Why Aren’t You Speaking English?

[Flopper]

I think America should be bilingual. Latinos should learn English and English speaking people should learn Spanish. Communication is the first step to understanding and the lack of understanding is at the root of most of our problems in the world.

Why?

People living in Oregon may go thier entire lives and never come across a spanish speacking person.

We have Canadians that speak French. so by your logic, people living in Florida and Puerto Rico should learn French.

I don't think every American needs to be bilingual, just those that routinely come in contact with people who don't speak English.

When I was younger, I lived in Germany for a number of years. I spoke German well enough to carry on a simple conversation, deal with local merchants, and understand most local news. I spoke mostly English because most people I conversed with were English speaking. Had I been asked to testify, I certainly would have chosen to testify in English. There is a big difference in being able to speak the language and being able to speak the language fluently. I can understand why Aguirre might have chose to speak through an interpreter. However, what I don't understand is why he didn't ask the committee before he testified if there was an objection to using an interpreter.

In spite this political grandstanding, the bill Aguirre was supporting passed.

 

[Anachronism]

You realize that was pretty atypical, right?

Unfortunately, yes I do know it was unusual.

So everyone who speaks Spanish is a thief?

Anyone speaking ANY foreign language in public here in the United States is treated with heightened suspicion and distrust by me.

 

[rightwinger]

Wish I'd been there......

During committee testimony this week in Austin, a Texas senator interrupted a Spanish speaker and telling him he should "be speaking in English" during a committee hearing.

Antolin Aguirre of the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition was testifying against Senate Bill 9 that would help crack down on illegal immigrants in Texas. Aguirre spoke through an interpreter even though he had been in the U.S. since 1988.

Two minutes into Antolin Aguirre’s testimony, Sen. Chris Harris, a Republican from Arlington, interrupted asking Aguirre’s interrupter, "Did I understand him correctly that he has been here since 1988?" Harris asked. "Why aren’t you speaking in English the

Read more: “Why Aren’t You Speaking English?” | Houston News - KTRH NewsRadio 740 Houston News, Weather, Traffic

Welcome to America

Land of the free

 

[Angelhair]

The issue is particularly painful for many older Mexican-American Texans who recall being punished for speaking Spanish in school in the 1950s. Many said the policy that was used at the time, of mainstreaming students in English, made them feel ashamed of themselves and their heritage.

Speak English, not Spanish, demands Texas lawmaker | Reuters

Boo-hoo-hoo! I can bet my bottom dollar that those people have found more success in this country than those who came after - bar none. If they felt ashamed it was their own doing and if they did not hold on to their heritage it was the doing of their parents. Stop bleeding the victim card. Enough already. I have talked to people who were in school in the 50's and they claim that if that had not been the case they would never have been able to go on to a university. Not only did they master english but many speak both languages fluently and they thank our schools and their parents!! Not everybody plays a victim. Many are doctors, lawyers, teachers, principals, neuro surgeons and they can honestly say it was because they were forced to not only learn the english language but master it. The spanish and their heritage they held unto thanks to their parents! The reason I would say this is so is because there was nobody there telling them it was against the law and calling everybody racist plus it was minus the ACLU. They grew up very secure as to who they were and also thankful. And please Jose, don't go into cardiac arrest when reading this.

 

[Polk]

You realize that was pretty atypical, right?

Unfortunately, yes I do know it was unusual.

And yet, you speak English today and I doubt you know the language of the old country.

So everyone who speaks Spanish is a thief?

Anyone speaking ANY foreign language in public here in the United States is treated with heightened suspicion and distrust by me.

I don't see why. It's always been this way. First wave immigrants don't speak English well, their kids are bilingual, and by the third generation, the kids only speak English. One of my best friends growing up was the child of immigrants. His mother's English was poor and his father's English was basically non-existent. He's bilingual, but he's much more comfortable speaking English.

 

[Flopper]

You realize that was pretty atypical, right?

Unfortunately, yes I do know it was unusual.

So everyone who speaks Spanish is a thief?

Anyone speaking ANY foreign language in public here in the United States is treated with heightened suspicion and distrust by me.

That includes tourist that bring over 125 billion dollars into the US each year?

 

[Truthmatters]

If he spent that 23 years living amongst the Hispanic community he will not have to learn English.

Which is why I have little to no respect for people of his ilk.

My great-grandparents learned English BEFORE they came to the United States from Germany in 1910. They came here to become AMERICANS, not German-Americans, not Germans living in America; AMERICANS. So far as I'm concerned anyone immigrating to this country should have 12 months to learn passable English. If you can't, won't, or don't do it.... SHIP THEIR ASSES BACK WHEREVER THEY CAME FROM!!!!

when willl you people realise that speaking more than one language is easy for the brain and in fact has been proven to make your brain more functional.

There are cold hard studies that prove this.

By insisting for some dumb racists reason that Americans speak only one language you insist Americans hold their brain back.

Many in The rest of the world speaks more than one launguage

This is not an issue of what one CAN do, it's an issue of what one SHOULD do. The great-grandparents I mentioned above.... When they came here, he spoke 7 languages and she spoke 5. You know how many they spoke publicly after arriving here.... ONE. They also refused to teach a single word of the 8 languages other than English they combined to speak to any one of their children. THAT is the mentality we need to promote in this country.

I think America should be bilingual. Latinos should learn English and English speaking people should learn Spanish. Communication is the first step to understanding and the lack of understanding is at the root of most of our problems in the world.

Why the hell would I ever speak Spanish? What would be the usefullness for me to learn Spanish? I would love to know how that would improve my life, except to possibly give me early warning that I'm about to be mugged or ripped off in a store.

If you remember you have said on this site that you dont like Most people.

Your opinion on wether someone is respectable is worthless because you respect next to no people on this earth.

 

[Truthmatters]

Cornell Chronicle: Benefits of learning a second language

Teaching young children how to speak a second language is good for their minds, report two Cornell linguistic researchers.



James Gair
Kamal de Abrew, Cornell Ph.D. '81, and a professor at the American National College in Sri Lanka, tests a child in the Sinhala language.



Learning a second language does not cause language confusion, language delay or cognitive deficit, which have been concerns in the past. In fact, according to studies at the Cornell Language Acquisition Lab (CLAL), children who learn a second language can maintain attention despite outside stimuli better than children who know only one language



Why Speaking More than One Language May Delay Alzheimer's
By Meredith Melnick Tuesday, February


Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/02/...-language-may-delay-alzheimers/#ixzz1PdCvH3rR

 

[Angelhair]

The man who was testifying I'm sure DID speak english! All he was doing was thumbing his nose at somebody in power. These latinos will do anything to make their point that their language should be this country's language. Somebody gave him bad advice and it backfired. Was this the ONLY latino out there that could testify??? Something smells fishy here.

 

[AVG-JOE]

I think America should be bilingual. Latinos should learn English and English speaking people should learn Spanish. Communication is the first step to understanding and the lack of understanding is at the root of most of our problems in the world.

200 years from now they won't understand all the hub-bub. They'll be discussing it in history class using some variation of spanglish.

 

[AVG-JOE]

He was speaking an American language. What was that senator's problem? If you've got a lot of constiuents that speak the language, shouldn't the representitives be able to speak it too? Sounds like that Sen. needs to be run out of office, if he has that little respect for those he represents. He works for us, not the other way around, after all.

No he wasn't. No more than Quebecois is an American language because it's spoken in Montreal. ENGLISH is the only language I have any interest in hearing here in the United States. The requirement in most school districts to take multiple years of a foreign language is just another reason why I would never put any child of mine in a public school.

As for the constituency.... If they can't speak English they should be deported; I don't care how long they've been here, where they were born, naturalization status, etc....

So much for 'The Land of The Free...'

That's bullshit. If we're free, that means free to speak whatever language we want to.

Of course, if you're smart, you'll pick up a few words in the language that the majority of your neighbors speak - but if being smart was a requirement for being American, we'd have a real labor shortage here.

That being said, the man who pleads the case for Latino Immigration on behalf of a lobbying organization in Spanish is a fool and should give the job to his boss.

The senator was not wrong in asking for a representative of the organization to present the argument in English. What's wrong is that he had to ask.

Would you go to a job interview with an interpreter?

 

[rightwinger]

People have a romanticized view of their ancestors and how readily they acclimated to American culture. Many immigrants quickly picked up the language but some could only speak choppy English all their lives. Major cities had "little Italy", Chinatown or Germantown where English wasn't the primary language

What is common is that second generations speak English exclusively and adopt American culture. Same with Hispanics

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

As for the constituency.... If they can't speak English they should be deported; I don't care how long they've been here, where they were born, naturalization status, etc....

What crime will they be charged with when arrested, indicted, and tried? Of course given this idiocy, one can only assume you’ll afford them no due process – just pick non-English speakers up in the streets and take them directly to the camp.

And to what country exactly will a US citizen be deported?

Consider your hate and ignorance makes you look like a fool.

 

[Toome]

Antonlin Aguirre IS a US citizen. Senator Chris Harris is SUPPOSED to represent Aguirre's concerns and interests. That's why he was voted into office. Harris rudely interrupted Aguirre's testimony and got wrapped around the axle over the fact that Aguirre was testifying in Spanish rather than to first listen to the substance and context of Aguiire's testimony. What does that tell you about the senator?

When Harris said that Aguirre's speaking Spanish was "an insult" to the members of the board, he was essentially saying that Spanish-speakers are outsiders. And that plays right into Aguirre's point all along: passing the immigration bill will result in racial profiling of Spanish-speaking US citizens residing in Texas. By the way, Aguirre was testifying AGAINST the bill, which is similar to the one passed in Arizona, because he says it will result in unfair treatment for US citizens of Hispanic descent. Harris' outbursts tends to suggest that Aguirre's allegation is spot on.

I agree that it would have probably been a better tactical move had Aguirre testified in English. However, I think it may have worked against him if his English was heavily accented or if he mispronounced certain words. It really doesn't matter because the United States has no official language. Aguirre spoke through an interpreter.

How free is freedom of speech if we're going to demand that someone testify in English.

Harris is a dirtbag.

 

[Truthmatters]

When will they accpet the sceince that forcing one laguage on our kids will hamper their very minds as well as their ability to compete in a constantly growing global market?


Insistance on failure from the right.

 

[rightwinger]

To conservatives, freedom of speech only applies to speech that is in English

 

[Truthmatters]

I think there may be some ulterior motive to get Americans to hate other launguages.

If we have a better understanding of each other its much harder to pit us againt each other to the benifit of the people who wish to control us all.

 

[FiscalSanity]

Immigrants coming here to earn some bucks to send home is nothing new. A lot of the immigrants from Italy only came over here for a while, then went home once they'ed made enough to set themselves up in business back in Italy. Sure, a lot stayed, but just as many turned around and took the money back to Europe.

What i take issue with is the idea that we need all this immigrant labor to do jobs that nobody else wants to do. Thirty odd years ago when I was a teenager and just getting started out in the work force i did what most teenagers did. I mowed lawns, i raked leaves, shoveled snow, and generally did anything an adult disliked enough to pay me to do for them. Fast forward to today, and my teenage nepehews can't find work like that because it's all being done by lawn service/snow removal companies that are staffed by immigrants.

Once I was 16 i went to work in fast food for a few years. My nephews applied, but once again, a vast majority of the fast food and stereotypical teenager jobs are now being held by adult immigrants. Tell me, when did working at McDonalds or Wendy's as a cashier (not a manager) become a long term career? Is it any wonder we've got a generation of teenagers and twenty somethings that don't know how to function in the workforce when the jobs they should have been learning from are now being done by immigrants? I also have to ask why an employer can require employees of a fast food place to be bilingual when we're in a country where English is the primary language and Spanish isn't even a required subject in schools.

 

[Angelhair]

Look, if that man has been in the USA for 23 yrs and still does not speak enough english, that is because he is unable to learn it! He might not even have completed 1st grade education in his home country which leads me to believe he is lacking some grey matter.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

To conservatives, freedom of speech only applies to speech that is in English.

heh

Look, if that man has been in the USA for 23 yrs and still does not speak enough english, that is because he is unable to learn it! He might not even have completed 1st grade education in his home country which leads me to believe he is lacking some grey matter.

And?