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Old 11-16-2009, 08:48 PM
 
Location: Victoria TX
42,579 posts, read 86,764,762 times
Reputation: 36643

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Quote:
Originally Posted by dcashley View Post
People learn thier primary language at home. If you want people to speak "properly" then you need to get their parents speaking "properly." Since this is an impossible task, I vote that we outlaw pregnancy, and thereby eliminate parentage!
I disagree. Anybody from a very young age can become functionally bilingual. No child would have any intellectual difficulty mastering both his "home" Engish and "school" English. Kids who grow up speaking completely different languages at home and at school have no problems at all mastering both languages. All that is needed is for school to insist on correct English in the school, and every child will speak it---even though it might be a second language after what the speak at home.

In Cameron County (Brownsville) Texas, 78.3% of the population speaks Spanish at home. Yet every child speaks only English all day at school. In Harris County (Houston), 37% speak different language at home, 25% in Phoenix, 11% in Detroit, 17% in Washington DC.. Their kids speak English at school. No big deal.

Last edited by jtur88; 11-16-2009 at 09:12 PM..
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Old 11-16-2009, 09:03 PM
 
Location: Houston/Heights
2,637 posts, read 4,452,494 times
Reputation: 977
Simple thing to do, would be for the whole world to just learn English. then I would be happy. No need for so many languages. the "Tower of Babble" is no more. One universal Language would make everything so much easier. Airlines recognized this decades ago.
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Old 11-17-2009, 06:37 AM
 
Location: New Kensington (Parnassus) ,Pa
2,422 posts, read 2,271,809 times
Reputation: 603
Quote:
Originally Posted by dcashley View Post
....well, not exactly. I used to be a police officer. To work in the black sections of town first required that we take a course on what was then called "black English." Now it is referred to as Ebonics. We were told that there were some important differences between the different dialects of English. The most important differences were 1) pronunciation and 2) the use of the verb "to be". Here is an example: I copied this out my old text book:

It sounds like it might be English, but it is really a non-standard form of English. As a result, children raised in communities where Ebonics is the primary dialect spoken would benefit from an English as a Second Language course in the first grade.
No, English should be the first and primary language. How in the hell are we supposed to understand them if we can't understand them.Get it?
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Old 11-17-2009, 07:07 AM
 
Location: Brooklyn
40,049 posts, read 34,533,909 times
Reputation: 10610
Quote:
Originally Posted by aveojohn View Post
No, English should be the first and primary language.
It should be, but in America 2009 the moment you suggest that someone (let alone lots of someones) "should" do something, right away you're looked upon with suspicion and mistrust...and the offended parties have an open invitation to start whining about how their "rights" to some sort of freedom--which they don't understand in the least, but have learned to say in that situation--are being infringed upon.
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Old 11-17-2009, 07:27 AM
 
Location: A Nation Possessed
25,482 posts, read 18,612,470 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thaskateguy View Post
Simple thing to do, would be for the whole world to just learn English. then I would be happy. No need for so many languages. the "Tower of Babble" is no more. One universal Language would make everything so much easier. Airlines recognized this decades ago.
Why don't we all learn Malay instead? It's easier than English for a learner of a second language. Or we could learn Turkish. It has practically no grammar exceptions and no pathetic spelling like in English. It's 100% phonetic. Or we could learn Esperanto--by far the easiest. Or we could learn French because it sounds so much better than English (have you ever noticed how ugly English sounds?).

Oh... but wait... then you would be the one learning the language! We can't have that. We only all speak the same language if it's the one you speak, right?
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Old 11-17-2009, 07:33 AM
 
Location: NW Arkansas
3,978 posts, read 8,534,309 times
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It may be my aging ears, but the way some if the speakers onTV rattle on is very hard for me to keep up with. What is the purpose of speaking so fast, if you are not understood? I am wondering if enunciation is no longer taught, or not a requirement for announcers, and reporters. I can sort of understand the advertizers. They are probably not wanting you to hear all the hogwash that they are saying, anyway.
And while I am at it...what is the purpose of all the racket in the back ground? Screaming audiences, and the thump thump of 'music'......
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Old 11-17-2009, 07:33 AM
 
Location: A Nation Possessed
25,482 posts, read 18,612,470 times
Reputation: 22375
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred314X View Post
start whining about how their "rights" to some sort of freedom--which they don't understand in the least, but have learned to say in that situation--are being infringed upon.
You are correct. I have the right to speak any language I wish to speak. It's right there in the constitution: it doesn't say anything about freedom of speech ONLY IN ENGLISH.

So, let's hear your argument about the evils of my speaking French or Spanish or Norwegian. Tell me why I don't have a right to speak these languages. This should be good.
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Old 11-17-2009, 07:37 AM
 
Location: A Nation Possessed
25,482 posts, read 18,612,470 times
Reputation: 22375
Quote:
Originally Posted by Towhee View Post
It may be my aging ears, but the way some if the speakers onTV rattle on is very hard for me to keep up with. What is the purpose of speaking so fast, if you are not understood? I am wondering if enunciation is no longer taught, or not a requirement for announcers, and reporters. I can sort of understand the advertizers. They are probably not wanting you to hear all the hogwash that they are saying, anyway.
And while I am at it...what is the purpose of all the racket in the back ground? Screaming audiences, and the thump thump of 'music'......
You are right. For some reason, it seems to be a big deal these days to speak like an auctioneer. I have fun with it though: if someone speaks to me like a chatterbox on an auto commercial disclaimer, I speak very slowly just to p**s them off. It's great fun. You should try it.
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Old 11-17-2009, 07:39 AM
 
Location: Houston/Heights
2,637 posts, read 4,452,494 times
Reputation: 977
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisC View Post
Why don't we all learn Malay instead? It's easier than English for a learner of a second language. Or we could learn Turkish. It has practically no grammar exceptions and no pathetic spelling like in English. It's 100% phonetic. Or we could learn Esperanto--by far the easiest. Or we could learn French because it sounds so much better than English (have you ever noticed how ugly English sounds?).

Oh... but wait... then you would be the one learning the language! We can't have that. We only all speak the same language if it's the one you speak, right?
We should speak English, because it would make it easier for Americans, and myself personally. I have no problem leading the way. Now repeat after me--"Texans are very Cool People, and have the prettiest woman on the Planet" --I get the feelin now days, that Some Americans feel like they should still be riding on the back of the bus. We are World Leaders, not followers, and need to remember that. Lead by example. teach the world to understand us.
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Old 11-17-2009, 07:42 AM
 
Location: A Nation Possessed
25,482 posts, read 18,612,470 times
Reputation: 22375
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thaskateguy View Post
We should speak English, because it would make it easier for Americans, and myself personally. I have no problem leading the way. Now repeat after me--"Texans are very Cool People, and have the prettiest woman on the Planet" --I get the feelin now days, that Some Americans feel like they should still be riding on the back of the bus. We are World Leaders, not followers, and need to remember that. Lead by example. teach the world to understand us.
Well, all I can say is that we have the right to our opinions. And mine isn't the same. Of course, I've never really been a fan of English. It's my native language by default. I didn't choose it. I find it pathetically illogical and needlessly complicated. And ugly. I'd certainly choose a different language, given the choice.

As far as the bus thing... I don't think we should even be on their bus. We have our own bus. Let others have theirs.
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