I'm sure Europeans say "It's what the Americans do", as well.
I'm sure Europeans say "It's what the Americans do", as well.
Yeah nearly all public schools, at least in my state, offer
Spanish classes.
States also control most of the schools, not the federal govt.
As for the culture bit, it's sort of weird. All of us share a vague culture, but differ slightly region to region . I even consider Canada to be with the US when talking about culture (see where they all live, what their entertainment is, how they speak, and how they live their daily lives). I only don't count Mexico because unlike Canada, they don't share more similarities with certain US regions than those regions share with another. There are a few causes in the EU like that (Belgium, Austria, Ireland)
Doesn't mean Spanish is close to being the 2nd language of your country. In Croatia, English and German are both taught in in all primary and high schools, 100% of all students know English and 73% German. My country is nevertheless not one bit English or German in culture. Okay, yeah, it might be a bit English because of modern culture and German because of history, although I'd actually call the latter Central European influence rather than German (it's actually Austrian technically). But yeah, it's no more English than any other civilized non-English nation in the world and no more Austrian or German than any other Central European country.
Also, Catta was actually asking whether all lessons in all subjects are taught in Spanish, not whether you can learn Spanish as a language.
That is completely valid. I think that America makes great series, better then any ive seen made anywhere else, which i enjoy a lot. However i feel that not only the movie industry in America, but all over the world, has gotten into a slump of late.. I rarely see good movies anymore, while years back there were good movies all the time.
And to the guy who went on a rampage against you should start to look in his own backyard, if you talk about worthless action movies france can make some as well. Then i rather watch some worthless action movies with some actors who can actually act a bit or speak proper english..
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I would content that because you get taught i language at a young age, and you keep honing that skill over years it is part of your culture. It even comes back in entertainment, technology you use in everyday life, increasingly in jobs and economics since globalization is coming on stronger and stronger. For instance from my perspective I would argue that English, and therefore american/british culture is definitely part of my cultural setting, because we are confronted with it at a young age and keep in contact with it. The degree to which it is assimilated/part of your culture is ofcourse debatable and dependant on your country of origin..
Oh. We have this thing called ESL (English as a second language) where primarily Spanish speakers get instructed in their native language, but others can get instructors as well. It's just that you can find people who speak Spanish just about anywhere in the country. It's definitely the closest thing we have to a second language, even if just 15% of the population speaks it fluently.
If you're in a big city you can find a French or Spanish speaker quite easily. Here in new England many people speak French as well.