in october 2005, a philadelphia cheese steak shop owner posted this sign: THIS IS AMERICA: WHEN ORDERING PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH. according to cnn.com, it was ruled that this was not discriminatory. is it?
i know that when americans travel to france, italy, and other popular destinations we dont speak the nation's language. is it really fair in a major US city to say something like that? i wonder because of the supposed principles this nation was founded on.
on a related note, i am very annoyed at the fact that many job postings i come across in my profession pretty much require that the applicant be bilingual. nine times out of ten they want that second language to be spanish. only once did i see amharic which i think is an ethiopian language. i'm torn. anyway, thoughts?
I don't think it's offensive, but I do see the bad taste (pun intended).
ReplyDeleteLatinos are a minority, as are African-Americans. It's easier to single out AA at HBCUs and as members of black professional organizations, but a company looking to diversify it's workforce may have a harder time finding a Latino person.
ReplyDeleteSo to foster diversity, companies sometimes post a job twice, one posting without a language requirement and another requesting a bilingual speaker.
As a recruiter, I can honestly say it wouldn't hurt to learn Spanish to make yourself a more viable candidate in the marketplace, but I see how that could be difficult since you're graduating soon.
Español es una lengua muy facil para entender.
Congrats btw! Also btw, I'm a new reader and I love your blog.
mainly, i feel regret for merely fullfilling the foreign language requirement and not continuing on and becoming fluent. si, es muy facil pero soy...como se dice "lazy"?
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