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Si usted no habla español, puede quedarse rezagado If you don't speak Spanish, you might be left behind

By Deborah Sharp
USA TODAY

¿Entiende Ud. español?

If your answer to, ''Do you understand Spanish?'' is ''no,'' get ready to be left behind.

With the surge over the past decade in the Hispanic population in the United States, speaking Spanish is becoming more of a necessity than a choice in many parts of the country. From feedlot managers in Nebraska to New York City stockbrokers, Americans are scrambling to learn a language that is now spoken by many of the35.3 million Hispanics in the United States.

Americans are finding that not knowing Spanish can be a handicap, whether dealing with immigrants or schmoozing at a business lunch in the boss' native tongue. Even pop culture references sail over the heads of the unilingual -- from the taco-craving Chihuahua's ''Yo quiero Taco Bell'' to the crazy life, ''la vida loca,'' made famous by singer Ricky Martin.

''There's nothing foreign about Spanish anymore. It's the second language of the United States,'' says Sam Slick, who founded Command Spanish, the nation's largest firm specializing in teaching Spanish for the workplace.

But the rising linguistic tide also has sparked tension and resentment in many communities. Mauro Mujica, who heads the one-language advocacy group U.S. English, says it's fine for people who speak English to learn Spanish but not if it creates the notion that those who speak Spanish needn't learn English.

''The problem is we are slowing down the assimilation of new immigrants by making it way too easy to come to this country and not learn English,'' says Mujica, a native of Chile.

''An immigrant is an invited guest to this country,'' he says. ''We invited ourselves. The least we can do is integrate and become part of the new country.''

Type ''studying Spanish'' in to any Internet search engine, and thousands upon thousands of options appear.

Spanish dominates all other foreign languages in the USA's public schools. Enrollment has nearly doubled over the past two decades to about 3.3 million high school students. Similar statistics aren't available for adults in thousands of night classes and private Spanish language courses. But school owners say the numbers are soaring, even in the most unexpected areas.

Many have discovered that dim high school memories of conjugating verbs and reciting ''¿Donde esta la biblioteca?'' (''Where is the library?'') mean nada (or nothing) in the workplace. So, in Ontario, Ore., Orchard Bank foots the bill for its staffers to study Spanish. In Washington, a teachers union offers lessons to members. And in Fountain Inn, S.C., and Detroit, law enforcement officials are lining up para habla español (to speak Spanish).

''The need is tremendous,'' says Conce Magaña, who teaches workplace Spanish at Garden City Community College in Kansas. Kansas has seen its Hispanic population double in the past decade, to 188,252 in 2000.

Necessary phrases

Such courses are not aimed at fluency, which takes the average English-speaking adult about five years to achieve. Instead, they cover basics and workplace pleasantries such as ''Please come in. Sit down.'' (Pase, por favor. Siéntese.) Teachers often tailor phrases and commands to specific occupations: For police, ''Stop! Drop the weapon!'' (¡Alto! Suelte el arma!) For medical workers, ''Where does it hurt?'' (¿Donde le duele?)

Though no one expects fluid conversations to ensue, Magaña says the simple Spanish phrases serve as a starting point for better communication. His students include everyone from bank tellers to firefighters in Finney County, Kan., where the Hispanic population has jumped 110%, to nearly 18,000 in the past decade. Hispanics make up 43% of the county's population of 40,523. Meatpacking and food-processing jobs have lured thousands of Mexican immigrants to the southwestern county.

''I'm learning how to communicate -- getting people's names, asking if they have questions on their bills,'' says Amanda Shumate, 21, a propane company clerk and one of Magaña's Spanish students.

''It's amazing how much more valuable you are as an employee in Garden City if you can speak two languages,'' she says.

President George W. Bush made bilingual history last weekend when he delivered his first regular radio address in English and Spanish, both with a Texas twang. Democratic leaders countered immediately with plans for their own weekly rebuttals, also en español.

Still, Mujica's group, based in Washington, is lobbying to revive legislation that would make English the legal language of the federal government. It would require, with some exceptions, that U.S. documents be printed, and meetings conducted, only in English. A similar provision passed the House of Representatives in 1996 but stalled in the Senate.

At least half the states have passed language laws in the past decade. Mostly they amount to symbolism more than substance. Often the laws simply designate English as the official language, without prohibiting the use of any other language. In other cases, so many exceptions are included -- from election ballots to health and safety needs -- that English is the legal language in name only. And court challenges are common:

* Alaska's English-only law passed in 1998, but it's been stalled by lawsuits filed by Alaska Native groups.

* Alabama's measure came under scrutiny by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in April that a Spanish-speaking immigrant did not have the right to sue to receive a driver's license exam in her native tongue.

English-only battles are nearly always divisive. One of the latest was in Utah, where voters finally passed a provision in November after three rancorous campaigns in the state Legislature. Challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union, Utah's measure remains on hold.

Meanwhile, the language and culture of Latin America have flooded the nation through the force of sheer numbers. Around the globe, more people speak Mandarin Chinese -- 885 million -- than any other language. Spanish is second, the first language of 332 million. About 322 million worldwide speak English as a first language.

Hard to ignore

It's increasingly difficult to ignore the spread of Spanish in the United States. Bank ATMs offer instructions in Spanish. The Yellow Pages in many cities adds a Spanish-language insert. And Spanish is working its way into everyday use. Is there an American left who can't order fajitas with spicy jalapeños using the proper Spanish-accented flair? (Say the J like an H: fah-hee-tas, hal-a-pain-yos).

From magazines to music, Spanish-language media have exploded. Radio stations more than doubled in the last decade, to 533. Broadcast TV stations jumped 70%, to 53, according to industry estimates. And those figures don't include cable and satellite or numerous outlets that devote only a portion of radio or TV programming to Spanish. Even Walt Disney World se unió a esta tendencia (jumped on the bandwagon) this year, with the launch of a Spanish-language Web site for Hispanics.

For Command Spanish, business has boomed. Slick says the firm, based in Petal, Miss., offered its first certifications in 1997. Since then, the number of instructors authorized to teach the company's materials has exploded by more than 1,000% to 600 today. In workplaces and classrooms nationwide, about 25,000 students take Command Spanish lessons each year. The materials are used in hundreds of community colleges. Classes are tailored for clients, from the Alabama Criminal Justice Center to the Wisconsin Tissue Corp.

As a former college professor of Spanish, Slick says traditional language training leaves many ill-prepared for workplace needs. ''At the end of two years of high school or college Spanish, you can read Don Quixote, but you can't help someone open a bank account. You can't arrest someone in Spanish. You can't start a hospital IV.''

Even so, parents are increasingly urging their children to study Spanish. Spanish class sign-ups have soared more than 90% since the 1970s. The U.S. Department of Education projects total high school enrollment this year at 13.3 million students, and experts say more than one-quarter of them are studying Spanish. The last detailed study done in 1995 showed French followed Spanish in popularity, with 1.1 million high school students studying French. German was third, with 326,000 students.

In college in the 1960s, French was the language most students studied. Now it's a distant second to Spanish. Of 1.2 million language students at colleges and universities, about 17% studied French in 1998, the latest year figures are available from the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages.

Spanish's dominance has sparked concern that other languages are being ignored. The USA's lax participation in foreign-language education was the focus of Senate hearings last fall. Witnesses told members of the committee on governmental affairs that unilingual Americans have become ill equipped to deal with everything from global warfare and international commerce to espionage.

Spying is the furthest thing from the minds of most of Mark Alway's clients. Those who contact his Phoenix-based firm, Spanish Abroad, Inc. need to be able to communicate effectively in Spanish.

The firm acts as an intermediary between individuals who want to learn Spanish and immersion-style language schools in foreign countries. It will send about 3,000 clients to 12 nations this year. He says a variety of other U.S. companies have sprung up in recent years to provide the same service.

''We get more and more people saying, 'Everyone I deal with is Hispanic. I need to be able to communicate,' '' Alway says. His business has doubled each year since 1996. ''Based on demographics alone, the need is only going to grow.''