It would make more sense to say "Press 1 for Spanish" and then continue with English unless 1 is pressed.

My thoughts exactly, Joe. That's how most companies handle it, in my experience.

What's the big deal?

It says, "Press one for English" and "Press two for Spanish." Where's the default for Spanish that you're seeing? "Marquer" is the contemporary Spanish verb for "push/press/mark" used for things like buttons, or check-boxes, but not for things like doors.

I'm sure that your cable provider offers many channels in Spanish, so there is probably a percentage of its customers for whom Spanish is their first language.

Do you live in an area in which there are Spanish speakers?

And are you so insecure that when others are speaking a foreign tongue, you assume they are talkin' trash about you?

I don't think Spanish is now the default; just that Comcast seems to be giving equal status with this arrangement. Most of the companies I deal with have an option to press something for Spanish and leave English as the go-ahead language if nothing is pressed. That makes sense to me, this being an English-speaking country.

She's not saying that Spanish is default, only that NO language is the default choice.

My personal favorite?

If you want to shit, press 1.
If you want to go blind, press 2.

I'm doing my part down here to make Mexico bi-lingual. Im working hard to teach everyone I meet the word "toe". Fingers and toes are both "dedos", the only way to make sure it's understood to be a toe is to say "dedo de pie" so they all 3 of the people I've taught this in last 7 years were very receptive to a shorter version. They all called me "pendejo", which translates to "great teacher".

actually, I would rather press a button and continue QUICKLY than wait for the system to recognize no button was pressed. the former option to me is a lot quicker and a lot less waste of my time.

Besides, they aren't equal, why do you think English is the button #1 instead of button #2? And besides, it makes sense, suppose you are a foreign person who works in the states on a work visa? How does that fall into your hands? Try traveling to Europe, most ATM's and phone things have menus in at least 4 different languages (take Belgium for example, they had Flemish, German, French, English)

lmao @ pendejo being "great teacher". And "gringo" means "Wonderful American" doesn't it?

bullwinkle, you're a hoot.

(yes, I live in the southern half of the central valley in California, I grew up among spanish speakers a little)

Don-
Where did I imply I thought they were talking trash? That's just plain silly.

Don assumes everyone is talking trash about him everywhere he goes and he wrongly assumes the same is true for everyone. It's not paranoia in his case, it's fact.

Thank you Captain Abnormal. Are you getting the increased readership you have been hoping for by trolling here? Your wit continues to cut like a spoon.

Mary Katherine - why are only English and Spanish given choices? Where's "press 3 for German"; "press 4 for Tagalog"; "press 5 for French"; "press 6 for Russian"; etc?

I know some people may think its chic to include Spanish. But it seems the whole bilingual thing is over embraced. I can understand areas that have large Spanish speaking populations, but bilingualism seems to be prevailent in areas that don't have one. Especially when you consider the bad taste it leave in some people's mouths.

It seems to not make sense in some places to the point that I can only explain it if there is pressure from somewhere to go bilingual that isn't really made too public. Or atleast I don't know about it.

As for bilingual seeming 'chic', speaking as someone from a so-called bilingual country, Canada, avoid it at all costs.

The biggest negative is that politicians are expected to be bilingual. This immediately shrinks the already anemic candidate pool down to next to nothing. To become satisfactory fluent, you need to be immersed in it at youth or study it for several hours a day for years. The former excludes people from non-Spanish speaking backgrounds from politics, unless they pursue the latter. However, no one but career politicians and millionaires (redundant, I know) have the time to invest in adequate language training.

I never liked the extra inconvenience of having to select a language on bank ATMs. If you choose Spanish then you should get your money in pesos.

John, they don't expect politicians to be bilingual, sure it helps, but what does that prove? Besides, where is the point that I mentioned? Suppose that you are someone working here legitamately with a work-VISA, not a citizen, and only command a mediocre knowledge of the English Language (enough just to get you buy, but technobabble is bad enough in English, suppose you had someone speaking technobabble in a language that you barely know?)

If you travel to Europe, sure each country is supposed to have its own language (minor countries are the exception), but, for example, when I was on a high speed train from Brussels from Belgium to Paris, they made announcements in 3 languages, Flemish (the "working" national language of the Belgian people), French (obviously from France), and English, having to do with neither country whatsoever. Are you saying they should stop announcing things in English just because the demographics really doesn't support it?
I do know that it sure as hell helped ME out when I was on a day trip with some friends when our ship tied up in Antwerp, Belgium. We made a day trip to Paris and it sure as hell made it easier to complete it and be back on the ship in time.

"BZZZ" Wrong again, Woody. If you do your business in America, no matter what language you speak, you get dollars. If you do your business in Mexico, no matter what language you speak, you get pesos. Spain? The Euro. Turkey? The Lira.

It is not a minor inconvenience, in most places you don't even have to select a language, just slide your card and enter your pin. When I was in Belgium, it recognized my card as American somehow and automatically reverted to ENGLISH without me having to select a button (it happened in Turkey, too).

Just because you're conservative doesn't mean you have to be a bigot.

Satellite cable provider DirecTv also uses this one-for-English, two-for-Espanol intro on their contact number 1-800-942-2788. No, I don't like it much either.

There are ATMs all over Mexico that give you the option for either pesos or dollars and English or Spanish. Even Mexicans don't like to keep a lot of pesos on hand, you can go sleep rich and wake up poor that way. If you use a pay phone most operators speak English or can switch you to someone who does. If you call Sky TV Mexico for service on your satellite dish just press two for English. I don't remember if you had to press one for Spanish or not but I think you did. It's not just the US, it's everywhere.

You should really go with DirecTV instead anyway ...

Where did I imply I thought they were talking trash?

You didn't imply, that's why i asked. I'm trying to understand why you think this is such a problem.

I did, but if they knew I'm using their dish down here they'd shut me off.

ooh bullwinkle, you naughty man, mary is going to have to take you over her knee and spank you for being so naughty

Uh, I meant to say that if a person was to use a Direct Tv dish system in Mexico it wouldn't be legal and that would just be plain wrong. That hypothetical person would face disconnection and possibly criminal charges for using such eqipment contrary to mexican laws designed to maintain the monopoly of Sky TV and gladly pay twice as much. We should always obey the law. Stay in school. Don't do drugs. All that crap.

"I pity the fool who doesn't do school, stay in milk, drink your drugs"

(reference to MADTV or Saturday Night Live's, I forget which, cartoon of Mr. T trying to find a job...if anyone else remembers)

Yeah, but was he taking a stab at preemptive community service in hopes of a lighter sentence and smaller fine like I was?

Soon to come:

Para continuar en Espanol, marque uno. If you do not understand Spanish, press 2 for other languages.

About the thread issue...the psychology behind the order and preferences is, to my view, that the "default" or ANSWERING/responding language is first in English ("press [whatever] to continue in English" SPOKEN in English), while the carryforward (non-default) language then lapses into Spanish for those who are not conversant in English (the default, as the system communicates with first response).

Meaning, IF there was an assumption to the contrary in the U.S. that everyone converses in Spanish, these sorta systems would first-respond (default) in Spanish, and offer in Spanish an option to continue in Spanish, and then continue by default in English (just the opposite of what we now have).

These systems are incredibly annoying (I completely agree and I don't care for them, either, especially since I know no one who defaults in the U.S. to Spanish other than people who have *issues* with English, and it's usually because they want everyone to speak Spanish instead, not that they can't learn English or don't know English, but refuse to, at least as to those I've experienced who insist on some sortof Spanish-language-demand IN the U.S. (and in other European countries, just that the U.S. is particular target of this objective by some).

I agree that if they're going to offer options/information in Spanish, then why not also Tagalog, French, Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese (all dialects), hey, why not Aussie?

The Spanish option is peculiar in that regard and it's annoying to most of us because of that. Not like I've ever asked for a response in Spanish, nor never wondered about what the information would sound like in Spanish, all that.

Hey, Latin. There ya' go. Just opt to communicate everything in Latin and then let the Spanish-insistors figure it out or wander around with the limitations.

The point being that the English language represents culturally to some that which they want to deconstruct, if not eradicate. Thus, we get the Spanish imperialists.

The United States isn't Spain, to state the obvious. I'm rather curious whatever happened to the languages present among the many other original cultures in Mexico and Central, South America. Might as well include all of those languages in the telephone options, Japanese, Norse...

For Cherokee press 1837?

Just saying that the default answers are in English, and pose instructions in English for English, while someone who didn't/doesn't/can't/won't learn English would have no clue (or little) what was being said in English and wouldn't comprehend (maybe) what was being said in English, thus, the continuance in Spanish.

BUT, it's an arrogant assumption, while refusing other languages and dialects, to continue in and only in Spanish, which is the point most of us get as to what's annoying about the process, and why Spanish is always the option.

Many in Customer Service and marketing/sales ARE Spanish speaking today such that they do apply a higher degree of attitude to and about English, and it causes a lot of us to go elsewhere when we encounter it.

Continue in Spanish, lose my business...is how many of us feel about this, is my point. At least here in the U.S.

When/if I go to Barcelona, I'll revise the perspective.

for Nigerian, press your socialsecurity and bankaccount numbers.

For Mexican, press your homeaddress, driverslicenese and bankaccount numbers.

What a silly thread. They offer Spanish because many customers speak Spanish as their first (or sometimes only) language (not enough customers to justify the cost to add Tagalog, or Russian, or whatever). They have an either/or option instead of a diverted Spanish option because that is how their phone system works, most likely exclusively. Anyone who has set up a automated phone system for a company will tell you that most systems don't have options in setting up things like that, you just take what you get.

In any case, who cares? You managed to dial the phone, what difference does one more button make? Too tired?

For arabs, please press your FBI identification number

This thread had me rollin'! Especially bullwinkle's "For Cherokee, press 1837".

I think Swahili (sp?) would be nothing but clucks and clicks of the tongue.

Of course, the uppity liberals, whose moral superority and utter lack of humor shines ever-so brightly in some threads, I only have this to say:

"Lighten up, Francis."

Actually, mantis, it appears that you are "too tired" to read the thread comments posted here prior to your own statement of the obvious.

About which, to restate another obvious point already shared on the thread, yes, we KNOW that, mantis.

A lot of "stuff" matters to a lot of us that seems to pass you by.

Actually, if you don't push either, eventually you'll get to talk to a human being, or a reasonable facsimile thereof; this is the default if you don't have Touch-Tone service.

The Bank Formerly Known As Bank One has a Spanish-language operator at 888-BANK-ONE, although they are no longer promoting the spelled-out version.

No, Swahili is easy to pronounce. You're thinking of the Bushmen languages, I think.

Press UN for Esperanto?