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Where do you stand in reguards to:

  • #61
Um, it seems I got carried away last night with the cider and Daniel's. Everything I said doesn't make any sense at all. I apologise for my attitude and promise never to touch a computer whenever I'm not sobre. Sorry...
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  • #62
It's always dangerous to rely on historic analogies, but I think the language (or nationality) issue is a good one.  History shows one group after another assimilating and their presence changing American culture.  I think for the better.  If nothing else, imagine life if Chinese, Italian, and Mexican food traditions never arrived.

A disclaimer - I can't help but go political here.  A lot of Spanish speaking people come here legally or illegally because the US has destroyed their local economy and their best option is to come here and be part of ours.  Imports of heavily subsidized corn and pork and other commodities from the US have undercut local producers around the world.  Those in Latin America can get here more easily so arrive in greater numbers.  The free trade advocated by the major industrial nations is a one way street.
 
  • #63
Well I remember in Grade school (ele-mid) we could only take spanish and had to take it. In high-school we could take French or Spanish. I think it is rediculous that we have to take a language at all to go to college. It would be okay if we had to take a language but could take any language. I mean I might like to take chinese since most of the world is chinese. But that is not offered. I think the system has to be updated to population wise. So if the top two languages were offered (by population of the world) in each school that would be a choice between Chinese and (hmm what do the people of India Speak besides English).
 
  • #64
Alphawolf, all the realtive clause, etc etc stuff I said was to illustrate how much we don't know our own language....or at least the "correct" form of English. Its sick nowadays when you ask a graduate from highschool what a gerund is....or even god forbid ask them to pick out the subject and predicate in a sentence!
 
  • #65
NepG,
Do you know those things? You're right I don't and I can't think of anyone I know who is likely to besides my wife. She has the thing for correcting peoples English, strange how we ended up together. I am horrible with language arts.
 
  • #66
Quite, frankly I know very few out of what I listed in the original post Alphawolf quoted, its just that my French teacher is drilling this into our head for our own good, so the ones that go to college won't look like idiots.
 
  • #67
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]and Latinos are Latin Americans which typically speak Spanish and English depending. So what? If they speak Spanish then they are included unless of course they are English speaking or at least attempting.

Don't start with political crap! BTW if you're gonna quote then make a comment about it qoute the whole darn phrase or paragraph thats relevant
so it's ok to call you english just because you speak english? it's NOT political crap.
I did quote everything that was relevant. he said spanish people will be the majority. They will not.
and could you quote what you're replying to? I've got no clue who or what you're talking about in the other parts of your reply.
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I don't and won't accept anyone not being able to learn English in America. If you want to then you will and if you don't care then you probably won't.
many people don't have the time or the money to learn english.
 
  • #68
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Do you live in the country? I have to skim through Spanish to read darn near anything anymore.

i hav no idea what ur talking about

um perhaps i live in another country and am not awaere of it
 
  • #69
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Accomodate them? Why? Do other countries accomodate people with little lingual and cultural knowledge?
Every foreign country that I have been in has been very good at accommodate English. The best was Belgium. Most of the people there knew at least a little English. They are very friendly people too.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I'd rather learn Russian. Way easier to learn and funner to speak
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Maybe you should learn proper English first.
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  • #70
The thread is long and i don't feel like reading through the whole thing so i'll assume the last 4 pages are redundant
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I don't think its ok for ANYONE to be forced to learn anything because well no one wants anything forced upon them. Schools making it a requirement for children to learn spanish or any other language might seem wrong but schools also "force" kids to study math, english, etc (among the other mandatory studies). So i see spanish as just another requirement. It's sort of like you saying "what do you think of forced math teaching in schools" or something. I don't see the big deal. Maybe the people that oppose it have some sort of "dislike" against the spanish language, i don't know nor am i to imply, but i don't see why it is a bad thing. Another language is always good (some say you count for 2 people if you know 2 languages and they are probably right) it can't do a child anything but good to learn it.
 
  • #71
AlphaWolf,
I didn't say they are Spanish because they speak it. I said that if they only speak spanish and live here then this conversation is about them, no matter what country of origin. Actually I would feel the same about any language but spanish is the problem here since I rarely run across other languages in public.
Ok, after flipping back to page 5. Altrade said that spanish is the next biggest language next to english and that they will outnumber us in 10 yrs. So we might as well get used to it and learn spanish. Soooooooooo I replied that is like saying if we invade another country and outnumber them then they should just get used to it and start speaking english. Might I also add that i am the first to say I am confused as to why soo many other countries speak english. I see no need for them to unless they want to. While it may be true that they don't know how to go about learning or are short on money, I am was a ghetto kid and no one is gonna help me further my education, I have very poor english skills and it is my native tongue. WHERE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY.
If you read Coppers post you'll see that she explains exactly what I have said i have a problem with. Perhaps I mis-judged when I rear-umed that this spanish thing is everywhere. Maybe it is not.
Finch ,
I wasn't talking to you when i said that. I was being a smart*ss.
Ozzy,
Many countries have vast numbers of citizens who speak english and may or may not be helpful to new commers. I did not mean every country. However many of the poorer countries that immigrants are coming from are like what i described or can be.

Amateur,
I don't wholly agree but well said anyway. I guess in some sense it is relatable. I do agree that the more languages you speak not only the better off you are but probably more likely to have higher self esteem as well. I just think that if you move to another country it is respectful to learn the language. I am not saying that anyone should give up their cultures, religions, or languages, just learn mine if you want to live with me. I would do the same if I lived with you. I also agree that kids should have a second language mandatory in school. It should be for intelligent purposes not to accomodate the lazy, their should be a choice of languages or none at all.

Just for a political moment,
Hey if I have to give every little group a voice for what they do or don't like about my ways then shouldn't it be a 2 way street?
 
  • #72
[b said:
Quote[/b] (nepenthes gracilis @ Feb. 20 2005,7:28)]... its just that my French teacher is drilling this into our head for our own good, so the ones that go to college won't look like idiots.
Unfortunately, unless uou move to New Orleans or hang just below Quebec, (as you are) Spanish would have been the more practical choice. It has only recently come in handy for me.

English, as Greek was in the ancient worls, is the international language. someday, should America do as the Greeks and Romans have, anther dominant culture, with their language, will have (Ooh, future conditional tense!) replaced in English.
 
  • #73
Jimscott, thats the thing, I DONT HAVE A CHOICE. Our school district is pathetic, if your last name doesn't click, you're "just another". But thats, irrelevant....back on the topic of my school and French. The reason we're taught French is infact as you stated because we are so close to Canada were French is spoken, but instead of giving us some real languages to learn, like German or Spanish (practical ones since I've met waaay more German and Spanish people up here) they teach us French without any other options....well I shouldn't say that. Spanish is offered in the Senior year, which I plan on taking. But just for your information, I didn't choose French, the facist school district did. Subjunctive past tense
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EDIT: and referring to your quote jimscott, our French teacher is drilling all the ENGLISH stuff into our heads, not the French language.
 
  • #74
I have traveled the world but never to Canada.  I was under the impression that English is the dominant language there, except for the area in and around Quebec.  Am I wrong?
 
  • #75
Officially, the province of Quebec is French speaking and New Brunswick is bilingual.  I think Quebec (the city) has always been dominantly French since the time of its settlement.  Montreal used to have a much stronger English presence and still has its enclaves of English (not just for anglaphone tourists, I mean).  If there aren't too many firearms or other weapons handy, having two languages come together makes for a dynamic place.
 
  • #77
I think chinese would be the most practical since you know half the world's population speaks it. Unless you want to go area wise which would mean russian should be our top forced language. Not spanish. I have been to mexico and several of my close family members have gone to spain and other spanish "area" (former territories) and most people can speak English. I have conversed with Spanish speaking people in French and family members conversed in Italian. Even though countless people speak spanish most seem to know someother language that is more commonly used. Well my family members used only Italian to go around Europe just to see what would happen so I have to say it is commonly used.
 
  • #78
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Ozzy,
Many countries have vast numbers of citizens who speak English and may or may not be helpful to new comers. I did not mean every country. However many of the poorer countries that immigrants are coming from are like what i described or can be.

You're probably 100% right. I'm sure there are countries that are unfriendly to English only speaking visitors. I was just commenting on my experiences. I didn't mean for it to sound like I was discounting what you were saying.
 
  • #80
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]we communicate in English, but who the heck knows what a relative clause is, indirect object, direct object, prepositions, gerunds, verbs, injunctions, interjections, conjunctions, the list goes on and on.

AAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!! MAKE IT STOP!!! I HATE GRAMMAR!!! IT IS LIKE GRISSLY NOISES, NAILS ON A CHALKBOARD AND MOSQUITOS NEXT TO YOUR HEAD, ALL AT ONCE, IT IS! KILL IT!!!! *goes insane*

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I'd rather learn Russian. Way easier to learn and funner to speak

Maybe you should learn proper English first.

In the immortal words of Larry the Cable Guy, "Fun, funner, funnest!"
 
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