On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 04:18:53 -0800, Bob Noel wrote
(in article ):

In article , Bob Fry
wrote:

No. Finally government begins to respond to citizen needs and all you
do is bitch about it.

How many citizens can only read/write Spanish?



The last survey indicated about 14 million, including Puerto Rico which,
IIRC, is part of the United States. The United States is the fifth largest
Spanish speaking country in the world. Spanish is spoken by more people than
all other languages, including Native languages, combined except for English.
New Mexico provided in its constitution when it became a state that the
government would be bilingual. For a time, after the Louisiana Purchase,
Spanish was more commonly spoken in the US than was English, and French was
almost as common.

On the other hand, Spanish is dying out in some US and former US territories.
It has almost completely disappeared in the Philippines in less than two
generations, where just thirty years ago it was one of the official
languages. Few people speak it in Guam or the Pacific Islands any more.

Today, Spanish is rapidly becoming the dominant language in many big cities,
including Washington, D.C. Birth rates among Spanish speakers are higher than
English speakers and, if the trend continues, there will come a time when
English will be a minority language.

Despite centuries of assimilation, there are still pockets of people who
speak only French, German or other languages in the US. And let us not forget
our debt to the Navajo code talkers. Perhaps one day people will be concerned
about catering to those pockets of Anglos who refuse to assimilate.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor