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Been to any Vietnamese or Chinese neighborhoods recently? I have, and they're not exactly clamoring to speak English either. Btw, English is an official language of India, and nearly EVERY Indian person is raised speaking it - so that wasn't a very good example.
Yes India is a good example. They are a people who have found the advantage of having a common language and they have chosen English, in part for the same reason we had English -- former British colony and all that.
India is turning to a common language as opposed to a 100 different languages and dialects and the USA is dumping English and going with Spanish or maybe 100 different languages.
Like it or not, English is the world language. Yet -- we have many people living in the USA refusing to learn it, clinging to their own country's languages.
They all sure do take to the American dollar however. It's the one thing besides food stamp cards and WIC coupons they don't require to have in their own country's languages.
Billy is(was?) President James Carter's alcoholic brother. I am not sure if that was a mistake in names, they don't really know President Carter's first name, or the person was implying a drunk would be better than President Obama.
I registered Democrat to vote in the primaries, and my Presidential choices included Obama or "blank" - I was tempted to write in Howard Stern.
Ahhh - I have voted for Green Party candidates (Dan Hamburg - California Governor - 1998), Libertarian candidates (Harry Browne - U.S. president - 2000), and Democratic candidates (Kathleen Connell - California Controller - 1998).
People are not always beholden to political ideologies - we often vote for the best candidates available.
Yes India is a good example. They are a people who have found the advantage of having a common language and they have chosen English, in part for the same reason we had English -- former British colony and all that.
India is turning to a common language as opposed to a 100 different languages and dialects and the USA is dumping English and going with Spanish or maybe 100 different languages.
Like it or not, English is the world language.
You're totally switching topics here, since you were referring to Indian immigrants "learning" English to assimilate... and as I pointed out (and you apparently agree), most of them had already learned English as a child.
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Yet -- we have many people living in the USA refusing to learn it, clinging to their own country's languages.
How do you know they're refusing to learn, and clinging to their native languages? Judging by the long waiting lists for my library's ESL classes, adult tutoring programs, conversation clubs, etc, the majority of them DO want to learn. Do you think it's an instantaneous process, especially when we're talking about older adults? I can tell you from my experiences in teaching this subject, no it is not.
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They all sure do take to the American dollar however. It's the one thing besides food stamp cards and WIC coupons they don't require to have in their own country's languages.
Billy is(was?) President James Carter's alcoholic brother. I am not sure if that was a mistake in names, they don't really know President Carter's first name, or the person was implying a drunk would be better than President Obama.
Jimmy Carter(I am not a fan of his) or a drunk would be better than President Obama as president of the United States of America.
Ahhh - I have voted for Green Party candidates (Dan Hamburg - California Governor - 1998), Libertarian candidates (Harry Browne - U.S. president - 2000), and Democratic candidates (Kathleen Connell - California Controller - 1998).
People are not always beholden to political ideologies - we often vote for the best candidates available.
You know I'm an Independent (just left-leaning), so I have voted for a variety of candidates too - just no Republicans yet, since they stray too far from my ideologies for comfort. I almost went for Ron Paul this year, but something about him just doesn't sit 100% right with me.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand! I haven't actually seen bilingual ads for either candidate yet... but I usually fast-forward through commercials, since I'm always watching TV on my DVR.
You know I'm an Independent (just left-leaning), so I have voted for a variety of candidates too - just no Republicans yet, since they stray too far from my ideologies for comfort. I almost went for Ron Paul this year, but something about him just doesn't sit 100% right with me.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand! I haven't actually seen bilingual ads for either candidate yet... but I usually fast-forward through commercials, since I'm always watching TV on my DVR.
You have gotten some respect points from me a while back. We disagree on a lot - but you are an authentic independent(and we at least agree on music).
Please don't take my posts as indictments - I love diversity (whether it is is political, racial, lingual, or whatever - I am after all a Californian) - I can understand where you are coming from and don't require you to agree with me for you to gain my respect.
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