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Actually, you're correct. No one is required to learn English. Except for people who want to naturalize.
And while the English required for naturalization isn't college level, if Mrs. Bush naturalized, her English exists and perhaps she is simply not comfortable using it in public while her husband pursues a political agenda.
It could be that her English isn't strong enough for public speaking or she's choosing to speak mostly Spanish as a way to reach out and connect with the country's growing Hispanic population.
It could be that her English isn't strong enough for public speaking or she's choosing to speak mostly Spanish as a way to reach out and connect with the country's growing Hispanic population.
She's been here for decades so there is no excuse. From what I have read about her she is just adamant about speaking Spanish instead. Why just reach out to one ethnic group in this country are the rest of us just chopped liver? English is the language most widely spoken in our country. It is our national de facto language and always has been. The Hispanic population is growing mostly due to illegal immigration anyway.
Well with the country turing Hispanic it seems appropriate that we get an ELL in the White House.
Maybe she can tour with a translator until everyone in the US can speak Spanish.
If true this indicates to me an attitude, not a language problem.
As an elite the mandate of leadership is right there: Learn the language of the Land, whether you like it or not.
As a Safety Officer I usually dealt with uneducated, often illiterate IN THEIR OWN NATIVE LANGUAGE, which didn't make communication a pleasure. But that's construction, not leadership of an ENTIRE COUNTRY where you're rubbing shoulders all day with major decision makers.
With elites and those who actually are functionally literate in THEIR OWN NATIVE LANGUAGE you have students going to night school, or just are so smart they can absorb English even if it isn't spoken in the home. To be married to a Bush and not speak English well is just plain insane, no matter where you happen to live in the USA.
As much as a supporter of other languages as I have been on this forum, I'd really have to be worried and it's a vote breaker.
Well with the country turing Hispanic it seems appropriate that we get an ELL in the White House.
Maybe she can tour with a translator until everyone in the US can speak Spanish.
So you think that every one in the U.S. should speak Spanish? Why? We are turning into a Hispanic country? Where did you get that notion? We are constantly being told that Hispanics are assimilating into our country far faster than any other immigrant group. Is that just a lie then?
So you think that every one in the U.S. should speak Spanish? Why? We are turning into a Hispanic country? Where did you get that notion? We are constantly being told that Hispanics are assimilating into our country far faster than any other immigrant group. Is that just a lie then?
Spanish is a beautiful language spoken by beautiful people. I suggest you broaden your horizons a bit. I was once like you, railing against anything foreign and not English speaking. Then I realized that times have changed, the nation has changed. Demographics is destiny and we can't beat destiny.
Perhaps someday I will make a post on why and how I have evolved from a firebreathing Tea Party militant into a moderate 21st Century Republican.
I could care less if she speaks Spanish or Croatian. I am so sick of election year Gottcha games. Take Rubio....all they could dredge up thus far is traffic tickets. Traffic tickets? give me a break. If Hillary or Obama or any other dem pick did not have the journalist all building fire walls, I bet the gottcha's would actually be interesting this go around.
If Jeb were married to a blue eyed blond from Sweden, then you would be complaining he is too white, probably a bigot yada yada yada. I don't like him because I have been exhausted by the royals running Bush/Clinton.......
well, whites and blacks/ other minorities continue to respond very differently to race-based messages and the candidates who use them. Is it not true?
Everybody should read
Race Appeal: How Candidates Invoke Race in U.S. Political Campaigns
By Byars, Queenie A.
If you don't care she speaks English or not, then you shouldn't care if Jeb Bush appeals to Spanish voters. You know you do. (This post is not directed at ANY posters in this thread)
I would think her speaking fluent Spanish would be a plus to some of you people. Not everyone has a gift of language and English is certainly one of the hardest to learn......
Come on...now you're stretching it a bit. Yes, English is very difficult to learn, but i doubt that she's so stupid that she needs 30 years to learn it.
She can afford the best private lessons available in this country. There's no excuse for someone in her financial position with no need to hold a job to need decades to learn English. Jeb isn't running for the president of Florida...this country isn't gonna look too kindly at a FLOTUS that can't speak decent English after all these years, and i don't blame them.
All that aside, i don't care and don't hold it against her myself. I'm sure she's a fine person. I wouldn't vote for Jeb Bush if she spoke the King's English. I'm just saying that this IS something that people can fairly hold against Jeb Bush if they wanted to.
I could care less if she speaks Spanish or Croatian. I am so sick of election year Gottcha games. Take Rubio....all they could dredge up thus far is traffic tickets. Traffic tickets? give me a break. If Hillary or Obama or any other dem pick did not have the journalist all building fire walls, I bet the gottcha's would actually be interesting this go around.
If Jeb were married to a blue eyed blond from Sweden, then you would be complaining he is too white, probably a bigot yada yada yada. I don't like him because I have been exhausted by the royals running Bush/Clinton.......
LOL..this isn't a GOTCHA situation. Someone in her position should speak perfect English. She's been here for nearly 40 years.
It also goes to the point that Republicans, a party that she surely belongs to, consistently complain about these ethnic enclaves where English isn't needed, and where the people refuse to assimilate.
So keep in mind that this is a Republican standard, and she's not meeting it.
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(This post is not directed at ANY posters in this thread)