[kearnyirish2]

My wife is a Spaniard (Celtic, from NW Spain); many of the Inca-types around here assume that only people that look like them speak Spanish, and if they say something assuming she doesn’t understand she quickly corrects that misconception (in Spanish). Just as many Americans assume Spanish speakers all look Mexican, many Hispanics assume the same thing. I speak Spanish (learned on my own in an environment where there is no lack of opportunity to practice, then augmented by marrying a Spaniard), and it puzzles them to no end. Maybe they assume nobody would see any value in learning it; nowadays many jobs in my area are closed to you if you don’t speak it.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Many jobs down here require a bilingual education as well. My daughter attended high school in Pennsylvania and her spanish teachers went to Spain in the summer - their spanish was the "real" language, not the tex-mex spoken down here. My daughter had two years of spanish in high school and rarely understands what is being said here. lol