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From: b2@science.UUCP (Bryan Bingham)
Newsgroups: sci.lang
Subject: Re: Multi-lingual countries
Message-ID: <121@science.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 12-Nov-86 10:27:03 EST
Article-I.D.: science.121
Posted: Wed Nov 12 10:27:03 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 12-Nov-86 22:02:33 EST
References: <743@argon.idec.stc.co.uk> <3289@watmath.UUCP> <1001@ptsfb.UUCP> <22329@rochester.ARPA>
Organization: Bell Communications Research Inc., Morristown, NJ
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> New Mexico is one of those states "inbetween" Texas and California.
> (See map below).  Forty percent of the households in New Mexico speak
> Spanish as the primary language.  As a result, New Mexico has two
> official state (i.e. province) languages, English and Spanish.  Election
> ballots are bilingual, but I do not know if the laws are maintained
> bilingually.
> -- 
>   Lawrence Crowl		716-275-5766	University of Rochester


I lived in New Mexico for 20 years.  The statement that 40% of all
households use Spanish as the PRIMARY language is wrong.  The real number
is more like 20%.  I know that in 1978, there were only about 1300 people
that could read only Spanish, the rest that could read could read English
or both.  The current population of NM is something like 1.2 million.
Although settled by Spaniards in the late 16th century, the majority of
the population is Anglo.  Laws are not maintained in any language other
than Legaleze.  

Interestingly, the Spanish spoken by natives is much more like the
Spanish of the 16th century than modern Castilian or even Mexican.
It is difficult for Spanish speakers from Spain to communicate effectively
in NM using their Spanish.  Not impossible, of course, just difficult.

Bryan Bingham	b2@bellcore.com		{backbone}!bellcore!b2

ps.  I wish I was still in NM.  I had 4 years of Spanish in HS, but am no
longer able to use what I was taught.