English under attack

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Originally Posted by Survival Kid

Last I checked, English was not the native tongue of the United States, nor is it the official language. It's just that most people here speak it, but that doesn't make it native or official.

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It's the primary language by an overwhelming margin. Or what was an overwhelming margin until everyone starting piling in without learning it. But that makes it official enough.

Your native language barb sparks my main beef with the whole situation. The Native Americans were here, we fought them and won, and we took over. It was fundamentally cruel, but they had a chance to defend their way of life and did so valiantly. With the current Hispanic influx, we have no ability to combat it because they're not invading with hostility... But they are definitely invading, make no mistake. They're taking our land (we still own it, maybe, but they're more often than not cultivating it to be uninhabitable for people other than themselves), they're burdening our economy, they're not making any attempt to integrate, and they're generally lowering the quality of life for everyone who lived here before them. All in all, just having a decidedly negative impact. They're invading by infestation, and we're powerless to do anything about it because of the overwhelming hold of the PC doctrine that allows no one to step on anyone else's toes, ever. It sucks. Gaining such a large force in another nation by infestation and refusal to adapt... It's parasitic, is what it is. There's just something fundamentally dishonorable about the whole situation, for both sides.

Maybe that all sounds racist, but I think it's a more truthful view of how the situation is than most people will think anyone is intelligent enough to consider.

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Originally Posted by Bacon McShig

It's the primary language by an overwhelming margin. Or what was an overwhelming margin until everyone starting piling in without learning it. But that makes it official enough.

Your native language barb sparks my main beef with the whole situation. The Native Americans were here, we fought them and won, and we took over. It was fundamentally cruel, but they had a chance to defend their way of life and did so valiantly. With the current Hispanic influx, we have no ability to combat it because they're not invading with hostility... But they are definitely invading, make no mistake. They're taking our land (we still own it, maybe, but they're more often than not cultivating it to be uninhabitable for people other than themselves), they're burdening our economy, they're not making any attempt to integrate, and they're generally lowering the quality of life for everyone who lived here before them. All in all, just having a decidedly negative impact. They're invading by infestation, and we're powerless to do anything about it because of the overwhelming hold of the PC doctrine that allows no one to step on anyone else's toes, ever. It sucks. Gaining such a large force in another nation by infestation and refusal to adapt... It's parasitic, is what it is. There's just something fundamentally dishonorable about the whole situation, for both sides.

Maybe that all sounds racist, but I think it's a more truthful view of how the situation is than most people will think anyone is intelligent enough to consider.

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Woa dude!!

You can pretend this isn't true, but this economy depends on the exploitation of immigrant labor.

I think my favorite type of racist is the conservative computer nerd.

Interesting read, but I wish the word "multiculturalism" wouldn't get trashed so badly. Everyone communicating is necessary, everyone fitting in to some bland definition of "American" sucks. I like a big, diverse world with lots of ways of living in it, what I really dislike is the lazy bastards who use their lack of communication abilities to do whatever the hell it is they do.

I like all kinds of food, I like many parts of Japanese culture, I like a good variety of world influences in my music, I like the fables and legends you get to hear from different cultures, the new styles of clothes, new styles of architexture and design, etc, etc, etc. I like the idea of multiculturalism quite a bit. What I can't stand is the self-enforced communicational ignorance of those who just can't be bothered.

James

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Originally Posted by diffusionx

You can get by in Puerto Rico without Spanish. But can you get by in France without French? In Japan without Japanese? In Korea without Korean? Hell no!

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Actually, you can only get by without Spanish in PR as long as you remain in the metro area. Try to go to school, get a job, etc, and you're stuck. Daily life here demands knowledge of the language. I know, because when I got here 15 years ago, I spoke zero Spanish and had to learn it or die.

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Originally Posted by Bacon McShig

With the current Hispanic influx, we have no ability to combat it because they're not invading with hostility... But they are definitely invading, make no mistake. They're taking our land (we still own it, maybe, but they're more often than not cultivating it to be uninhabitable for people other than themselves), they're burdening our economy, they're not making any attempt to integrate, and they're generally lowering the quality of life for everyone who lived here before them. All in all, just having a decidedly negative impact. They're invading by infestation, and we're powerless to do anything about it because of the overwhelming hold of the PC doctrine that allows no one to step on anyone else's toes, ever. It sucks. Gaining such a large force in another nation by infestation and refusal to adapt... It's parasitic, is what it is. There's just something fundamentally dishonorable about the whole situation, for both sides.

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That's one gross generalization. So you're saying that if Hispanics had come with guns and conquered the country things would be cool? You do realize that the U.S. was founded by and became what it is because of immigrants, don't you? How many Hispanics in this country are legal, law-abiding, tax paying U.S. citizens compared to those who aren't? Calling them an "infestation" is unacceptable. There's no logic to your post at all.

My Grandmother came from South America. She came to the States in her late teens. I rarely ever heard her speak spanish. Even though she had a heavy spanish accent, she only used spanish, when we were being bad. It usually was aih corrumba. She learned the language and made sure that her kids spoke english and never influenced them with her native language.


Many Latin Amaricans want to preserve thier native language, but in respect to the country they live in, they should at least make sure they speak that language as well.

When I went to Chicago, everywhere I went I heard different languages being spoken, and I loved it. It's great... as long as they can ALSO speak English. English is the main language of our country. If you come here, you should either be able to speak English, or be prepared to learn how to speak English. Even if you come over and live in one of those parts of town that is primarily your culture, you should still be able to speak the main language of the country you live in.

As has been said, if you go to another country, you had better be prepared to speak their language. If you go to another country, and don't even give it a shot, they have every right to treat you badly. I very much dislike the arrogant American that goes to another country and expects everybody they deal with to speak English. On the other side of the coin, of course, anybody who comes here and expects everyone they come in contact with to speak their non-English language is just as arrogant.

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Originally Posted by Melf

Actually, you can only get by without Spanish in PR as long as you remain in the metro area. Try to go to school, get a job, etc, and you're stuck. Daily life here demands knowledge of the language. I know, because when I got here 15 years ago, I spoke zero Spanish and had to learn it or die.

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thats fine thats how it should be if Spanish is the native tounge there thats understandable

and on the same token when people come to the US they should expect to learn english to be able to make it in life

what especially drove me nuts were the 15 16 year old kids who come in and claim to speak no english

come on how the FUCK are you getting through the school system not knowing the language your teachers are teaching you in


personally im all for mainting your culture and heritage but that doesnt mean that the place you move to changes to you
you need to adapt to there and if that means learning another language that then so be it
speak your language at home but dont expect the rest of the world outside of your country to speak it

when you move some where new part of that is adapting

Quite honestly, there's one phrase that sums up this whole topic that adheres to my previous views:
When in Rome, do what the Romans do.
S'there ya go. Break out the Latin, bitches.
And no tauri stercus.

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Originally Posted by Damian79

I am all for this as long as the people aren't over 50. By the time they finished learning English, they would be dead. So why bother them?

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If you're in the culture and whatnot you can learn a language to carry on advanced conversation in 6 months dude.

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Originally Posted by Gohron

If you're in the culture and whatnot you can learn a language to carry on advanced conversation in 6 months dude.

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Depends on your age though. The ability to learn something new is inversely proportional to a person's age. It takes a person over 50 a lot longer to learn something new than a 20 year old. And some perople just simply suck at learning something new. My mom has been in Australia for more than a decade and STILL needs help using the email. @_@