|
 |
If you wanna live here, learn [English]. | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| tritone Senior Member United States reflectionsinpo Joined 6120 days ago 246 posts - 385 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Portuguese, French | Message 9 of 74 29 April 2010 at 5:16am | IP Logged | ||
|
I, a language enthusiast, see nothing wrong with this, and support the "english-only" movement within the context of the U.S.
I don't understand why people think that immigrants in the U.S should be accommodated in all the world's languages. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pohaku Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5651 days ago 192 posts - 367 votes Speaks: English*, Persian Studies: Arabic (classical), French, German, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 10 of 74 29 April 2010 at 5:40am | IP Logged | ||
|
As with most things, this really isn't a simple issue, and it doesn't simply break down along liberal/conservative lines. I speak as one who dealt with language issues from within government. There is a branch of the US Dept of Justice which encourages and coerce governments within the US (including myriad state and local governments) to ensure that those with limited English proficiency (LEP) are well-served by those governments. There are standards for determining which languages to translate. The standards take into account the numbers of LEP individuals of each language group and several other factors. Tiny groups probably will not be accommodated by translations, but there may be some assistance given. It is not just about drivers license tests. It's about witness and complaint forms for police deparments, 911 services, simultaneous translations in court, bus route maps, beach safety warning signs, fair housing information, and so on and so on. So, no matter what the politicians say to fire up their constituents, there's a quiet, sustained, and fairly common-sense effort going on at the working level to take care of people, provide services in various languages, and make sure that communities are safe and sound. I'm sure this works better in some communities than others, and I'm sure there are injustices galore. The efforts are on-going, though. And there's a shortage of skilled people to make the systems work better. If you're really into languages, though, there may well be a place for you--paid or volunteer--in helping to make sure that your own community is providing well for its residents who have limited English proficiency.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7156 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 11 of 74 29 April 2010 at 5:43am | IP Logged | ||
|
I'm with datsunking1 on this one so long as everything is taken into context. The provocative message aside (it seems that the candidate is trying to get a punchy and easy-to-digest message to appeal to the electorate), the spirit of the message shouldn't be discarded out of hand by people itching to bash either the USA or the current global position of English in general.
If I were in a country whose official/state/national language were unfamiliar to me, why should I take offense to the suggestion that I need to effectively learn/build up a sufficiently high level in that language in order to attain citizenship/survive/sit for a driver's licensing test/etc? I'd be pretty damned stupid if I were living or working in say Romania, and then demand that Romanian authorities cater to me by offering all sorts of services in English just because my Romanian isn't good enough. It's MY problem that my Romanian wouldn't be good enough and nobody else's. It smells like a cop-out when spreading the responsibility to other citizens or insinuate that someone else isn't doing enough and thus that should absolve me from putting forth an honest effort in learning the target language and related customs. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dolly Senior Member United States Joined 5790 days ago 191 posts - 376 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Latin | Message 12 of 74 29 April 2010 at 6:10am | IP Logged | ||
|
I love it when they say, "Well, MY ancestors learned English."
BULLSH*T. At the height of European immigration, the adults who came here lived in ethnic enclaves, worked manual labor jobs that didn't require much English, and read foreign language newspapers printed in the USA. They did not learn much English--but their kids learned it. This is the way it's always been. It's good enough. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| mick33 Senior Member United States Joined 5924 days ago 1335 posts - 1632 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Finnish Studies: Thai, Polish, Afrikaans, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish | Message 13 of 74 29 April 2010 at 6:19am | IP Logged | ||
|
I don't think it's necessary to further emphasize English in the USA, Who doesn't already know that English is the dominant language? I also doubt that printing the test exclusively in English rather than in 12 languages would actually save much money; this just seems like a red herring.
I think the real issue is fear. Many monolingual Americans are afraid that providing public services in many languages will mean that English is no longer the common language and if that happens perhaps they won't be able to speak to their neighbors. BTW I do not share this fear, I just wanted to mention it. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ruskivyetr Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5481 days ago 769 posts - 962 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Russian, Polish, Modern Hebrew | Message 14 of 74 29 April 2010 at 6:52am | IP Logged | ||
The difference between here and Romania is simple. In Romania, Romanian is the official language. In the United States we technically don't have an official language. Granted some states have made it a point to establish an official language, however many states still do not. Romania is also not a country with a high immigration rate, whereas America is. Taking those languages away puts immigrants who need to drive at a disadvantage. So new immigrants can't drive? I think that those languages should be available, as America is a country with a relatively high immigration rate. Having those extra languages available would be allow for newer immigrants to drive, without making them learn English as a requirement before they drive. Edited by ruskivyetr on 29 April 2010 at 6:53am 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5334 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 15 of 74 29 April 2010 at 9:57am | IP Logged | ||
|
Like many of you I am uncomfortable with the political rhetoric, but in substance I would tend to agree with him. English, or possibly English and Spanish should suffice. A car is a lethal weapon, and if you are to use it you may need more than just to know the rules.
What if you have an accident and you need to fill out papers, what if you run over someone, and you can't even speak with him to find out how you may help him, or be able to call 911? Here you can take the test in Norwegian and English, and you are allowed to bring an interpreter with you to do an oral test for the theory part. As for the practical test, you can again do it in Norwegian and English, but otherwise you are on your own. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Paskwc Pentaglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5677 days ago 450 posts - 624 votes Speaks: Hindi, Urdu*, Arabic (Levantine), French, English Studies: Persian, Spanish | Message 16 of 74 29 April 2010 at 10:46am | IP Logged | ||
|
As a matter of public policy and practicality, I support initiatives that promote social
cohesion. Thus, I'm not opposed to America moving towards "English-only" policies if it is intended to ensure everybody's integration into the society they live in. I am, however, opposed to "English-only" policies if they are driven by the belief that newcomers' customs are inferior by default and that they have little to offer. Edited by Paskwc on 29 April 2010 at 10:47am 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
