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This post gets to why this issue won't ever be addressed. Businesses don't care about what language one speaks. They will sell to whomever they can. There is a market for Spanish speaking radio and it is being served. And it will continue to be served because there is money to be made there. Same with neighborhood stores. If most of the people in a given neighborhood speak a certain language then the businesses in the community will cater to them.
Where there is money to be made politics takes a back seat. I remember when Wells Fargo stared offering personal accounts to people without social security numbers. It was all about business. They saw an opportunity for more profit and went after it. What some Americans seem to forget is that patriotism usually stops where return on investment begins. And that's always been the case.
and it's almost impossible to find a politician who is not a self-serving businessman himself. even this business of immigration, it's all about how to capitalize votes
I agree with your post except for the bolded parts.
There should be one official language and that language needs to be English.
You see, the flaw in your argument is for example, Spanish is declared the other "official language". We already have Hispanic illegal aliens who can't even read or write in their native language. If Spanish is declared to be the other "official language", they will never bother to learn English.
And what about people who speak, for example, Arabic or Swahili? Should they be required to learn 2 "official languages"? The answer to that is "no".
For centuries, English has been the language that has bonded us all. My grandparents came here from Europe in 1921. One of the first things they did was enroll in night school to learn English. They kept taking classes until they were fluent. Eventually, they moved into a neighborhood that had immigrants who were from different countries. In order for them to know their neighbors, they all needed to have a common language---and that was English. As a result, my grandparents were able to make lifelong friends, with their best friends being a family from Armenia and the other one was from Italy. All these families made sure that when their kids started school, they went already fluently speaking English. That was because not only did their parents teach them their native languages but they also spoke to their kids in English.
I agree with you BOS2IAD - I think English should be declared the official language of the United States and then people can still speak whatever language they prefer. We don't cater to any other group as much as we do to Spanish-speaking immigrants and illegal aliens. What about all of the Asian, African, and European people who immigrated here and took the time to learn English? Are they expected to learn yet another language? They came here to be part of the United States of America, and they did not expect America to be a mini-version of their Native country.
and where is german based? latin. german, italian, french, spanish are all romanic/latin languages. hence they have a lot of words in common that have similar forms.
German is a Germanic language NOT a Romance language.
That's for starters. Lets all get on the same page and learn proper English. And since this is America everyone should also learn Navajo or another native language. After all, if you're in a country where the natives speak Japanese - you'd learn Japanese right. So when the natives speak Navajo...
Am I right or what?
Well, it's the US.
Yah, there are lots of Native People's languages & cultures that are going to the wall - not enough speakers, not enough children learning the language & culture to keep distinct identities going through time. Yes, I agree - We should all learn a Native People's language - you never know when knowledge will be important.
But for a second language in the US - after English - I would rather see Spanish - which is already widespread. & is in wide use in Mexico, Central & South America, with speakers also in Canada, in Spain, the Philippines, & here & there across the World. So I think a Native People's language would be a good candidate for a third language. Preferably one of the languages that's in danger of going extinct, just to boost the numbers & try to keep it going.
and where is german based? latin. german, italian, french, spanish are all romanic/latin languages. hence they have a lot of words in common that have similar forms.
exactly! and they even expect you to bend further to them by having translators instead of them actually trying to proactively engage themselves in the business at hand. for sure, they can understand some english as english is based on latin. at least they can try to learn basic english words, go outside of their ethnic communities and assimilate--absorb the language and culture instead of resisting such by comfortably staying in their little communities.
the US has gotten to a point where political correctness has begun to coddle people, especially the less educated immigrants, even welcoming them with open arms and essentially bending the rules for them without necessarily encouraging them to assimilate and be more productive at a faster rate
Yep, if the point of the exercise is to learn the language - English, in this case, then using a translator (instead of making the effort yourself) isn't going to produce better English in the future. Of course, in a medical emergency, the point of the communication is to get the information across quickly & accurately - then you can justify a translator, or a translator service on the 'phone.
English is not based on Latin - someone tackles this issue further on, I'll see what they have to say. English has a fair overlay of Latin-based vocabulary (from Rome's days in England, through French, through Gaelic [the Roman Catholic Church transcriptions of texts back when], & coinings & loanwords directly from Latin & other Romance languages) - but English is more of a Germanic language.
PC is about aligning action with theory, in the political realm. It's an old Socialist/Communist coinage, & it was meant to be self-referential & a kind of joke. I think immigrants to the US get it - learning good English opens many doors in society & work. Given that most immigrants - legal & not - come here to work, they want to be productive (hold a job) ASAP. The assimilation part is more doubtful - the old model was, that people (Hispanics especially, once upon a time) wanted to work, pile up savings for a specific goal - open a business, whatever - then go home & pursue their dream there.
Even if you designate "English" as official language, how will you force people to communicate in English and English only? We will not put a cop behind every immigrant who will enforce that every word he or she utters will be English and English only. Two Turkish immigrants in Germany will speak with each other in Turkish language even though official language of Germany is German. Two Goa immigrants living in Portugal will speak with each other in Konkani even though official language of Portugal is Portuguese. Two Americans living in Paris will speak in English to each other even though official language of France is French.
Seriously? No one said anything about forcing people to always speak English.
There is nothing wrong with 2 immigrants having a private conversation among themselves using their native language.
that's just between a few people on a casual situation. when there is an official language set, government budget and efforts will focus on implementing programs that will facilitate both native speakers and foreign nationals to communicate official/business matters in the official language. right now, because there is no official language, more efforts/money are poured into accommodating as much foreign language as possible. imagine the amount of translation to do, and hiring accredited translators to do the job properly instead of streamlining the process of getting the foreign nationals to learn the native language.
and then, despite that, you will still get foreign nationals who will complain that they were not being catered to properly since the translation was not done in their own language nuance. that's one of the consequences of being politically correct--everyone will whine of not being catered to even in minute/unofficial inconveniences. then you'll get lawsuits from everyone, including that woman who sued mcdonalds for not putting a warning on their coffee cups for hot coffee, or that family who sued a waitress for putting a hot beverage close to a toddler who apparently thrashed around later and burned himself with that beverage.
Language is a personal transaction, first of all. This view of speech as a commercial transaction is severely inhuman. Governments make efforts to provide education where warranted in a second language, or English as a Second Language instruction, if the numbers of students aren't there. That has to do with providing opportunities, not with PC. Faced with lots of small populations of foreign-language speakers, cities & agencies tend to use 'phone translator services. For the rarer local languages, that's better than nothing.
Other than in that setting, courts, hospital ERs & a handful of others, we don't pour much money nor effort into accommodating foreign languages in the US (& is Spanish really a foreign language here? Just a rhetorical question, no need to answer.) If there's a good-sized foreign language community (see Federal Bilingual Education guidelines), then maybe. & if not, then it's up to the language community itself, maybe with help from the LEAs or churches - which varies from place to place.
lawsuits - McDonalds & coffee cups - Piffle. It you're nakedly for big corporates, then fine. She offered to settle just for actual damages (medical costs, worktime lost?) as I recall. McDonalds refused, & they went to court. Where she trounced them, TMK. Collecting was another Hobson's Choice, but there you are. Tort reform from what I can see, is merely another way for corporates to say Nothing left to lose.
Last edited by southwest88; 11-02-2016 at 12:16 PM..
Reason: fix typo
I'm all for immigrants coming to our country and having a better life but BOTH immigrants legal or illegal should be REQUIRED to take english classes(their plenty of people who can volunteer). This is getting out of hand, i can't even communicate with them and they expect me to what speak spanish?or what ever language?
This is america it's a majority english speaking country if i went to japan i would learn japanese.
I am an European immigrant and it seems like my English is at least as good as yours.
I get quite confused by this. The government will employ and give financial college aid to people who don't speak English. When everything is in English, how do they study or do their jobs? You also have individuals driving that can't read road signs, this is a major safety concern but if you point this out it is considered racist(even if it's your own race). The legal problem of it is the US doesn't have a National Language like other countries. If they tried to install English as the National language, that would be third rail. So no politician will touch it. I have already applied for, and been rejected, from many jobs that require the employee to be bilingual. These were lower paying factor or labor jobs, not political or teaching jobs.
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German is a Germanic language NOT a Romance language.
Knowledge is good
