When radio station WHFS 99.1 changed from modern rock to Spanish-language music, one thing that was strangely absent in the flurry of writings on the subject is just how significant an event it is that one of the area’s largest radio stations now broadcasts in Spanish instead of English. The fact that the importance of this was relatively untouched by the media at the time reveals just how ignorant most people remain to the new era we are entering. It seems we may not be able to remain a monolingual community for much longer.

American society is changing right under our noses. Of course by now we’ve all gotten used to having ATMs and Giant Food self-checkout lines offer us instructions in Spanish and English. Entire blocks of Langley Park, which is just west of the campus on Route 193, are packed with South American restaurants, barbers, stylists, groceries and other stores with signs in Spanish that cater to the huge Spanish-speaking population in this area. Anyone who works in a restaurant as I do knows the modern-day American restaurant is almost invariably divided into two separate linguistic spheres: The servers and hosts speak English, and everyone who works in the kitchen speaks Spanish.

I realize none of this is news to anyone. What worries me is how many English-speaking Americans seem to be ignoring the growing reality that at some point our country will be fully bilingual. There will soon come a time when any politician who wants to get elected had better speak Spanish if he or she wants to enjoy the support of the Spanish-speaking constituency. How can you hope to listen to the plights of a people and be their representative in a true sense when you are separated from them by a language barrier?

Most immigrants to the United States know they need to speak English to find work and a place in our society. We have welcomed immigrants from all over the world (with varying degrees of welcome at times, of course). They have by and large been forced to learn English to have a chance at the proverbial American dream. Not doing so meant staying within a closed microcosm of the society they left behind, living out their days in a Chinatown or Little Italy but never fully entering into American society as equals to the people already here.

But things are different with Spanish speakers. The 2000 Census showed Hispanics (who can be of any race but are Spanish-speaking) comprised 13 percent of the population, making them the largest minority group. According to The Washington Post, one of the main reasons Infinity Broadcasting decided to switch WHFS’ format to Spanish-language is because it felt the Spanish-speakers are underserved in this area.

The United States has no official language. Many people assume English must be the official language, but there has never been any legislation by the federal government declaring English our official language. We are a country of immigrants, and the reason most of us speak English is simply that the majority of original settlers were English-speaking.

Not only are Spanish speakers listening to Spanish radio stations; they are also being served by Spanish-language cable networks such as Telemundo and by Spanish-language newspapers such as El Tiempo Latino. In short, they are just as American as the rest of us, but they aren’t giving up their language for English in the process. They go through the same checkout lines at Giant and use the same ATMs to withdraw money; they simply do it in a different language.

The United States has long been one of the only countries where most people speak only one language, and our geographic isolation — coupled with the willingness of non-natives to use English — has led us to rest on our laurels when it comes to language education. Soon it will be those who don’t speak Spanish and English who will be at a disadvantage. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A bilingual society will double the cultural riches at its disposal, and the sooner we get there, the better we’ll all be for it.

Alex Dzwonchyk is a senior linguistics major. He can be reached at alexdz@wam.umd.edu.