English as the Official Language

[ConservaDerrps]

1. How to force people to learn English
2. How you punish people for not speaking English
3. How you pay for all the English classes people are going to need to take .

You are really missing the point.

Really? Enlighten me, I'm begging you.

 

[Unkotare]

YEAH! **** other people's lives! It's all about AMURKIA! LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT! THESE COLORS DON'T RUN! IT'S ADAM AND EVEN NOT ADAM AND STEVE! KENYA! BIRTH CERTIFICATE! COMMUNIST! CLASSICAL LIBERALISM!!!

I'm wondering if you took your medications this morning...

That's funny. I'm wondering if you were born a Xenophobe or if your Uncle-Dad and Sister-Mom-Cousin taught you how to be that way.

Do you get extra points on your Lefty Card for using the word "xenophobe" in a self-righteous, emotive manner?

 

[Katzndogz]

No one will be forced to learn English. Non English speakers will no longer be accommodated. More importantly, Americans will not have to pay for such accommodation.

Other than that, they can speak any language they wish.

 

[Unkotare]

1. How to force people to learn English
2. How you punish people for not speaking English
3. How you pay for all the English classes people are going to need to take .

You are really missing the point.

Really? Enlighten me, I'm begging you.

Don't beg.

Do you honestly imagine that having an official national language would involve the Language Police kicking in doors and administering random grammar tests? What exactly do you think would be "forced" and "punished"? And we already pay for many, many, many English classes (although the 'free' ones tend to suck). You knew that, right?

 

[Unkotare]

It will not STOP it, but forcing people to learn English will DECREASE the need for expensive interpreters/forms, etc. The child rapist in MD GRADUATED FROM A U.S. HIGH SCHOOL!

So, it would have made no difference in that case. The criminal is gaming the system.

Actually it makes a bid difference, if English was our OFFICIAL language, he wouldn't be abelt to game the system. Getting an interpreter would be up to him and his lawyer, not us. Even if we are paying for his lawyer, we'd have no responsibility to pay for an interpreter.

No, that wouldn't likely change at all, because we'd still have to have a system in place to accomodate those who don't speak English anyway. Too many Constitutional conflicts involved (which would form the basis of endless bullshit appeals in the case of prosecution).

 

[Unkotare]

The computer scores your test

Not some of the ones in other languages (just as a point of fact).

In NJ they do

Not all of the other languages the test is offered in.

 

[Againsheila]

You are really missing the point.

Really? Enlighten me, I'm begging you.

Don't beg.

Do you honestly imagine that having an official national language would involve the Language Police kicking in doors and administering random grammar tests? What exactly do you think would be "forced" and "punished"? And we already pay for many, many, many English classes (although the 'free' ones tend to suck). You knew that, right?

No they don't. They don't have a lot of people going to them, but they don't suck. People give up their time to give those classes, my neighbor is one of them and she's made a lot of friends from all over the world.

 

[HUGGY]

It would mean a huge savings as government documents no longer have to be translated into dozens of languages.

Having English as the official language woudn't really prohibit speaking another language, the effect would be to stop accommodating the literally hundreds of languages now accommodated.

I dissagree. As we are printing less and less paper and rely more and more on electronic transmission and storage of information it is far less neccesary to have an "official" language. Actually it is better to leave it open in my opinion as there are many languages and running translations digitally makes it much easier to keep everyone informed.

 

[Unkotare]

Unbelievable.

Immigrants that speak English do better in school.
Immigrants that speak English earn more money.
Immigrants that speak English are likely to get a fairer trial.

And no one knows that better than immigrants themselves.

 

[JoeB131]

Nothing makes me more angry than to hear "Push 1 for English" on the telephone. This is America. People here normally speak English. If you don't want to speak English than you should go to some other country and speak the language of your choice.

Someone put "para dos por Espanol" onto these systems because they knew there was money to be made.

What amuses me is that if you press 1 for English,they route you a call center in the Philippines or India and talk to someone whose English is scratchy because they didnt' want to pay an American a fair wage.

Not that you rightwingers will ever get upset about that.

 

[Unkotare]

Really? Enlighten me, I'm begging you.

Don't beg.

Do you honestly imagine that having an official national language would involve the Language Police kicking in doors and administering random grammar tests? What exactly do you think would be "forced" and "punished"? And we already pay for many, many, many English classes (although the 'free' ones tend to suck). You knew that, right?

No they don't. .

Yes, the 'free' classes almost always suck. They are worth about what the students have to pay for them. Most immigrants who are motivated to learn will work extra hours or an extra job to pay for a real class.

 

[Unkotare]

Someone put "para dos por Espanol" onto these systems because they knew there was money to be made.

Why would they put something onto the system in grammatically incorrect Spanish?

 

[ConservaDerrps]

You are really missing the point.

Really? Enlighten me, I'm begging you.

Don't beg.

Do you honestly imagine that having an official national language would involve the Language Police kicking in doors and administering random grammar tests? What exactly do you think would be "forced" and "punished"? And we already pay for many, many, many English classes (although the 'free' ones tend to suck). You knew that, right?

Yeah, exactly. That was my point. You can't enforce it, and so therefore, who the **** cares? We'd still have to provide translators for criminals; if that's not in the Geneva accords, it's certainly covered under Miranda rights. Do you really think a Supreme Court, even as Conservative as ours is, would allow us to tell accused people they have to provide their own translators?

No, this is a largely symbolic and stupid stance to take. It's coming from paranoia of a certain older, white population that they're somehow losing "their country" to the immigrants. It's the same refrain we heard about the Chinese and the Irish.

It's yawn-tastic and pointless.

 

[JoeB131]

Someone put "para dos por Espanol" onto these systems because they knew there was money to be made.

Why would they put something onto the system in grammatically incorrect Spanish?

Wouldn't know... but a lot of it is, and they still get by and make the money...

I see you are back to only being able to process one sentence with your limited intellect.

 

[rightwinger]

Not some of the ones in other languages (just as a point of fact).

In NJ they do

Not all of the other languages the test is offered in.

So?

 

[Unkotare]

Why in the **** would a country that was built on immigration, and depends on immigration to sustain what's left of its agro-industry would FORCE people to learn a language? Honestly, that's the kind of shit that makes me laugh about Conservatives. They're all for keeping government out of their homes, unless it's telling them who to **** and what language to speak.

It's not about forcing someone to learn a language, it's about not forcing us to provide them an interpreter. When my friend and I went to Japan, we sure as hell didn't expect them all to speak English. Heck even the people in our hotel didn't. We had a Japanese friend that made our reservations. We went on our own, without an interpreter and we did fine, but we sure as heck didn't expect them to cater to us in our language.

That's not really a good example to support your position. You had to have stayed in a seriously cheap-ass hotel if no one there spoke even a little English, and you can drive around Japan and take the trains and all that with English translations, transliterations, and romanizations everywhere you go. English speakers are accomodated so much in Japan that speakers of other languages (other than Japanese, of course) very often rely on English to get by.

 

[Unkotare]

In NJ they do

Not all of the other languages the test is offered in.

So?

Just a point of fact.

 

[Unkotare]

Someone put "para dos por Espanol" onto these systems because they knew there was money to be made.

Why would they put something onto the system in grammatically incorrect Spanish?

Wouldn't know... but a lot of it is, and they still get by and make the money...

I see you are back to only being able to process one sentence with your limited intellect.

On a scale of 1 - 10, how stupid do you feel after trying to be a big shot and post something in Spanish only to make an ass of yourself by ******* it up?

 

[Unkotare]

Really? Enlighten me, I'm begging you.

Don't beg.

Do you honestly imagine that having an official national language would involve the Language Police kicking in doors and administering random grammar tests? What exactly do you think would be "forced" and "punished"? And we already pay for many, many, many English classes (although the 'free' ones tend to suck). You knew that, right?

Yeah, exactly. That was my point.

That did not seem to be your point at all from what you have posted so far.

 

[ConservaDerrps]

Don't beg.

Do you honestly imagine that having an official national language would involve the Language Police kicking in doors and administering random grammar tests? What exactly do you think would be "forced" and "punished"? And we already pay for many, many, many English classes (although the 'free' ones tend to suck). You knew that, right?

Yeah, exactly. That was my point.

That did not seem to be your point at all from what you have posted so far.

Why are you so concerned with others speaking English when you don't have a very good handle on it yourself?