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Not being bilingual in this day and age is a bit of a drawback actually, I think a lot of Americans should just suck it up and learn a new language for the sake of it.
Not really. The neurological benefits of being bilingual are demonstrable, but small. Its really been overplayed. Its nice, but that's about it. In addition, native English speakers are lucky that English is slowly creeping to becoming the universal language. Every other major non-English speaking country has many English language schools, most bilingual people in the world who are non-native English speakers have English as the second language, etc etc etc.
It was likely that one language in the end would become the dominant language in an increasingly interconnected and communicating world, and for historical reasons its turning out to be English. That's just the way the cookie crumbled. Its more of a drawback not to know English.
The xenophobia is strong with this thread. I suppose English is "God's language," right?
Always remember this - We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us!
I see that your perception of history is short !
We crossed the border first and and then our border crossed them.
I know that this didn't happen during your lifetime but country's patriotic memories are longer then humans and they're trying to take it back.
Once the language is in place, then the culture starts to be practiced and before you know it, you are there and you never saw it coming.
No wars, no coups, no pain, just a smooth transistion.
It'll be a lot easier then how we stole the land from the Indians,
Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic
The Reconquista ("reconquest") is a term that is used (not exclusively) to describe plans by different individuals, groups, and/or nations to reconquer the U.S. Southwest, territories that had pertained to Mexico before the Texas annexation (1845) and the Mexican Cession (1848), as a consequence of the Mexican American War, for distinct purposes.
There's no need to. English has become the lingua franca, so to speak. Its the main language of science, medicine, business, law, commerce, the internet, etc etc etc. That's not going to reverse as even more countries and more young people in other countries embrace it. Its not an issue.
It's time English took its rightful place as a part of our heritage and culture by making it "official". Not only that but with English being made our official language on the federal level we would no longer have to print government documents in different, various languages. It would save us tax dollars. It would also make immigrants understand that assimilation to our language is what is expected of them. I don't care what language the choose to speak in their homes.
What is wrong with not wanting America to become a Hispanic country? I don't want Mexico or other Latin countries to become Anglo either. I want every country to be able to preserve it character and people's way of life without whole groups feeling marginalized or invaded by foreigners who would only treat their host country as an ATM. It's not about race either...there are blonde, blue-eyed white Hispanics (just look at the politicians, celebrities, and richest citizens of any Latin nation) and they have no business turning America into a Hispanic country either.
I briefly lived in Albuquerque and knew plenty of families that spoke no English at all after several generations of living there. And by age five a child starting public school should speak the majority language. They will be behind. The optimal time to absorb a language is younger than five. All the time devoted to learning English could be spent on other essential subjects.
Anyone who thinks English-only speakers don't get pushed out either doesn't live anywhere with significant Spanish-speaking populations or is being willfully ignorant. A job will advertise as "bilingual preferred" but really that means bilingual required, and Hispanics get in there and only hire other Hispanics. A company only needs to report to the Dept of Labor that various people of various backgrounds were interviewed--they aren't required to actually hire English speakers. For small companies they don't even need to do that. And yes if you walk into certain areas of Miami for something as simple as a pharmacy run and speak into English, they will look at you like YOU'RE the one who's out of place.
Exactly. I live in Illinois which has a huge illegal population and it affects jobs. Very often a job says "bilingual required". Are these good jobs like translator for tourists? Nope, more like jobs for welfare caseworkers. Every time I see a job for WIC or Medicaid it ALWAYS says "must speak Spanish". I also see jobs in factories requiring bilingual because many factories illegally hire them. Restaurants are worse, I've worked a few where the kitchen staff is entirely illegal. I actually do speak Spanish but why should I have to? I have a friend who applied for food stamps and everyone there was Spanish speaking except her and a black family. I'll never get those who say we should learn Spanish for them. These illegals take more than they give.
I don't know why the US doesn't officially go bilingual (English/Spanish) rather than forever try to fight against the current. It'd do Americans good to learn another language, learn to adapt to others, and it'd connect the US to much more of the western hemisphere.
Should Spanish speaking immigrants learn English? SÃ. But vice versa should apply as well.
I support Mexican immigration as long as it is legal. I even support allowing more LEGAL Mexican immigration as Mexican residents should get a preference in our system since they are our neighbor(Canada too IMO). Mexicans assimilate well into our culture, as other western Christian immigrant groups have in the past like the Irish, Italians and Germans. Their contribution to the melting pot is already appreciated by millions of Americans who enjoy their food immensely, including myself. I also support your idea that it is good for Americans to learn Spanish, always good to better yourself and Spanish is a very useful language to know in the USA. That being said I think it is the responsibility of the immigrant to learn our language, and adapt to our culture not the other way around. I believe our official language should remain English but it could be useful to officially acknowledge Spanish as a secondary language of our nation. You could argue it always has been anyway, the US has always had a strong Hispanic lean in the southwest dating back to the time we acquired the western territories. It does not surprise me that we have more Spanish speakers than Spain considering the size of this nation vs Spain. Spain is just a speck in the Spanish speaking world, its legacy in the Americas is far larger than it is. The same is true of the English language and England.
I support Mexican immigration as long as it is legal. I even support allowing more LEGAL Mexican immigration as Mexican residents should get a preference in our system since they are our neighbor(Canada too IMO). Mexicans assimilate well into our culture, as other western Christian immigrant groups have in the past like the Irish, Italians and Germans. Their contribution to the melting pot is already appreciated by millions of Americans who enjoy their food immensely, including myself. I also support your idea that it is good for Americans to learn Spanish, always good to better yourself and Spanish is a very useful language to know in the USA. That being said I think it is the responsibility of the immigrant to learn our language, and adapt to our culture not the other way around. I believe our official language should remain English but it could be useful to officially acknowledge Spanish as a secondary language of our nation. You could argue it always has been anyway, the US has always had a strong Hispanic lean in the southwest dating back to the time we acquired the western territories. It does not surprise me that we have more Spanish speakers than Spain considering the size of this nation vs Spain. Spain is just a speck in the Spanish speaking world, its legacy in the Americas is far larger than it is. The same is true of the English language and England.
I disagree. Just because Mexico is our neighbor (and they aren't even good neighbors) that shouldn't entitle them to higher legal immigration quotas over everyone else. What happened to diversity? The problem is when you allow in too many from one ethnic group it results in colonization not assimilation and we are seeing living proof of it today. Many have a tribal mentality that trumps our immigration laws also. That is not assimilation. They also believe in large families and many are tapping into our welfare coffers. Many come here through family reunifications and bring nothing to the table in the way of skills and education.
Spanish is not a useful language in our country because most Hispanic-Americans are bi-lingual so we have our common language of English to communicate with them in. The only reason Spanish is being pushed on us is because of the large volume of illegal alien Spanish speakers here and the many Hispanics who know English but prefer Spanish over it as a means of communication and want to be pandered to in Spanish rather than English and our idiot government and businesses are happy to accommodate them. We certainly don't pander to other ethnic groups in our country in that manner.
You have it backwards. Our so called "melting pot" is suppose to mean that immigrants(not just Spanish speaking ones) are suppose to assimilate into our culture, not have us adapt to theirs.
So while each culture/ethnic group might contribute things that are uniquely theirs (i.e. food, music), our American culture which is predicated on a common language should not be subverted.
Before the wiki historians try to make sweeping generalizations that other cultures brought their own languages to try and convince us we "have always been a nation of immigrants", put on your boots. Sure the Germans, Poles, Italians etc. had their own language and the initial generation struggled to learn English, they did not have racist groups like La Raza trying to get our local/city/state/federal government to mandate everything be in their native tongue. School systems did not mandate native born American children must take German, Slavic, etc.
Yet go into some heavily populated areas where Spanish are the majority, and few know any English even though they have been here for decades.
They are not assimilating because we are enabling them to get by, via cratering to their language, rather than insist they learn ours.
Heck look at heavy Muslim areas where they do not want to be governed by American law, and instead are pushing to live under Sharia Law.
Those are not examples of a melting pot. That is instead being groups of hyphenated-Americans in a culture war against each other.
You have it backwards. Our so called "melting pot" is suppose to mean that immigrants(not just Spanish speaking ones) are suppose to assimilate into our culture, not have us adapt to theirs.
So while each culture/ethnic group might contribute things that are uniquely theirs (i.e. food, music), our American culture which is predicated on a common language should not be subverted.
Before the wiki historians try to make sweeping generalizations that other cultures brought their own languages to try and convince us we "have always been a nation of immigrants", put on your boots. Sure the Germans, Poles, Italians etc. had their own language and the initial generation struggled to learn English, they did not have racist groups like La Raza trying to get our local/city/state/federal government to mandate everything be in their native tongue. School systems did not mandate native born American children must take German, Slavic, etc.
Yet go into some heavily populated areas where Spanish are the majority, and few know any English even though they have been here for decades.
They are not assimilating because we are enabling them to get by, via cratering to their language, rather than insist they learn ours.
Heck look at heavy Muslim areas where they do not want to be governed by American law, and instead are pushing to live under Sharia Law.
Those are not examples of a melting pot. That is instead being groups of hyphenated-Americans in a culture war against each other.
`
And a culture war against us also. Good post. The melting pot has been replaced by the salad bowl.
I disagree. Just because Mexico is our neighbor shouldn't entitle them to higher legal immigration quotas over everyone else. What happened to diversity? The problem is when you allow in too many from one ethnic group it results in colonization not assimilation and we are seeing living proof of it today. Many have a tribal mentality that trumps our immigration laws also. That is not assimilation. They also believe in large families and many are tapping into our welfare coffers. Many come here through family reunifications and bring nothing to the table in the way of skills and education.
Spanish is not a useful language in our country because most Hispanic-Americans are bi-lingual so we have our common language of English to communicate with them in. The only reason Spanish is being pushed on us is because of the large volume of illegal alien Spanish speakers here and the many Hispanics who know English but prefer Spanish over it as a means of communication and want to be pandered to in Spanish rather than English and our idiot government and businesses are happy to accommodate them. We certainly don't pander to other ethnic groups in our country in that manner.
I think the people you are speaking about are largely illegal immigrants. I support you in that, we need to be VERY strict on illegal immigration. I said I support legal immigrants, people we can screen upon entry to our nation. We can select them based on criteria like the knowledge of English, knowledge of our history and government, ability to get a job and support themselves, a clean criminal background etc. I believe LEGAL Mexican immigrants blend well with our society, and that is why I do think we should let more in legally, but only after we crack down on and control the illegal immigration. As far as diversity?? well that is not always a good thing, some ethnic groups do not mix well with our culture. Look at the Arab world for example, we all know that culture is hostile to ours, so IMO less of them should be admitted and more of a group that does "fit in" here. I have no problem whatsoever with that kind of selection process. Its our nation we get to choose who comes in and who does not. It is ridiculous that illegal immigration has been going on un-checked for as long as it has. It has not served law abiding Hispanic immigrants well either to have the criminals and dregs of Mexico coming in illegally and giving the rest of them a bad name. It needs to stop.
I think the people you are speaking about are largely illegal immigrants. I support you in that, we need to be VERY strict on illegal immigration. I said I support legal immigrants, people we can screen upon entry to our nation. We can select them based on criteria like the knowledge of English, knowledge of our history and government, ability to get a job and support themselves, a clean criminal background etc. I believe LEGAL Mexican immigrants blend well with our society, and that is why I do think we should let more in legally, but only after we crack down on and control the illegal immigration. As far as diversity?? well that is not always a good thing, some ethnic groups do not mix well with our culture. Look at the Arab world for example, we all know that culture is hostile to ours, so IMO less of them should be admitted and more of a group that does "fit in" here. I have no problem whatsoever with that kind of selection process. Its our nation we get to choose who comes in and who does not. It is ridiculous that illegal immigration has been going on un-checked for as long as it has. It has not served law abiding Hispanic immigrants well either to have the criminals and dregs of Mexico coming in illegally and giving the rest of them a bad name. It needs to stop.
But why favor Mexicans by increasing their quotas? Are they special? Even the legal immigrants we are getting from Mexico aren't mostly the skilled, educated, etc. Much of it is through family reunifications as I said and not based on skills, education, etc. A culture that is adamant about speaking their native language everywhere instead of English and puts their ethnic group above our immigration laws isn't assimilating into our society. I am not suggesting that we allow in more immigrants from other countries whose cultures don't blend in with ours either.
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