Sure! There are lots of products on Colorado supermarket shelves that target hispanic shoppers. But there is one unusual instance, and that is the Nescafe Clasico instant coffee jar with its label nearly all in Spanish.

Personally, I don't mind if manufacturers want to target Spanish buyers and print their stuff in Spanish. What I object to are government mandates that print everything from drivers license tests to election ballots in anything other than English.

I have never had the first objection to the "Hispanic" or any other ethnic aisle in a store, or an entire ethnic store, for that matter.  What I take issue with is how we have so easily adopted the burden and exspense of accomodating, no, encouraging the hispanic refusal to learn english and co-exist illegally in this country.

Then comes the growing percentage of employers requiring that those who can apply and/or qualify for hire must speak spanish.  Sorry, Jerry, I simply cannot support that.  Of all the freedoms we should not feel the need to fight for, again, is the freedom to work without having to adopt another language in our oun country.

These people must be required to speak English in order to attain work, any benefits, any licensing (ie, drivers) education, or citizenship.  I stand firm that in order to cast a vote in any election in this country, one MUST be required to learn to speak English, but that is impossible with legislating English as the national language.

By the way.. Welcome to the forum!

That driver license thing must be on a state by state basis. I was at the driver's license bureau in Boise, Idaho a few years ago and watched a Mexican who didn't know a word of English try to pass the test. The guy behind the desk said that they will just take it over and over again in the hopes that they will eventually get lucky.

In a state that has multi-lingual tests, do they have tests for every language or just Spanish?  If it is just provided in Spanish, the Russians have a beef! :)

I wasn't aware that anyone (state ) was offering a driving test in spanish.  How can that be if they can't read the damned street signs, how safely are they going to be on the streets?

Many states give drivers license tests in Spanish. California, Oregon, Colorado and New Jersey are examples. Click here to read an interesting article on this issue.

Carly,

re: "Then comes the growing percentage of employers requiring that those who can apply and/or qualify for hire must speak spanish.  Sorry, Jerry, I simply cannot support that..."

If I ran a business where many of my customers/clients were Spanish speaking, I'm guessing a Spanish-speaking employee would be a definite asset to my bottom line. The same reasoning applies to hotel owners in Mexico City, who would like to have English-speakers to serve their customers.

Pero, esto es mi opinión solamente. Es posible que me equivoco. No sería la proxima vez.

I understand you point, Jerry but if we were to implement English as the national language, there should be no need.  If the business was a Mexican restaurant, I could see it for effect.  If I go to a foriegn country... I make the effort to have learned enough of that language to make my trip either successful (business) or enjoyable and/or purchase a dictionary for backup.

In much of the southern US, we must deal with a massive group of interlopers dictating their language and customs to us, many of who are here illegally.  It galls me to no end, thus my zone, Taking America back!  I do not advocate the the expenditure of accomodating their language and it IS a major expense to this country and in no way profitable.

Estamos de acuerdo, amiga.

I am 100% against government mandates on using other languages in our official business. I would be totally in favor of making English the mandated official language of the United States, but every time it comes up in congress, those weasels wimp out and water the deal down with gracious comments about cultural diversity making America great (gag me with a spoon!).

Did you hear the joke about these two Vietnamese guys who were chatting in their own language on an elevator? A Hispanic guy standing next to them said, "Hey, you two! This is California. Speak Spanish!"

I'll go on record as saying that Mandating English as the national language and stop spending the money to print everything in two languages, require it in the workplace and educational facilities, as well to vote and you'll flush out a major portion of the illegals in this country.

Oregon has the right idea in that you can have all the laws in place but they are meaningless without enforcement, which is why Washington state has had a leap in mexicans applying for licences there.

I'm still a proponent for declaring war on Mexico and making it our 51st state.  What a bonanza that would be and I think we have the grounds, considering that we have already been invaded.  :)  Viva estados unidos! Viva Obama!... wait, something about that isn't sounding right!  Viva Limbaugh?  :)

привет там!

Вы можете направить меня к российской границе?

Jayne :)