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“Why Aren’t You Speaking English?”

theplaydrive said:
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.
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I'm not sure if I support legislation or policy that actively seeks to make English our official language, but in general terms I think more people should be encouraged to learn it for the sake of practicality.
 
Redress said:
No, the guy has been in the country 23 years. Unsubtle difference.
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if he's been here 23 years and hasn't been speaking english, then he is a dumbass
 
katiegrrl0 said:
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.
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I don't really get how it's a "losing battle" when almost everyone speaks English. 96% speak it "well" or better. I'd put my grandmother lower than "well" but she's still compitent at communicating what she wants to. So taking into account people like her, it's damn near 100% of the population that speaks English.
 
OscarB63 said:
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.
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You're from Alabama. This happened in the Texas state Senate. Stop whining.
 
theplaydrive said:
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.
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So we'd spent several exchanges talking about issues about the broader picture, trading links about the Census, Florida, etc, and not this specific case, and suddenly when I point out you're being intellectually dishonest none of it matters and you were talking about this specific case the whole time? Right.
 
StillBallin75 said:
You're from Alabama. This happened in the Texas state Senate. Stop whining.
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thanks for missing the point. I happen to own property in Texas and therefore pay property taxes. and FWIW, I also own property in CA and MN in case you want to whine about those states as well
 
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MistressNomad said:
So we'd spent several exchanges talking about issues about the broader picture, trading links about the Census, Florida, etc,, and not this specific case, and suddenly when I point out you're being intellectually dishonest none of it matters and you were talking about this specific case the whole time? Right.
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That's not what I just said at all, but I can't say I'm surprised that you just made up an imaginary argument to talk about.
 
OscarB63 said:
if he's been here 23 years and hasn't been speaking english, then he is a dumbass
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Again, you oversimplify. He can speak English to some degree. But how often does he speak english compared to spanish. It is very possible he speaks more spanish than english, but can speak english when dealing with nonspanish speaking people. This is not difficult stuff. All you have to do is actually put some thought into it.
 
OscarB63 said:
see edit. I pay taxes to texas
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If you don't like it, build on English school for immigrants on your property ;)

Aren't property taxes used solely to fund education? Or am I off-base here.
 
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megaprogman said:
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.
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Does the United States have an official national language?

English Language Advocates reports that nearly 17 million Americans admit that they not do speak English very well, that the number of Americans who do not speak English has soared since the 1990 census, and that 18% of Americans do not speak English at home.
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The US is already spending 1.5 billion a year for language accommodation. That figure would have to go up greatly as these people would have to learn the language to the extent of reading and writing as well. The cost would be great.
 
katiegrrl0 said:
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.
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Not if the law is tied into citizenship. IE: you need a basic understanding. Also how do some of you feel about having to learn Spanish as a job prerequisite? Or to hold your present job? MY SO works for Johnson Controls & in their Wisconsin office folks are being told to hold their jobs they need to learn Spanish.
 
StillBallin75 said:
If you don't like it, build on English school for immigrants on your property ;)

Aren't property taxes used solely to fund education? Or am I off-base here.
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The property tax is the primary source of local government revenue in Texas and provides funding for the services provided by counties, cities, school districts, and a variety of special entities such as community colleges, port authorities, hospital and flood control districts, and municipal utility districts
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off-base ;)
 
BentWingedAngel said:
Not if the law is tied into citizenship. IE: you need a basic understanding. Also how do some of you feel about having to learn Spanish as a job prerequisite? Or to hold your present job? MY SO works for Johnson Controls & in their Wisconsin office folks are being told to hold their jobs they need to learn Spanish.
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Some jobs require learning a second language. If it's a business decision, then there's probably good reasoning behind it.
 
katiegrrl0 said:
Does the United States have an official national language?

The US is already spending 1.5 billion a year for language accommodation. That figure would have to go up greatly as these people would have to learn the language to the extent of reading and writing as well. The cost would be great.
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Speaking of costs? I believe that the cost of "accomodating" is much higher than teaching ESL, as I did tat with my own time & money.
 
StillBallin75 said:
Some jobs require learning a second language. If it's a business decision, then there's probably good reasoning behind it.
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I understand that with new employment. But when "guest workers" have taken over a plant? Why should English speaking have to learn the language of "guest workers?"
 
OscarB63 said:
if you've been in a country where the prevalent language is english for 23 years and you are still more comfortable speaking something else....you are a dumbass.
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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.
 
BentWingedAngel said:
Not if the law is tied into citizenship. IE: you need a basic understanding. Also how do some of you feel about having to learn Spanish as a job prerequisite? Or to hold your present job? MY SO works for Johnson Controls & in their Wisconsin office folks are being told to hold their jobs they need to learn Spanish.
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What do you do with the 18% of US homes where they do not speak English already. I believe you that companies are now requiring multilingual employees. As the world gets smaller and business crosses other shores that will be more and more a requirement. Mandarin, Spanish, and English are the most common languages in the world in that order. List of languages by number of native speakers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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