[Split] Language in the US

[Vertex 23]

I think I may love you.

 

I am too! We have such much in common *bonds*

[Marie 73]

OK...so what is the solution? Let them speak Spanish in America and make US citizens learn Spanish so the new guys don't feel left out? No one is saying they have to learn a new language in a year or two. But there are people in Arizona who have been here for 40+ years who can't speak English well enough to have a phone conversation with the bill collector. I am not being melodramatic: My father's girlfriend's mother has been here for decades and needs her daughter to deal with everything, because she doesn't speak the language.

 

I'm not kidding: What do you want? I keep hearing about respecting other cultures, open your mind to new languages, etc, but not a single solution about how to handle people who don't speak a country's language. I'm sorry, but I don't think I should learn a new language just to order a hamburger at Burger King.

[Vertex 23]

I'm sorry, but I don't think I should learn a new language just to order a hamburger at Burger King.

 

But that's the point! Why on earth would you need a whole language to say "Whopper Coke fries! Please!"

 

And then they might go "No Coke... Pepsi."

 

And you go all "Screw you immigrant! Coke I Say!"

 

And then he shouts for the security gurads which help you go home and relax.

 

See? Perfectly plain almost no language at all and you still get your points across.

[Marie 73]

And yet there have been times where they can't understand "I'd like a number one please" So your logic doesn't work. I don't care if they don't speak it 100% right, hell I don't myself, or have an accent. Why do I care about that? But for the love of god learn passing english like every other culture has had to.

[Vertex 23]

A person doesn't need to not know the language to not understand... a person might have troubles hearing or being stressed and getting things wrong. There are lots of reasons why people can misunderstand you. You should always keep a look out to make sure they don't misunderstand you,... regardless of what the reason might be. If someone has troubles with the language and can't understand the number you want, then you can always smile and point at the one you want... and hope that the person will learn numbers soon enough.

[Marie 73]

No, no, no, no, no. I know English. English is the language of America. It's not my job to make sure people speak English, it's theirs. If they don't understand English speakers they shouldn't get a job that requires them to.

[jan 14]

*too lazy to read entire thread carefully to find out what point is being debated, agreed or disagreed with* I think you should take the trouble to learn the language in the country you live in.

 

I don't know about other people, but I can say about a lot of Indians who move to the West, looking for a better life. They take all the advantages a developed society offers them, and then they want the best of both worlds by expecting special treatment back in India because they are non-residents and provide forex and thus should have special status, blah, blah. I would think learning the language and to a reasonable extent doing in Rome as the Romans do is a pretty reasonable expectation (sorry to use reasonable twice).

[Vertex 23]

I'm not arguing that they should... but I don't think you should provoce learning by being all "Nopes! I refuse to understand anything but English!"

 

I think you need to earn their love by being nice and welcoming to them... but if tyou are being all rasistic and "Go drive a taxi or something minimum wage and be thankfull! Or you can just go back where you come from" then I understand why they don't feel too excited in sharing the new culture and language.

[Kaitlin 22]

It seems like it must be a big thing there. When I lived on the beach and a lot of people from Mexico and other places started moving there, people got extremely upset and scared about things. *shrug* Since I moved a lot it didn't bother me. I just felt that they must have a much harder time cause they moved from much further away.

[Marie 73]

In Phoenix and Tucson you can get a job, get a license, and go shopping all in Spanish.

 

I was in Mexico City for seven days and the only English I heard was song by Madonna on the bus' radio (all the tourists were French for some reason - must have been a sale).

 

And for the last time, Niklas, in America it is each persons own responsibility to get a job matching their skills. Yes, we have issues with race, but so does every other country on the planet. However, it is a stereotype that our taxi drivers don't speak English. In every cab I've been in, it was usually a white wo/man driving with fluent English skills.

 

But of course if you don't speak English you are not going to be able to apply to every job. I looked it up: There are jobs in Sweden only citizens can apply for. Hmm, I wonder why? But this is America and we are evil and it's a lot more fun to point out our faults then to admit that maybe, just maybe, we have a right to ask our citizens and would-be citizens to speak the common tongue.

[Vertex 23]

But this is America and we are evil and it's a lot more fun to point out our faults then to admit that maybe, just maybe, we have a right to ask our citizens and would-be citizens to speak the common tongue.

 

But we aren't in this thread stating how it is! We are all "It should be like this and that!"

 

And some are all "There should be only English and nothing else"

 

And some are all "It is just a language, so what if it takes some time to learn it"

 

So I think it is ok to dream of how it should be *nods* Me likes divercity as long as it doesn't mean that people separate from each other.

[Tosh 8]

What I want? I think it pretty obvious what I want. I want everybody to learn the old tongue and we can reform the world at its roots until it is exactly like WoT. And then I can use saidin as I want, randomly just doing insane stuff.

[Tosh 8]

By the way it is impossible to ever end this kind of argument since really both sides are right and its just one opinion against another.

 

All people are different but the culture of your country in some cases dictate how you feel about certain things and that is why it will always be hard for immigrants to fit in.

[Olivia 26]

And then I can use saidin as I want, randomly just doing insane stuff.

 

HA! You're a boy! Sorry, not meaning to insult, I just wasn't sure up until now.

 

And Vertex, America is what people have made it. And for the most part, the controlling influence for over 200 years has been Enlgish speakers. I think it is unfair to come into our country and expect us to learn your language. This is Americans' nation, why do you expect us not to have pride in that? Immigrants came here, if they don't like our policy and our language why did they move here? Some people act like we have to treat them as very special and go through all this trouble to be accomodating to them. I have no problem welcoming people who go through the legal immigration process from any foreign country, and learn our language, but people who move here and expect the majority to change according to each and every minority are just foolish.

[Tosh 8]

That hurt.