What's Indy like now? (English, Francisco: house, living, military)

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by tball6733

So our problems would be solved if we made English our official language.Please! Did you happen to see the riots in France just a year or so? Ever seen the slums outside of Paris? French was declared the official language in 1992
and there is no proof that it did anything so solve the overall problems.By the way Switzerland has four official
languages, Canada has two, and Belgium Ha! I thought the "America love it or leave it "mentality died off in the 60,s
apparently not in Indy.To the individual from the D.R.I would suggest you move to Chicago. You made your case or I should say these replies have made if for you.

I never said it would solve the problem ... it may help a little. Holy moley, kill me for making a suggestion. What do the riots in France have to do with English being the official language? Are you referring to the riots after France banned Muslims from wearing the Hijab? Because if you are, then your argument has no relavence here. We aren't talking about outerwear, we are talking about language. I'm sure the Muslims who rioted were shouting in French, btw. You made my point, we are the only country that doesn't have an official language. And I should thank you. Since I am a researcher by trade, I did some digging and did see that English is the official language of Indiana! How 'bout that!!! Unfortunately, nobody seems to be enforcing this. These states also have English as their official language ... all hail state's rights!

English (in Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming)

Funny thing is that French is the official language of Louisiana. The horror!!!


And Spanish is the official language of New Mexico, Puerto Rico and Lower California.

Chill out ...

[X-Greensboro Resident]

Hey tball6733,

I think you may have misunderstood Domer's comments. She's far from the impression you got.

I understand the point you're making but I also think English should be the official language and people should learn to speak it. Before anyone gets bent about my comment, I'm a "foreigner" myself. (I really HATE that word!!) My family immigrated to the US when I was a boy, but I was old enough to remember everything. I now speak 2 1/2 languages and see great value in speaking various languages but find it annoying when newcomers expect the locals to speak the language. To prove my point, when I visited France on a business trip last year, I studied French for just a couple of days and learned some very basic sentences and the locals absolutely LOVED the fact that I was trying. After about 1 minute or so of me trying to speak French, they'd smile and ask if I was an American and start speaking English. It was awesome, I had the best time in France even in Paris contrary to what most people say. Trying to fit in and learning the local language is never a bad thing, it's a good thing. Just my two cents! Cheers!!

[Blue Ink]

I moved to Indianapolis from a small town in upstate New York more than 10 years ago. I love it here. It is a BEAUTIFUL city, people go out of their way to be kind, there is a lot to do, and Governor Daniels has been very good at bringing new jobs into the state. I wish that everyone could see the city's beauty for what it is...and for those who can't - "Be the change that you want to see in the world."

[tball6733]

Originally Posted by ImGibby

I was not aware of that mentality ever dying off??? Not in America or any country. Or maybe you don't understand the true message that is trying to be conveyed. No country should be expected to bend over backwards to appease any group of people. We are what we are, and if you want to come here, youre more than welcome, but you have to accept the differences and the American way of life...sure our way may not be perfect, but it is what it is and it must not be to bad or else so many people from other countries wouldnt want to be coming here...and if it is not what they expected or if they don't like it all they want to do is complain about how we don't accept them, we're racist and close minded, which is total BS. Maybe they are the ones that are closed minded because they can not except OUR way of life???? This is a losing battle I'm sure, but as I said earlier, how is this any different than joining a club or a church that has different views than you and then expecting them to conform to YOUR beliefs? Go find someplace else that is more in lines whith what you want. Nothing closed minded or racist about that, just a hard fact of life...in any city or any country.

And I did not get that Domergurl was suggesting that an official language was the answer to world peace, just that it would solve SOME of the issues we have about schools, hospitals, goverment offices etc. being expected to hire interpreturs and spend money to convert things to other languages...if I may be so bold as to expand a little on what I got out of her comment.

This IS America....love it or leave it...call it what you want, sounds like a little thing called PRIDE to me.....if that way of thinking ever dies, then i guess it would no longer be America....where would all the foriegners go to then?

"WE" , "WE" for the record who exactly are you referring to
and by what right do you have to speak for them? The language argument is in most instances just a veil to cover someones true meaning Xenophobia and your reply is a text book example of it, IMO.I never said learning the language wouldn't be a good idea but that isn't your point. You want cultural conformity, and moral conformity.What happened to tolerance ?Maybe you weren't around for Vietnam but the "America love it or leave it" crowd were the ones beating up the war protesters, objecting to reporters asking about the war,saying that we all needed to get behind the president, Nixon called them the "silent majority" but history proved them to be neither.

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by tball6733

" objecting to reporters asking about the war,saying that we all needed to get behind the president, [current occupant] .

Kinda like what's going on now eh? Learning the native language, or rather the lingua franca of a country is not a moral issue, it's a practical issue. My mother is no less German because she knows English, just like I would be no less American if I learned German and lived in Germany.


Your extreme attitude is rather scary. All we are saying is that new people to this country should learn the language. That does not make us racist, xenophobic. It's nice to be able to communicate and unfortunately, for the few that refuse to learn the English language, they are extrememly limited in being ablte to take full advantage of this country and all it has to offier. Having to haul around an interpreter because you refuse to learn a language is reverse xenophobia.

[TraderJack]

This is America. It's not San Francisco. It's not Minneapolis. Nor is it San Antonio! It is a country.

The country has borders, it has a language and it has a culture all it's own.
If you want to change any of that, good luck. I believe you'll soon discover that you are in the minority, but you're welcome to try.

Sure, there are neighborhoods of Italian-Americans, German-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Afro-Americans, and many other immigrant-Americans. But they're all Americans. That's why immigrants come to America - they can hold on to their heritage and live the American Dream - freedom and riches - something they couldn't have in their home country.

Most of us don't want to be part of a homogenous world community. We dont like things like the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union, or the World Bank. We like being Americans are we are very proud of it. We don't want any kind of moral or cultural 'conformity' as you put it. We just want to be Americans, and that comes with it's own set of values. We like honesty, a good day's work, a solid family, and the freedom to enjoy all of that. Many people have given their lives so that you can enjoy all that.

The saying, "America Love or Leave It', that you seem to revile, was not born in the '60s. It's been around far longer than you can imagine. We tolerate people like you because we feel you have the right to say what's on your mind. I'm afraid you're the one short on tolerance.

If you feel your view of the world is the right one, run for office, get elected and change the world.
Until then, please respect our American Borders, Language and Culture.

[X-Greensboro Resident]

Did anyone read my post above??

[TraderJack]

Sure did. But your post seem to be directed at tball6733. Maybe he didn't read it?

[tball6733]

Originally Posted by domergurl

Kinda like what's going on now eh? Learning the native language, or rather the lingua franca of a country is not a moral issue, it's a practical issue. My mother is no less German because she knows English, just like I would be no less American if I learned German and lived in Germany.


Your extreme attitude is rather scary. All we are saying is that new people to this country should learn the language. That does not make us racist, xenophobic. It's nice to be able to communicate and unfortunately, for the few that refuse to learn the English language, they are extrememly limited in being ablte to take full advantage of this country and all it has to offier. Having to haul around an interpreter because you refuse to learn a language is reverse xenophobia.

If you are of the belief that the only goal of the "America love it or leave it" crowd is to get them to learn English then IMP you are sadly mistaken. Before one can take time to go to class you must first find a way to eat so you take a job that nobody else wants work horrendous hours some times sixteen and eighteen hours a day, live in difficult conditions at best and send what ever money you can save home to your family. Yes learning the language would be helpful but just how does one find the time and money?They can't get a driver's license so those classes of yours better be on a bus route. If I sound angry its because I've met these people.I would not wish their life on anyone.They are abused,and mistreated. Sometimes they work and then the business owner refuses to pay them period.Now they have nothing.And to all this your simplistic answer is learn the language. They are trying to survive. Your answer is akin to what a certain French Queen was quoted as saying (wrongly) to the starving Paris mob.

[TraderJack]

tball6733, It seems you're one of those people that wants the government to do everything for it's citizens. You complaint about immigrants not having enough time to learn the language because they're working so hard is just silly and uninformed.

Many years ago I worked with a German immigrant in the ship yards in San Francisco, and one day I walked in on him standing before the mirror in the restroom, practicing his English. He would watch how his mouth moved when he read the words so he could properly pronounce them. Here's a guy that wanted to become an American. He worked his tail off, right along with the rest of us while we worked 90 hours a week - and still found the time to learn the language.

You're just a bleeding heart, looking for a cause.

If any immigrant wants to become "Americanized", is far easier than you understand.