Stop getting angry about hearing languages you can’t speak
English isn’t the only language spoken in the world, although many Americans wish it were.
More than half of the world speaks two or more languages, and according to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, it’s mainly Americans who can’t.
After Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, many Americans complained that they couldn’t understand non-American music. But why?
Who would have thought something so simple could anger people so much?
I don’t want to live in a country that’s afraid of a different language. I think a snowflake is someone who gets angry when they hear another language spoken.
Languages are beautiful. Only children throw tantrums when they can’t understand things.
I’ll never understand how people can hear or see things they’ve not experienced before and choose not to take the opportunity to learn something new.
Although I am still learning Spanish and need to practice more, I have learned more about life through this language than I ever knew.
I can speak to people I couldn’t before. I can hear their stories and laugh, cry, learn and, most importantly, understand. Communication and community are so important to life and learning Spanish has given me a whole new community.
What people need to understand is that in most countries, it’s considered disrespectful to assume everyone knows English, and speaking louder doesn’t help. If a tourist expects English to be known and does not try to speak their language, they will probably be treated cruelly, and understandably so.
Because it’s more common for people to speak more than one language. It’s known the people who can’t are Americans. This country believes that speaking only one language is a privilege, when in reality, it prevents them from recognizing the beauty of other cultures.
The only privilege this country has is the ability to ignore and disrespect anything it disagrees with.
This country had the privilege of choosing not to see Bad Bunny perform. However, Puerto Ricans had no other option when the United States made its island a territory.
And now, Puerto Rico Act 60 has gentrified the island by allowing tax incentives to attract wealthy American investors and displace native residents.
But it seems wealthy Americans don’t care how their actions affect others when exploiting culture while lounging on the beach.
When you call white people “privileged,” most get angry, almost as if they want to know what it really feels like to be erased.
They don’t see the fact that, while sipping margaritas on vacation, they pretend to be part of the culture they try to erase every other day.
People decided to get angry over something as simple as language, and for what?
Do they really want to separate themselves from those who speak and look different? Isn’t that racism?
No, of course not, because they don’t believe they’re hurting anyone. It’s almost like the movie “Mean Girls,” but instead of ruining a high school girl’s reputation, they’re causing irreparable damage to people’s lives and culture.
I believe it is important to appreciate those who have learned English, because it’s not an easy language to learn.
Many people around you speak English, but it’s not their native language. Those who learn are more intelligent and resilient than those who don’t. And that is what angry people don’t want to admit: They’re not angry because they don’t understand, they’re angry because they can’t speak.
The next time you get angry when hearing another language, ask yourself if you ever tried to understand it first.
