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Why so few Mexicans speak English?
Last year I flew for the first time to Mexico. A long trip from Amsterdam to Mexico City. I was surprised by the fact that so little Mexicans, even officials on the airport, customs, security, knew so little English. My stay in Mexico lasted 2 weeks but it was troublesome as a non-Spanish speaker to make yourself clear. I am kind of surprised, with their biggest northern neighbor and probably main tourist attracter, the United States, so few Mexicans know English. With hand and footwork and managed to get a few things done, but without my gf over there I would be lost directly.
So there are few reasons, poor education for example. But to be frankly honest, I probably learned most of my English from watching movies (with subtitles) and using the internet while Spanish spoken movies never appeared. I only ask this question because we as Dutch can speak understand German (I can too). Kein problem. It's because of trade. And I would expect there is a lot of trade between Mexico and the United States and a lot migration and immigration as well.
Furthermore, I want to tell the real story about Mexico what I experienced there, and how much media is blowing things out of proportion, about how 'bad' the country is, full with criminals. You know what, I was in Mexico City, even in the metro, I never felt unsafe there. The city was busy, but okay, it's a 20 million people metropolitan area, so what to expect. But since Mexico also profits a lot from tourism I would have expected them to know at LEAST a bit English.
So I was also in Acapulco, at the Grand Mayan Vidante resort, and there was an older American man who wanted to exchange some money at the reception. He could not speak Spanish and with his raw voice he tried to make the receptionist understand. I thought, this resort, with rooms that costs more than 100 to 200 dollars/euro's per night, have personnel that cannot speak English? Okay, if the janitor could not do, okay, but the receptionist?
@Mickey Jon Lee - The don't need to, but having 'some' knowledge would be useful. In 2018 I went to The Philippines, also a former Spanish colony. There they spoke Tagalog and English through each other, watching tv, but many Filipino's do speak and understand English.
@Adam - We do, German is obligatory in high school.
@John Daniels - I guess due to lack of exposure to the language.
But it's okay, my gf learns me Spanish, and me her Dutch. Having 'lessons' from a Latina is FUN. :P :-)
4 Answers
- ?Lv 73 months ago
It is not any different why the vast majority of French do not speak English. Similarly, there is no need for them to speak English. When they come to visit the U.S. most Americans of Mexican origins are fluent in both, Spanish and English and therefore they do not encounter any problems. As far as trade, it is a two way street. Actually, when the former president of the U.S. interfered with trade, U.S. was hurt far more than the Mexicans.
- Anonymous3 months ago
Mexico doesn’t have as good an education system as the US or most European countries. In Europe, people travel a lot between countries, and English has become a universal language. In Mexico and all the countries to the south, people speak Spanish. Only the more educated people in the cities learn English. People in rural areas or poor communities generally don’t speak English. If you visit a tourist town, most people speak English. I went to puerto Vallarta as a teenager, and almost everyone spoke decent English.
- IvanLv 63 months ago
Public education in Mexico ends at the 6th grade. They don't teach English in the primary grades. That begins in the "la secondaria" schools, which are not free. So, the majority of Mexicans don't have much more than a 6th grade education without exposure to English language.
