Learn the Language

Aero · Post by **Aero** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:45 pm

A lot of people around this area seem to get offended when someone speaks in another language. It's almost like they have some sort of nationalist attachment to the English language, even though this the U.S. and a lot of people come from different backgrounds (in particular, Irish, German, etc.)

jforbes · Post by **jforbes** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:50 am

Yes but The majority of the people in this country speak English.

echosauce1 · Post by **echosauce1** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 1:15 am

[quote="jforbes"]Yes but The majority of the people in this country speak English.[/quote]

That's because we killed the ones who did not long ago...

Awesome Garr. When I clicked on your post I expected something totally diffrent since your are the "Language Dictator".

Thanks for delightfully suprising me.

traumaqueen · Post by **traumaqueen** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 4:16 am

echosauce1 wrote:
jforbes wrote:Yes but The majority of the people in this country speak English.
That's because we killed the ones who did not long ago...

but common sense tells a person that if they move to a new location, they need to adapt in that new environment to survive, right? even here in the US, we learn the dialect of the new place......
and, if you moved to, say, Germany to live, you would adapt to get by, right?

i feel you are saying that in a perfect world we would have learned to speak all the Native American languages when our ancestors moved here. fine. not a bad concept.
But, ultimately, that is not how things happened- for better or worse, ideal or not.
and currently, the majority of people living here speak American English. so, common sense tells us that if you choose to reside in this country, you would want to adapt to the language at least for survival's sake.
what is so difficult or controversial or even political about this concept?
where has common sense gone?
how is this even an "arguement", and why does it create so much upset?
it seems so simple and benign to me....
it's like a non-issue that folks are making an issue of just to banter and argue about. don't we have more important items to work on?
aren't there better ways to take care of our fellow man?

Garr · Post by **Garr** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 7:36 am

I find the concept interesting. While I agree that immigrants should make an honest effort to learn English (since it is currently the national language of the United States), I cannot see past the hypocrisy inherent in that request or requirement. I think that this comic does a great job of displaying the contradiction of it all.

Even if you are already an American and you move from one state to another, there are colloquialisms and euphemisms that you'll need to pick up to fit in and effectively communicate. Were I to move to Germany, even if only for a year or three for school or work, I would make my best attempt at learning that language. I'd consider it rude to expect everyone to cater to my laziness, stubborness and conceit.

My current feelings on the issue aside, I still think that the comic illustrates an important point that should not be cast aside.

Aero · Post by **Aero** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 9:57 am

Garr wrote:I find the concept interesting. While I agree that immigrants should make an honest effort to learn English (since it is currently the national language of the United States)

I agree that one should try to pick up on the majority language. One thing to note, though, is the United States is one of the few countries without an official language, and I think this is where the politics start.

I personally don't believe in government passing laws making citizens speak a certain language. English just happens to be spoken by the majority here, it doesn't need a law to protect it.

=^-..-^= · Post by **=^-..-^=** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:39 pm

A couple points:

â€¢Language is always evolving. We are not speaking the English that the original colonists spoke. American English will always change to incorporate the changing culture. Look how many Spanish words have crept into our speech.

â€¢Fuss and fume as we might, there is little we can do about our nation become bilingual. We can't really pass laws against it (Why are you in here? - I got caught speaking Spanish) The reality is we have to come up with strategies to adapt, or we will falter. Other countries throughout history (including the Roman Empire) have changed their ethnic makeup.

â€¢In many countries of the world, people have to know three or four languages in order to function. I saw some kids from Kenya that knew SEVEN languages.

sevesd93 · Post by **sevesd93** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:54 pm

I am currently studying profanity as a second language, so I can tell all these non-English speaking mother-jerkss exactly where to go!!