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why is that people in other parts of the world seem to be able to learn more than one language but Americans expect to be able to live in a bubble with just English?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rikrich
This is a rather moot point. You realize, of course that most of the Spanish speaking folks in the United States came here in violation of the immigration laws. I don't agree with you, so let's agree to disagree agreeably. Bye.
How can we compete when there is nothing for workers to compete for or against as big businessess are moving out of the country? Hershey's is the latest to go to Mexico where the sanitation standards aren't always the best. So much for The Great American Chocolate Bar! I hope the hurricane blows their plant away. Maybe they'll come back to PA and employ those workers back. No hurricanes in PA but there is USA pride.
We are boycotting. Dove makes a better milk choc. w/almonds bar anyway. Now to see if they're made in the USA.
Here in Flanders you get in all public school english and french as foreign languagues and some even have german or/and spanish but that depends the dirrection you choose.
But actually it's very simpel, the method doesn't have to change, the people have to.. I don't have spanish at school so I'm following lessons in evening school.
We don't need any other language but English. Besides, if educators in this great melting pot called the USA were to make it manditory that all the immigrants languages must be learned in school, that would be many languages and we would be like the tower of babel. Give me a break. Foreign languages are taught now but the reason is not to communicate with our coworkers. I learned Latin in high school. So what. I have yet to meet a Roman Gladiator with whom I can converse. Well hey, let's just switch to the peso too.
How can we compete when there is nothing for workers to compete for or against as big businessess are moving out of the country? Hershey's is the latest to go to Mexico where the sanitation standards aren't always the best. So much for The Great American Chocolate Bar! I hope the hurricane blows their plant away. Maybe they'll come back to PA and employ those workers back. No hurricanes in PA but there is USA pride.
We are boycotting. Dove makes a better milk choc. w/almonds bar anyway. Now to see if they're made in the USA.
Because big business has found cheap labor. Those people make in a year what some make in a month, maybe less.
And laws in other countries are less stringent & it cost less for the company to operate. No such things as workers comp, sick days, maternity/paternity leave & pensions in such places as Guatemala, Taiwan, Mexico.
I also venture to say that people in other countries may have a stronger work ethic b/c their country isn't based on mass materialism & greed, but that would be too general a statement.
I of all people am greatly irritated by the filipino lady who answers when my Wireless router is jacked up.. Or when I call my web host provider and Mr. Gupta picks up the phone and I can barely understand him through his accent..
However I will say, that as Americans, we must realize that there is NOTHING we can do to stop this globalization. This is not a one-superpower world anymore. It's sad to say, but China, India, Brazil, etc.. are all rapidly turning in to highly-industrialized, highly-resourceful nations, whose economies are growing infinitely faster than ours... Of course we are light years ahead in terms of administration, healthcare, organization, civil obedience, people with discipline enough to know how to manage their rank and follow orders (try watching a bunch of indians get off bus #8 in Calcutta! Ha!).
Anyway, like it or not, this era is now one of global concern.. The world is becoming very very small.. Distances are traversed at increased speed (plane travel and beyond), Communication is measured in the nano-seconds no matter where the caller originates and whom he is calling, if you want to buy a product in India or Romania you do so with a simple click of a button and your product arrives via FedEx in a matter of days. As much as the world loves english, it is only proper to assume that there will always be many more languages besides ours. Polyglots, or people who know other languages, have a special ability to converse with others in their native tongue without fear. Others who haven't taken the time to learn anything besides colloquial english, are afraid that the only language they know, is threatened (so they believe) by the mexicans, the indians, the chinese, etc..
No matter how republican our government is, remember that big businessmen will always enjoy having dirt cheap labor (mexicans) around because it only boosts their profits.. Ha! It is not democrats alone who pander to the brownies.. it's everyone who has big bucks to lose if not done so.. In fact, it's only the small minority of Romneyesque persuasions that stand up there at the podium and demand something be done about this immigration nonsense. And even the evangelicals are trying to get the hispanic vote.. Bribe 'em on in.
I personally hate seeing our country overrun by illegals, but sadly there is not a damn thing you or I can do about it. We can yell and scream racist slurs at our new brown alien guests, or we can lobby to mr bush, or we can sulk online... but sadly we live in the age of globalization... and that means that the world is shrinking and we must either embrace it, or move to the north pole. And even that's taken, because the Arctic-bordering nations are squabbling over the oil which everyone knows is Canada's and ours! hahahaha!
We don't need any other language but English. Besides, if educators in this great melting pot called the USA were to make it manditory that all the immigrants languages must be learned in school, that would be many languages and we would be like the tower of babel. Give me a break. Foreign languages are taught now but the reason is not to communicate with our coworkers. I learned Latin in high school. So what. I have yet to meet a Roman Gladiator with whom I can converse. Well hey, let's just switch to the peso too.
I see a lot "anti" south of the border...but wait when the "Made in China" moves in the US, then you will have to learn chinese and God knows how easy is the chinese "alphabet"
We don't need any other language but English. Besides, if educators in this great melting pot called the USA were to make it manditory that all the immigrants languages must be learned in school, that would be many languages and we would be like the tower of babel. Give me a break. Foreign languages are taught now but the reason is not to communicate with our coworkers. I learned Latin in high school. So what. I have yet to meet a Roman Gladiator with whom I can converse. Well hey, let's just switch to the peso too.
But China, Japan, Korea, Germany & endless other countries were teaching English years ago so that the children COULD communicate with the global market when they reached adulthood & work in the global market.
There are certain languages that are more spoken than others. There are certain countries right now that have a much stronger hold on the global economy than others; it helps to know how to communicate with them in order to do business.
I see a lot "anti" south of the border...but wait when the "Made in China" moves in the US, then you will have to learn chinese and God knows how easy is the chinese "alphabet"
It is already here. They are just being a little more stealth about it
well don't hold your breath--that would require actual work, unlike watching endless football and "Idol" on TV
Quote:
Originally Posted by 121804
But China, Japan, Korea, Germany & endless other countries were teaching English years ago so that the children COULD communicate with the global market when they reached adulthood & work in the global market.
There are certain languages that are more spoken than others. There are certain countries right now that have a much stronger hold on the global economy than others; it helps to know how to communicate with them in order to do business.
why is that people in other parts of the world seem to be able to learn more than one language but Americans expect to be able to live in a bubble with just English?
It is necessary because their proximity to so many other countries. I use to go to Luxembourg and I would be amazed. I would be in a store and the clerk would be having conversations in four or five languages at the same time. In the US we all speak english for thousands and thousands of miles, there is no need to speak another language.
That is the answer if you really want to know. I have gone to many places where only the local language was spoken. When I am in Italy I only find the young kids who speak english, they take it in school. You pay them to interpret for you. They will follow you around all day if you like. My wife speaks English, German French, Spanish and gets along in a half dozen other languages but she just finds it interesting not because there is any need. All that is needed in the US is English.
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