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^ why? Making English the official language won't make a recent immigrant learn English any quicker.You can't ban people from speaking other languages or hanging signs in a different language on establishments. As for employment well that is just the nature of business. If you are Xerox and trying to establish customers in South Korea wouldn't you hire someone who can speak both English & Korean?What good is it to hire somebody who only speaks English? Sorry but to many Americans feel like their pride is hurt whenever they start hearing other languages spoken. Get over your monolinguistic culture before the world passes you by.
No: you need to face the fact that most Americans have no need to know any other language than English if they only conduct their business here in the USA.
The truth of the matter is that outside of Spain/Latin America; Spanish is not an important tongue, it ranks below French let alone English for worldwide communication. As for either Mandarin Chinese or German; both of them are quite provincial languages as well.
Hell; IMHO, a possible upcoming tongue may be Russian of all things.
I really don't need to know anything since English was my first language. I happen to hail from a city where it is important to know Spanish in order to conduct business in. I couldn't care less if somebody in Paducah never spoke another language but this is a garbage thread anyways and like I said if you don't like Miami you can leave since it is a small part of the US in general. Let me break out the Kleenex for the poor non Spanish speakers in Miami!
^ why? Making English the official language won't make a recent immigrant learn English any quicker.You can't ban people from speaking other languages or hanging signs in a different language on establishments. As for employment well that is just the nature of business. If you are Xerox and trying to establish customers in South Korea wouldn't you hire someone who can speak both English & Korean?What good is it to hire somebody who only speaks English? Sorry but to many Americans feel like their pride is hurt whenever they start hearing other languages spoken. Get over your monolinguistic culture before the world passes you by.
Sure it would. If everything wasn't done in Spanish to accomodate people who come here for the easy money but have no other use for American culture, they would have to learn some English.
A motivated adult can learn another language in just a few months. Immersion works.
Employers should not be allowed to discriminate against Americans in the workplace.
You're doing the baiting. Cuban-Americans in Miami are in their third generation now. All of them, except very recent arrivals, speak English. Household earnings of Cuban-Americans born in the US are superior to that of Anglos.
Cuban-Americans are mostly Republicans, extremely conservative and are against illegal immigration. Many died in Vietnam and in every risky CIA mission.
Again, you should address your complains to large American corporations. Burger King, for example.
Just another thing, what do you care what language people talk among themselves? As long as they speak English and can communicate with English speaking people, they can talk whatever language they see fit among themselves. They are right at preserving their language, had your ancestors acted the same way now you'd have better job prospects.
If that were true then there wouldn't be such discrimination against English speakers in cities like Miami. As it is, any American who speaks English can be turned away -- job wanted signs might as well say "English speakers need not apply". There is discrimination and that's the problem. No one cares if people learn foreign languages and speak them in their home, it's imposing foreign languages onto others that people resent and denying jobs to those who lack native fluency in some foreign language.
Also their demands that the government preserve their native language, the refusal to use English that bothers people.
You really don't see other immigrants doing this. You don't have to "press one for Italian, press two for Chinese, press three for Spanish, press four for English", and you don't see employees in welfare offices required to learn fluent Polish or Japanese to accomodate immigrants from the countries that speak those languages.
I really don't need to know anything since English was my first language. I happen to hail from a city where it is important to know Spanish in order to conduct business in. I couldn't care less if somebody in Paducah never spoke another language but this is a garbage thread anyways and like I said if you don't like Miami you can leave since it is a small part of the US in general. Let me break out the Kleenex for the poor non Spanish speakers in Miami!
What an ungrateful attitude!!! Americans take the Cubans in when they had no where to go, were frightened and scared of a dictator they coudn't defeat, other countries were not so generous and Cubans "made it" in part because of very generous refugee handouts they were given. Now the Cubans tell Americans to leave Miami because English is no longer going to be used, it's no longer to be a common language that unites the people of this country.
I really don't need to know anything since English was my first language. I happen to hail from a city where it is important to know Spanish in order to conduct business in. I couldn't care less if somebody in Paducah never spoke another language but this is a garbage thread anyways and like I said if you don't like Miami you can leave since it is a small part of the US in general. Let me break out the Kleenex for the poor non Spanish speakers in Miami!
Quote:
Originally Posted by malamute
What an ungrateful attitude!!! Americans take the Cubans in when they had no where to go, were frightened and scared of a dictator they coudn't defeat, other countries were not so generous and Cubans "made it" in part because of very generous refugee handouts they were given. Now the Cubans tell Americans to leave Miami because English is no longer going to be used, it's no longer to be a common language that unites the people of this country.
As malamute stated.
If said Cubans do not like the fact this is an English speaking nation............they can return to Cuba---------or, immigrate to Mexico.
What an ungrateful attitude!!! Americans take the Cubans in when they had no where to go, were frightened and scared of a dictator they coudn't defeat, other countries were not so generous and Cubans "made it" in part because of very generous refugee handouts they were given. Now the Cubans tell Americans to leave Miami because English is no longer going to be used, it's no longer to be a common language that unites the people of this country.
It IS a rather odd way to show appreciation for a country that made you welcome, isn't it? Perhaps someone will step up and explain this apparent cultural 'disconnect'....
*It's not REALLY ingratitude, it's....? ? ?
*Americans didn't REALLY give Cubans a sanctuary; what actually happened was...?...?...?
*Telling your hosts that "if they don't LIKE it, they can get out" isn't REALLY rude behavior...it's...?...?
*"OK, OK..so you 'took us in'. Big deal!...now, TAKE a HIKE !!" (can THAT be it ?).....?..?...
* "Cubans never WANTED to come to this lousy country. We were FORCED to, by.." ?....?...?
I'm leaving these sentences only half-done, since I can't imagine what the reasons are for this behavior...which, from an American cultural standpoint, certainly does look rude, hostile, unfriendly, and arrogant. But I'm sure I don't see the whole picture. Can somebody explain?....
sorry malamute but stop distorting the issue. I never said to leave , I said if they don't like it they can leave. I'm really quite sick of the condescending attitudes of people like you. I was born in this country so I don't owe Americans anything and as for Miami like I stated before, unless you just came off a boat from Havana most Cubans do speak English. It's mostly immigrants from other Latin American countries that as first generationers have a hard time learning English.Young kids learn rather quickly but older folks have a much harder time.
Who in the hell said English isn't going to be used anymore? You remind me of the "anglos" from the late70s/early 80s who fled Miami because it was not like "America" anymore. Well that was 30 years ago & Miami is still a thriving city. It's not my fault that "Anglos" practice white flight the minute somebody speaks another language or somebody of a different skin color moves into your neighborhood. the "Anglos" abandoned Miami after Mariel so like I say either deal with it or don't bother those of us who stayed and made this a sustainable & prosperous city.
sorry malamute but stop distorting the issue. I never said to leave , I said if they don't like it they can leave. I'm really quite sick of the condescending attitudes of people like you. I was born in this country so I don't owe Americans anything and as for Miami like I stated before, unless you just came off a boat from Havana most Cubans do speak English. It's mostly immigrants from other Latin American countries that as first generationers have a hard time learning English.Young kids learn rather quickly but older folks have a much harder time.
Who in the hell said English isn't going to be used anymore? You remind me of the "anglos" from the late70s/early 80s who fled Miami because it was not like "America" anymore. Well that was 30 years ago & Miami is still a thriving city. It's not my fault that "Anglos" practice white flight the minute somebody speaks another language or somebody of a different skin color moves into your neighborhood. the "Anglos" abandoned Miami after Mariel so like I say either deal with it or don't bother those of us who stayed and made this a sustainable & prosperous city.
I was born in this country. So were my parents. I feel like I owe this country a lot. I've been to a whole LOT of other ones....and when I see where I COULD have ended up, I HAVE to feel pretty thankful. That's just me, I guess.
Sorry you don't feel you owe Americans anything...but that does explain a lot of things, since you state it that way. Maybe a society that doesn't DEMAND respect, just doesn't deserve it...maybe you feel you don't owe anything, because nobody ever told you you should.
I was born in this country. So were my parents. I feel like I owe this country a lot. I've been to a whole LOT of other ones....and when I see where I COULD have ended up, I HAVE to feel pretty thankful. That's just me, I guess.
Sorry you don't feel you owe Americans anything...but that does explain a lot of things, since you state it that way. Maybe a society that doesn't DEMAND respect, just doesn't deserve it...maybe you feel you don't owe anything, because nobody ever told you you should.
I don't know....only guessing.
As you stated.
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