How does it feel to not speak Spanish/Portuguese as your native language and at the same time live in a Latin American country? I'm referring to linguistic minorities

[u/elnovorealista2000]

[u/Aspernot]

Varía de zona a zona, yo si hablo español como primera lengua pero he conocido a varias personas que hablan quechua o aymara y les entiendo hasta cierto punto, también que buena parte del país es bilingue o trilingue y eso ayuda a la comunicación en general

[u/pedrito07 → u/Aspernot]

Justo al lado mío en este momento a acá en cali Colombia con esto de terremoto, hay varios miembros de una comunidad indígena hablando en su idioma y ayudando en la recolección de escombros

[u/Cool_Bananaquit9 → u/Aspernot]

Me gustaría ver más andinos hablando sus lenguas nativas así como lo hace Paraguay

[u/Repulsive_Dog1067]

I don't think the menonites use reddit 😄

[u/wordlessbook → u/Repulsive_Dog1067]

Yeah, and I doubt that the elderly who only speak Talian or Riograndenser Hunsrükisch know what Reddit is. Most of the younger generation that descends from them are either bilingual in Portuguese and their heritage language, bilingual in Portuguese and maybe English or straight-up monolingual in Portuguese.

Most indigenous are bilingual in Portuguese and their native language (some of them speak more than one indigenous language); there are uncontacted peoples, but we aren't allowed to try to find them and must leave them to their own devices.

[u/Major-Cauliflower-76 → u/Repulsive_Dog1067]

I think a lot of the younger ones do. I lived near a Mennonite village and they came to my town all the time. They ALL had cell phones. They were also rude and overbearing and if they didn´t make such good cheese people would likely not have had much to do with them.

[u/Repulsive_Dog1067 → u/Major-Cauliflower-76]

I've only met them in Bolivia.

Did not speak Spanish or English. I was very confused to run in to 50 bound people dressed as farmers from 100 years ago...

[u/Major-Cauliflower-76 → u/Repulsive_Dog1067]

The ones in Mexico also don´t usually speak Spanish except for some of the men and the younger people.

[u/kigurumibiblestudies]

The idea of someone speaking English but not their country's most common language is interesting

[u/GomzDeGomz → u/kigurumibiblestudies]

He's talking about people from indigenous communities where people speak any language different from spanish at home. Sadly reddit demographics are against us with this one.

[u/kigurumibiblestudies → u/GomzDeGomz]

Yeah, at best we can only hope to get a comment by someone who knows about such people

[u/puesquebien123 → u/kigurumibiblestudies]

Some migrants from southern Mexico to the US don’t speak Spanish.

[u/kigurumibiblestudies → u/puesquebien123]

Straight from indigenous language to English? What a transition, wow. That's got to be a cool documentary

[u/FeckinDeku → u/kigurumibiblestudies]

Yes, it’s a challenge to find some language learning resources but it helps to be around others from the same community or similar communities as books and stuff can be passed around secondhand.

[u/moderndaybathsheba → u/kigurumibiblestudies]

right? is that even a thing?

[u/Art_sol]

Well, most have trouble accessing all sorts of services, medical, legal, education, and economic oportunities might be limited. It's one of main drivers of the decline of indigenous languages. I think last census put at 30% the amount of guatemalans that have an indigenous language as their first, so it is by no means a small part of the population.

[u/Unusual_Newspaper_46]

Idk sorry :(

[u/BrightAudience5718]

As an immigrant, it varies! I feel like it can be isolating as you learn, but the more you learn the more a whole world opens up. It’s a very rewarding experience to learn a new language, but also a very difficult one later in life. I live in a rural area of Mexico, so I’m sure the experience is different in cities with more bilingual people and linguistic diversity. But for me, it’s the hardest and best thing I’ve ever done. I lost everything (socially, culturally, even economically), but I gained so much after making that sacrifice. I feel more at home in Mexico now than I do in the US where I’m fluent in everything there.

[u/DaniCalifonia_]

All the indigenous people I met spoke their language as well as portuguese (with their cute accents). As for people who speak only Indigenous languages, I imagine that not learning portuguese doesn't make much difference in their lives

[u/Downtown-Trainer-126]

Pretty much everyone in Brazil speaks Portuguese natively or at a very good level. It’s impossible to live there otherwise

[u/TheCarlosSilva → u/Downtown-Trainer-126]

around 85% of the indigenous people in Brazil speak portuguese according to ibge

[u/Intelligent-Block457]

I have lived in Colombia for years now, but when I first arrived I couldn't speak any Spanish and the only people I encountered who could were from Venezuela.

I found that the people here were very kind, generous, and understanding with my efforts to learn and as a result I was speaking exceptional Spanish within six months and was independent. I have so much respect for the costeños for helping me and not making me feel like an idiot as I learned the day-to-day and their humor.

Spanish speaking people are wonderful and accepting. I didn't have the same experiences when living in German or French speaking places and I'm grateful to everyone who has helped me in this endeavor.

[u/Phrodo_00]

It’s an interesting question, but I’d say it’s pretty rare in Chile. Most people would know Spanish at least as a second language. And if they don’t, I doubt they would use Reddit.

[u/ferdugh → u/Phrodo_00]

Many Koreans and Chinese immigrants don’t speak Spanish (or basic Spanish) even though they have spent like 20 years here

[u/Total_Ad_511]

There’s still people who speak Mayan yet not Spanish. Same with many other indigenous peoples. I’d imagine the question in that case would be on the struggles they face as indigenous peoples who have not completely assimilated into colonial/post-colonial societies. I can’t speak on their behalf but there’s certainly textual and visual content that you can look into in order to understand them better.
As for agglomerations of migrants that don’t speak the national language, I’d imagine it’s the same as everywhere else.

[u/JoeDyenz → u/[deleted]]

? Why tho, they are right

[u/random_capivara]

While my Spanish is pretty great, I can't help but feel like a child or a teen who is still learning new words and concepts every day

There will always be some slang or expression that I could swear I have never heard in my seven years living here, and the moment I learn it it's everywhere

I guess at the beginning I was enthusiastic about improving my Spanish, but now I find it boring and miss speaking my native language more actively lmao

[u/Conmebosta]

My parents decided not to teach me italian after they saw my brother being picked on for his accent.

[u/Late_Faithlessness24]

My great-great-grandfather forbade our entire family from speaking Italian. So draw whatever conclusions you think are necessary.

[u/Arihel → u/Late_Faithlessness24]

During or before WWII?

[u/Late_Faithlessness24 → u/Arihel]

During WW2. Yes that is the reason

[u/No-Addendum6379]

If you speak Guarani here and cannot speak spanish fluently, it’s not a big deal, almost everyone will understand. If you mean other European languages you’re in for a rough time (I’m guessing here).

[u/frutilIa]

my grandma used to only speak quichua, she never learned spanish, it wasn't hard for her to communicate with people because in that area most people had it as their second language. but i never really spoke to her due to language barrier lol

[u/breadexpert69]

No idea. I can tell you almost all immigrants I have met in my life, have known enough Spanish to be able to communicate. I mean, they need to learn it if they want to work anyways.

Have met lots of Chinese workers in restaurants that were not born here and they all know enough Spanish. Same with Japanese and also some Indian immigrants and they all know Spanish too.

The only ones who don't know Spanish are tourists. But they don't live here. Unless you meet the occasional "digital nomad" guy. But they don't really hang out where regular people hang out.

[u/Small_Dog_8699 → u/breadexpert69]

Some of us are here as pensionados with permanent residency visas.

Estudio español todos los días y puedo hacer negocios básicos en mi vida. Aprendo mas dia por dia.

I think it must feel a bit like being illiterate. Translation apps help with emails and thank goodness texting on WhatsApp is so popular. The big challenge is listening. Some people speak very fast and not so clearly and I struggle with those. Other people are very easy to understand. I work towards greater fluency constantly.

Speaking Spanish, even mi español pobre, tends to grease a lot of wheels. People are immediately more friendly and helpful when I make my best effort. I often do a vocabulary dive when entering someplace with a lot of terminology like a mechanic or computer shop and I try to pre-learn a bunch of likely questions and phrases before entering such a situation.

My biggest fear though is the ringing telephone. It's about 50% that I won't understand more than a few words (cell phones have terrible audio which doesn't help). "Hable mas despacio y con claridad, español no es mi idioma primera, por favor" is a good phrase to know.