In article ,
"Morgans" wrote:

"Hamish Reid" wrote

None of that really answers the question: in what sense is Spanish a
foreign language in the US? As several people have pointed out, it
predates English in these parts by a long way, and has been spoken
continuously 'round here by immigrants and native-born citizens alike
for all of that time.

Now you are being silly. English is the official language in the US, and is
the only language of record. That says it all.

Now, it those who refuse to speak it want to sit back in the corner and be
quiet, fine with me.

So, once again, what makes Spanish a "foreign language" in the US? I'm
guessing that for you the phrase "foreign language" means something like
"non-official language", or "non-dominant language", or "language I
don't speak", or "language some foreigners use", rather than what the
phrase might mean to many of the rest of us, something like "a language
not spoken by the indigenous peoples of a certain area" (to steal a
definition from somewhere else)?

Your definition is, almost by definition, a little odd don't you think?

Hamish (for whom American English is definitely foreign :-))