I agree with teaching english and encouraging everyone to learn english. I don't agree with mandating english for anything. We live in a big country. Mandating english isn't going to solve underlying questions of diversity and integration in society. I prefer the soft approach to integration.
On 4/30/07, Bruce Sorge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I agree that being bilingual is a good thing. We have tourists in America > and being able to help them out is good. We also have folks who, when they > come to this country to live, they may not know the language right off the > bat and we can help them out by being able to communicate with them until > they learn (and I am talking about only a year max to learn functional > English, not over 6 years like the good employees at the Salvation Army). > One of the prerequisites for becoming a naturalized citizen is to be able > to > read and speak English. My grandfather emigrated from Germany before WWII > and he learned English so he could better integrate with society. He never > forgot his German roots though, he just decided that learning English was > the way to go in order to be successful, and he ended up being a multi > millionaire (too bad he and Grandma divorced, I may not be working now, > LOL). > > But the thing that really gets under my skin is that there are some > schools > (public) that have such a large population of non-English speaking > children, > they are teaching classes in Spanish first and English second. I know this > for a fact as it happened to my younger brother and sister, which is why > we > moved from the IE (Inland Empire in SoCal) to the High Desert back in the > mid 80's. Sure we have Hispanics living in the HD, but ALL schools are > taught in English only, ALL documents sent home are in English, and > Spanish > is only taught in the Spanish class. > > What I am afraid of is that I am going to be FORCED to learn and be fluent > in a second language. I am currently learning Spanish for my upcoming trip > to Peru. Not because I have to, but because I want to so I can have a > better > time there, and also because I feel that if I am going to visit a foreign > country, I should immerse myself in their language and culture so I can > better understand everything while I am there. > > Speaking of that, I recall when I visited Greece for a couple of weeks, > all > business in stores was done in English, regardless of where you were from. > Interesting that English is the international language of business ( > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_English). > > Anyway, my point is that we should adopt English as the official language > and stop pandering to constituents who do not and/or choose not to learn > English. As I stated before, if you love your country so much that you > only > want to speak that language, move back, otherwise make every possible > attempt to integrate into society, which, among other things, means learn > English. > > > On 4/30/07, Dana Tierney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > I disagree, but I would considering my background. Bilingualism never > > killed anybody. I'm against the language police in Montreal and I am > against > > it here. > > > > Not only that, but if you start federally mandating English as an > official > > language, you run into constitutional issues in New Mexico and according > to > > this, some other states as well. > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_in_the_United_States > > > > Furthermore, Newt Gingrich is an ass. He always was an an ass and he is > > still an ass; it's just that now he's an ass who is out of power and is > > making nice. > > > > Dana > > > > >We all know of the issues surrounding making English the official > > language > > >in the U.S. Here is a story by Newt about this subject. What do you all > > >think? I feel that English should be required in all public places - > > work, > > >stores, theaters, everywhere. I am not saying that you have to give up > > your > > >identity from whatever country you are from, just adopt the language of > > the > > >country that you chose to live in (very important part here, that they > > chose > > >to live here, were not forced) . And let's take it a step further. I am > > >tired of seeing folks fly the flag from their country OVER the American > > >flag. I see that at peoples houses, on their cars, etc... If you love > the > > >country you are from so much that you would desecrate our flag by > placing > > >yours over it, then move back. > > > > > > Link here: > > > > > >http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=20486 > > > > > >-- > > >Bruce Sorge > > > > > >"I'm a mawg: half man, half dog. I'm my own best friend!" > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Create robust enterprise, web RIAs. Upgrade & integrate Adobe Coldfusion MX7 with Flex 2 http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2/?sdid=RVJP Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:233582 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
