English only

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by wolf

Seems like we have those already.

And English only wouldn't make it a lot worse?

[xoxoxoBruce]

How is people not being able to communicate with each other going to reduce racial tensions?

[DanaC]

Good question bruce. I understand that people may feel printing official literature in multiple languages is an unnecessary expense...but surely that's te lesser of two evils, with the other evil being a whole slew of people living in the US but unable to access most of the services/systems.

[Aliantha]

English is the language of business thoughout the world.

French is the language of diplomacy.

Anyone hoping to engage in trade with another country must be able to speak English, and if they want to avoid an arse kicking, they must be able to speak French.

English does originate from German, so I guess we are all speaking modified German anyway.

Asking people to forget their first language is asking people to forget their culture. That is wrong.

Asking people to learn a new language to make going to the doctor and getting a correct diagnosis is advisable. That is right.

[xoxoxoBruce]

OK, but apart from individuals dealing with government bureaucracy, how about when you can't talk to your neighbor?
Hey, your dog has been shitting on my lawn.
No Habla Ingles?
Why you dumb fucking wetback, keep your dog off my lawn or I'll shoot the son of a bitch.
No Habla Ingles?
BLAM!

[Aliantha]

I guess that would be annoying.

You should try attempting to organize a delivery of a watertank to someone who doesn't speak english. It gets done though, because if you live in a culture where other languages are spoken, virtually everyone learns enough to understand what is being said to them, even if it's not in a literal sense.

I'm pretty sure if you stand there with an angry look on your face pointing from the dog to the shit the person will get the idea and I don't know about your part of the world, but over here, 90% of the time the person would rectify the situation.

Of course, there are arseholes everywhere. Some of them even speak English.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Of course, there are arseholes everywhere. Some of them even speak English.

Cock.

[HungLikeJesus]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Cock.

v. intr.

1. To set the hammer of a firearm in a position ready for firing.
2. To turn or stick up.
3. To strut; swagger.

[Middle English cok, from Old English cocc, probably from Late Latin coccus, from coco, a cackling, of imitative origin.]

or

cock (n1.)
O.E. cocc, O.Fr. coq, O.N. kokkr, all of echoic origin. O.E. cocc was a nickname for "one who strutted like a cock," thus a common term in the Middle Ages for a pert boy, used of scullions, apprentices, servants, etc. A common personal name till c.1500, it was affixed to Christian names as a pet diminutive, cf. Wilcox, Hitchcock, etc. Slang sense of "penis" is attested since 1618 (but cf. pillicock "penis," from c.1300). Cock-teaser is from 1891. Cock-sucker is used curiously for aggressively obnoxious men; the ancients would have understood the difference between passive and active roles; Catullus, writing of his boss, employs the useful L. insult irrumator, which means "someone who forces others to give him oral sex," hence "one who treats people with contempt." Cocky "arrogantly pert" (1768) originally meant "lecherous" (16c.); modern sense of "vain" is 18c. A cocker spaniel (1823) was trained to start woodcocks. Cock-and-bull is first recorded 1621, perhaps an allusion to Aesop's fables, with their incredible talking animals, or to a particular story, now forgotten. Fr. has parallel expression coq-à-l'âne.

?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Don't strain your brain, Aliantha will understand.

[Aliantha]

Well to be honest, I was wondering if you were refering to me or someone else. Either way, it doesn't really matter.

The definition was entertaining though. Thanks HLJ.

[HungLikeJesus]

I was mostly pointing out, not the definition, but the series of languages through which any word tends to evolve. The word actually had 15 definitions, of which I listed only two.

[monster]

I think they need to pick one or the other -English only or Bilingual, and which ever it is, provide a universally decent education program to teach the missing language from an early age. In this day and age, there is no way you gan get the full benefits of life in America without understanding English. The Cellar is (allegedly) in English. I rest my case on that one.

That said, what harm would it do to have everyone learn Spanish, too?

I am appalled that it's still a new and "innovative" program to introduce foreign languages in elementary school. it's not much different in the UK, but in the rest of Europe, languages are introduceed very early on and most continental Europeans are multilingual. The earlier you start, ther easier it is and the more languages you know the easier it is to pick up new ones -including priogramming languages.

Did someone say you don't need to speak English to be an immigrant? An illegal one maybe. We had to have lawyers petition for us to avoid having to take an English test whe we emmigrated -and that was pre 9-11. (Yes, we're English). We did have to take and English test to get our driver's licences.

[orthodoc]

You do have to speak English to a reasonable degree to become a naturalized citizen - at least, you had to in 2002. Don't know if that requirement has been eliminated since then.

To me, how languages change and 'take' from other languages is irrelevant to the issue. I think that one common language is important for a country. As someone has mentioned, language is a part of culture. If people don't need to learn or use the language of their new country, they will not participate in its culture. They will not view themselves as an integral part of that country, and will cling to the language and culture of the 'old country'. The result is balkanization of the population and a collection of ethnic groups all vying for more power to support their 'old country' culture and language.

Not to mention the near impossibility of providing essential services to everyone, when there is no common language. For example, Toronto is attempting to provide 911 services for over 900 languages in the city - and not succeeding. A Chinese family sued the city because their grandmother, who only speaks Mandarin, could not make herself understood on a 911 call.

My husband saw many, many people in the ER in Ontario who had lived in Canada for decades but spoke no English. Medical care is terribly hampered when there's no reliable history to be had. Interpreters are a help, but they paraphrase and misinterpret and are only useful for the most basic information.

As for costs, the cost of bilingualism in Canada has been and continues to be enormous. There are duplicated public school systems to permit French Immersion and French (origin) education. Every traffic sign has to be bilingual. Every government service and document must be available in two languages. Plus the minority language population tends to be favored for government jobs; a huge number of English speakers in Ottawa were eliminated from their jobs (or side-tracked into lateral transfers somewhere in the north) to make room for francophones when the policy came in.

I believe that people who immigrate to a new country have an obligation to learn the language of the country.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

I give the English-only cranks the cold shoulder. Besides English, I have Spanish, French, and Russian, though I cannot claim bilinguality in any of these, reckoning they should approach the level of my English, which they definitely don't.

I think it is a great idea. No other nation cow tows like this.
I live in an area with many nationalities and have lived in areas with FAR more, like central LA.
Funny how the only group that feels the need to be treated special in this way is...
Bullshit.
If I move to a Spanish speaking nation and DEMANDED this kind of treatment, language wise, I know how I would be treated. I have asked.