“Why Aren’t You Speaking English?”

am i missing something here?
i've read through 3 pages already, and i've seen repeatedly that "THE US HAS NO OFFICIAL LANGUAGE".....well according to wiki that's true...but when a country has 82percent of it's people speaking english as its first language, should'nt that be official?

i know the official language in my home state (illinois) is english.....

anyway, i feel it was rude especially when the speaker lived here for 2 decades, to attempt to hide behind an interpreter while addressing a predominately english speaking group....in their country.

i made a mental note when traveling abroad to learn the tongue of the people that lived where i went, so to at least show an attempt to meet them on common ground. even if i butchered the language, i attempted it and was blessed if they spoke english, if they didnt, i took it as i didnt study hard enough to learn their language.

going to brazil/portugal? try to learn their dialect of portugese.
mexico? learn some spanish.
germany? german helps
france? french helps

any arab speaking country? hmm....arabic anyone.

I know.. where ARE the Language police this morning

reply to post by ThirdEyeofHorus

reply to post by ker2010

Once again it is America who is suppose to have open borders and cater to people migrating here. Wonder how those ideas would come off in Russia or other nations? Wonder do they let Americans simply stroll into their country unchecked and demand they speak English and learn it to cater to us.

And Mexico definitely does not cater to foreigners. They have very strict immigration policies. I have read they are very tough on El Salvadorans. However, their Presidentes usually encourage their Nationals to come to the States and then send remittances back home.

I see this all the time. Some poor child having to interpret for their parents in my office. Ask how long they have lived here, and its like 15 years.
They live in their communities with their own grocery stores, etc. So they never have to learn to speak English. I am with the senator on this one. If its your first year, I will cut you some slack. But it ends there.

Originally posted by ThirdEyeofHorus
reply to post by ker2010

 

Once again it is America who is suppose to have open borders and cater to people migrating here. Wonder how those ideas would come off in Russia or other nations? Wonder do they let Americans simply stroll into their country unchecked and demand they speak English and learn it to cater to us.

And Mexico definitely does not cater to foreigners. They have very strict immigration policies. I have read they are very tough on El Salvadorans. However, their Presidentes usually encourage their Nationals to come to the States and then send remittances back home.

But as you can see no one in this thread is bashing those other country's on their policy's. Its always the US Of A that has to be different or be considered racist or xenophobes. Bunch of hypocrites if you ask me...

Originally posted by laiguana

I don't see how you came around to the idea that we should all be forced to learn all the languages in the world. Seeing that the United States is within close proximity of Spanish speaking countries...it would only be inevitable that Spanish speakers would migrate to the US.
Americans have the choice to learn a new language or not, no one is going to enforce it. Public schools may encourage it, but that's about as far as it will go. Nonetheless, businesses are already realizing that if they don't cater to Spanish speaking populations in the US, they will lose out on them.
I do think a lot of Americans are resentful monolinguals because they feel they've been discriminated due to their inability to speak a second language that is likely commonly spoken by residents in their area. I don't see anything wrong with that. It's just how businesses work...and most businesses are American owned.

Feel free to spell check this post too..y]

Americans also have the choice not to cater to Spanish speaking people by making signs, forms written in Spanish too.

maybe speaking spanish just makes some people happy ?

and it's something they are in pursuit of ?

aren't they free to do that and protected by the constitution ?

Originally posted by Ex_MislTech

Originally posted by semicolonsmile
After reading only 3 pages of this thread I have this to say:

Everyone should be required to learn every language currently being spoken. That way everyone knows exactly what everyone else is talking about.

Down with the language barrier!!!

Rule # 3 eh ?

Esperanto for all ?

THE MESSAGE OF THE GEORGIA GUIDESTONES
1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion - faith - tradition - and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite.
10.Be not a cancer on the earth - Leave room for nature - Leave room for nature.

Esperanto - the engineered language

Native speaker Mr. Soros likes your idea !!!

There is a huge difference between creating a brand new language and teaching everyone ALL the currently spoken languages.

Not sure how being able to understand the rest of the world would be such a bad thing either way though.

reply to post by Scoriada


I have a suggestion Ladies. Why dont we make it a law that you must speak English in this country. In the meantime, get over yourself .

Screw it. You want to speak Spanish? Go back to Mexico. Round these parts we speak English. Dont like it? GTFO!

I have to agree with other people saying he should be speaking in English, if I go to another country, I try to learn the language as best as I can for the time I am there, he's been in an English speaking country where English is the first language for over 20 years, he could have at least spoken English for the testimony, then spoken whatever he wanted outside.

reply to post by e11888


HEE HAW HEE HAW

Originally posted by doobydoll

Originally posted by vschnz

Originally posted by gremlin2011
theres a saying ' when in rome, do as the romans do ' im in the uk and we got the same trouble with every nationality of the EU flooding our tiny island!!

wana live here then learn our language simple as that!!

So is Europe having the same problem with thousand of Brits flooding Spain, France, Switzerland, etc.. and not willing to learn Spanish, French etc.. sending their kids to an english school. Living in close knit British community. Going to a British own pub...

Do Brits claim welfare benefits, get free homes and medical treatment, from the taxpaying citizens of these host countries?

And i thought this tread was about speaking a language. Not talking about benefits or anything like that.. I know some pple from Yorkshire who have been living in Switzerland for 9 years now and can't speak a single word of french.. Yes, and guess what (sorry, off topic) They do clame benefits there too..

Have a guess.

Just another drooling, ignorant TeaBagging dub.

We'll be rid of them soon enough. Demographics baby. It's all Latino in 10-15 years. I find that VERY amusing.

Originally posted by Enter Ruin

Originally posted by andy1972
Thers a saying in Spanish, "Querer es poder", which literally means "to want to, is to be able to".
The majority of wetbacks live in their Hispanic communitys closed to the outside world, so there isnt a need to speak English.
If someone wants to learn English they can, just like i had to learn Spanish.
This man is just another immigrant who wants all the benefits and stability that the USA can offer with the 'incumbersome' task of speaking the language.
My personal message to him is - "Hermano, es indignante que despues de mas que viente tres años en America no hablas Inglés".

wait, you speak English (which is your native language I'm assuming), yet you failed to read the part where the guy mentioned he knows English, he just didn't choose to use it; you either failed to read it or comprehend it, either way, it just shows how "educated" some people are. Just saying...

The guy had every opportunity to speak in English..he did'nt because he can't string a sentence together, thats why he's constantly looking at the interpreter guy for guidance.
He stuttered and stammered with only two or three words.
His use of Spanish and his declaration of "I can but dont choose to" have all the hallmarks of a man hiding the facts.

Wow. The comments on the first page are quite sad to say the least. I guess they are in line with the ignorant senator that the people elected in the first place. I'm glad the other senator had the decency to let everyone know that the ignorant senator did not speak for all of them.

Mr. Aguirre was nervous about giving testimony and felt most comfortable speaking in his first language. What is it about the way a man chooses to communicate that irritates you all so much?

reply to post by midniteracerx

This isnt a race issuse..its a cultural issue. I've lived 14 years in Spain and i have adopted its languge and its culture without forgetting my own. Until i spoke Spanish, life was difficult to say the least.
After Spanish i had to leatn the local dialect Catalán, as the majority of people in Cataluña speak it and wont talk to you in normal Castellano Spanish.
It's all about intergrating yourself in the society that has opened its doors to you.
Make the effort and the locals openly try to help you.
If you dont try, then dont expect help or understanding.

In the United States of America... it is a federal mandate that CDL (Truck Driver) applicants must be able to read and speak English

the official federal ruling reads thus... it is the second item down on the first page of the Drivers manual...

Must be able to read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make written entries on reports and records.(FMCSR 391.11 (2))

However there are other federal laws at work in the land...
one of those laws is not to discriminate against those who do not speak English... therefore this very same CDL (Truck Driver Lic..) must be offered in any other Language any applicant requests... yes that means a person who doesn't understand a single word of English is entitled to take and pass this test...

does it really make a diff having this law written when other laws make it null and void????

Couldn't say ...but in my own case speaking more than one language means I get two to three time more in wages then just an English speaker

reply to post by andy1972


I certainly understand what you're saying and I don't think I was hinting at this being a race issue. Yes, his life in the US would probably be "easier" if he chose to speak English, but he chooses not to. Why did our senator and a shocking amount of ATSers jump down his throat for exercising his freedom of speech.

If the man spoke of hateful or sexist things in English, he wouldn't have been interrupted. The fact that he said anything in Spanish infuriated the senator and many here. I just don't understand why people get so angry over something this silly. We should be interested in what people say, not how they choose to say it.

If you elect by free choice to live and work in a foreign country, then you should accept to learn its language(s) and its customs without forgetting your own.
Theres a large spray painted sign near my house thats aimed at the morrocans here in Spain, it say "INTEGRACION O EXPULSION", which you can guess means intergrate yourselves or get out.
I cannot understand the mentality of those who do not wish to learn or change.