• 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?”

BentWingedAngel said:
Speaking of costs? I believe that the cost of "accommodating" is much higher than teaching ESL, as I did tat with my own time & money.
Click to expand...

Considering that a portion of the cost of language is education and the other portion is assistance such as multilingual services it seems as if there is a waste thing going on.
 
BentWingedAngel said:
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?"
Click to expand...

This is something entirely up to the owners of a business. There is no reason to tell businesses whether they can or cannot require a second language.
 
Sgt Meowenstein said:
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.
Click to expand...

thanks for missing the point. it's not that he spoke spanish. it's that he chose to speak spanish to english speakers even though he speaks english.
 
Redress said:
This is something entirely up to the owners of a business. There is no reason to tell businesses whether they can or cannot require a second language.
Click to expand...

I never said there should be a law. It should be up to business owners. Just seems a shame that for blower wage workers, & in an effort to keep wages down. folks who have worked hard there whole livs are getting the shaft. Also this is how the corps. are taking over & we lose our nation to internationalism.
 
OscarB63 said:
thanks for missing the point. it's not that he spoke spanish. it's that he chose to speak spanish to english speakers even though he speaks english.
Click to expand...

Reposted from 115 of this thread:

StillBallin75 said:
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.
Click to expand...

Oscar, i love you bro, but you are either subscribing to bull**** populism here and being intentionally obtuse, or you have never had to deal with people who don't speak English as their first language.
 
Last edited:
StillBallin75 said:
Reposted from 115 of this thread:



Oscar, i love you bro, but you are either subscribing to bull**** populism here and being intentionally obtuse, or you have never had to deal with people who don't speak English as their first language.
Click to expand...



deal with them all the time. I just think the guy was trying to be cute and make some kind of "statement" by speaking spanish. obviously he speaks and understands english well. or did none of you notice that his translator didn't have to translate what the senator was saying? if his english sucked, the translation would've had to be two way....

I understand english, I just can't speak it? not likely
 
OscarB63 said:
deal with them all the time. I just think the guy was trying to be cute and make some kind of "statement" by speaking spanish. obviously he speaks and understands english well. or did none of you notice that his translator didn't have to translate what the senator was saying? if his english sucked, the translation would've had to be two way....

I understand english, I just can't speak it? not likely
Click to expand...

Do you have a second language? I'm a Brit. I speak a little French, and even less Spanish, but I understand them far better than I can express myself in them. It's not only very likely, it's normal unless you are fluent.
 
Last edited:
Manc Skipper said:
Do you have a second language? I'm a Brit. I speak a little French, and even less Spanish, but I understand them far better than I can express myself in them.It's not only very likely, it's normal unless you are fluent.
Click to expand...

you would probably express yourself better in them if you had been living in France or Spain for 23 years.
 
OscarB63 said:
deal with them all the time. I just think the guy was trying to be cute and make some kind of "statement" by speaking spanish. obviously he speaks and understands english well. or did none of you notice that his translator didn't have to translate what the senator was saying? if his english sucked, the translation would've had to be two way....

I understand english, I just can't speak it? not likely
Click to expand...

No. Speaking and comprehension are very different. It's entirely possible to understand what someone else is saying, yet not be able to respond in kind. I deal with it all the time with fob parents and their friends, and as an example, i can comprehend Mandarin Chinese a hell of a lot better than I can speak it.

I don't believe he was "making a statement." Why intentionally piss off people you are trying to gain compassion and empathy from (which is why I think he testified against this particular law). As other posters have pointed out, it had a lot more to do with his degree of comfort than anything else.
 
Last edited:
StillBallin75 said:
No. Speaking and comprehension are very different. It's entirely possible to understand what someone else is saying, yet not be able to respond in kind. I deal with it all the time with fob parents and their friends.
Click to expand...

I guess my standards are just too high then. I would expect that someone who had been living in a country for 23 freakin years to be able to express themselves in the language that the majority of people in that country speak.

I could see it if the guy had only been in the US for 4-5 years.
 
Redress said:
No, the guy has been in the country 23 years. Unsubtle difference.
Click to expand...

Very uncharacteristic of you to get trivial about something like this.
 
OscarB63 said:
I guess my standards are just too high then. I would expect that someone who had been living in a country for 23 freakin years to be able to express themselves in the language that the majority of people in that country speak.

I could see it if the guy had only been in the US for 4-5 years.
Click to expand...

I understand why you are be frustrated. Then again, it's a free country and as of right now, neither the state of Texas nor the nation as a whole has an official language, so if he doesn't want to learn English, that's his own prerogative, even if some of us have a problem with it.
 
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.
Click to expand...
LOL. Must we always bend over backwards to please everyone? No. WE need to drop the multiculturalism and get on with becoming Americans.
 
Shame, shame, shame, on that Senator!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How dare he not be able to understand Spanish!!!!!!! After all, this is America!

youracistbastard.jpg
 
StillBallin75 said:
I understand why you are be frustrated. Then again, it's a free country and as of right now, neither the state of Texas nor the nation as a whole has an official language, so if he doesn't want to learn English, that's his own prerogative, even if some of us have a problem with it.
Click to expand...

and it is our perogative to, in turn, not take his opinion seriously.
 
StillBallin75 said:
I understand why you are be frustrated. Then again, it's a free country and as of right now, neither the state of Texas nor the nation as a whole has an official language, so if he doesn't want to learn English, that's his own prerogative, even if some of us have a problem with it.
Click to expand...
It seems that some of you either don't like the people. Maybe you don't want them to succeed. Those of us who do want immigrants to master the English language.

And then there are the people who don't really like their country. So they insist we import people from all over and help them create their own, very special ghettos. Over time balkanization occurs. We become hyphenated Americans. And the nation fails.
 
theplaydrive said:
He does speak English. Also, the way things are going, it's more likely that the rest of us will have to learn Spanish before Spanish-speakers have to learn English...
Click to expand...
Maybe. Or maybe not. As more countries join Alabama in becoming inhospitable to illegal aliens by holding their enablers accountable I think we will see many illegals self-deport.
 
Misterveritis said:
It seems that some of you either don't like the people. Maybe you don't want them to succeed. Those of us who do want immigrants to master the English language.
Click to expand...

I think immigrants should learn English for their own sake, but if they choose not to do so, that's their business and not mine. I find getting angry over such a thing rather trivial.

And then there are the people who don't really like their country. So they insist we import people from all over and help them create their own, very special ghettos. Over time balkanization occurs. We become hyphenated Americans. And the nation fails.
Click to expand...

People ghettoize and segregate themselves regardless. It's human nature. Multiculturalism in this country is nowhere near as bad as the destructive nationalism that characterized Balkanization.
 
StillBallin75 said:
Correct. That, however, is a different issue from the warrantless outrage on the part of the senator.
Click to expand...

his outrage is only warrantless in some people's opinion.

just as this guy is entitled to speak spanish....this senator is entitled to his outrage. it is still a free country afterall. freedom has to work in both directions or it really isn't free.
 
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.
Click to expand...

I'm only up to this post, so somebody probably already made my point. But would you move to another country, knowing you don't speak their language, and make no effort to learn it? In 23 years, he should be able to (and probably is able to) speak fluent English. I don't know why he chose to go the interpreter route.

I believe the senator had the same right to speak his mind, as pointed out, as any other American would have.
 
OscarB63 said:
his outrage is only warrantless in some people's opinion.

just as this guy is entitled to speak spanish....this senator is entitled to his outrage. it is still a free country afterall. freedom has to work in both directions or it really isn't free.
Click to expand...

The Senator should have asked him for his papers. :lamo
 
OscarB63 said:
his outrage is only warrantless in some people's opinion.

just as this guy is entitled to speak spanish....this senator is entitled to his outrage. it is still a free country afterall. freedom has to work in both directions or it really isn't free.
Click to expand...

He's entitled to his outrage, nobody is saying he isn't. Doesn't make it any less stupid, just as some people think not learning English is stupid.
 
theplaydrive said:
I agree with everything you said. Nonetheless, I think it's ridiculous to be "insulted" as the senator claimed to be in the video and I also think it's ridiculous to applaud the senator for being insulted as Mr. V. did. There are obviously many practical reasons to speak English instead of Spanish and yet it's also understandable to me why someone would want to speak Spanish in such a hearing as a statement. To me, it's just arrogant and silly to be insulted by something that isn't insulting.
Click to expand...

I can't speak for him, but I would be insulted that he tried to use the translator situation to advance an agenda. I'd also be insulted that he wasted my time. How much longer would that hearing be, simply by virtue of an English-capable gentleman choosing to go the translator route?
 
BDBoop said:
I'm only up to this post, so somebody probably already made my point. But would you move to another country, knowing you don't speak their language, and make no effort to learn it? In 23 years, he should be able to (and probably is able to) speak fluent English. I don't know why he chose to go the interpreter route.
Click to expand...
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 believe the senator had the same right to speak his mind, as pointed out, as any other American would have.
Click to expand...
I'm not questioning his rights.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom