Why do some americans think that everyone who speaks spanish is MEXICAN???

Julee.

Brasilians don't speak Spanish, they speak Portugese.
And frankly, I don't know. Its majority of the nation lives out West and out there most of the Hispanics they see are Mexican, so its hard to get out of that mindframe. Same thing if you live in Miami...Cubanas.

KERMIT M

You are aware of course that Brazillians don't speak Spanish.....

larry_the_orc

Dude, I don't care what nation you're FROM.

Hint: This is AMERICA, we speak ENGLISH.

Learn it, or better yet, LEAVE

pinegreen7

Don't be so harsh. You, for instance , obviously do not know that Brazilians do not speak Spanish. Brazilians speak Portuguese. So, should I call you stupid for not knowing that? No, I won't.
Not everyone is educated about different cultures. Many people are caught up in their daily lives and probably will not travel out of the U.S. Travel is expensive, most people are just caught up in their day to day living and trying to make ends meet. Our school system, for many years did not offer classes on world events. There are a number of reasons people are not aware of different cultures and languages, but , try not to be so harsh and judgmental, after all, you made a mistake in thinking Brazilians speak Spanish.

Chela

Ignorance - that's all it is!! Just plain and simple IGNORANCE!

BTW: Brasilians speak Portuguese but a lot of the ones I know also speak Spanish.

Mysterio

It's an stereotype. Someones are ignorant and don't know (don't want to know) about the rest of the world.
Some people do know the difference.

It's Spanish not Mexican.

princess_29_71

Tell me about it! I speak and read fluent Spanish (learned in college) and I have been accused of being Mexican on this forum time and time again.

Hott_Gurl

well most americans are just stoopid and think o well if u speak spanish u have to be a mexican. like i said some americans are stoopid. i am not 1 of them because i alot of friends that are american and know spanish, and alot of mexicans. BIGGGG diff!!!!

Austin

Well actually in Brazil they speak Portuguese..
Why do you assume that if they are in South America they speak Spanish?
And they speak Spanish in Spain too (shocking eh?)

MEXICAN PRIDE

it also depends on what on what part of the USA ur at if ur in chicago california UR MEXICAN if u are at newyork ur PUERTO RICAN and if u are in florida ur CUBAN so its not all the time

Patrick M

Pretty much. It's an undercurrent of racism, and it's easier to condemn those "d***ed Mexicans," since all Mexicans are obviously here illegally. They don't care if the people they're talking about are actually legal Puerto Rican immigrants.

tom science

You bet it is.Most of America is the awful right wing conservative republican racist that truly wasn't taught right by his or her parents and or caregivers.This in turn leads to ignorance and stupidity.And like they say "stupid people are dangerous" I my self am Caucasian and have spent a great deal of my life surfing and fishing in Baja and the mainland.All n all don't let them get to ya because you and I both know that MEXICANS are the hardest working,family caring type of there are,period.It just proves my point because I have yet to see one single Hispanic homeless person in my home town of San Diego,California.Take care...tom science

Diamante

Its based on ignorance and lack of exposure to different cultures. It also has to do with mexicans holding the majority of the hispanic population in the United States.

Sharkman

Hey that's true! I have a spanish (As meaning from Spain) teacher that had a friend from the USA, that thought that Spain was a province of Mexico!

aroxyfreak

who knows.. its casue theres a majority of mexicans in the hispanic race in America

kangaroo

no.. we dnot think ALL of them are. its american humor i guess. since most mexicans snuck in illegaly, thye just like to joke about it i guess... or maybe its just the word "mexican" kinda makes your toung tingle =)

shycello

maybe for the same reason that they think all black people are African American; one label does not fit all!

thelogicalferret

because to every race some other ethnicity all looks alike. are you so stupid you can't see an answer so simple? furthermore does it not occur to you that Mexican is the highest Latin population we have here and so they are the majority of those people?

yuffie

Who cares? What difference does it make? What are you? You must be better than everyone. Unless you are traveling to or are in a spanish speaking country, they should be speaking English.

Nasdaq W

Seems you are more stupid than them since Brazilians dont speak spanish.

ABC

well first you have neighbors like mine, who think mexican is a language and basically it boils down to education; or the lack there of.

hmmmmm.

Well I guess neither do they.. Why do they come up to me and speak spanish and asssume that I know it?

owensb01

why do you narrow it down to americans only? europeans think the same thing, chico.

furever

It's just the ones who are ignorant to the fact that there are actually other cultures out there that speak Latin. They are also ignorant to the differences in the Latin language, that each culture has, like accents and even different words.

Believe me, I know exactly what you're talking about. My boyfriend is Black (no racial slander intended) and when I first met him, he thought I was Mexican because I spoke Spanish. His exact words were "What nationality are you?" I stated that I was Puerto Rican and his response was "Oh, I thought you were Mexican because I heard you speaking Spanish." I had to give him a little Latin 101. Ha! Ha!

For all those who are unaware, Spanish comes from Latin. There are five major Latin languages:

Italian
Portuguese
Spanish
French
Romanian

I was also ignorant to something. I didn't know that Brazilians spoke Portuguese. Now I know and there you go, some form of Latin.

hexa

I new a girl that spoke Spanish, it sounded just like the Spanish the Mexicans speak, but she was from Peru, I don't speak Spanish, so how in the hell would I no the difference, I am not a linguist, or can recognize different dialects in languages, unless their in English. any dumbass would no that. If someone form Spain was speaking Spanish and a Mexican was doing the same, how would I no the difference unless I spoke the language. or the same with Brazilian, if you don't no the language you can't tell the difference, and who gives a sh*t anyway.

makingthisup

Mexico is a country that is very close to the US that speaks Spanish, and so it is very natural for us to associate Spanish with Mexico. Just like if you are in Europe and someone thinks of a country that speaks English it might be more natural to think of England because it is closer than the US, Canada, Australia and other English speaking countries. The US has a kind of kinship with Mexicans because they are our neighbors. I know many countries speak Spanish but I always think Mexico when I think of Spanish too, but I live in San Antonio, Texas so most people I know that speak Spanish are Mexican or Mexican-American, even though I know and will readily acknowledge that there are other Spanish speaking countries.

Sashie

When did the Brazilians start speaking Spanish?? Have I missed something???

whirlwind_123

It might be from the fact that there are several different dialect in Spanish and Americans haven't been introduced to them all therefore they assume that Spanish is Spanish.
I do believe though with Brazil it's Portuguese and why didn't you Spain in there?

sway_ii

Most are, but i do realize that there are more people here than just mexican.

electricpole

If it is so, and I doubt it, it's because there are a lot of Mexicans in the US, as we have a common border, and not too many Spainish or Chileans, etc. .
PS: Brazilians speak Portuguese.

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