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Asians save their money, assimilate and get into business
They don't need Uncle Sam's help to make it in America.
Actually, there are plenty of Asian voters in my state where they have public forums where an Asian language is used to connect with the voters. And we have Asian politicians who use these languages to speak to those constituents. Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, you name it. And I'll bet that non-Asian politicians with significant numbers of Asian constituents will have outreach that is language-targeted, both written and spoken. I don't see what the fuss is.
And a lot of us Asian immigrants couldn't have made it without using public assets such as schools and other public assistance. Uncle Sam did help with helping to settle Vietnamese refugees escaping the Communist regime there, but that is only fair since US involvement there was certainly a role ("we're here because you're over there.").
Last edited by silverkris; 10-08-2014 at 01:07 PM..
There are many Americans of Asian descent that speak Mandarin, etc. Americans of Filapino descent can speak their native dialects also. Why aren't they being pandered to by our politicians in their native tongues? Why just Spanish speakers?
There are actually almost as many Asians in the US as there are Latinos, except the Asian bloc is split into several different countries with different languages, the Latin American bloc comes from different countries sharing a common language. Think, Oldglory, think. If it wasn't for the Chinese Exclusion Acts and similar ones in the late 1800s and early 1900s, there would probably be almost as many Asians as Hispanics in the US
So it's disrespectful for an American politician to hold a debate in English when the target audience knows English also?
Is respect uni-directional?
Was there or was there not also a debate in English also? Why, yes, there was.
Not seeing the point of your question.
Here's a question for you: if someone near and dear to you was having a birthday and expressed a preference for chocolate ice cream over vanilla, even though s/he also likes vanilla, would it be wrong to honor that preference?
Do you think the world revolves around Americans and what they want ?
Funny you accuse me of that when I am not the one arguing that the world revolves around Americans and that everyone needs to know the third most spoken language, but not the top two spoken languages.
Funny you accuse me of that when I am not the one arguing that the world revolves around Americans and that everyone needs to know the third most spoken language, but not the top two spoken languages.
For a language that is learned around the world, an official language of dozens of countries, a required language in international communications, the standardized language of technology, the jingoists among us think that English is the most threatened and fragile language in the world
Wrong! Many jobs require one to know Spanish to get hired these days.
Some - but not all. And no one is forcing you to work there. Go work somewhere else! It's not like you're entitled to that job (or any job for that matter).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldglory
Oh please, stop bringing up the past. It is irrelevant. I never said that knowing two languages is a bad thing but we should all know how to speak English and stop pandering to those who refuse to learn it or want to be pandered to in their native languages instead. No way should native English speakers be forced to learn a foreign language unless they desire to.
Ok.
So if I say that English historically has been the language of this country and that English should continue to be the language of this country in the future, I can expect your argument to be, "Stop bringing up the past." Yes?
And nobody is forcing you to do anything...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldglory
Yes, it does make sense. You have to know English to become a citizen and only citizens can vote. We should hold political debates in Spanish for people who some time in the future may learn English and vote? That's ridiculous.
I'm not saying they should do it. But I understand why they're doing it. Bottom line is I have no problem with it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldglory
You forget though if they ARE citizens they will know how to speak English. One has to know English in order to become a naturalize citizen also. So most of these arguments for political debates in Spanish are a big fail! Now there's Politics 101 for you.
Enough to know the political and legal terminology that politicians will sometimes use? I think not. There are native English-speakers who don't even understand it and you expect someone who just "came off a boat" to understand it? Yeah, right.
False, Mandarin is the most common language in the world, so that would make it the "go to" language. English is third on the list meaning Spanish and Mandarin are more spoken than English and is those two groups that are learning English so they can communicate with a group that refuses to learn the most common language in the world.
You should brush up on your Mandarin if you want to business in this world.
I stand by what I said. I did NOT say English is the most common language. Except for LatAm and Spain; Spanish ain't important. Outside of China; not many people speak Chinese, even other country citizens of Chinese family. OTOH: English IS the world language because it's used about everywhere.
I stand by what I said. I did NOT say English is the most common language. Except for LatAm and Spain; Spanish ain't important. Outside of China; not many people speak Chinese, even other country citizens of Chinese family. OTOH: English IS the world language because it's used about everywhere.
So why are you, Oldglory, and everyone else so threatened and scared that English is going to die out in the US?
America in decline, we are experiencing the beginning...
Those that think it's not a big deal or its a good think are the ones that can't see the big picture.
This is another example of the US kowtowing to Mexicans and their language instead of them trying to learn English (our language).
Border, Language and Culture.
Their busy trying to break the borders, changing our culture and now the language....then there is no nation.
When will this happen? maybe 20 to 50 years from now or a civil war.
I think we will see it in less then 20 years.
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