… and wordsmeet.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/11-13_spanish_2012.jpg
– Mari-Lou A
Aug 26 at 4:53
2
If I remember well, there is no official language at the national level, in the USA. Many states made English official, but not all of them.
– spectras
Aug 26 at 13:19
3
@spectras you are right. English is just the most commonly used, and it is the de facto national language of the United States.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 14:50
add a comment |Â
up vote
11
down vote
The question seems to be simple but there is no single right answer, I think. The national language of the USA is English (de facto). If you want to make your life there easy, you need to be able to speak, read, write in English, and understand what people around you say (not only in some areas but anywhere across the country). But even if you can do all of those things, it doesn't mean your life gets easy. What do we mean by easy after all?
Anyway, in 2009 I visited the USA (the state of New York) and stayed there for 4 months. I was happy to meet a lovely lady in her 50s, whose parents had immigrated from Puerto Rico when she was still a child. And she told me that her parents had never learnt English. They lived in a Spanish-speaking area, socializing with Spanish-speaking people only. Even though they lived in the US for decades, they never used English - they just couldn't and they were not that eager to learn. But I remember I could hear regret in that lady's voice...
I think there may be people able to answer this question better. But let's be realistic. No matter how easy it is for us to live in the US without speaking English, being able to speak English will make our life even easier.
answered Aug 26 at 3:36
Enguroo
1,5151320
4
Feel free to use or ignore en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… and wordsmeet.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/11-13_spanish_2012.jpg
– Mari-Lou A
Aug 26 at 4:53
2
If I remember well, there is no official language at the national level, in the USA. Many states made English official, but not all of them.
– spectras
Aug 26 at 13:19
3
@spectras you are right. English is just the most commonly used, and it is the de facto national language of the United States.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 14:50
add a comment |Â
up vote
11
down vote
up vote
11
down vote
The question seems to be simple but there is no single right answer, I think. The national language of the USA is English (de facto). If you want to make your life there easy, you need to be able to speak, read, write in English, and understand what people around you say (not only in some areas but anywhere across the country). But even if you can do all of those things, it doesn't mean your life gets easy. What do we mean by easy after all?
Anyway, in 2009 I visited the USA (the state of New York) and stayed there for 4 months. I was happy to meet a lovely lady in her 50s, whose parents had immigrated from Puerto Rico when she was still a child. And she told me that her parents had never learnt English. They lived in a Spanish-speaking area, socializing with Spanish-speaking people only. Even though they lived in the US for decades, they never used English - they just couldn't and they were not that eager to learn. But I remember I could hear regret in that lady's voice...
I think there may be people able to answer this question better. But let's be realistic. No matter how easy it is for us to live in the US without speaking English, being able to speak English will make our life even easier.
answered Aug 26 at 3:36
Enguroo
1,5151320
The question seems to be simple but there is no single right answer, I think. The national language of the USA is English (de facto). If you want to make your life there easy, you need to be able to speak, read, write in English, and understand what people around you say (not only in some areas but anywhere across the country). But even if you can do all of those things, it doesn't mean your life gets easy. What do we mean by easy after all?
Anyway, in 2009 I visited the USA (the state of New York) and stayed there for 4 months. I was happy to meet a lovely lady in her 50s, whose parents had immigrated from Puerto Rico when she was still a child. And she told me that her parents had never learnt English. They lived in a Spanish-speaking area, socializing with Spanish-speaking people only. Even though they lived in the US for decades, they never used English - they just couldn't and they were not that eager to learn. But I remember I could hear regret in that lady's voice...
I think there may be people able to answer this question better. But let's be realistic. No matter how easy it is for us to live in the US without speaking English, being able to speak English will make our life even easier.
answered Aug 26 at 3:36
Enguroo
1,5151320
edited Aug 26 at 15:26
answered Aug 26 at 3:36
Enguroo
1,5151320
answered Aug 26 at 3:36
Enguroo
1,5151320
answered Aug 26 at 3:36
Enguroo
1,5151320
1,5151320
4
Feel free to use or ignore en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… and wordsmeet.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/11-13_spanish_2012.jpg
– Mari-Lou A
Aug 26 at 4:53
2
If I remember well, there is no official language at the national level, in the USA. Many states made English official, but not all of them.
– spectras
Aug 26 at 13:19
3
@spectras you are right. English is just the most commonly used, and it is the de facto national language of the United States.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 14:50
add a comment |Â
4
Feel free to use or ignore en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… and wordsmeet.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/11-13_spanish_2012.jpg
– Mari-Lou A
Aug 26 at 4:53
2
If I remember well, there is no official language at the national level, in the USA. Many states made English official, but not all of them.
– spectras
Aug 26 at 13:19
3
@spectras you are right. English is just the most commonly used, and it is the de facto national language of the United States.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 14:50
4
4
Feel free to use or ignore en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… and wordsmeet.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/11-13_spanish_2012.jpg
– Mari-Lou A
Aug 26 at 4:53
Feel free to use or ignore en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… and wordsmeet.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/11-13_spanish_2012.jpg
– Mari-Lou A
Aug 26 at 4:53
2
2
If I remember well, there is no official language at the national level, in the USA. Many states made English official, but not all of them.
– spectras
Aug 26 at 13:19
If I remember well, there is no official language at the national level, in the USA. Many states made English official, but not all of them.
– spectras
Aug 26 at 13:19
3
3
@spectras you are right. English is just the most commonly used, and it is the de facto national language of the United States.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 14:50
@spectras you are right. English is just the most commonly used, and it is the de facto national language of the United States.
– Enguroo
Aug 26 at 14:50
add a comment |Â
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Many states, depending on region. Moreso in the Mexico border states, of course. But you can also do it here in New York City itself. And many 3rd generation Chinese in Chinatown - the whole neighborhood - never learn to speak English. There are dedicated media, everything. You speak Russian - you could live in Brighton Beach here and never speak a word of English in your life. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. In New York alone there are 176 different and unique languages spoken! America is a pluralistic society.
– Dan Bron
Aug 26 at 3:17
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I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because determining where one can live without using English isn't really about the English language or its usage.
– Lawrence
Aug 26 at 5:46
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@Lawrence I’m usually close-vote happy, but I differ from you on this one. Distributional analysis is scholastic topic.
– Dan Bron
Aug 26 at 6:33
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It’s a ridiculous statement to begin with. First off, what does ‘live easily’ mean? At what point is life ‘easy’? I’ve known several people who lived in very monolingual Beijing and led quite easy lives overall despite not speaking a word of Mandarin (conversely, I’ve known many locals living in the same city and leading exceedingly hard lives). And “some states†is far too vague. You can get by with Spanish only in Spanish Harlem just fine; it’ll be much harder in Ithaca or Binghamton, though they’re also both in the state of New York.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Aug 26 at 10:38
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@Mitch I agree; my comment was aimed specifically at Petrov, not the question here. I do feel like this isn’t the best Stack for the question, though; Skeptics would probably be a better fit, since it’s basically a question doubting the objective veracity of a claim (about English).
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
Aug 26 at 12:10