Did We Already Do Obama's "Learn Spanish" Comment?

[bhkad]

Did We Already Do Obama's "Learn Spanish" Comment?

YouTube - Obama to America--Learn Spanish

This ad uses Obama's own words to share his beliefs about how to deal with the problem of immigrants that don't learn English.

I may have missed the discussion of this matter here at DP. I searched for threads on it but came up empty handed.

If there is no thread then let this be it.

Nifty ad, eh?

:2wave:

 

[Doc Howl]

What's wrong with learning Spanish?

 

[bhkad]

What's wrong with learning Spanish?

Nothing.

What the commercial takes exception to is an issue beyond the scope of your narrow framing.

Want to try again?

 

[Brian Barker]

I see that Obama want's everyone to learn a foreign language, but which one should it be :doh

The British learn French, the Australians study Japanese, and the Americans prefer Spanish.

And this leaves Mandarin Chinese out of the equation

Interestingly nine British MP's have nominated Esperanto for the Nobel Peace Prize 2008.

You can see detail at lernu!: Main Page

 

[RedAkston]

What's wrong with learning Spanish?

What's wrong with not being a troll?

 

[bhkad]

I see that Obama want's everyone to learn a foreign language, but which one should it be :doh

The British learn French, the Australians study Japanese, and the Americans prefer Spanish.

And this leaves Mandarin Chinese out of the equation

Interestingly nine British MP's have nominated Esperanto for the Nobel Peace Prize 2008.

You can see detail at lernu!: Main Page

We've been blessed with a spate of new posters recently. You have honored this thread with your first post.

Thank you and welcome to Debate Politics!

:2wave:

 

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Given the fact that about 16% of those in the US are now Hispanic, learning Spanish makes a lot of sense. The US does not have a national language and with nearly one in five of those residing here being Hispanic, Spanish is the logical choice for the US's second language program.

 

[world]

Did We Already Do Obama's "Learn Spanish" Comment?

YouTube - Obama to America--Learn Spanish



I may have missed the discussion of this matter here at DP. I searched for threads on it but came up empty handed.

If there is no thread then let this be it.

Nifty ad, eh?

:2wave:

Nice lies, bro. lol

 

[Doc Howl]

What's wrong with not being a troll?

I see. A question that you're afraid to answer qualifies one as a "troll".

:lol:

 

[Doc Howl]

Given the fact that about 16% of those in the US are now Hispanic, learning Spanish makes a lot of sense. The US does not have a national language and with nearly one in five of those residing here being Hispanic, Spanish is the logical choice for the US's second language program.

You have to remember that the more fanatical right wingers hate Hispanics with a passion, which is why they'd prefer our kids learned something useful, like Hottentot.

 

[Kandahar]

That first quote is absolutely right. Americans SHOULD learn Spanish (and/or other foreign languages) so that they are better able to compete in a global economy. Anyone who opposes this is an anti-intellectual idiot. Yes, that means you.

The second quote is disgustingly clipped before the end of his sentence, which completely changes the meaning of what he said.

 

[CaptainCourtesy]

What's wrong with not being a troll?

Moderator's Warning:

Unnecessary, P/N. Please cease this behavior.

 

[Alex]

I do not think Obama was trying to say people should be forced to learn anything. I think he used a foreign language education as a way to say our children need to be better educated in general. He could have phrased it differently though to get that message out better. I can understand where people could be offended by this.

This kind of speaking without clarity is more evidence to a lack of experience in politics.

 

[Kandahar]

I don't see what's so offensive about it. A lot of xenophobes try to hide their prejudice by claiming that they have no problem with people of any national origin...they're only against illegal immigration.

The outrage over "we should learn Spanish" merely confirms my suspicions about the true motives of those who claim to oppose illegal immigration. No one would have been outraged if he had said Japanese or Chinese or German instead.

 

[Lerxst]

Incredible just how low some are willing to stoop in order to build an attack platform. The spin on this issue is so bad that it made me dizzy. This smacks of the retardation surrounding the "tire pressure gauge" campaign.

"Let's take what Obama says completely out of context and then attack him for his position that we just manufactured!!!"

And the army of the strawmen marches on!!!

 

[DeeJayH]

Incredible just how low some are willing to stoop in order to build an attack platform. The spin on this issue is so bad that it made me dizzy. This smacks of the retardation surrounding the "tire pressure gauge" campaign.

And the army of the strawmen marches on!!!

funny, i was thinking the same thing about the following post that has nothign but bias and no facts to back it up

I don't see what's so offensive about it. A lot of xenophobes try to hide their prejudice by claiming that they have no problem with people of any national origin...they're only against illegal immigration.

 

[bhkad]

Given the fact that about 16% of those in the US are now Hispanic, learning Spanish makes a lot of sense. The US does not have a national language and with nearly one in five of those residing here being Hispanic, Spanish is the logical choice for the US's second language program.

You have to remember that the more fanatical right wingers hate Hispanics with a passion, which is why they'd prefer our kids learned something useful, like Hottentot.

Incorrect.

Imagine that.

I'm coming to your house and I expect you to learn to speak my language and you think that is ok?

You MAY learn to speak my language if you wish. It's a nice thing to do and may also serve several practical purposes.

But I don't want my President telling me to learn to speak Spanish to accommodate those coming here who, like all the other waves of immigrants have, learned to speak the native language of the country they were entering.

When in Rome do as the Romans do.

oke

 

[CaptainCourtesy]

You have to remember that the more fanatical right wingers hate Hispanics with a passion, which is why they'd prefer our kids learned something useful, like Hottentot.

Please show evidence that right wingers, even extreme ones, hate Hispanics. Since you claimed it, I'm sure that you can substantiate.

 

[CaptainCourtesy]

Incorrect.

Imagine that.

I'm coming to your house and I expect you to learn to speak my language and you think that is ok?

You MAY learn to speak my language if you wish. It's a nice thing to do and may also serve several practical purposes.

But I don't want my President telling me to learn to speak Spanish to accommodate those coming here who, like all the other waves of immigrants have, learned to speak the native language of the country they were entering.

When in Rome do as the Romans do.

oke

In the narrow context you are referring, bhkad, I agree with you. IMO, it is the responsibility of a new immigrant to figure out how to communicate in his/her new country; not the responsibility of the citizens of that country to figure out how to communicate with that immigrant. It's probably a good idea to have a working knowledge of another language. With technology as it is, the world is getting "smaller", and understanding other languages broadens one's ability to communicate. Making it required? No, I disagree with that.

 

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

I have said nothing about immigrants not learning the primary language of this country - American English - when immigrating. Adding a second language to our educational system has nothing at all to do with what immigrants do. This argument is a paper tiger used by the right-wing to attempt to dissuade any language other than English being taught in the US.

The purpose is to have a nation that is ready to complete in a global economy. The ability to speak two major languages is a skill that will make American citizens better able to compete. If Spanish is not chosen as the second language, perhaps Chinese should be chosen. I believe China will emerge as an economic world power within the next two decades and speaking their language would also enable Americans to compete in a global market.

 

[Lerxst]

I don't see where anyone said the immigrants shouldn't need to learn to speak English. Even Obama said they will learn. He was encouraging us to learn Spanish. I can't in my wildest dreams see how anyone could intelligently construe that as Obama's immigration plan. Or how could be offensive. It's a language. Being bi-lingual is not a bad thing. Holy hell a candidate is encouraging us to exercise our intellect and he is getting flamed over it.

Not surprising.

 

[TacticalEvilDan]

Incorrect.

Imagine that.

I'm coming to your house and I expect you to learn to speak my language and you think that is ok?

You MAY learn to speak my language if you wish. It's a nice thing to do and may also serve several practical purposes.

But I don't want my President telling me to learn to speak Spanish to accommodate those coming here who, like all the other waves of immigrants have, learned to speak the native language of the country they were entering.

When in Rome do as the Romans do.

oke

In the narrow context you are referring, bhkad, I agree with you. IMO, it is the responsibility of a new immigrant to figure out how to communicate in his/her new country; not the responsibility of the citizens of that country to figure out how to communicate with that immigrant. It's probably a good idea to have a working knowledge of another language. With technology as it is, the world is getting "smaller", and understanding other languages broadens one's ability to communicate. Making it required? No, I disagree with that.

I think what both of you are missing is the fact that the United States has no official language. Ergo, there is no specific language which any immigrant coming to the United States should learn.

If you want English to be the official language of the U.S., great, I even agree with you, write your Congresscritter.

Until it's law, we shouldn't expect anybody to learn it, simple as that.


That aside, I think it's a terrific idea to require people to learn a basic level of Spanish.

We're required to learn English in school, even though it's not the official language, so why not Spanish?


TED,
Remembers when the Regents program in New York required one to learn either French or Spanish, and doesn't remember becoming injured in the process of obtaining his Regents diploma. :2razz:

 

[DeeJayH]

I think what both of you are missing is the fact that the United States has no official language. Ergo, there is no specific language which any immigrant coming to the United States should learn.

If you want English to be the official language of the U.S., great, I even agree with you, write your Congresscritter.

Until it's law, we shouldn't expect anybody to learn it, simple as that.


That aside, I think it's a terrific idea to require people to learn a basic level of Spanish.

We're required to learn English in school, even though it's not the official language, so why not Spanish?


TED,
Remembers when the Regents program in New York required one to learn either French or Spanish, and doesn't remember becoming injured in the process of obtaining his Regents diploma. :2razz:

English may not have been declared the national language offiicially
but it is the language of the country
if you come here and do not learn it, you are going to fail here
the onus is not on the residents to make the immigrants successful here by learning their language
also English is the default international language
also, every immigrant previously has learned the language

required spanish is a pathetic solution to a problem that is someone else's (the immigrant) problem
when i was in school, they taught 4 years of French, Spanish & German
I took German
and i have recently started learning Spanish with Rosetta Stone
but that is my choice to make

 

[CaptainCourtesy]

In the narrow context you are referring, bhkad, I agree with you. IMO, it is the responsibility of a new immigrant to figure out how to communicate in his/her new country; not the responsibility of the citizens of that country to figure out how to communicate with that immigrant. It's probably a good idea to have a working knowledge of another language. With technology as it is, the world is getting "smaller", and understanding other languages broadens one's ability to communicate. Making it required? No, I disagree with that.

Folks, read the bold. My response was a very specific response to bhkad's comment. As such, one cannot generalize or expand from there, though if you read the remainder of my post, I do state that it would be a good idea for Americans to learn a second language.

Hope that clarifies things.

 

[Kandahar]

funny, i was thinking the same thing about the following post that has nothign but bias and no facts to back it up

You know perfectly well what this video is attempting to imply. When it shows Obama's "we should learn Spanish" clip, the underlying message is "Obama supports illegal immigration...and even worse, they're Hispanics."

Disgusting and racist. But then, most people who claim to only be against illegal immigration regardless of nationality are disgusting and racist.