3 ms·

I had a 10 hour layover in Miami on my way back to Argentina. I walked through Little Havana and it was awesome. Almost everyone speaks Spanish, and there wer

I had a 10 hour layover in Miami on my way back to Argentina. I walked through Little Havana and it was awesome. Almost everyone speaks Spanish, and there were even a few who didn't speak English, but had probably lived there for decades. (To me this is a plus, not a minus). I asked a guy at the bus stop which bus went back to the airport. "¿Cómo?", he replied? Even at mainstream businesses like Chase Bank, they greet you in Spanish unless you are clearly gringo (as I am).

paulhauggis 12y ago
This shows you how much cultural acceptance the US has to offer. For example, if you go to France and try to speak English, you will get scoffed at.
- judk 12y ago
  It's not USA, it is Miami, which was majorly settled by Cuban refugees. They aren't speaking Spanish to be nice, they are speaking Spanish be a use they are Hispanic. It is like French speakers in Quebec who avoid speaking English. ( but most Quebecois do speak fluent English. Many Miamians didn't)
  - PeterWhittaker 12y ago
    I wouldn't say most - perhaps "many". My anecdata: my wife has a large extended family and quite a few of her cousins and her cousins' kids struggle with English, if they've bothered to learn it at all. It really is quite an insular society. (I've lived there twice, once as a child, then again for the first few years of my child's life; now live across the river in Ontario. Night and day, culturally.)
- juliangregorian 12y ago
  Yeah, whatever. In other parts of the US you can get scoffed at just for having a "yankee" accent.
- brianbreslin 12y ago
  meh, in France I got scoffed at for speaking FRENCH. I speak it fluently, studied it for 10 years.
- PeterWhittaker 12y ago
  I think it depends where you are and how much of an effort you make, how friendly you are. I speak French fluently and even in Paris (where people have a reputation for being gallophillic and anglophobic in the extreme) I've had lovely conversations in English, both with locals and with visitors from other parts of the country. I've also seen people "close ranks" when confronted by the "ugly American" who speaks not a word of French and shouts to make themselves understood. I've even joined those ranks until the person became far too annoying, at which point I offered a brusque and factual, pithy translation, delivered as if talking to a spoiled child. It felt quite good. I'm not proud of that, but it did. My experience in Paris is consistent with all of my travels: Make an effort, be interested, be nice, get warmth and welcome in return. Be a douche, get douched right back.
  - DougMerritt 11y ago
    > My experience in Paris is consistent with all of my travels: Make an effort, be interested, be nice, get warmth and welcome in return. Same here, as an American who never studied French, aside from the French-for-tourists booklet once I was in Paris (which I did try hard to learn). People were delightful; I did not experience any of the negative stereotype when struggling to communicate with people, whether they spoke English or only French. Same in several other countries, too, but Paris is particularly noteworthy considering the common (and ancient) slanders on that topic. People have suggested that Parisians are more prejudiced against French dialects than they are against non-speakers, but I wouldn't know. I do know that presumably-ugly Americans complained about Paris/Parisians, when I found it/them fantastic. (I'm looking at your post history out of curiosity, excuse' moi (spell?))
brianbreslin 12y ago
I look gringo, but speak fluent spanish (half panamanian), and get spoken to primarily in spanish in many large portions of Miami. I know lots of older cubans who've been here 30 years+ and barely speak english.

paulhauggis 12y ago

This shows you how much cultural acceptance the US has to offer. For example, if you go to France and try to speak English, you will get scoffed at.

judk 12y ago
It's not USA, it is Miami, which was majorly settled by Cuban refugees. They aren't speaking Spanish to be nice, they are speaking Spanish be a use they are Hispanic. It is like French speakers in Quebec who avoid speaking English. ( but most Quebecois do speak fluent English. Many Miamians didn't)
- PeterWhittaker 12y ago
  I wouldn't say most - perhaps "many". My anecdata: my wife has a large extended family and quite a few of her cousins and her cousins' kids struggle with English, if they've bothered to learn it at all. It really is quite an insular society. (I've lived there twice, once as a child, then again for the first few years of my child's life; now live across the river in Ontario. Night and day, culturally.)
juliangregorian 12y ago
Yeah, whatever. In other parts of the US you can get scoffed at just for having a "yankee" accent.
brianbreslin 12y ago
meh, in France I got scoffed at for speaking FRENCH. I speak it fluently, studied it for 10 years.
PeterWhittaker 12y ago
I think it depends where you are and how much of an effort you make, how friendly you are. I speak French fluently and even in Paris (where people have a reputation for being gallophillic and anglophobic in the extreme) I've had lovely conversations in English, both with locals and with visitors from other parts of the country. I've also seen people "close ranks" when confronted by the "ugly American" who speaks not a word of French and shouts to make themselves understood. I've even joined those ranks until the person became far too annoying, at which point I offered a brusque and factual, pithy translation, delivered as if talking to a spoiled child. It felt quite good. I'm not proud of that, but it did. My experience in Paris is consistent with all of my travels: Make an effort, be interested, be nice, get warmth and welcome in return. Be a douche, get douched right back.
- DougMerritt 11y ago
  > My experience in Paris is consistent with all of my travels: Make an effort, be interested, be nice, get warmth and welcome in return. Same here, as an American who never studied French, aside from the French-for-tourists booklet once I was in Paris (which I did try hard to learn). People were delightful; I did not experience any of the negative stereotype when struggling to communicate with people, whether they spoke English or only French. Same in several other countries, too, but Paris is particularly noteworthy considering the common (and ancient) slanders on that topic. People have suggested that Parisians are more prejudiced against French dialects than they are against non-speakers, but I wouldn't know. I do know that presumably-ugly Americans complained about Paris/Parisians, when I found it/them fantastic. (I'm looking at your post history out of curiosity, excuse' moi (spell?))

brianbreslin 12y ago

I look gringo, but speak fluent spanish (half panamanian), and get spoken to primarily in spanish in many large portions of Miami. I know lots of older cubans who've been here 30 years+ and barely speak english.