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"Its ok for my mom to live in this country and know no english because everyone around her knows spanish." SHE NEEDS TO LEARN ENGLISH, PERIOD. This is America, not Mexico.
I would like for you to find anywhere in the constitution, or anywhere in our nations laws, where it states that the national language of the United States is English? You won't find it, the US is one of few nations that doesn't have a national language. So, sorry to say but live with it. As a previous poster stated most immigrants, regardless of their homeland, don't fluently learn English, but it is their second generation that does. According to the MLA (Modern Language Association) 46,951,595 legal Americans do not speak English or 18% of the nation.
[quote=theroc5156;3420065]You don't think it's a realistic expectation of someone to learn the native language of the place they plan on living in???? Are you kidding me?????? You going to move to France and not learn French????[/quote
I used to work in the food industry and trying to get anyone who is not an immigrant to apply almost never happens. It is just as frustrating for a manager who doesn't speak a bunch of different languages - but those are the people who apply.
And before you say retort with 'well, if the illegals left, the wages would be higher so more would apply' think about it. Really? You really think that McDonalds, Walmart etc are going to start paying more? Yeah, right.
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Refusing to speak english says a lot about a person without saying anything at all about your patriotism. I am fluent in spanish, but wont talk to someone who doesnt also know english or refuses to learn english. I learned spanish to help those who WANT to learn english or who are in the process of learning english but are having difficulty doing so. I didnt learn it to talk to those who have been here for 20 years and think they are above learning english and feel that everyone around them should just accomodate to their laziness.
Last edited by madicarus2000; 04-11-2008 at 10:51 PM..
Reason: link post deleted
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ocexpo
How much does an immigrants inability to speak English irritate you?
i work at a bank in an area filled with immigrants who dont speak english. Lets just say i have to keep my hair cut short or i would pull it out all day. It frustrates me, in my home state of VA, i have to put up with people who seek to get everyone to speak spanish (or sometimes arabic) to suit them.
I used to work in the food industry and trying to get anyone who is not an immigrant to apply almost never happens. It is just as frustrating for a manager who doesn't speak a bunch of different languages - but those are the people who apply.
And before you say retort with 'well, if the illegals left, the wages would be higher so more would apply' think about it. Really? You really think that McDonalds, Walmart etc are going to start paying more? Yeah, right.
And do you really think those corporations only came to exist once we had a community of illegal workers to choose from? Get real. Those jobs were done by someone before the illegal invasion dontcha think? Or were we just all suspended in a space/time vacuum, waiting for the illegals to show up to start our existence?
i work at a bank in an area filled with immigrants who dont speak english. Lets just say i have to keep my hair cut short or i would pull it out all day. It frustrates me, in my home state of VA, i have to put up with people who seek to get everyone to speak spanish (or sometimes arabic) to suit them.
Dont you reserve the right to refuse service to anyone? My local bakery refuses service to anyone who doesnt speak english and has a sign on his door that says "No hablo espanol". Its kind of odd at first to see him turn people away, but I definately dont feel bad for them. Learn english or leave.
My father; who immigrated here from Hungary at age 21 speaking no English now is 100% fluent. Yes; the man has an accent but his grammar/syntax are impeccable.
Your father is probably gifted. That isn't the norm. I personally speak danish, swedish and greenlandic, but not fluently. I am fluent in spanish. These are all languages that I picked up as a teenager/adult and I don't know many others who can do that. It has nothing to do with being lazy, as I have heard people say here. I know that people can get by, but if they are living and working with only others who speak spanish, russian, mandarin, etc. it is very difficult.
It is easy to say, 'well, I would learn it if I went to live in a different country' but until you have experienced it, you don't know. I personally do that when I go to a new country, but many others don't.
Someone mentioned asian people being able to learn it, but that may be people who were taught english in school from a young age. The same with a lot of european countries who all learn starting very early.
For the most part, we are all descendants of immigrants - so we arent from 'here'. English isn't the national language. I guess if we want to be technical, maybe we should all learn cherokee, or some other native language, and make that our national language.
Refusing to speak english says a lot about a person without saying anything at all about your patriotism. I am fluent in spanish, but wont talk to someone who doesnt also know english or refuses to learn english. I learned spanish to help those who WANT to learn english or who are in the process of learning english but are having difficulty doing so. I didnt learn it to talk to those who have been here for 20 years and think they are above learning english and feel that everyone around them should just accomodate to their laziness.
That is your decision to not speak Spanish and it is theirs to speak it.
On a side topic...I had a job working for Siemens and as I started I was told that German would be a "very good thing to know".
I was working in America, but they were basically telling me to learn German so I could understand manuals, software. Actually much of the people working there spoke German only, in the office here in America.
Is that against the law here? No. Is it to their advantage to know English here? Yes, but necessary? No because people spoke German.
And do you really think those corporations only came to exist once we had a community of illegal workers to choose from? Get real. Those jobs were done by someone before the illegal invasion dontcha think? Or were we just all suspended in a space/time vacuum, waiting for the illegals to show up to start our existence?
Americans have become too good for those jobs, for the most part. Would you do it?
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food industry
