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

[DeeJayH]

Ya, I'm aware of the story. It doesn't answer my question. Since you must've missed it, here it is again:

Is there some epidemic of immigrants refusing to learn English, outside of the minds of xenophobic right-wingnuts? I didn't think so.

when a major US city uses Spanish by default there is something wrong
when a person can become a multimillionaire in America without learning a word of english, that is absurd (see above link for details)

 

[Kandahar]

Miami is in Florida, which is in the US

So? If the customers at that McDonald's are much more likely to speak Spanish than to speak English, why shouldn't the workers assume that you're part of the majority until they find out otherwise? The fact that you're even offended by that confirms my suspicions.

notice the bold, and how it did come true
the germans did not take over a city and turn it Germanic where German was the common language

and before you go on about your Xenophobe or racist or 'you hate brown people' BS
look at Canada and Belgium
problems within from regions that speak different languages
one wants to secede, the other has stopped flying the national flag

Umm what percentage of Miamians don't speak English and refuse to learn? What percentage of Miamians want to secede from the United States? And I don't give a **** if they fly the national flag or not. I don't fly it, and I speak English. :roll:

 

[winston53660]

If i was being relocated to a foriegn country I would not take it unless i had a personal or administrative assistant.......................who takes dicatation

I was talking about your abilities with the written words of English.

 

[Kandahar]

when a major US city uses Spanish by default there is something wrong

Well fortunately for you, immigrants don't resent learning English as much as you resent learning Spanish (or even as much as you resent being spoken to in Spanish), since almost all of them learn English.

when a person can become a multimillionaire in America without learning a word of english, that is absurd (see above link for details)

A couple of points here:
1. That isn't absurd, that's great for that person and the community.
2. The article doesn't say that they became multimillionaires in America. It says that Miami has a couple multimillionaires who don't speak English.

 

[Kandahar]

There is no wave of immigrants not learning English, outside of the minds of racists.

The rate at which Latino immigrants and their offspring acquire English follows the same "broad trajectory" as immigrants in the past, according to a new survey released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington D.C.-based nonpartisan research center.

Fewer than one in four, or 23 percent, of first-generation immigrants from various Latin American countries surveyed said they could converse in English "very well."

But the figure jumped dramatically in the second generation - U.S.-born Latinos with at least one immigrant parent - to more than than 91 percent reporting they speak English well. The figure is 97 percent for the third generation, or U.S.-born Latinos with an immigrant grandparent.

Second-generation immigrants swift to learn English, study finds - sacbee.com

But hey, let's not let the facts interfere with your propaganda against the brown bogeyman.

 

[CaptainCourtesy]

Well fortunately for you, immigrants don't resent learning English as much as you resent learning Spanish (or even as much as you resent being spoken to in Spanish), since almost all of them learn English.

There's a difference: immigrants are coming to a country where the most commonly used language is English; it is the language used in government, the language used in most banking/business transactions, and the language used in our public school system. Learning to use it benefits them, and IMO, for the most part, is necessary to communicate in most situations. Of course there are exceptions, but these are few and far between. It is not necessary for someone, here, to learn Spanish, as this is not the commonly used language. It would be beneficial, in some instances, but is not nearly as necessary as it is to learn English.

The probability of being successful and/or being able to communicate in common situations is far greater, in this country, if you speak English, then if you speak Spanish. This is NOT racist; it's accurate.

 

[danarhea]

Umm that's because Spanish is the predominant language in Miami. Why the **** SHOULDN'T they assume you speak Spanish when that assumption is correct more often than not? Are you saying that no one in that McDonald's knew how to speak English and they all refused to learn?

Maybe the fact that they attempted to take his order in Spanish accounts for the fact that they are working at McDonald's and not Microsoft.

 

[CaptainCourtesy]

And please, Kandahar, provide evidence that this is, purely, a racist issue. If you can't, then you are presenting propaganda, also, or, at the very least, overgeneralizing the issue. I'm sure there are some that are using this as a racist talking point, but it seems to be a lot of what you are presenting, and you have yet to show that it is as substantial as you seem to be claiming.

 

[Kandahar]

There's a difference: immigrants are coming to a country where the most commonly used language is English; it is the language used in government, the language used in most banking/business transactions, and the language used in our public school system.

And in the anecdoe DeeJayH cited, he was going into a city where the most commonly used language was Spanish. And he got pissed off that their first assumption was that he was part of the majority. From the sound of his story, they didn't even EXPECT him to speak Spanish, they simply ASSUMED that he did until they found out otherwise.

Some people just look for an excuse to get pissed off at anything that even remotely touches on Hispanic culture. How DARE Mexican-Americans fly Mexican flags in this country (never mind that Italian-Americans fly Italian-flags)! How DARE some people want to sing the National Anthem in Spanish (never mind that they're singing the AMERICAN National Anthem)! How DARE Latin American immigrants want to bring some aspects of their culture along, instead of completely abandoning their heritage and embracing every aspect of WASP culture! Etc, etc.

Learning to use it benefits them, and IMO, for the most part, is necessary to communicate in most situations. Of course there are exceptions, but these are few and far between. It is not necessary for someone, here, to learn Spanish, as this is not the commonly used language. It would be beneficial, in some instances, but is not nearly as necessary as it is to learn English.

The probability of being successful and/or being able to communicate in common situations is far greater, in this country, if you speak English, then if you speak Spanish. This is NOT racist; it's accurate.

You're absolutely right. Which is why the vast majority of immigrants learn to speak at least passable English, and which is why their children usually speak English better than they speak their parents' native language. If there was some epidemic of fifth-generation immigrants living in Spanish-speaking ghettos and refusing to learn English, we might have a problem. But that simply does not exist in this country.

 

[bhkad]

Ya, I'm aware of the story. It doesn't answer my question. Since you must've missed it, here it is again:

Is there some epidemic of immigrants refusing to learn English, outside of the minds of xenophobic right-wingnuts? I didn't think so.

People like you, who suggest that the perfectly reasonable social and societal guidelines which keep our culture in good working order are unacceptable, turn reasonable people into those who you can label xenophobes.

And maybe this is actually your motivation, it gives you a 'license' to play the xenophobe card.

It's your cheap way to feel important. Powerful. In control.

Oh, it MAY be a subliminal urge, if I were to give you the benefit of the doubt.

But the basic impulse is ego driven.

And it is bull ship.

Like water, crap finds it's own level.

 

[Kandahar]

People like you, who suggest that the perfectly reasonable social and societal guidelines which keep our culture in good working order are unacceptable, turn reasonable people into those who you can label xenophobes.

And maybe this is actually your motivation, it gives you a 'license' to play the xenophobe card.

It's your cheap way to feel important. Powerful. In control.

Oh, it MAY be a subliminal urge, if I were to give you the benefit of the doubt.

But the basic impulse is ego driven.

And it is bull ship.

Like water, crap finds it's own level.

OK, let's edit out the xenophobe comment:

Is there some epidemic of immigrants refusing to learn English

Now answer the damn question.

 

[TacticalEvilDan]

do you always talk to yourself?
and who wins? :lol:

Frank wins, usually, but mainly because he's a bigger jerk than I am.

 

[bhkad]

OK, let's edit out the xenophobe comment:

Now answer the damn question.

Thank you for being reasonable.

"Is there some epidemic of immigrants refusing to learn English?"

Yes. But it is happening so slowly and subtly that we can't recognize the threat unless we watch it diligently or watch it happen over time or not watch it at all and then one day wake up and realize we are unable to do anything about it.

Here is a very funny Mad TV sketch which demonstrates the principle.

YouTube - MadTV - When Babies Attack

In this sketch from the early days of MadTV, Mary Scheer plays the role of Fran Drescher, hosting "When Babies Attack" a parody of disaster programs Fox used to air in the mid 90's... Enjoy!

 

[Arcana XV]

Yes. But it is happening so slowly and subtly that we can't recognize the threat unless we watch it diligently or watch it happen over time or not watch it at all and then one day wake up and realize we are unable to do anything about it.

I'm a little confused here. Why is someone's decision to not learn the majority's local language a threat? In what way does it threaten anyone? Are they going to kill you with foreign words?

I can understand that you're afraid your own language will die out over time, but them's the breaks. If another ethnic population becomes the majority in your country, to the point that their language becomes the most spoken, then so be it. It's not like you can do anything about it until you finally get off your asses and declare English to be the country's official language.

 

[DeeJayH]

Well fortunately for you, immigrants don't resent learning English as much as you resent learning Spanish (or even as much as you resent being spoken to in Spanish), since almost all of them learn English.

if they speak English why are the doing business in spanish?
because they are not bilingual

and screw yourself with your assumptions about racism and xenophobia
if thats all you got on the illegal immigration debate and this subject you have already lost becaue it is must be your projecting

 

[DeeJayH]

I was talking about your abilities with the written words of English.

please enlighten me
excluding of course dyslexic mistakes as well as casual word usage given the format here is not formal/professional

 

[ReverendHellh0und]

BK,

I started a thread on this a while back, but as you could have expected the usual suspects only came in to bash the thread starter.


Good Luck in your endeavor.


I am embarrassed for obama.

 

[Arcana XV]

if they speak English why are the doing business in spanish?

Maybe it's good for business.

 

[DeeJayH]

Maybe it's good for business.

and in doing so they are hurting their populace's ability to assimilate into the nation they CHOSE to live in

 

[DeeJayH]

Thank you for being reasonable.

he is not being reasonable
if you disagree with his position
you are a racist and a xenophobe and hate brown people :roll:

 

[YamiB.]

Do the people who think there is a big problem with immigrants from Latin countries not speaking English see some big difference from previous immigrants? I know that Italian immigrants would often have a limited understanding of English, but just like Latin immigrants we have now their children learned the language. So what is the problem again?

 

[DeeJayH]

Do the people who think there is a big problem with immigrants from Latin countries not speaking English see some big difference from previous immigrants? I know that Italian immigrants would often have a limited understanding of English, but just like Latin immigrants we have now their children learned the language. So what is the problem again?

i dont recall them taking over a city before either though, not to mention the staggering numbers. And by that add legal as well as illegals. it is a dramatic amount for a country to absorb, all good intentions aside

 

[YamiB.]

i dont recall them taking over a city before either though, not to mention the staggering numbers. And by that add legal as well as illegals. it is a dramatic amount for a country to absorb, all good intentions aside

I'm having trouble to find all the necessary numbers to compare the amount of immigrants coming in now and that came in from the past, it makes sense though there would be more immigrants coming in from Mexico and other Latin countries as travel is easier than it was from immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There have certainly been significant control of cities for example Boston with Irish and Italian immigrants or things like Little Italy and the various China Towns within large cities throughout the country. I can't help but think of the Know Nothing movement with their fear of the Catholic immigrants coming in and taking over.

 

[Kandahar]

if they speak English why are the doing business in spanish?
because they are not bilingual

Umm because most first-generation immigrants will NEVER be as comfortable speaking English as they are speaking their native tongue. If you ran into a group of American expatriates living in France, what language do you think they'd be speaking to each other? English, of course.

However, second-generation immigrants almost universally speak English as well as, or better than, their parents' native tongue.

and screw yourself with your assumptions about racism and xenophobia
if thats all you got on the illegal immigration debate and this subject you have already lost becaue it is must be your projecting

Methinks thou doth protest too much.

 

[Kandahar]

he is not being reasonable
if you disagree with his position
you are a racist and a xenophobe and hate brown people :roll:

You know perfectly well that Obama's comments would not have inspired the slightest bit of outrage if he had said that your children should learn French or German.