Point taken, although it wouldn't be that much of a burden to at least attempt to learn the langauge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Damian79
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Point taken, although it wouldn't be that much of a burden to at least attempt to learn the langauge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Damian79
Many of you come off like cry babies and some, racists. If someone doesn't want to learn English then it's their loss. If you find that fewer people you come in contact with daily speak proper English maybe you should make an attempt to learn their language, like they're likely doing with yours. Why must the burden be placed on their shoulders? Because of tradition? Cultures change, it's a fact of life, you can accept it or close yourself off to the world.
Setting up arbitrary rules like "America = English" is an act in futility, Spanish will one day become the popular language if current trends stick, and this whole xenophobic attitude some people have is going to bite them in the ass.
No offense, but what trend is this? American, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny
If anything, I figured it'd be Chinese.
I have no problem with anyone not wanting to learn anything they don't want to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny
That said, they should not have jobs where they cannot speak the language and depend on customer interaction. I'm not going to learn Spanish so I can get a hamburger, I'll just spend my money where someone can understand and not put those fucking pickles on my goddamn cheeseburger.
Okay, so those who dont will just wither on the vine. So why the fuck should it be any different here? If you don't learn English in the USA you will wither on the vine. This sounds reasonable to me. Citizens shouldn't be forced to learn a second language I shouldn't have to because more immigrants say they should. Shit, if these people don't wanna learn English why should anybody bend to their will and learn Spanish? The idea is ludicrous.Quote:
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.
And keep in mind this is coming from someone who has learned both Spanish and Japanese to some extent.
The US has a huge Spanish population and immigrants are flooding into the country every day. Add higher birth rates within the Spanish community on top of that and you've got a majority decades from now.
Agreed. In living in Boston last year, I was exposed to a lot of different languages and cultures, and it was pretty cool. However, when I had to deal with any of these people, they spoke English clearly and competently. Sometimes better than the native English speakers I was going to school with, heheh. I appreciated it. Even in some of the Chinatown stores where there wasn't an English sign in sight, I wasn't given a problem about the language.Quote:
Originally Posted by shidoshi
Agreed. In fact, the last time I spoke about this, I was talking to a friend of mine from French class I had run into at a party. We were already pissed that Emerson was trying to kill off their language department, and after a good deal of drinks, we were somewhat empassioned to do something about it. I don't want to be the ignorant guy who travels around and expects others to cater to him. It irritates me when I see other people do it, and I won't do it. A lot of Americans have an attitude that everyone EVERYWHERE should speak English, and it irritates me. However, in the US, yes, I think it's only fair to expect people to speak the dominant language.Quote:
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.
And if the dominant language in the US becomes Spanish someday? So be it. Nothing to do but adapt, right? I just hope French doesn't become the dominant language in Canada soon... people from Quebec don't know how to speak French right. :p
I agree with you %100, if you can't do your job properly you should make every attempt to change that. This applies to English speakers too if most of their customers speak another language. It's not about English vs. Spanish or whatever, it's about taking responsibility for yourself.Quote:
Originally Posted by MVS
"This applies to English speakers too if most of their customers speak another language."
What job would that be? I don't know a single job other than "translator" that would fit that, and having said that, I don't think they hire a translator with no knowledge of the language they are trying to translate.
"If you find that fewer people you come in contact with daily speak proper English"
I learned a ton of Spanish and then decided to drop it because if I'm not going anywhere, it's useless. I also don't have any fun speaking it. I don't have fun speaking English either. More and more native English speakers these days can't talk normally, but I'm not going to try to learn to speak "dumbass" just because people put the stupid apostrophes on the potato chip sign and talk weird. Stupid potato chip sign on the billboard at the gas station.
Note: I didn't mean that if you can't speak English, you're dumb. Just people that have been exposed to the language all their life and are too lazy to use it ;p
Throw in bullshit citizenship for anyone born on the soil, even when their parents are here illegally and you've got even more.Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny