Originally posted by fleetlord
I know a lot of people who say that English should be the national language in America, and that every citizen should learn it. I do not believe they
are right though. This should come as no suprise. Imagine being pulled over and speaking the language you know best to the officer. And he just
stands there and gives you a ticket. I am sure that the dismissal of charges is only a small consolation to those thrity-nine who have been
ticketed.
www.dallasnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)
1. English is the official language of the United States. If you want to live here, you should learn it. If I move to Spain, I will learn to speak
Spanish. If every country of the world had to speak all the languages of its citizens it would make communication nearly impossible.
2. An officer is shouting: "Don't move your hands! Stay still!" And in turn, the suspect reaches into his/her glovebox. The officer has every
right to give a citation -- his life could have been in jeopardy.
3. They are an abundance of ESL classes
FOR FREE in all areas of this country. We provide people with the ability to learn English
FOR
FREE.
4. No town/city/state/ is going to be able to provide a translator on hand for every language someone
might speak. So, if you get pulled over
and don't speak English, I guess the cop should just let you go. While he's asking questions, trying to determine if you're drunk or disabled or
having problems, and can't understand your responses, then he should just let yoiu go and hope for the best?
I think you're forgeting one major thing: How does the cop know that they didn't say: "I'm going to kill you." How does the officer know you
didn't just say: "I'm taking this girl hostage." See the problem?
Lastly,
if the driver and/or passengers can't speak English -- how can they read the road signs? How do they know if something says "DANGER"?
Why the heck are they driving around on our roads in the first place? It is not safe to be driving and not speak the language that the signs are
in!!!!!
And if you think we are going to provide every street sign in every language that someone in the US might speak, see #1.
[edit on 30-10-2009 by lpowell0627]
