Went to Social Security office in Texas and didn't hear English spoken for 30 minutes

reply to post by HIWATT

And MDDoxs, this is by no means relative to the French living in Quebec, Canada. French is an OFFICIAL language in our country, and yes you will likely be addressed in French if in Quebec but if you walk in to any Federal Building there (or anywhere else in Canada) it is THE LAW that both languages be spoken.

To be honest I read your comment directed at me and sensed a bit of hostility. I have no problem going to Quebec and being addressed initially in French. In fact i speak French, but usually my horrible accent makes them politely switch to English

I did a quick wiki check ( ) and apparently no official language for the US exists, including English which i found interesting. It seems to be that you would cater to languages particular to a specific geographic area that has certain demographics.

None the less, i realize the situations are different between both Canada and the US, however i feel this thread is turning into a racial rant thread...

Originally posted by Druscilla
If you went to some places in Canada, you might hear only French spoken.
Some places in Louisiana you'll hear only creole.

Adapt. Learn. Evolve.
Become better.

Originally posted by truthermantwo
i agree, i think it's rediculous they couldn't speak english. Call your local politicians and complain. Maybe they will change something.

It's also ridiculous when someone complaining about proper use of English can not even spell "ridiculous", nor even use correct capitalization, or adhere to any of the other rules attributable to proper English.

It's interesting when people criticize others for native language usage, or poor usage of a certain second language when the critic can't even demonstrate comprehensive mastery over their own native tongue of which it's the ONLY language they know.

edit on 5-12-2012 by Druscilla because: (no reason given)

I believe the OP was talking about going to a Federal Building in the US and hearing only spanish numbers being called out, has nothing to do with improper grammar or spelling but not being addressed in English.
If this was in Juarez instead of El Paso the Mexicans were addressed in English only, Im sure the Mexicans in the building would be aggravated too.

Having read the op's piece and the postings and having some experience in that aspect the following can be stated:

While it may seem frustrating that in a federal office, where the English language is not the primary language spoken, there has to be some tolerance on the part of all in a country like the USA.

As was pointed out by a poster, the citizens of the USA do not speak English, it is more of a conglomeration of languages from around the world. Language is a dynamic thing, ever changing. If you were to look back in history, there was a point in time where German was the in language, and in some parts of the country it was solely spoken. Then it was French, as that was the international business language for the longest time, and even today in the southern part of Lousiana, it is cajun french that is spoken. If the OP thinks it is bad in El Paso, then beware of some parts of Florida, where you have to be bilingual, or else you can not be hired.

Languages in the US is a fad, where some are popular and then falling, right now it is Spanish, some think that in a few years it will either be Farsi, or Mandrin.

But if the lack of English being spoken is that much of an issue, call and talk to SS office out of Washington DC and put in a formal complaint.

As far as the Mosque, lets just say drop that. If there is a Mosque, think of it as a good thing, a boost in income and live and let live.

So a in former part of Mexico people still speak spanish? Thats just crazy talk.

Originally posted by Druscilla


Adapt. Learn. Evolve.
Become better.

Tell that to the immigrants, the onus is NOT on us to accommodate them!

reply to post by MDDoxs

In Quebec Canada in most places you are addressed first in French, rather then english.

I

And the weird thing is, we accidentally end up understanding some French!

I think if we had Spanish up here, it would be even easier than the French to understand.
Our French talk too fast.

Our maritime lingo is supposed to be English, but often it's even harder to understand...

Originally posted by wingsfan

Originally posted by Druscilla


Adapt. Learn. Evolve.
Become better.

Tell that to the immigrants, the onus is NOT on us to accommodate them!

Oh the agony.
I wonder how much you travel abroad?
Would you expect anyone to accommodate your English bias in Russia, Sweden, France, China, anywhere else around the globe?

Quick; December 21 is about to happen and you may be forced to immigrate to a non-English speaking country to survive. How many languages do you speak?

What's the poorest country you've ever visited?
What's the richest country you've ever visited?

Be thankful for what you DO have as due some accident of birth, you just happen to have been born in a country where through some warped sense superiority and entitlement you feel it necessary to impose your values on anyone and everyone you consider as 'lesser'.

Living in Texas and California, I've come to expect this. I don't mind it one bit, really. When I'm addressed in Spanish, I tell them to politely speak to me in English. If they are unable to do that, I look for a representative of whatever business I'm communicating with that can speak it. Sometimes, I just let it slide and try to communicate as best as possible. I do not speak Spanish. I do not feel I should learn Spanish. Would it help? Maybe. But for right now, I have a shirt that says "no hablo español" to get the point across.

I will say, though, when I lived in Japan I learned their language, customs, and courtesies. I made every effort I could to learn the language and how to conduct myself so it would make dealing with me for the locals much easier.

Originally posted by wingsfan

Originally posted by Druscilla


Adapt. Learn. Evolve.
Become better.

Tell that to the immigrants, the onus is NOT on us to accommodate them!

The onus is on everyone to become better educated.

We have no official language, we are FREE remember, we can speak whatever language we like. And that means that if an area wants to speak only Spanish, even in their government buildings, that is on them to decide that.

It's funny how "freedom" works in America, everyone is free to do as they please, as long as you speak english and aren't a muslim.

Originally posted by Druscilla

Originally posted by wingsfan

Originally posted by Druscilla


Adapt. Learn. Evolve.
Become better.

Tell that to the immigrants, the onus is NOT on us to accommodate them!

Oh the agony.
I wonder how much you travel abroad?
Would you expect anyone to accommodate your English bias in Russia, Sweden, France, China, anywhere else around the globe?

LOL, Of course not. I'm not saying we shouldn't learn other languages in fact I kinda know a smidgen of another one that ais considered too far removed to be practical anywhere except in one country. I just don't like the idea of not holding the new people to one ideal whilst holding the other to it.

I grew up in one place and years later most people speak little to no english now. It seems odd that I should be the first to learn their language rather then other way around.

Originally posted by Juggernog
reply to post by Cornczech

 

SO...what are ya'll's opinions on the destruction of our culture...and what are ya'll's opinions on how "political correctness" has destroyed our American culture.....

White Americans arent allowed to have a culture and If we refuse to accept other races cultures, we are racist Nazis or some crap like that.

What a stupid thing to say. I'm sick of hearing this. No one has a problem with you having pride in your own culture. Go ahead and say white power, it's not racist, it's not. Be openly proud to be white. If you can't do that for fear you will seem racist, then thats on you for being a coward.

And yes you should accept others culture, whats wrong with that? My friends talk about being Irish Americans all the time and I accept that. They hear me talk about being Mexican American, and they accept that.

Originally posted by Druscilla
I wonder how much you travel abroad?
Would you expect anyone to accommodate your English bias in Russia, Sweden, France, China, anywhere else around the globe?

These questions were not directed at me, but I feel I could shed some light that, especially over the internet, you never know how experienced someone can be.

I do not travel abroad much anymore, but I used to spent a lot of time traveling to countries in Southeast Asia.
I made every attempt to learn as much of the local language to get me by with what I needed. However, most of them attempted to communicate in English first. Crazy.

Quick; December 21 is about to happen and you may be forced to immigrate to a non-English speaking country to survive. How many languages do you speak?

Speak enough to get by or fluently? How many do you speak? I'm not asking in a way as to say you're no better than me or anything, but I'm curious as to what languages you're fluent in and whether it was because you wanted to learn these languages or out of necessity. To answer the question, I could probably get by with what Japanese I know.

What's the poorest country you've ever visited?
What's the richest country you've ever visited?

Poorest would most likely be Cambodia. That place made my heart wrench quite a bit seeing how the locals live. Luckily, I gave back to them by spending money and also helping in a free clinic that provided medical care they otherwise couldn't afford.

Richest country outside of the United States (how rich the US is can be debated another time) would probably be China. I think. Not sure if they're better off than Japan or Australia money-wise, but they seem to be doing pretty dang well.

Be thankful for what you DO have as due some accident of birth, you just happen to have been born in a country where through some warped sense superiority and entitlement you feel it necessary to impose your values on anyone and everyone you consider as 'lesser'.

This statement right here I both agree and disagree with. Many people in America do have a sense of superiority and entitlement. I catch myself doing it from time to time, but I know I've been doing my part in helping the world outside of this country. I just want to point out the one part I disagree with, and I do not mean any disrespect by it as I think you're an intelligent person. The problem is that you're talking about a warped sense of superiority here when two of the posts I have read by you in this thread come off as very condescending. I think that kind of kills the message you're trying to get across and instead of getting people to think about what you're saying, you're only inciting ire.

I feel your pain OP. I live in southern California and it's a nightmare.
Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, you name it.

Barely a word of English and even then you can't understand it.

I bet it bugs the native americans to hear english spoken in their lands

lighten up francis

we are a nation of immigrants

adapt or perish

Originally posted by Yngvarr
I feel your pain OP. I live in southern California and it's a nightmare.
Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, you name it.

Barely a word of English and even then you can't understand it.

Oh the pain. Reminded me of this.

Originally posted by lucidclouds

Originally posted by Yngvarr
I feel your pain OP. I live in southern California and it's a nightmare.
Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, you name it.

Barely a word of English and even then you can't understand it.

Oh the pain. Reminded me of this.

Yeah, right.
Go pull that crap in China or Japan and see how far you get.

reply to post by Yngvarr

Yeah, right.
Go pull that crap in China or Japan and see how far you get.

Pull what crap?

Have a business make a decision to offer multiple languages to cater to their customers in order to make higher profit? I think both societies would applaud that behavior. In fact, in the more touristy parts of those countries, I will bet anything that these options already exist.

l

Originally posted by Yngvarr

Originally posted by lucidclouds

Originally posted by Yngvarr
I feel your pain OP. I live in southern California and it's a nightmare.
Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, you name it.

Barely a word of English and even then you can't understand it.

Oh the pain. Reminded me of this.

Yeah, right.
Go pull that crap in China or Japan and see how far you get.

Try what in China or Japan? Posting a youtube video?

Not following your logic. I posted a video of Louis ck doing a bit on the stupid problems Americans make up and you respond by saying "go pull that crap in China or Japan and see how far you get."

Do you see why that doesn't make sense?

And if you're talking about company's using multi-language selections, I'm sure Chinese and Japanese businesses do this too.

reply to post by Druscilla


I know how you love to bully your opinion around. but lets try to see this for what it really is:

in california, on the fifth of may (and likely Texas), you will often see the Mexican flag hung above the USA flag....paraded around and so forth. flaunting and taunting and never TRULY making an effort to coexist. this belays some hidden motivation aside from cultural preservation, don't you think?

personally, I think nationalism is akin to beasts "marking their territory" by laying a pile of doo. i can totally see why these beasts might be upset by another tribe bringing in their own pile of doo and raising its stink above their own.


so in short: I agree that there is legitimate reason to be upset by this, assuming I didn't think it was a fallacious argument in the first place.