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when the US played Mexico in Los Angelos a couple of weeks aYgo, Mexico was the "home team". there is a massive population growing within our borders exercising the rights and with the priveleges of US Citizens who do not consider themselves "American".
do you consider that a net positive, or a net negative?
Next time your car breaks down on the side of the road and all those english-speaking people are whizzing on by, but a spanish-speaking person stops to help, think about what you said here.
Irrelevant. WHat difference does it make what the official language of the country is?
I see no real gain from doing so.
No, we don't need one official language. A country can have many official languages... South Africa has 17. If anybody supports making an official language in this country, you better add all the Native American languages to the list.
How ignorant and culturally arrogant of those 51 voters to ignore the actual languages here before English arrived.
I don't either... To me, it's just a statement that says, "This country is belongs to us more than you."
I was just having this conversation with somebody from Puerto Rico, and you know, he is American. It seems like rest of Americans have something against studying foreign languages, which is a common international stereotype. Americans are perceived as being rude and ignorant for going into foreign countries and refusing to learn the local language. I also happen to think it's ignorant to shun learning a foreign language... :shrug:
I voted no. If you forced millions of immigrants to learn English, they would certainly learn it, but they would not have a high proficiency level. That takes years of wilful practice. In the mean time, having concise info available in their mother tongue keeps things less complicated and reduces errors.
Our ancestors who helped form this country came from all over. The people who built our cities were mainly immigrants. Maintaining flexibility is what allowed all that to happen.
An American who can't speak English is still an American.
Oh, I agree. If you go to a foreign country, you have a responsibility to learn the language there. Demanding that other people speak your language is just arrogant.
Idealism is nice, but I tend to prefer reality, and the reality is that those languages aren't spoken anymore.
Doesn't really work that way. Historically, the children of immigrants learned the language. Now, no one should oppsoe children learning as many languages as possible. It is better to learn more than less, overall.
You just contradicted yourself. You said that Americans are perceived as being arrogant for demanding that everyone else speak our language, but then you said that we should make accommodations for everyone who comes here and doesn't speak our language. You can't have it both ways.
You just contradicted yourself. You said that Americans are perceived as being arrogant for demanding that everyone else speak our language, but then you said that we should make accommodations for everyone who comes here and doesn't speak our language. You can't have it both ways.
Everyone in this country ought to be required to be functionally literate in our language, just like they expect in every other country on the planet. If you go to France, they expect you to speak French. If you go to Mexico, they expect you to speak Spanish. No one is saying people cannot also speak other languages, just that they need to be conversant in the language of the land. We should not make accomodations for anyone who refuses to do so.
Everyone in this country ought to be required to be functionally literate in our language, just like they expect in every other country on the planet. If you go to France, they expect you to speak French. If you go to Mexico, they expect you to speak Spanish. No one is saying people cannot also speak other languages, just that they need to be conversant in the language of the land. We should not make accomodations for anyone who refuses to do so.
That's not at all what I said. I said historically, people come here not speaking the language, and it is their children who learn. This is true. Then I said, as it is a sound idea, no one should object to children learning different languages. And there is not one single thing contradictory in that.
As for accomadations, you can't stop that. You can't write a law that forbids business from making accomidations. Iowans made English the offical language and some are still upset that companies continue to print things in Spanish. Not to mention that government still has to content with people who don't speak English, so they still have to accomodate. The law, which cost more than a few bucks, accomplished nothing. And those who don't want to hear another langauge spoken still have to.
it doesn't happen that way. People go to France all the time who don't speak french. Sorry.
Oh sorry, I think I got you confused with someone else. My position is just that the government shouldn't double label everything in Spanish or whatever. Private businesses can do whatever they want.
They go there, but they don't immigrate. Pretty much all countries will expect you to learn the local language if you want to become a citizen.
it doesn't happen that way. People go to France all the time who don't speak french. Sorry.
Oh sorry, I think I got you confused with someone else. My position is just that the government shouldn't double label everything in Spanish or whatever. Private businesses can do whatever they want.
They go there, but they don't immigrate. Pretty much all countries will expect you to learn the local language if you want to become a citizen.
and those people are stereotypically American tourists
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