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Studies show time and time again that learning another language helps with learning other languages, it does not hinder. So learning Spanish will only help them, not hinder their ability to learn a third or fourth or fifth language and so on and so forth.
I'm agree about spanish language, this language is just forced, what a shame :/
I learn spanish because it's interesting for the international trade and I like it
And french isn't dying, but its influence is declining that's all.Here in France the english pretty forced too, but it's disturbing for nobody, we understand the advantages.Unfortunately frenchies are bad in language learning
boy somebody is xenephobic about having Spanish being forced down their throat! First of all the language spoken by most of the people in the Western Hemisphere is Spanish. There are several hundred million Spanish speakers in the countries south of Mexico you know! Spanish is not being forced down anybody's throat but if you want to stay monolingual go ahead as the business world passes you by.
I never understood the fear some people have of Spanish but I guess it has to do with immigration issues and to say south American nations are weak is mind boggling!
Anyways Spanish is a very beautiful language with many different dialects depending on what nation and is phonetically correct for the most part unlike English.
Also Spanish is part of the Romanic languages which includes French & Italian. I can easily tell what most Italians are saying without even having studied the language but French is more difficult to understand.
Do you have numbers / statistics about that ?
I guess Spanish, French and German are the most learned, but some numbers would be good, same thing for other languages as Arab, Russian (I learn it so I'm interested ), Chinese or Japanese
I don't have numbers for you, but not many Americans other than those born in a foreign country (and their children) can speak or comprehend (in any meaningful sense of the term) a language other than English. Most nowadays take second languages in high school and university, but they 1) don't learn much of them anyway, and 2) forget what they did learn once out of school.
The most commonly taught in high school is Spanish, with French also being taught in a large percentage of schools. German is probably third. All other languages are a distant ways behind.
Studies show time and time again that learning another language helps with learning other languages, it does not hinder. So learning Spanish will only help them, not hinder their ability to learn a third or fourth or fifth language and so on and so forth.
I said I think it is fine if they learn more than two languages. I do not believe one language should be forced on them because a bunch of immigrants want to flood and not learn the English language themselves though, take A LOT of jobs from those same American kids who they are indirectly forcing to learn their language, and I have seen stories of these Mexican immigrants supposedly coming here for a "new start" and they are on the television burning the American flag. I agree not all of them are like this but also a lot are. That is one nationality I have no desire to meet and no desire to talk to anybody from that country whether they are nice or not. The same with Arabs. I have heard stories of those Arab business owners in this country dodging taxes and their links to terrorists which means I do not know which one to trust therefore I must generalize their whole race. I am well aware there are nice people of both races but unfortunately they look alike so I have reasonable suspicion to not trust them based on not a few of them but a pretty high percentage of them behaving like the animal countries they come from. To generalize them is the only legal way to fight them right now. I can not beat up illegals because I would get in more trouble than they would if they even took it to the next level and killed someone here (like that 8 year old boy who was run over by a drunk illegal immigrant in Alabama or Mississippi). How many Americans are in flooding Mexico City? They would have a cow if floods of legal and illegal American immigrants took their jobs, taxes, and culture like they are doing to America.
I have no problem with them if they did not FLOOD this country like they are. People think it is racist but it is not. It is the fact that they leave their country because it oppressed them and yet they still love their country and come here and disrespect this country? Why did they not stay in their country if it is so great and they have so much pride in their oppressive flag? So then they come here and take jobs from Americans whom many are unemployed and would take just about any job right now.
Last edited by RussianIvanov; 08-20-2010 at 10:14 AM..
I said I think it is fine if they learn more than two languages. I do not believe one language should be forced on them because a bunch of immigrants want to flood and not learn the English language themselves though, take A LOT of jobs from those same American kids who they are indirectly forcing to learn their language, and I have seen stories of these Mexican immigrants supposedly coming here for a "new start" and they are on the television burning the American flag. I agree not all of them are like this but also a lot are. That is one nationality I have no desire to meet and no desire to talk to anybody from that country whether they are nice or not. The same with Arabs. I have heard stories of those Arab business owners in this country dodging taxes and their links to terrorists which means I do not know which one to trust therefore I must generalize their whole race. I am well aware there are nice people of both races but unfortunately they look alike so I have reasonable suspicion to not trust them based on not a few of them but a pretty high percentage of them behaving like the animal countries they come from. To generalize them is the only legal way to fight them right now. I can not beat up illegals because I would get in more trouble than they would if they even took it to the next level and killed someone here (like that 8 year old boy who was run over by a drunk illegal immigrant in Alabama or Mississippi). How many Americans are in flooding Mexico City? They would have a cow if floods of legal and illegal American immigrants took their jobs, taxes, and culture like they are doing to America.
I have no problem with them if they did not FLOOD this country like they are. People think it is racist but it is not. It is the fact that they leave their country because it oppressed them and yet they still love their country and come here and disrespect this country? Why did they not stay in their country if it is so great and they have so much pride in their oppressive flag? So then they come here and take jobs from Americans whom many are unemployed and would take just about any job right now.
All I hear is xenophobia and racism. My point is that even if Spanish is "forced" it can only help people in the end. Learning a language helps with learning others.
How would you feel if people didn't even give you a chance before blowing you off as Russian and therefore not worth meeting?
There are plenty of jobs out there that do not require speaking a word of English. Having to speak Spanish for a job is far from a threat. And employers will be happy to see you speak other languages, like Russian, especially if there is a sizable Russian community in your area. Not to mention, chances are at least one employee in your place of business speaks Spanish, cause it's a widely-spoken language. So Spanish will be covered.
I love how one case of murder gets publicized and all the sudden all Mexicans are murderers. Yet this never happens with white people. A white person commits a murder, that person is a murderer. Yet when a Mexican, or a black person, or someone of Arabic descent murders someone, all Mexicans, all black people, and all Arabs are murderers. How can one not see the absurdity in this thinking?
If it's not racist, why don't we ever hear about all the white immigrants? Or even black immigrants? I know tons of Ethiopians, Eritreans, Russians, Ukrainians, and other immigrants who don't get any crap for coming here. It's just the Mexicans.
Yes. The illegal immigration issue is real. Yes, a lot of Mexicans come through our border. But it gets blown up into a much larger "threat" than it really is because it's fueled by racism, and the hardest part is the fact that the people who exaggerate it the most can't even see their own racism so they won't even admit to it, which perpetuates this racist attitude. Immigration -- just another wave for racism to ride.
It's useful in the international trade (USA-Russia economic links are growing, and it's just the beginning because the Russian economy is becoming stronger, it's already a major market in the auto industry, it's the biggest auto market in Europe).It's important in the energy industry too because Russia is a giant in the energy sector (as Saudi Arabia).It's interesting in the tourism sector because more russian travel in the US each year, particularly in Miami and LA.I don't forget the CIA
So no, it's not useless, it's pretty interesting for the future, more than German or Italian !
It's useful in the international trade (USA-Russia economic links are growing, and it's just the beginning because the Russian economy is becoming stronger, it's already a major market in the auto industry, it's the biggest auto market in Europe).It's important in the energy industry too because Russia is a giant in the energy sector (as Saudi Arabia).It's interesting in the tourism sector because more russian travel in the US each year, particularly in Miami and LA.I don't forget the CIA
So no, it's not useless, it's pretty interesting for the future, more than German or Italian !
I gathered. Funny how white immigrants never get flack. Just Mexicans and other Hispanics. I'm an immigrant from Russia and yet no one ever gives me crap. And while I am legal, I have met other Russian immigrants who aren't and who never get crap about coming here. In fact some of the Russian immigrants I know have been here 10+ years and still don't speak a lick of English. They insist on Russian only.
But that's okay. Cause they're, you know, white.
The most ironic part of all is the Russian immigrants I'm talking about tend to be the most racist against Mexicans for doing the exact same thing they did.
The hypocrisy is overwhelming.
I don't discount the effect of racism on the anti-Spanish language sentiment one hears, but I think that to say white immigrants get a pass is a broad and naive judgement.
The German, Irish, and Italians received a lot of flack and criticism when they arrived in large numbers and I think that is the thrust of it. The numbers. There are a lot of Russians, Ukrainians moving into New York City, especially Queens over the past several years and it is not uncommon in many neighborhoods to hear anti-Russian/Slavic sentiment coming from Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics alike.
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