• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

“Why Aren’t You Speaking English?”

That would mean that you would have to see that every citizen does speak, read, and write in the official language. You might find that a challenge as education in those skills would have to be provide free of charge for all of those people.

If they were born in the country, more than likely, they can speak english. If they are immigrating, make it a requirement. For the rest of the population, free classes at the local tech college, but its not a big deal as that generation will eventually die off and as long as we catch all of the inputs, we are good.
 
1. He can speak English, he chose not to because he didn't feel comfortable.
2. The highlighted part is my main point - the outrage and applauding just seems so stupid to me.

It feels uncomfortable because it is mindless populism in action. The only thing that should have mattered is whether the guy could make his points. But when you cannot argue against points, you take cheap shots that will be popular with the weak minded.
 
I just thought of another good reason to support a national language. Having different groups speaking different languages with no primary motivation to learn whatever the unified language of the country is promotes regionalism or the community over the country as a whole, making our population even more factional (which even further complicates politics)

Although I personally am not opposed to the idea of a national language, I think this reasoning would make more sense if we were talking about other countries (certain countries in Europe, a significant number of countries in Africa, and some Asian countries). Not so much the US when we're talking about regionalism on a national scale.
 
Last edited:
Not that rude. He was speaking at an important event and his first language is Spanish - he wanted to get his point across as well as possible.

then maybe he should have spoken the language that most of his audience does....instead of relying on a translator ;)
 
which he did NOT need.....since he speaks english. hence the rude bit.

Does he speak english as well as spanish? If not, he may have chosen the language he is most comfortable in to ensure he got his point across in something as important as Senate testimony.
 
Why didn't he just translate his Spanish to English after he said it in Spanish? Why hire a translator? Dumbass.. :)


Tim-
 
Although I personally am not opposed to the idea of a national language, I think this reasoning would make sense if we were talking about other countries (certain countries in Europe, a significant number of countries in Africa, and some Asian countries). Not so much the US when we're talking about regionalism on a national scale.
I used to be all "English needs to be our official language, this is America", especially after a time I was in a local mall and they made announcements only in Spanish and I was pissed, but I've grown to like the idea of living in place where all languages are American and welcome and there isn't any "official" language. While I do think learning English is pretty essential to surviving here, I think people should be able to speak what makes them feel comfortable in front of their supposedly non-biased government.
 
Texas is where this situation, the topic of this thread occurred - so your point about "official language" has no bearing on the specific situation I'm talking about. What the hell indeed.

Again, if you look back at our conversation and actually read it this time, you'll realize the Florida comment was a response to a strawman comment you made about the US in general.

Also, it's too bad you think I'm being dishonest, that's not my intention at all.

Then why did you bring up Florida and then act like I was talking about Florida out of left field and apply something from an entirely different state to what was being said about Florida? You're all over the place, and you're either being dishonest or you have a 30-second memory. I'm inclined to think you're just beind dishonest since you seem to have selective memory.
 
Last edited:
Although I personally am not opposed to the idea of a national language, I think this reasoning would make sense if we were talking about other countries (certain countries in Europe, a significant number of countries in Africa, and some Asian countries). Not so much the US when we're talking about regionalism on a national scale.

We have regionalism under the surface. People in New Orleans are very different than people in Boston, etc. Some of this, of course, is natural as there are different resource and environmental considerations. However, that regionalism is also minimized because we have national communication infrastructure, such as cable TV or clear channel owned radio stations, which serves to harmonize society a bit. If we had a large population, such as in south florida that did not understand english or had a significant population that did not, creating a subculture, communication becomes difficult and the exchange of cultural ideas gets cut off. Meaning that the cultures will drift further apart, creating political problems that we don't need in this nation right now.

I don't necessarily want my culture to prevail, but I do want the exchange of ideas to speed up and our national conversation to be faster, increasing the resolution of so many of our political issues that are at the root culture differences. That way we can actually better focus on progressing the country and solving real problems.

I would be just as happy if we had robotic (or fish based) translators. I don't care how, but speaking with our peers is very important.

I guess an analogy is that I would prefer not there to be black or white people, but for everyone to be a nice shade of (light or dark, I don't care) tan or whatever the average color would be for the whole human race. So we can get over that issue and focus on issues of importance.
 
Last edited:
IMO There never was a deliberate decision against making English the official language of the United States. With English as the language of the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and the vast majority of the population, a declaration of English as our official language may have seemed superfluous. Quite simply, it may not have occurred to them to do so.

Ah, so we can assume what the founding fathers meant, and interpret the constitution?
 
It feels uncomfortable because it is mindless populism in action. The only thing that should have mattered is whether the guy could make his points. But when you cannot argue against points, you take cheap shots that will be popular with the weak minded.

I want a refund of my tax $$$$ for the time he wasted by making the senate panel (whom we pay) sit and listen to his translator.
 
That has nothing to do with how many of them are official. It has to do with education - Europe values being culturally literate and teaches their students accordingly. They should. But it has nothing to do with necessity or the law.
Laws will not help this situation. People will more and more have to deal with others that do not speak English and live with it. I personally see no problem with people speaking any language they want. People calling for a unified language at this point in time are fighting a losing battle.
 
then maybe he should have spoken the language that most of his audience does....instead of relying on a translator ;)

Getting one's point across involves communicating as effectively as possible. If he could speak English, but it sucked, or if he had a thick accent, or if he spoke English slowly or haltingly, then in practical terms it makes a hell of a lot more sense to speak through a translator.
 
Does he speak english as well as spanish? If not, he may have chosen the language he is most comfortable in to ensure he got his point across in something as important as Senate testimony.

yes, the guy has been speaking english for 23 years. that's why it is so stupid.
 
then maybe he should have spoken the language that most of his audience does....instead of relying on a translator ;)
My point is that he may have not felt that he could communicate his ideas as well as a translator. I would certainly do better with a French translator than speaking French myself in France.
 
Why didn't he just translate his Spanish to English after he said it in Spanish? Why hire a translator? Dumbass.. :)


Tim-

pointless drama and theatrics. as you said.... a dumbass
 
I want a refund of my tax $$$$ for the time he wasted by making the senate panel (whom we pay) sit and listen to his translator.

This has to be the whiniest, stupidest thing posted today.
 
Hispanic Americans: Census Facts — Infoplease.com

According to that link Since the 1990's the Spanish speaking population has more than doubled. If more people are speaking Spanish and there is more accommodation for that, people are less likely to learn English. If there was no need to do so why would you? They can function in the neighborhoods easily. When you consider Texas, California, and Arizona which are nearing the 50% mark how much English do the Hispanics have to know. Some schools teach in Spanish. The language will become more prevalent over time. I don't think it will pass English any time soon but it is something that English speaking Americans will have to come to terms with.

I never said they don't speak Spanish. I just said they also speak English. Which means this is a non-issue, in the same way that everyone in my grandmother's town can still speak Italian but they also speak English is a non-issue.
 
My point is that he may have not felt that he could communicate his ideas as well as a translator. I would certainly do better with a French translator than speaking French myself in France.

have you been speaking french for 23 years?
 
which he did NOT need.....since he speaks english. hence the rude bit.
Not if he is more flaunt and comfortable in expressing himself in Spanish. It is only offensive to those that get a twist in their shorts when they can't understand what is being said directly. It is not rude at all.
 
yes, the guy has been speaking english for 23 years. that's why it is so stupid.

No, the guy has been in the country 23 years. Unsubtle difference.
 
Then why did you bring up Florida and then act I was talking about Florida out of left field and apply something from an entirely different state to what was being said about Florida? You're all over the place, and you're either being dishonest or you have a 30-second memory. I'm inclined to think you're just beind dishonest since you seem to have selective memory.
I didn't act like you brought up Florida out of left field - Florida applied to your general comment about the United States. Whether or not Florida has an official language has zero effect on the case in Texas that we're talking about where no such language exists.
 
Back
Top Bottom