Spanish

I spent something like six academic years studying and learning to hate speaking Spanish. Something about the way classes are structured just made me more and more tired of the language instead of making me excited about it in any way.

Which is how I learned to hate what will probably become (well, it already is) one of the most useful languages in California.

I’ve been away long enough that I forgot how much Spanish really penetrates southern California culture. On Saturday, I went to Disneyland, and noticed that while I was gone they had replaced almost all of the signs in the ride “Pirates of the Caribbean” with spanish versions. Notices warned that things were “explosivo,” and so on.

Just now I turned on PBS and watched as one of the sesame street muppets taught kids about what a “libro” was.

This all brings up a very interesting question: what forces really drive language in a region?  English may be the official language in the United States, sure, but who in LA hasn’t walked into a store where virtually everything was in Spanish. Should we be expecting a time when people who move to LA are expected to learn Spanish instead of English?

If the culture is driven by sheer majority, then it may not be too long before Spanish becomes the language of choice. But it seems like there are other reasons for language consistency.

Even on an international level, consistency in language makes everything from business to political relations easier. It smooths economic transactions, reduces conflict, and builds ties between people and nations. Domestically, it makes even more sense.

Despite the “age of globalization” that we live in, a sense of national solidarity or (and why is this a bad word now?) patriotism is good and healthy for any state. Fragmenting a portion of the country by language is probably not a good idea.

Officially, of course, no portion of the US is likely to declare another language in its boundaries. But unofficially? It’s another story. Is the move towards spanish in some parts of the US going to hurt the country overall?

Thoughts, if you have them, to the comments, please.