Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
1.) If two random people I am not with are having a conversation that does not involve me in any way, shape, or form, I don't give a hang what language they're speaking, mainly because I'm probably not paying attention to them anyway.
2.) If I am attached to a group of people, and some of them start to speak another language that I can't (effectively leaving me out of the conversation), then that is rude.
3.) If you are in a job position where you must deal with the public (cashier, for example), then I would agree, rudimentary English is a must.
4.) Pressing 1 for English doesn't bother me, because when I was stationed in Germany, I had an off-post apartment, so I had to deal with the Bundespost. And three weeks in country, you can bet my German wasn't up to the task. Luckily, a lot of Germans speak another language, so finding somebody there who could help me out wasn't a problem. I figure a lot of Spanish-speakers move here quite a bit, with varying degrees of fluency. Maybe some speak English very well, maybe others, not very well at all. So to me, it's understandable. And if your life is such that pressing 1 for English is your big beef, then I would love to trade worlds with you.
5.) I wish I were perfectly fluent in another language. I can read Spanish, but I can't converse in it very well. (And the irregular verb conjugations give me nightmares.) I wish learning another language starting in kindergarten was a requirement here in the States. I think it'd be a big benefit.
I don't think this is related to any political affiliation...
It has more to do with people's insecurities and personal issues....
I love hearing different languages and meeting people of different cultures. I can speak phrases in Korean, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese; people always smile when I greet them in their native language even if I can't hold a conversation. We've always been a multicultural country and, sadly, we also have a terrible history of finding anything (even stupid reasons) to be discriminatory against immigrants.
Babel in modern times. Just freakin great. Read this- hrjsmsb jdlent Bsgd. Get it? No? Whats wrong with you? You must be racist im sure. Very troubling.
Racist? You may wish to consider, that lots of people of African or Caribbean origin speak English as their native language. Lots of dark-skinned people from South Asia use English as their common-tongue. But lots of lily-white, blond-and-blue-eyed people don't. If you hear German or Russian, almost certainly the speakers are white. It's blatantly false, to equate the English language with skin color.
Quote:
Originally Posted by craigiri
I always enjoy being in places where I hear other languages...it usually gives me the hint that I am somewhere good enough to attract people from overseas and all walks of life.
Exactly. If I’m in a museum, or a national park, or some cultural venue, and overhear a conversation in French, or German, or Swedish or Italian, my immediate reaction is: “I’ve come to the right place! Discerning, worldly people could have gone anywhere, visited any site… but they chose this one”.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldglory
What's wrong with expecting people to assimilate into our society linguistically out in public?
There's nothing wrong with learning the most commonly spoken language, and using it in situations requiring common speak. What is wrong is usage of the pronoun "our" in modifying the noun "society". There is no "our".
So wanting new immigrants, if they are legal that is, to be at an economic and social disadvantage because they don't speak English, or want to learn Englis is wrong? I have nothing against hearing foreign languages, but if you want to make it in America you have to speak English. Reality folks.
And more than half of democrats are bothered hearing the national anthem, displaying our flag, hearing someone saying America is great or using the word Patriotism.
I know many, many, many Democrats and not one of them is bothered by any of those things. I'm guessing you don't actually know any. Quit lying.
This doesn't come as much of a surprise but it's troubling nonetheless. But time moves forward and whether everyone likes it or not, we will be living in an increasingly diverse society, regardless of whether or not everyone is comfortable with that.
If they had surveyed me, it could possibly have been 48%.
No, it doesn't. The Pew Research poll says exactly what the WaPo article says:
Quote:
Originally Posted by James Bond 007
Your link does say that nearly half of white republicans would be at least somewhat bothered to hear a non-English language spoken in public.
Specifically, it says that 20% of white republicans would be bothered a lot by that.
27% would be bothered some.
------------------------------
That's 47%. Nearly half.
I never would have though anything different, when asked to read something, you sad....Nah..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
