OFF TOPIC Spanish in the USA

[Ned Batchelder]

On 3/31/14 4:39 AM, Marko Rauhamaa wrote:
> Mark H Harris <harrismh777 at gmail.com>:
>
>> The main point of the link is the status on English as an official
>> language. 28 out of 50 states have legislated English as the official
>> language; meaning, that you either speak and write English, or you're
>> going to have a really tough time participating in culture, business,
>> government, and recreation.
>
> What does "official language" mean?
>
> Finland has two official languages: Finnish and Swedish. It means you
> are guaranteed to get state services in both languages. At municipal
> level, you might get guarantees in one or both of the languages
> depending on census data.
>
> In California, OTOH, it's the other way around: English being official
> means you are guaranteed *not* to get services in languages other than
> English. If a government social worker speaks Spanish and the customer
> only knows Spanish, the social worker is not legally allowed to use
> Spanish to conduct their business. In Finland, no government worker is
> disallowed from using any language they deem useful in their work.

Can I politely suggest that we just end this discussion?  The thread has 
been properly marked as OFF TOPIC, and it is now squarely in areas that 
are 1) politically contentious, 2) wildly subjective, 3) none of our 
areas of expertise.  No good can come from continuing.

--Ned.

>
>
> Marko
>


-- 
Ned Batchelder, http://nedbatchelder.com