Sorry Anse, but I would have replied sooner - yesterday was a crazy day.

I may have sounded harsh in 'refused to learn' but in my experience I ran across a lot of 'why don't you speak Spanish.' I grew up in the time when it wasn't cool to teach your kids Spanish - so yes, I'm an old guy. I have no 'accent' - in fact I've had people say I talk like a 'gringo' and look like a mexican. I will say I have not run across the 'you speak Spanish' badly much lately. When I go to Mexico, the people appreciate that I try to speak Spanish. I get more hassle over my Texan accent Spanish in Texas from the 'la raza' than I do from 'real mexicans'

I come from the belief that you are never too old to learn. For me, I try to learn a little bit from everyone - that's why I enjoy some of the more intelligent threads on 'Slate' than the ones that get into name calling and negativity. I do credit the immigrant parents for encouraging their children to learn English. As you said earlier, everyone could benefit from speaking more than one language.

One last story - I had a fellow 'Tejano' visit France. When he spoke Spanish (yes, Spanish) to the taxi driver, the driver opened up and thanked him for not assuming everyone speaks English. The taxi driver was multi-lingual but was angry that a lot Americans come over and assume everyone speaks English. He thanked my friend using another language - Spanish. (yes, even though he was in France!!)

Blessings and on to the next Fray!!