Wow, I'm glad there's someone else out there who is right! :p

You got me thinking though, and this is for all the "pro English" GC'ers. There are is a good amount of people here that would like for non-English speakers to learn English. Not that I agree with that, but to compromise, if non-English speakers are going to be forced to learn English, then all English speakers must be forced to learn a foreign language. What do you think about that?

Veeery interesting site. Thanks for sharing.

Yes! If non-english speaking people are forced to speak english, english speaking people should be forced to speak non-english, particularly spanish, because they are the largest growing demographic.

I don't know how it is in public schools because I attended private high schools, but I was required to learn a foreign language. In fact, I took two years of Latin and 4 years of Spanish. And if I were to move to Spain, then you can bet that I'd be taking even more classes to make sure that I could function in that country to the best of my ability.

I think that making foreign language classes mandatory is a very good idea, and I honestly wish that our kids were taught another language at a younger age because children learn languages easier if they are taught them earlier in life.

However, all this doesn't change the fact that we've got a ton of immigrants to this country who don't care a bit about learning English. If you're just visiting, then fine. But if you're planning to stay here permanently, then you need to learn English because that's what the majority of Americans speak. Nothing irritates me more than having to stand in a long line at the bank on my lunch hour waiting while 15 non-English-speaking people ahead of me try to communicate with the teller concerning their paychecks.

There are tons of organizations in my area that offer English courses for immigrants. Most of them are churches, and the services are free. I just wish that folks would take advantage of them. It would make their lives easier, as well as mine.

EXACTLY!!!

It's not that I don't think we shouldn't learn or allow other languages - becuase I do, I think being at least billingual should be mandatory.

But our government runs on English. English in the language of choice for major broadcast networks, newspapers, and other forms of entertainment. Most school systems (unless youre in an area with a very high % of a minority) run on English.

Technically, the language of the government = the national (notice I didn't say official) language.

The problem with "non-english speakers must learn english and english speakers must learn a foreign language" is that WHICH FOREIGN LANGUAGE? I've taken 6 years of spanish, and I think i'm pretty damn good at it. but do you have any idea how many people and how many languages are spoken in the US. There must be thousands. You can't single out one, like french, and say "all english speakers must learn french if I have to learn english" that's not possible.

Day-to-day transactions take place in English - its just the way things work. With free services offering to teach you English, there's absolutely no excuse not to. As they say, when in rome, do as the Romans do.

Whoever downloads music from the internet is going straight to hell. http://plaudersmilies.de/devil/firedevil.gif

*heading straight to kazaa* :D

Well, why do you feel this way?

If you can come up with a compelling argument, then perhaps I'll agree - but simply stating it as put, I am pretty indifferent.

I hate to tell some of you this, but English is the de facto "Official Language" of the USA - forms are in English, the vast majority of news and broadcasts are in English, everything defaults to English. Compare that to other nations w/ "official" languages, or even the UN (french), and it is a very similar system.

Every effort should be made to make every person able to communicate effectively.

I'll posit this as a rebuttal - what about, instead of putting money into duplicating things into other languages and keeping up efforts to avoid an official language, we put the money into teaching non-native speakers English? If you want to include as part of this teaching native speakers another language, fine.

As far as the benefits of knowing another language, I find them to be fairly self-explanatory and numerous - as far as requiring someone to be fluent, that may be a bit too far, but again convince me.

Realistically, it is to the advantage of any person to learn to communicate in the language spoken by the majority of people, regardless of where you are or what that language may be - everyone would agree with that, no?

Yes, and how do these recent immigrants become so apt at undertaking certain business ventures? THEY DON'T PAY TAXES!! (well for a certain number of years anyway, than they just pass it on to a family member that recently migrated to the U.S. and they pay no taxes for seven years.)

Hell, I'd be quick to start up a business even if I didn't know how to speak the "common language" in any country if it meant that I didn't have to pay taxes for a certain number of years. That is the language we call "money."

I'm all about allowing "citizens" of the U.S. to partake in health care and the public education system, but I think they should gain citizenship first. I feel that in order for one to benefit fully from the this country, one should first have to become part of this country, in a legal sense.


As for the comments of some stating that Americans should learn to speak a language other than English, quite a few Americans already do. But because we don't all speak the same second language doesn't mean that we are oblivious to the fact that knowing more than one language is always a great factor in many situations.

As for English, well, much business across the world is conducted in this language, that's the way the world has adapted, it's a very common language in many parts of the world hence, other countries require students to learn English as another language.

No, you definitely cannot force anybody to learn any particular language; however, it should be left up to the individual as to what language they want to learn.


I don't understand how you are trying to force non-English speakers to learn English, just because the majority of Americans speak English. The majority of people are right handed, but does that mean that all lefties should be forced to be right handed?

I don't "feel that way." I was just making a statement that if non-English speakers should be FORCED to learn English, then English speakers must be treated fairly and FORCED to learn any foreign language.




Realistically, it is advantageous to the non-English speaker to learn English. But if they choose not to learn English, that is their choice. It should not be forced on them to learn the language that the majority of U.S. speaks.

Our language gets worse every day. Unsere Sparch ist schlechter jeder tag.

Here is something else I believe
 

I believe that there is no true religion. I believe that you will go to Heaven if you truly believe that you were created by a higher being and if you practice one religion and firmly believe in that religion (of course not any religions that do not have a god). If you believe that you were not created by a higher being, then I believe you are going to Hell.

Hell
 

SATX*APhi, don't be silly. You go to hell if you have sex before marriage.

-Rudey
--I felt awful asking that first girl to take off her WWJD shirt.

The whole right hand/left hand argument is COMPLETELY different than English and non english speakers. Being left handed in a right hand dominated society had absolutely no impact on your daily life. There aren't special tests just for lefties. They don't have to have road signs made specifically for lefties. There's no right handed message and left handed message when youre tring to call somewhere and get an automated directory. Lefties don't have special schools.

If you want to get a job, you need to know English. Its the dominant language of the United States. It's a fact of life. Language is one of the dominant characteristics that define a nation/state. It gives it legitimacy and authority. Learning a second language is great - i encourage everyone to do it - but english is the language of the United States. Don't expect that to change anytime soon.

Re: Hell
 

In my religion, there are ways around that.