I remember some years ago hearing about a man who lived in California (or maybe Texas) that was well-known for rudely advocating the “English-only” movement when he was in public and heard people conversing in a language other than English. In other words, when he was at Wal-Mart, Target, Kroger, or elsewhere and heard people speaking to one another in a language other than English, in a most impolite manner, he would tell them that if they weren’t going to speak English in America they should go back to where they came from.
At this time let’s ignore the fact that there is no written law, no mention in the Constitution, and no written decree anywhere citing that English is the “official” language of the United States of America. Let’s also ignore the fact that at any given time there is a certain percentage of American citizens who speak a language other than English as their first language.
Let’s get to what, I suspect, was at the root of this man’s problem: Because the man could not understand what the people were saying, he automatically assumed that they were talking about him. I’ll be honest: In the past, if I heard people talking in a language I didn’t understand I would wonder what they were talking about and if they happened to notice that I was looking their way and caught my eye, I would sometimes start to think they were talking about me. I suspect many people would. After all, humans are not only curious creatures, many are a bit vain, and some are more than a little paranoid.
But after living on the other side of the equation for nearly three years, I realize any ideas I may have had about other people talking about me while “hiding” behind their language is more often than not just a fantasy. When two (or more) people are talking to one another in a language that you do not understand, most of the time they are not hiding anything or trying to be rude, they are just communicating with one another in their most natural and effective way.
Though we have lived here in Germany for an extended period of time and even though I have finally learned enough of his language to carry on a conversation, together A. and I ALWAYS speak English. We spoke English when we first met and even after all of those hours I spent learning German, we have never attempted to change the language in which we converse. In fact, the idea of speaking anything other than English together is, for us, just plain bizarre.
When we are with other German speakers we speak German with them, but when we address one another we inevitably slip back into English. We don’t do it to be rude and don’t do it to “hide” our conversation from anyone. It is just the natural way in which we communicate. In fact, since most people in Germany understand at least some English, A. often cautions me to remember this when I whisper a comment about some lady’s bad dye job or some man’s tacky shoes on the subway.
Luckily, here in Germany we have never been told to go back “to where we came from” when someone hears us speaking English to one another. In fact, many times when people hear us speaking English with each other, they go out of their way to “practice” their English on us. Imagine their surprise when 9 times out of 10 we respond in German!
marie says:
I cannot stand people like that man. Xenophobe, much? Gah.
One day, my sister and I were on our way home from shopping when we heard the men behind us talking about us in Irish Gaelic. (I guess they assumed that we wouldn’t understand, because Irish isn’t a language that a lot of people are fluent in.)
They were terribly insulting, even about the effects of a slight psychiatric illness that I have, which upset me.
After about thirty minutes, I whipped around and let out a long, winding spiel about how they shouldn’t sully our national language by using it as a way of hiding their own cowardice and immaturity.
The looks on their faces were priceless.
17 December 2004 at 15:20
Marinade Dave says:
Back in the mid-eighties, here in Florida, there were 2 movements gaining momentum. One was about outlawing vulgar bumper stickers, such as the ever redneck popular “Sh*t Happens.” The other one was about making English the official language of the state. I thought about printing my own bumper stickers if both of these were enacted into law. Simply, it said “La Caca Pasa Cafe,” which, loosely translated, means “The Sh*t Happens Cafe.” Then, if I were to be pulled over by a Spanish reading cop, he would not be able to ticket me since English would be the official language. Imagine what nasty stuff I could put on my car as long as it was foreign. The obsurdity of it all.
Alas, only the bumper sticker law was passed. I could have made a killing in the bumper sticker business.
17 December 2004 at 16:50
Malnurtured Snay says:
A lot of Americans, for some reason, seem to have difficulty comprehending the concept of “freedom”, which strikes myself and I’m sure a lot of other Americans as … odd … considering that we live in a “free” nation.
18 December 2004 at 05:30
Scott Hanson says:
Funny. Most “mixed” couples we know seem to speak English with each other. F. and I made the opposite decision when we came here. We decided to speak German with one another, even though I didn’t yet know German.
Maybe our situation was different. We had already been married 8 years, and had been happily speaking English with one another longer than that. I was very determined to become successful and independent in Germany, she was willing to help, and it seemed like a logical step.
One result was that we didn’t fight much for the first several months in Germany. I was verbally defenceless!
18 December 2004 at 06:05
Jay says:
surprises me. hell, i don’t know anyone here in tejas who doesn’t also speak at least a little spanish.
18 December 2004 at 21:44
Neil says:
What former German girlfriend and myself used to do, especially when we were tired, was that she would speak German and I would reply in English, it was just easier, but for some reason it did cause people to stare.
21 December 2004 at 16:53