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“Why Aren’t You Speaking English?”

BDBoop said:
I can't speak for him, but I would be insulted that he tried to use the translator situation to advance an agenda. I'd also be insulted that he wasted my time. How much longer would that hearing be, simply by virtue of an English-capable gentleman choosing to go the translator route?
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And I wouldn't be insulted, at all. I don't know how much longer it would be. For all you know, it might have been longer.
 
OscarB63 said:
actually, they have been.
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can't speak for those people. I just think getting angry over this is making a mountain out of a molehill, but i don't question the senator's RIGHT to be angry.

Reposted once again:

StillBallin75 said:
Don't understand what there is to BRAVO about. Is it kinda sad that he failed to learn English in his 23 years here? Hell yeah. Does it warrant petty outrage on the part of the Senator? No. You just applauded an individual for getting a stick up in his ass about nothing that was particularly significant. This kind of faux anger makes about as much sense as getting mad at Grandma for not being able to type or use a computer.
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MistressNomad said:
It's like saying that because no one has bothered to ban riding camels down the highway that someone from Saudi Arabia should be allowed to hold up traffic by riding their camel down 494.
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I want to like that more than once.

What about 694? ;)
 
theplaydrive said:
Miami and a crap ton of other places in the United States disagree. Spanish first, English second. Moreover, the fact that businesses all have a press #2 for Spanish and that students are being encouraged to learn Spanish before all other languages shows you where Spanish is in our country.
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Do you speak Spanish?
 
theplaydrive said:
I've already said that it's more practical to speak English - you have yet to explain why it's rude or insulting to speak Spanish, an American language, in your OWN country to your OWN government with a translator.
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Because he DOES speak their language. He does. The man spoke easily understood English. He made a choice to show up at a hearing where the people he spoke to speak English, bearing a translator and speaking Spanish.
 
OscarB63 said:
it boils down to this:

If you are addressing an assembly and you speak their language, it is rude NOT to speak their language to them.
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Exactly. Exactly, exactly, exactly; exactly.
 
BDBoop said:
Because he DOES speak their language. He does. The man spoke easily understood English. He made a choice to show up at a hearing where the people he spoke to speak English, bearing a translator and speaking Spanish.
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Right and he felt more comfortable speaking Spanish because it's his first language. I fail to see how this is offensive except to those who chose to be offended by someone being more comfortable speaking their native tongue in an important moment.
 
Sgt Meowenstein said:
I've read all of the posts up this point. I can't take anymore. Playdrive is correct. There is no official language in the USA. If the guy wanted to speak Spanish, so be it. This is still a free country, right? Calling someone a dumbass just because they spoke Spanish at a senate hearing just makes you look like a dumbass. Congrats, you're a typical closed-minded con.
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Great. Now I'm a conservative.

/sulk
 
For me, it boils down to how effectively he felt he could communicate his views/opinions/testimony across. If he can speak English, but it sucks, it's entirely reasonable to want a translator both for his own sake and for the audience's sake. I disagree that he spoke Spanish in order to make some sort of political statement, because if that were the case, it really doesn't help him or his cause. People who feel offended by this do so because they choose to be offended.
 
BDBoop said:
Good article, a few good points made that shifted my stance a bit.

Speak English, not Spanish, demands Texas lawmaker | Reuters
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And here is what the activist said:
That's our culture," Martinez said. "Spanish was here first. Many of us learned English later. They can never take away our culture. They can never take away our heritage."
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He does not want to be an American. He wants to be a Mexican in the reconquest of Texas. Well, if it a war he wants...where is the one term president Obama? Let's just rename the country Libya...
 
This thread is so ridiculous I had to post.

It's been too well established that the man could speak English, can we cut the "If they want to function in this country...." BS? Obviously he's functioning here if he's testifying to representatives as an immigrant rights activist - an authority - nimwad. They didn't pull him off the street.

It's been too well established that English is not the official language of the USA; it's also been too well established that most people in this country speak English. Neither of these points are going anywhere.

Moreover, I'm seeing all this rage about how he was a dumbass trying to make a "statement" (as I've seen it quoted). I'm mostly seeing this by conservatives ignoring the fact that the man is speaking passionately about family values. It's probably not what he intended, but I think his "statement" works, albeit differently than he intended, because I get to see how imbecilic Americans can be; getting outraged about which language The Other American spoke his words in and ignoring the fact they whole heartedly agree with the message.

Why am I having to see so many huff and puff? Shouldn't the representative be acquainted with Spanish considering a significant part of the populace he represents speaks the language? It's not like Spanish speakers just got here people, acquaint yourself with the damn language. It's been a significant part of THIS LAND for hundreds of years.

The man should ask for his tax dollars back if his representative can't communicate with the people in his district or state.

No one's time is so precious, ESPECIALLY ON THIS WEBSITE, that they should have the gall to be insulted by the medium of this message.
 
"I think the question you have to ask is, do you have a civic duty to learn English if you want to live in this country?" said Tim Schultz, Director of Government Affairs for US English, a group working to make English the country's official language. "This man had lived in this country for more than 22 years, and I think most people would think that is a reasonable request."
 
Why are you even posting this? Do you honestly not believe the man knew how to speak English?
 
MoleMan said:
Why are you even posting this? Do you honestly not believe the man knew how to speak English?
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obviously haven't been paying attention have we? I've been saying all along the guy speaks english and just chose not to. it is your side that's been whining "maybe he can't speak english well"
 
Well then, according to your selection from the article the man fulfilled his civic duty to learn English. That is, if you believe it's his civic duty. I don't know how that selection applies to this situation. Probably due to my short attention span, not the fact you're not making a point.

I'm not speaking for "my side", just me.
 
Wow - apparently people have amnesia and forget how difficult it is to communicate with someone who DOES know english - but speaks with such a heavy accent they *might as well* be speaking Greek.

So - instead of people being distracted like my dogs in the yard when I pretend to throw the stick - why don't they analyze and respond to the actuall PURPUSE of his testimony and the entire situation altogether.

If people WANT everyone to HAVE to learn English then maybe they should revisit the idea of making it our official language, first.

Until that happens (haha) everyone can just find some maturity that I know is in there - somwhere.
 
So let me get this straight.

The guy speaks both Spanish and English, but Spanish is his first language. He was giving testimony before a legislative body for the first time in his life, he was probably nervous as hell. He opted to give his testimony in his first language and have a professional translate for him.

How is that, in any way shape or form, insulting? What cesspool was this Texas Senator born in that he thought he had the high ground with which to upbraid Mr. Aguirre? What wolves raised him that he can claim insult while interrupting someone else?

This asshole is yet another in a long list of reasons why authority figures in this country, elected officials in particular, embarrass the ever-loving **** out of me.
 
The previous three posts have made me feel a little better about this thread.
 
Hatuey said:
This is ridiculous. Multilingualism is not dependent upon polyglots. China is a multilingual country. A sizeable percentage of them aren't polyglots. The same goes for Canada, Belgium and at least half a dozen African countries.
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Actually, in China the vast majority of people today (especially those under 50) speak Mandarin Chinese as this is pushed pretty hard by the government. Many in non-Mandarin speaking areas who are at least 40 speak their local language in addition to Mandarin. Only those over 50 are likely to speak their own local language without speaking any Mandarin (and this is with varying degrees depending on what part of the country you are in with areas in more prosperous areas more likely to have larger Mandarin-speaking populations).

In Africa, most educated people speak at least two languages -- their local tribal language in addition to the colonial linguya-franca (usually English or French, but in some cases Spanish or Portuguese).

China promotes Mandarin nation-wide to build up the ability to communicate nationally and to promote the notion of a single national identity. This has actually been done for more than 2000 years when the Chinese state promoted a single writing system for all of the languages spoken in the empire. In Africa, tribalism is still a problem as those who are not educated do not speak the national lingua franca. There is still serious problems between tribal groups in many African countries, largely because they do NOT have a common identity.
 
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