This whole "press one for English" thing baffles me. How are people supposed to know there are other languages available if it's not mentioned? Magic?
Plus it reminds me of that throwaway joke in Demolition Man: "Thank you for calling the San Angeles Police Department. If you would rather speak to an automated system, press one now."
The "press one for English" is just a sound bite for the media.
With extensive accommodation where is the need to assimilate?
When I go to the DMV (department of motor vehicles) to take care of car or drivers license stuff, invariably, someone is in line that cannot speak English and the DMV staff have to scramble to find someone that can help. The entire organization grinds to a halt because someone, not always Hispanic, cannot understand the conversation.
We have to print all government documents and forms in many languages because people refuse to learn English which is extremely expensive.
All of our kids are forced to learn Spanish beginning in the first grade, even before they have a handle on english which means we have to have additional special teachers.
Our police are now required to be conversant in Spanish.
