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Iris

Iris

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Many states have or are discussing English only laws that would make all government business in English only. This would make all official business of the state such as license exams, public school classes, exclusively in English. These laws would also make all legal documents in English only.

Do you agree with this or do you think that this policy is ethnocentric?
 
Alien Allen said:
yup

I fully support this

You want to live here and drive, etc.

Learn the friggin language first
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Yep. If I'm even going to visit a foreign country, I'm going to make the effort to learn enough of the language to get by. At least enough to ask for a beer and a bathroom at minimum.

If I'm going to move permanently, you can be damn sure I'm gonna take the effort to become fluent in that language and not expect them to serve me in English.
 
Because, as was just pointed out, people who come here on vacation or to live should learn to speak my native language. And the only way you get better is to practice, even if it would be more comfortable to speak in your own native language.
 
HottyToddyChick said:
Because, as was just pointed out, people who come here on vacation or to live should learn to speak my native language. And the only way you get better is to practice, even if it would be more comfortable to speak in your own native language.
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And then those that try get ridiculed about not speaking it fluently. I think it takes a lot of courage for someone to uproot leave what they've grown up to know in hopes to come to a country where they have the hopes of success just like your ancestors once did
 
nova said:
Yep. If I'm even going to visit a foreign country, I'm going to make the effort to learn enough of the language to get by. At least enough to ask for a beer and a bathroom at minimum.

If I'm going to move permanently, you can be damn sure I'm gonna take the effort to become fluent in that language and not expect them to serve me in English.
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:homo:
 
HottyToddyChick said:
This is America. I shouldn't have to push 1 to continue in English.
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Wyndex said:
How do you figure? It'd be poor customer service to not accommodate for 33% of your clients wouldnt you think?
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Two issues here

1) I agree with Dex on this.. How hard is it to press 1 or just let it go automatically thru..

2) How many of our own companies and institutions farm our the call in centres to India, Malaysia or the Philippines ( to name a few ) due to labor costs ?
 
Wyndex said:
And then those that try get ridiculed about not speaking it fluently. I think it takes a lot of courage for someone to uproot leave what they've grown up to know in hopes to come to a country where they have the hopes of success just like your ancestors once did
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I have personally never witnessed someone getting picked on for lack of fluency, but I am going to have to take your word on it.

It just rubs me wrong to have to bend over backward for someone else who wants to change the system. I've heard, and never having been can't claim how true it is, but if you visit France and speak to them in English, they'll pretty much ignore you. If you at least try to speak French, they'll start speaking English (if they can) and help you.
 
HottyToddyChick said:
I have personally never witnessed someone getting picked on for lack of fluency, but I am going to have to take your word on it.

It just rubs me wrong to have to bend over backward for someone else who wants to change the system. I've heard, and never having been can't claim how true it is, but if you visit France and speak to them in English, they'll pretty much ignore you. If you at least try to speak French, they'll start speaking English (if they can) and help you.
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I've never met a foreign person in the US not try to start the conversation in English enough to the point across that its not their native language.
 
Being a part of a minority linguistic group myself, I shouldn't say this, but I agree. I've heard a lot of stories about foreigners who move to USA, and don't bother learning English. And besides, USA don't have an official language, so there isn't any pressure from a legal point of view to include several languages..
 
Enough English speaking Americans already lack reading comprehension, forcing all legal documents to not be translated to foreign languages to encourage comprehending of said legal document is just asking for more problems.

Just because you take the time to learn the language enough to visit the country, you arent going to sign any documents unless its translated for you are you?
 
Wyndex said:
Just because you take the time to learn the language enough to visit the country, you arent going to sign any documents unless its translated for you are you?
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Again, if I'm going to move permanently, I'm going to become fluent in the language. If you want to move to another country permanently, then a big step in the process is learning the predominant language.

In fact, one might call a person who moves, doesn't learn the language, and expects to be spoken to and provided with documents in their native language at the expense of their new country, a douchebag....
 
nova said:
Again, if I'm going to move permanently, I'm going to become fluent in the language. If you want to move to another country permanently, then a big step in the process is learning the predominant language.

In fact, one might call a person who moves, doesn't learn the language, and expects to be spoken to and provided with documents in their native language at the expense of their new country, a douchebag....
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Thats fine, I call narrow minded Americans douchebags. So i guess its just how you look at it.
I dont believe in hindering human kind. Becoming fluent in a language is not simple for everybody and the US has never made our country look like an exclusive club, its citizens seem to think it is though
 
I just want to say that it's not that easy to learn a language. It can take years and the older you are, studies show the harder it is to learn a new language. So it's not as easy as some of you are making it out to be. I would add more to my post but I have to leave for work soon, so when I get home I will add more.
 
Wyndex said:
And then those that try get ridiculed about not speaking it fluently. I think it takes a lot of courage for someone to uproot leave what they've grown up to know in hopes to come to a country where they have the hopes of success just like your ancestors once did
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Who does that?


I am linguist. And when it comes to a unified language system in a given country, it behooves you to have one language (officially).

Otherwise, you open yourself up to the risk of diglossia, which in our case would result in distinct "regional dialects" which may be indistinguishable from one another. Engrish, Spanglish etc. Moreover, it relegates "proper English" to the realm of the universities, creating a class stigma for those who do not speak it.

For example, my language field is Semitic languages, specifically Arabic and its dialects. Due to a number of factors: colonialism, nationalism, a lack of interstate commerce, and a laissez faire policy on a unified language... "Arabic" does not exist. There are 28 official dialects, many completely indistinguishable from one another. And on top of that, there is a written language (which once upon a time was Arabic, or close to it), that only university graduates speak. This makes Arabic by far the hardest language to master (though Biblical Hebrew has the highest attrition rate lol).


The goal of language is to create shared meaning. No one language is better than another, but if you intend to get your meaning across, you'll have greater success communicating in such a way that you're understood by the most people... That's French in France, Spanish in Argentina, and English in the U.S.
 
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imayoda said:
Who does that?


I am linguist. And when it comes to a unified language system in a given country, it behooves you to have one language (officially).

Otherwise, you open yourself up to the risk of diglossia, which in our case would result in distinct "regional dialects" which may be indistinguishable from one another. Engrish, Spanglish etc. Moreover, it relegates "proper English" to the realm of the universities, creating a class stigma for those who do not speak it.

For example, my language field is Semetic languages, specifically Arabic and its dialects. Due to a number of factors: colonialism, nationalism, a lack of interstate commerce, and a laissez faire policy on a unified language... "Arabic" does not exist. There are 28 official dialects, many completely indistinguishable from one another. And on top of that, there is a written language (which once upon a time was Arabic, or close to it), that only university graduates speak.


The goal of language is to create shared meaning. No one language is better than another, but if you intend to get your meaning across, you'll have greater success communicating in such a way that you're understood by the most people... That's French in France, Spanish in Argentina, and English in the U.S.
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You're going to have a lot of people agreeing with you and declaring me wrong. But I do not disagree with you that we have an official language.
What the OP is stating is that the US is taking away the accommodations made for those who speak a different language or comprehending their native language better away from them.
That I dont agree with. and not personal reasons either, just dont see how we can offer such a convenience to the public and then take it away for not reasonable reason other than "This is AMERICA"
 
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