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Chinese is a tough language to learn. One of the, if not, the hardest language on Earth to learn.
I don't know. Lots of Chinese speak it pretty easily.
But seriously. When my daughter decided she wanted to study languages, she took both Russian and Mandarin. She stuck with Mandarin because she said Chinese is easy and Russian is hard.
Her goal is to design a method to make it easier for native English speakers to learn Mandarin.
It's just that it's not related at all to our Indo-European languages. It relies on tones for meaning, where we rely on tones for context. But it's much simpler in some ways.
Latinos influx into this country is large and constant. It's much cheaper for them to have children here (especially with welfare systems in place) and they greatly outnumber other races when it comes to birthrates.
Is this trend going to slow down or ramp up?
What will likely happen is that Spanish will influence American English and we will add words to the American dialect. Language is changing constantly. There is no one "right" way to speak any language.
Think of 1066. Norman French was introduced to the English spoken in English, and more than a thousand years later, we still use words from both.
So you're glad that Americans have learned to speak Spanish, even though they live here in an English-speaking country, "in order to improve themselves"?
Sure, why not? I am also glad when people learn to cook good meals, how to program computers, change the oil in their car, and many other things. Do you really think we should be living in caves grunting at one another?
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Why don't you require that immigrants, who have chosen to move to an English-speaking country, learn the language of their adopted country?
Because I don't require anybody to learn Spanish either. I have been clear on this though. The First Amendment of the Constitution (it is an important document, you may want to become familiar with it) has important protections on speech. It is a right enshrined at the highest level of our legal system.
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You are applauding native-born Americans for learning a foreign language (up until now totally unnecessary because immigrants were expected to to learn English to fully function in their adopted country)
Why is necessity coming into this? It isn't necessary that you wear matching socks, but I support you doing that so you do not look silly in public. However, if you choose not to wear matching socks, that is your right.
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yet not criticizing immigrants for refusing to learn the language of their new country?
Well, hang on there. I never said that. It is definitely in the best interest of immigrants to learn English. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. It opens up all sorts of opportunity for them, and it is foolish if they do not. But it is their right not to learn if that is what they choose.
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They CHOSE to come here. It's some nerve for them to immigrate here and expect that Americans will speak to them in their own language, and the liberals in government are enabling that attitude of entitlement.
Nobody expects everybody to learn Spanish, or any other language. This is a strawman that you keep setting up and punching down, but that has never been my argument. It may be prudent for government or private industry to provide services in Spanish, and that is their choice. It is not a mandate.
Possibly true, I have never seen comparisons as to how quickly other waves of immigrants have assimilated. Your big flaw here is thinking I care how quickly people assimilate linguistically. What language any given person speaks is not my concern, and the US Constitution backs up my viewpoint on this. People have freedom of expression, and if they want to express themselves in Spanish, Tagalog, English or Mandarin, it is all the same to me.
Possibly true. But now you are arguing about immigration rather than language. Two different topics, and you will note that I am not bothering to comment on immigration.
For somebody who is such a staunch advocate of English, you should probably learn how to spell accommodate.
There are many legal residents who prefer to speak Spanish, as is their constitutional right. What do you have against the Constitution?
I know you have said this, but you have not provided evidence that this is true, or whey it would matter. Some people prefer to speak Spanish. Good enough for me. If it benefits a company or agency to hire Spanish speakers to conduct their business more effectively, that sounds like a good management decision.
There you go misspelling accommodate again. Who are you to decide what is American, or un-American? I prefer to welcome people of all types, learning from them, sharing my knowledge with them, and building a stronger, more resilient country together with them. If that means the person at the DMV can speak to me in English, and the next guy in Spanish, I think that is an amazingly good thing, and I am glad that some people have taken the personal initiative to learn Spanish in order to improve themselves.
As I said, you are a fan of balkinization rather that assimilation, unity and cohesiveness. An odd position to take. Of course liberals want to divide our country in every way and you are a part of that.
No, this topic of Spanish becoming the majority spoken language in this country is directly due to illegal immigration in massive numbers by mostly Spanish speakers. How you can't see that is beyond me but then again you said you don't care anyway.
I never said that people don't have the right to speak another language in this country but there's a time and place for everything. It's about rudeness and non-assimilation out in mainstream America when one knows how to speak English or refuses to learn it or speak it and we all have to listen to that babble everywhere we go.
How many times does it have to be reiterated to you that employers hiring Spanish speakers above mono-lingual English speakers is also due to the number of Spanish speaking illegals here and you think that is fair?
How does learning Spanish to speak with illegal aliens improve oneself? Why would I even want to talk to them? It's about pandering to illegal Spanish speakers other than that it's useless as most Hispanics in this country know English. It's all about the greedy employer's bottom line. The almighty dollar means more to them than their fellow English speaking Americans in their hiring practices.
I have nothing against welcoming legal immigrants here legally and that assimilate into our society why are you confusing that with illegal alien Spanish speakers?
I speak pretty perfect English but all you've got is an attack on a spelling error? It has nothing to do with the topic at hand anyway. Nice deflection there to defend balkinization and non-assimilation in our country. I'm done responding to you. Your type is what is wrong with this country that don't want unity but instead embrace divisiveness. Welcome to my ignore list.
We adopted English as our national de facto language not Spanish nor French so why should I honor those languages in any way? You're being ridiculous now! Our Constitution is in English. All government documents are in English. Congress holds their sessions in English. Geezus!
So you have never heard of the melting pot? You know damned well you have but it's no longer encouraged anymore but division and balkinization instead aka a salad bowl.
Oh I see, so no other ethnic group invites people over to their homes to socialize with just Latinos? What an arrogant remark to make! But then many Latinos I have encountered were arrogant so you didn't disappoint.
As for your Amerindian remarks I don't know WTH you are talking about and once again everyone born here from legal immigrants or citizens parents is a native American.
I have never been near anyone speaking a foreign language in my presence where I told them to shut up so stick it where the sun don't shine! I am however, entitled to my opinion though if they know English and so do those that are with them and are residing in this country they aren't assimilating linguistically out in mainstream America.
Don't like my opinions? Tough, don't read them or reply to me anymore then!
You didn't address the separation of religious groups and Native Americans, which means you have no issues with them. Just Hispanics. Noted.
Amish, Mormons, and Hasids have varying degrees of wanting to interact with mainstream society. Some are closed off and sequestered...others not so much. The Mormons in Beaver, UT were happy to sell me sexually charged “I (heart) Beaver” bumper stickers, and the Amish (Mennonite? Honestly not sure) guy at Kirkwood Farms to whom I delivered pine shards made sure to get his son up on the propane fired forklift unloading my 18-wheeler at his well-made truck dock before literally getting a drafting horse team together and heading across the street to help with his neighbor’s harvest. Gave me a sample of his cheese and milk, and it was freaking great. Oh, and he had an LLC and a website, the latter of which at least is now defunct. Kinda sad.
Anyhow, the Salvadoran side of the family will always try to communicate with you in English, and the kids and grandkids either prefer English or don’t even know much Spanish (the latter is a shame IMHO). OP is not really living in a reality beyond cable TV, sorry to say. English is a lingua Franca, and overall English is probably more widely taught than any other language. I wouldn’t call that a badge of honor, honestly it feels weird. But Spanish isn’t going to be dominant here anytime soon, methinks. The fun part is that even after a decade, my in-laws STILL think I’m a total rube, talking about me in Spanish at get-togethers, even after I’ve busted them dozens of times.
I still get these amazed looks from my mom's friends when I speak Spanish. "For a gringa, she speaks so well!"
What an arrogant remark to make! But then many Latinos I have encountered were arrogant so you didn't disappoint.
This is the second time you've called me arrogant and Hispanics in general. I think you've had a traumatizing personal experience and extrapolated it to millions of others.
Probably never - the kids flip the language by the next generations. The grands don’t speak Spanish. They understand it, but hardly use it out n about.
This ^
There have been people of Latino origin here since at least the 1700s. Anyone think their descendants still speak English?
The former language dies by the 3rd generation. How could it not? English has been installed as the global language in all but name. But it's going to lose in an English-speaking country?
The only non-English speaking groups that persist are the Amish and probably some indigenous groups out West and in Alaska. These are tiny segments of the population which are somewhat isolated from the mainstream. Nobody caters to their language preference and they do not desire it anyway.
There have been people of Latino origin here since at least the 1700s. Anyone think their descendants still speak English?
The former language dies by the 3rd generation. How could it not? English has been installed as the global language in all but name. But it's going to lose in an English-speaking country?
The only non-English speaking groups that persist are the Amish and probably some indigenous groups out West and in Alaska. These are tiny segments of the population which are somewhat isolated from the mainstream. Nobody caters to their language preference and they do not desire it anyway.
True. Spanish and French were probably a lot more widely spoken both in North America as a whole and in what would become the US as we know it today than English was for decades after the English started colonizing.
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I'm done responding to you. Your type is what is wrong with this country that don't want unity but instead embrace divisiveness. Welcome to my ignore list.
