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“Why Aren’t You Speaking English?”

theplaydrive said:
I disagree because it's your country and you can speak whatever you feel comfortable speaking. This argument only works if the United States belongs to English speaking people, but it doesn't as evidenced by the fact that 1) No official language. 2) A lot of Spanish speaking Americans here.

I honestly cannot see myself being offended if I were a Senator in that room which is why the "rudeness" of it all is not making sense to me.
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If you speak the common language in a room and you choose to speak a language most in the room do not understand, it is rude. If I am in a room with Mandarin speakers, do you think I speak English around them? Rediculous...
 
MistressNomad said:
Well, some European countries are legitimately multi-lingual. You drive from one of of the Belgium to the other, and the signs change from French to German. They've been that way for ages.

But that is not the case in America.

Not sure what this has to do with "our advantages" though.
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For the record, only a very tiny portion of Belgium speaks German.
 
ludahai said:
If you speak the common language in a room and you choose to speak a language most in the room do not understand, it is rude. If I am in a room with Mandarin speakers, do you think I speak English around them? Rediculous...
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Right, which is why you would have a Mandarin translator like the the guy had an English translator.
 
Redress said:
The two are not mutually exclusive. A larger portion of the country now speaks spanish that a few years ago. That is catching up.
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Oh, come on. That is like saying the Pats have a 50-7 lead but the Lions score a field goal to make it 50-10... the Lions are catching up...
 
Redress said:
No, the guy has been in the country 23 years. Unsubtle difference.
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And as he has been in the U.S., he should be able to communicate in English. I have lived in Taiwan for nine years and I can communicate pretty effectively in Chinese (though add two years in residence in China as well). 23 years vs. 11 years... he should be able to commuicate effectively in English.
 
OscarB63 said:
"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."
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That's all well and good, but reasonable request =/= civic duty.
 
ludahai said:
If you speak the common language in a room and you choose to speak a language most in the room do not understand, it is rude. If I am in a room with Mandarin speakers, do you think I speak English around them? Rediculous...
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theplaydrive said:
Right, which is why you would have a Mandarin translator like the the guy had an English translator.
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The bolded bit applies, AND it is what most of us are reacting to.
 
theplaydrive said:
The senator is a douche. We don't have an official language in the United States, he can speak in whatever language he wants and he feels more comfortable speaking in Spanish, then whatever. People need to stop getting "insulted" when others speak another language.
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I agree about the insulted part, but English is the de facto official language of the us. We have enough misunderstandings in politics driving us apart....we don't need another one. We need to embrace diversity, but we also need a common language to unite diverse groups.
 
ludahai said:
If you speak the common language in a room and you choose to speak a language most in the room do not understand, it is rude. If I am in a room with Mandarin speakers, do you think I speak English around them? Rediculous...
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That's nice, but only if you can speak Mandarin reasonably well, which I believe you can. That's likely not the case for Mr. Aguirre, regardless of whether people want to blame him for his lack of proficiency or not.
 
mac said:
I agree about the insulted part, but English is the de facto official language of the us. We have enough misunderstandings in politics driving us apart....we don't need another one. We need to embrace diversity, but we also need a common language to unite diverse groups.
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Yes, this is an example of what I call a healthy balance between multiculturalism and assimilation.
 
BDBoop said:
The bolded bit applies, AND it is what most of us are reacting to.
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No. It's rude to speak a different language specifically for the purpose of excluding someone else. It's not rude to speak a different language and use a translator when you're in a situation where you're nervous or feeling pressured or want to make sure you get it right the first time.

It's also absurd to accuse someone of being rude while you yourself are being rude, as that Senator did.
 
StillBallin75 said:
That's nice, but only if you can speak Mandarin reasonably well, which I believe you can. That's likely not the case for Mr. Aguirre, regardless of whether people want to blame him for his lack of proficiency or not.
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23 years and he can't speak English reasonably well? Why should lawmakers take him seriously if that is the case?
 
TacticalEvilDan said:
No. It's rude to speak a different language specifically for the purpose of excluding someone else. It's not rude to speak a different language and use a translator when you're in a situation where you're nervous or feeling pressured or want to make sure you get it right the first time.

It's also absurd to accuse someone of being rude while you yourself are being rude, as that Senator did.
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I don't believe the Senator was being rude. I believe he was asking a very legitimate question. If you think THAT was rude, you have never observed controversial Senate hearings before. That was positively sedate compared to some of the things I saw and heard in Washington.
 
ludahai said:
23 years and he can't speak English reasonably well? Why should lawmakers take him seriously if that is the case?
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I don't believe that whether or not a person speaks English well should have a bearing on the perceived importance or relevance of their testimony. Just sayin'. :shrug:
 
At the request of the local Israel consulate, I have served as a Hebrew/English translator for US and Israeli officials. The main challenge encompasses conveying the correct nuance.

I have a difficult time believing that anyone who has lived in a country for 23 years lacks the lingual capacity/dexterity to convey the requisite nuance.
 
...Unless of course the "victim" turns the tables, a la George Galloway, and wipes the floor with his interrogators.
 
theplaydrive said:
He chose to have an interpreter because he felt more comfortable speaking Spanish, his first language. The US doesn't have an official language making Spanish a legitimate way to communicate.


I'm not questioning his rights.
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We don't need an official language, get off it. Your **** is getting old and tired.
 
mac said:
I agree about the insulted part, but English is the de facto official language of the us. We have enough misunderstandings in politics driving us apart....we don't need another one. We need to embrace diversity, but we also need a common language to unite diverse groups.
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I agree which is why I don't see a problem since he had a translator. This was an important event, he was probably nervous and he felt more comfortable speaking his first language. As long as someone was speaking English, I don't have a problem.
 
BDBoop said:
The bolded bit applies, AND it is what most of us are reacting to.
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Yeah and I know and that doesn't change the fact that Spanish is his first language and he was at an important event where he wanted to get his point across and he felt more comfortable speaking in his native tongue. Being insulted by someone who feels more comfortable speaking in a certain language who has provided a translator is a choice.
 
Tashah said:
I have a difficult time believing that anyone who has lived in a country for 23 years lacks the lingual capacity/dexterity to convey the requisite nuance.
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I don't. There are plenty of places in the United States where you don't have to speak much English and all you have to use is Spanish or another language to communicate. If he lived in one of those places, it's relatively easy to see how Spanish would be more comfortable for him.
 
theplaydrive said:
Yeah and I know and that doesn't change the fact that Spanish is his first language and he was at an important event where he wanted to get his point across and he felt more comfortable speaking in his native tongue. Being insulted by someone who feels more comfortable speaking in a certain language who has provided a translator is a choice.
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Quite frankly, the point would be better made in English with a continuation of thought rather than having it broken up every 10-15 seconds because an interpretor has to repeat what was said in English. Very distracting and annoying.
 
Tashah said:
At the request of the local Israel consulate, I have served as a Hebrew/English translator for US and Israeli officials. The main challenge encompasses conveying the correct nuance.

I have a difficult time believing that anyone who has lived in a country for 23 years lacks the lingual capacity/dexterity to convey the requisite nuance.
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I have no problem believing it. I was an expat brat most of my childhood, my whole teens and part of my adulthood. I've seen people not even bother to learn the local language no matter hjow long they'd been in the country. My mother has many Swiss, German and Dutch neighbors in Spain who have been living there for 10 to 15 years who don't speak a word of Spanish. I know countless Americans and British expats who live here in Switzerland and speak none of the local languages. Again many of them have been here over 10 years.

The thing is, if people can get by without learning the language and can function reasonably well without it, they simply won't learn it. :shrug:
 
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