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My first language was Japanese Then American English, then British English, then Chinese (Cantonese) but only childrens phrases. Then in High school Spanish, German, Japanese (once you learn one language you find many similarities between them - except for Chinese LOL ... and German is so very close to English its not as difficult). Then in Uni I had a roommate who spoke Only Tahitian French - so learned French (and with my Spanish it wasnt all that difficult) and then had a roommate from Norway - so learned a bit of Norwegian.. and then my other half is from Scotland - so Scottish Gaelic became an interest And my family is from Hawaii... so Hawaiian and pidgin are pretty natural
Language is a bit like a puzzle... its fascinating once you unlock it
Good for you no matter how 'casual' your Mandarin is!! Chinese isnt for the faint hearted!!
Programming languages are beyond my abilities... lol anyone who can program (in my book) is a genius!!
Ahhh Constitutional Law... THATS my daughters forte ))
My first language was Japanese Then American English, then British English, then Chinese (Cantonese) but only childrens phrases. Then in High school Spanish, German, Japanese (once you learn one language you find many similarities between them - except for Chinese LOL ... and German is so very close to English its not as difficult). Then in Uni I had a roommate who spoke Only Tahitian French - so learned French (and with my Spanish it wasnt all that difficult) and then had a roommate from Norway - so learned a bit of Norwegian.. and then my other half is from Scotland - so Scottish Gaelic became an interest And my family is from Hawaii... so Hawaiian and pidgin are pretty natural
Language is a bit like a puzzle... its fascinating once you unlock it
Good for you no matter how 'casual' your Mandarin is!! Chinese isnt for the faint hearted!!
Programming languages are beyond my abilities... lol anyone who can program (in my book) is a genius!!
Ahhh Constitutional Law... THATS my daughters forte ))
You don't learn 'Anerican' English and then 'British' English because it's the same language!! As for Gaelic, I've never met a Scot that speaks it and half my family are Scots! About 1% if Scots know Gaelic so you must have been very lucky to have found an 'other half' that speaks it! :-)
The freedom to speak pig Latin if so wished is in our Constitution. It’s just opinions, if they think it right or not -are just that - opinions. Not all people are open minded and tolerant of different cultures or what goes with it .
To each his own. OG is free to his opinion - but those who disagree also are free to have their opinions as well.
But OG - something’s are not going to change. Accept it.
I believe one of the requirements to gain citizenship is to be in the country for five years. If you can’t learn the language of the country in that amount of time, you probably never will and therefore would probably not make a good citizen.
Oh I have witnessed something along that line. Once coming back to the U.S. on an international flight, I sat next to a couple who also held U.S. passports. The flight attendant serving beverages asked them what they would like to drink and they both replied "juice". She then asked them what kind of juice, orange, apple, cranberry, tomato, etc. and they still answered "juice", not understanding her question on what kind of juice. When it came time for all passengers to fill out the port of entry documents, they had such a hard time that they had to ask me for help and because their English was limited, I had a hard time explaining to them what to write. I kid you not, this instance may sound funny but it's actually sad. Other countries require proficiency in an official language or lingua franca but apparently not the U.S.
I feel like you keep repeating yourself. I agree with you that English is one of our common and identifying languages. Just like Spanish and the other great languages of this nation.
Spanish is not an identifying language of the United States. No public school or university in this country have curricula in Spanish.
Only immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries continue to converse in Spanish in the United States. And a large number of them are illegal aliens.
Spanish is not an identifying language of the United States.
Only immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries continue to speak Spanish in the United States. And a large number of them are illegal aliens.
This is not true at all. We have lots of Americans in the US that primarily speak Spanish. Take a look at Oldglory's posts in this thread. She indicated that she's seen this in California. Not all of them are undocumented.
A large portion of our Spanish and Chinese Americans in concentrations (like China town) that speak their own languages. They identify Spanish and Chinese as the language they speak in America.
After reading this inane commentary, it only further convinces me English SHOULD be the official language of the United States, even as a symbolic gesture.
You don't learn 'Anerican' English and then 'British' English because it's the same language!! As for Gaelic, I've never met a Scot that speaks it and half my family are Scots! About 1% if Scots know Gaelic so you must have been very lucky to have found an 'other half' that speaks it! :-)
Actually American English is different than British English When I lived in the US I spoke American English - when I moved to the BCC all that was spoken was British English, which is not just a different accent, but different spelling, different phrases, different words for things.
Just as Cantonese is a very different language than Mandarin - albeit both Chinese
My other half is from way up in the highlands... and whilst he doesnt speak Scottish Gaelic as an every day language - (although his Aunts and Uncles do as they live in a tiny village - which is where he was born and raised and he learned it in primary school) it is something that he is very capable of communicating in - both spoken and written... and something that I became fascinated by - as I am with other languages.
No different than my family, in the Islands - my Uncle spoke fluent Hawaiian - although its just the old folk who speak it now, predominantly (or over on the Robertsons Island)
If you google how many in Scotland still speak Gaelic... it says around 60K people. Since my other half is in his 60s, its not at all difficult to find people 'around' who do... particularly way up North.
Are the Scottish half of your family in America or in Scotland?
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Then American English, then British English, then Chinese (Cantonese) but only childrens phrases. Then in High school Spanish, German, Japanese (once you learn one language you find many similarities between them - except for Chinese LOL ... and German is so very close to English its not as difficult). Then in Uni I had a roommate who spoke Only Tahitian French - so learned French (and with my Spanish it wasnt all that difficult) and then had a roommate from Norway - so learned a bit of Norwegian.. and then my other half is from Scotland - so Scottish Gaelic became an interest 
Most white and black Americans I have encountered speak English well.
Same here.
