I'm not telling you you need to learn his language. Though I don't think it would hurt you to try.
My fundamental point however is this. In all of your examples, who suffers the consequences? >Dana, > >Try this... > >I have a neighbor, he seems like a nice guy with a nice family.. but I don't >know.. because he doesn't speak a word of English > >I'd like to tell him he has a nice garden.... >But I can't because he doesn't speak a word of English > >I'd like to tell him that the air in his tires is low.... >But I can't because he doesn't speak a word of English > >I need to tell him that he needs to keep his dog out of my yard and on a >leash, his little boy loves that dog, and I'd hate to see it get hurt in the >road or picked up by animal control >But I can't because he doesn't speak a word of English... > >I saw his daughter at the mall, she was with a boy, that didn't look like >the kind of boy I'd want my daughter with, if I had one >But I can't because he doesn't speak a word of English.... > >He needs to be aware that his HOA dues are going to go way up, he didn't go >to the meeting >because he doesn't speak a word of English.... > >there's a million other things that he should know >but no one can tell him because he doesn't speak a word of English > >and don't tell me it's up to me to learn his language >-- >Scott Stewart >ColdFusion Developer > >SSTWebworks >7241 Jillspring Ct. >Springfield, Va. 22152 >(703) 220-2835 > >http://www.sstwebworks.com > >-----Original Message----- >From: Dana Tierney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 10:58 PM >To: CF-Community >Subject: Re: English in America in trouble? > >Gruss, I have not advocated making Spanish an official language so you are >completely beside the point. I really don't care much about this either way, >but when I see people frothing at the mouth about the enormous cost of not >requiring everyone to speak English, my bullshit detector goes off, that's >all. Sitting here in the multicultural heart of Nuevo Mexico where we >routinely translate official notices into Spanish, Navaho and Vietnamese... >I guess I don't see it. I fail to perceive the chaos. There's probably a >line item for translators somewhere -- I doubt it amounts to much. > >I do think that if Quebec is going to insist that French be an official >language of Alberta and British Columbia where there are very few French >speakers, then English should be an official language of Quebec. But >language has a totally different meaning there and the society defines >itself as a mosaic. Does the world stop turning? No. > >Where they have been costs to Canadian biligualism they have primarily been >to manufacturers of products who had to redesign all their labels to >accomodate both languages, but this has already happened in the US, de >facto. > >I guess I just don't see why people care. If these immigrants chose to limit >their options by failing to learn English, the consequences really don't >affect anyone else except perhaps tangentially. The waitress at the Mexican >restaurant might have to go get someone else if I have a problem with the >check. So what? I spent part of the afternoon today doing user support with >hand gestures. If the ASL instructor I'm talking to does not understand me >-- I don't speak ASL -- we go to writing or typing the conversation out in >English. We make it work. This was also my experience when trying to buy >film or huevos mexicanas in Mexico. If the people actually tried, a >conversation could be had. If they got hung up on how fractured my sentences >were, well, I bought lunch elsewhere, pretty much. NPV of attempting to >communicate - a sale ;) > >::shrug::: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Upgrade to Adobe ColdFusion MX7 Experience Flex 2 & MX7 integration & create powerful cross-platform RIAs http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2/?sdid=RVJQ Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:233905 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
