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“Why Aren’t You Speaking English?”

theplaydrive said:
"Smack down" is in the eye of the beholder. All I saw was a neanderthal committee member interrupting some guy for doing something that it isn't his job to question or stop.
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Yes, a committee member, so yes it was his job to interrupt him.
 
American said:
Yes, a committee member, so yes it was his job to interrupt him.
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It's not his job to tell a guy to stop speaking in language that the government has not deemed inappropriate to speak in a public setting.
 
theplaydrive said:
It's not his job to tell a guy to stop speaking in language that the government has not deemed inappropriate to speak in a public setting.
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Um, do you know that for a fact? Let's see his job duties.....But, this is America. the language of the country is English. Learn it.


j-mac
 
j-mac said:
Um, do you know that for a fact? Let's see his job duties.....But, this is America. the language of the country is English. Learn it.

j-mac
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Yeah, it is a fact. Neither the US nor Texas has an official language, so like I said, it's not his job to tell people what language to speak.
 
theplaydrive said:
Yeah, it is a fact. Neither the US nor Texas has an official language, so like I said, it's not his job to tell people what language to speak.
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Coulda sworn he has a right to speak the language he sees fit, and everybody else has the right to handle it as they see fit.
 
theplaydrive said:
It's not his job to tell a guy to stop speaking in language that the government has not deemed inappropriate to speak in a public setting.
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Are you aware that is illegal to speak any language other than English in many places in america?
 
theplaydrive said:
well according to you speaking in German would be disrespectful, so...
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as I said, it has to work both ways. you can't piss yourself and cry about his right to speak spanish and then say it's inappropriate for them to speak to him in german.

so, yes, it would be disrespectful for them to speak to him in german...just as it was disrespectful for him to speak to them in spanish. especially since he speaks english
 
OscarB63 said:
as I said, it has to work both ways. you can't piss yourself and cry about his right to speak spanish and then say it's inappropriate for them to speak to him in german.

so, yes, it would be disrespectful for them to speak to him in german...just as it was disrespectful for him to speak to them in spanish. especially since he speaks english
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i don't think it's inappropriate for them to speak German, it just think it's weird and stupid since German isn't a particularly popular language. i wouldn't be offended by it though.
 
mac said:
Are you aware that is illegal to speak any language other than English in many places in america?
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1. Where?
2. Is is illegal to speak Spanish in the place we're talking about?
 
mac said:
Are you aware that is illegal to speak any language other than English in many places in america?
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I did not know that! Can I get more information? I've never heard that before.
 
I give this man a standing ovation. It annoys me when I have to talk with a parent at school who has been in the country for years, but cannot speak English. We have to go through a translator and the meeting is always disjointed and awkward. If you move to a country where the main language is something other than your native tongue, you should learn it and use it out of respect for the citizens of the country.
 
BDBoop said:
I did not know that! Can I get more information? I've never heard that before.
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I think it's BS - I'm pretty sure language discrimination is illegal in fact. Many employers have been sued over it.
 
theplaydrive said:
Yeah, it is a fact. Neither the US nor Texas has an official language, so like I said, it's not his job to tell people what language to speak.
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As I heard it, he didn't tell him what language to speak. He simply asked him why he wasn't speaking English since he's been in the country over 20 years and should know it very well by now.
 
Mellie said:
As I heard it, he didn't tell him what language to speak. He simply asked him why he wasn't speaking English since he's been in the country over 20 years and should know it very well by now.
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"It is insulting to us," Sen. Harris fired back. "It is very insulting. And if he knows English, he needs to be speaking in English."

Read more: “Why Aren’t You Speaking English?” | Houston News - KTRH NewsRadio 740 Houston News, Weather, Traffic
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Nonetheless, it isn't his job to be questioning others' language choices either.
 
theplaydrive said:
Nonetheless, it isn't his job to be questioning others' language choices either.
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it's a perfectly reasonable question.


all the guy would've had to say is "I feel more comfortable speaking spanish", if that was the case.
 
OscarB63 said:
it's a perfectly reasonable question.


all the guy would've had to say is "I feel more comfortable speaking spanish", if that was the case.
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That's exactly what he said. And again, he did not only question, he told him what to speak.
 
For starters, it's illegal to speak anything other than English aboard a united states ship, and on military reservations/bases. It's illegal in many state buildings as well.

Though none of this may be applicable in this case, it illustrates that lack of an official language, and free speech, doesn't necessarily make a defense for attempting to speak in spanish during a us govt proceeding.
 
theplaydrive said:
That's exactly what he said. And again, he did not only question, he told him what to speak.
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that's not exactly what he said, unless you heard different audio than I did. and he told him what he "should" be speaking. there is a difference.
 
theplaydrive said:
I think it's BS - I'm pretty sure language discrimination is illegal in fact. Many employers have been sued over it.
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They have, but in the cases where it's been shown that speaking in English was a hiring requirement, or where English is required for customer service or safety...they usually win.

For the record, I have two "first" languages...English and Spanish, and I agree that every nation should have an official language. In my case, it doesn't matter which, but English has been the de facto "official" language, so should remain so in my opinion. Unity of language is an important thing, and requiring one does not make other languages any less legal or respected.
 
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OscarB63 said:
that's not exactly what he said, unless you heard different audio than I did. and he told him what he "should" be speaking. there is a difference.
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this is just semantics. our arguments remain the same. i'm not about to argue over petty bs like word choice.
 
mac said:
They have, but in the cases where it's been shown that speaking in English was a hiring requirement, or where English is required for customer service or safety...they usually win.

For the record, I have two "first" languages...English and Spanish, and I agree that every nation should have an official language. In my case, it doesn't matter which, but English has been the de facto "official" language, so should remain so in my opinion. Unity of language is an important thing, and requiring one does not make other languages any less legal or respected.
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Most second generation people learn English anyway for practicality so making English the official language is only a symbolic measure - that symbol elevates English over other languages and I'm not interested in that. I can see why people would want it, but I just don't like the way it represents the US.

That said, I haven't found any documentation on it being illegal to speak anything other than English on US ships or military bases or in any federal buildings. The only thing I've seen close to that is the military's English proficiency requirement. I'm pretty sure language discrimination is not allowed.
 
theplaydrive said:
Most second generation people learn English anyway for practicality so making English the official language is only a symbolic measure - that symbol elevates English over other languages and I'm not interested in that. I can see why people would want it, but I just don't like the way it represents the US.
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I find it ridiculous that it would make the US seam anything other than efficient.

That said, I haven't found any documentation on it being illegal to speak anything other than English on US ships or military bases or in any federal buildings. The only thing I've seen close to that is the military's English proficiency requirement. I'm pretty sure language discrimination is not allowed.
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It seams the requirement has been relaxed a bit but is still there.

http://doni.daps.dla.mil/Directives/05000%20General%20Management%20Security%20and%20Safety%20Services/05-300%20Manpower%20Personnel%20Support/5354.1F.pdf
 
mac said:
I find it ridiculous that it would make the US seam anything other than efficient.
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An official language is symbolic. It wouldn't make much efficient. Like I said, most 2nd generation people know English. I can't imagine an official language would change anything significantly.

It seams the requirement has been relaxed a bit but is still there.

http://doni.daps.dla.mil/Directives/05000%20General%20Management%20Security%20and%20Safety%20Services/05-300%20Manpower%20Personnel%20Support/5354.1F.pdf
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Thanks. It makes sense that English should be required in these circumstances since it's a safety issue.
 
theplaydrive said:
An official language is symbolic. It wouldn't make much efficient. Like I said, most 2nd generation people know English. I can't imagine an official language would change anything significantly.
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It's not symbolic....it would require that all govt and otherwise official business be done in one language. Which, by the way, would also make this thread moot.
 
mac said:
It's not symbolic....it would require that all govt and otherwise official business be done in one language. Which, by the way, would also make this thread moot.
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It's more symbolic than anything since making all government business in English wouldn't significantly affect the population. The same patterns of learning English would exist in the United States. It would not significantly affect any aspect of the United States.

edit: i also don't know that it would make this thread moot since it was ultimately conducted it English
 
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