text: do you think there are to many spanish speaking people in the usa that refuse to speak english?   absolutely!!! many people don't bother learning when night school is free. my dad learned it, he may not be a scholar in the english language, but he learned it.  we have spanish in radio, television, newspapers, magazines, books, movies, public services (gov't), banks, attorneys, restaurants, grocery stores, bus terminals, and the list goes on and on. in southern california, there is a spanish speaking version of almost everything. unfortunately, this doesn't create an environment where learning english is a necessity. so soooo many people live most of their lives here while not being able to speak english. this is frustrating, because everyone at some level should be able to communicate with one another. we can't do that in a multi-lingual society.  if people wanna speak spanish in their private lives, that's fine, they can speak whatever language they want. however, in public, everyone should be able to communicate on a basic level so that there isn't confusion or frustration. other immigrants learn english, why aren't "my cousins" out there doing the same? i live in an area with many armenians, and most of them speak english. many are not scholars, but that's not necessary, all that's asked is that people are fluent on a basic level.  basic fluency should be a prerequisite of citizenship. this country should keep english as its official language, and not adopt any other language. let's keep it at just one please, any more will make chaos!  i'm hispanic, and i don't take offense to this question at all. i don't believe it's meant that way. everyone should get with the program, bottom line.  p.s. this is not a racist question, i wish people would stop seeing it that way. look, if someone is in the states for let's say, 10 years, and s/he still doesn't speak a lick of english, what do you call that? how about 20 yrs? 50, and still no english? let's call it what it is people, it's laziness, pure and simple. no, i'm not saying that hispanics are all lazy, i'm one of them. but how can you justify going to a country  and not learning the language of the land, especially if it's for years and years? i'm sure they don't like being poor, i'm sure they don't like not being able to speak with everyone, i'm sure they don't like the inconveniences of not being able to speak english. and yes, i'm 100% dead sure they are very kind and hard-working people, taking jobs americans would never consider. but when it comes to learning english, there's some reason why they just don't do it, and i don't get it, and i'm an immigrant's daughter. my dad's entire family came here from mexico, not just him. he learned english, and yes, when we talk about this, he strongly agrees that hispanics should learn english. it just keeps them poor otherwise.  another point, if an american moved to a foreign country to live, they would be expected to learn that country's language and culture. it's not hard to figure out, this is a no-brainer.  i don't get it, i just don't get it. why elect to remain at such a disadvantage?  and btw, english  the official language of the states, clinton declared it.