Cyrylek
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2013
- Messages
- 3,467
- Reaction score
- 1,715
- Location
- Boston
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Libertarian - Right
Racist has nothing to do with it. We dumb Polacks are expected to speak English in America, however hard it may be for us
It depends on what you mean by "ask" and "public places". Should there be laws and regulations banning other languages from streets, buses and concert halls? Of course not. And that's not what we are discussing, I'm sure.
Should English be the sole lingua franca of administrative transactions? I would say "yes", but details ought to be left to the discretion of local authorities: clearly, everyone benefits from epidemiologial or other public safety information being distributed in as many languages as practical.
If you mean workplaces, it depends. Naturally, I cannot hire someone with whom I cannot communicate effectively. This is hardly "racism" or discrimination. When two people discuss something work-related in Mandarin or Hindi in the privacy (so to speak) of their cubicle - that's fine, especially if it allows them to think more clearly about the problem they are solving. But to speak anything but English in a room full of people who do not understand Mandarin or Hindi - that's just RUDE.
It depends on what you mean by "ask" and "public places". Should there be laws and regulations banning other languages from streets, buses and concert halls? Of course not. And that's not what we are discussing, I'm sure.
Should English be the sole lingua franca of administrative transactions? I would say "yes", but details ought to be left to the discretion of local authorities: clearly, everyone benefits from epidemiologial or other public safety information being distributed in as many languages as practical.
If you mean workplaces, it depends. Naturally, I cannot hire someone with whom I cannot communicate effectively. This is hardly "racism" or discrimination. When two people discuss something work-related in Mandarin or Hindi in the privacy (so to speak) of their cubicle - that's fine, especially if it allows them to think more clearly about the problem they are solving. But to speak anything but English in a room full of people who do not understand Mandarin or Hindi - that's just RUDE.