Non-english Speakers In America

[Albus Dumbledore 0]

Ok, well its just startig to tick me offthis summer i helped my grandma at a junior high school for registration because she gets swamped by kids... but thats besides the pointsince i helped her out, i had to talk to allot of parents, and i ran into about 50-60 people who did NOT sspeak english ONCE so ever!!so i had to call the district, and have them send a translator down to translate for me... well, i think the district got tired of us, because i called them down once for every person who came that didn't speak english.once the translator came, i asked him/her to ask the parents if the student particapated in in any ELL classes (english language learner) and they said no, i asked if they wanted to sign up for them they said no.... so im like wtf, your son doesn't speak a lick of english, and yet you want your child to be put in a normal english class?!?!? im saying to myself whatever, and put him in normal classes (he came back 40 minutes later with a friend that goes there that speaks spanish saying he wanted switched out -go figure-) lol, so i talk with my grandma on our way to lunch and we both agree'd that there should be some law that requires all non-english speakers to LEARN ENGLISH before entering this country.... they are the ones who should be obligated to learn a new language, not the americans who allready know their home language.now i have the same theory for being required to take a year of spanish in high school to graduate, and another year to get into a college or any good job.my whole thing is, why in the hell should i (an american who speaks english) be obligated to speak another language in a country in which its origional and dominate language is english?!?! (this also came in the convo on the way to lunch) and we both agree'd that it should be the other people who are coming into the country who should be obligated to speak english before they are alloud to enter. i understand america is free, but speak some god blessed english for god sake. if people actually were forced to learn english before coming into america, that would lower the necissity to take spanish classes in high school, and it would make it not so difficult to find a good job without having the two years of spanish.meh, im just tired of waisting two years of a high school education on stupid spanish classes (when i could be taking a more educational class during that time) that i will never use in my freaking life, and wouldn't have to use if some people would learn some _________ english.

[3-me 0]

Interesting rant, but can you clear this up for me..

 

Is this meant for those who cannot speak english at all, or the ones that are not-so good at speaking it..?

[Albus Dumbledore 0]

ones who dont speak it at all, if someone can speak it not so well, but can still communicate if they were to go to a school, or McDonalds.... atleast they are able to say somthing and hopefyuly are working on imprving it if it is reallly really bad...

[JasperIk 0]

I'm sure the american indians didnt like being forced to learn english, but hey it was pushed on them. Just like spanish is being pushed on us, especially in southern california. You just have to deal with it, because its happening, and sadly probably nothing [because the government gets a great deal of economic support from low paid, working non english speaking immigrants]will be done about it. English isn't my first langauge but I think I do pretty well, there are things I get mixed up on so I try to keep most my words pretty simple. But on a random note, people always hate when i ask why people say things like "sicker than a dog" ive never understood that, and people tell me "because dogs are sick" but i dont think thats really why, its just that if im going to say something id rather know what it actually means, where it came from. I know it means you are very sick, but why does it mean that?I have a hard time explaining my emotions sometimes because of the lack of good words in the english vocabulary, atleast powerful words. I don't speak my 'native' tongue very well anymore, not that I probably did anyway. That is the downside of learning english at a semi young age [8], is i for some reason couldn't grasp onto both, and when everyone around me is talking in english even my family, it just kind of gets sucked out I guess. So often times im stuck inbetween knowing how to word things, and then also not knowing, like there will be no connection between two words, or a phrase and i wont know how to finish it, and then i get stuck because i cant remember/dont know how to say it in any language. Anyway though, I think if you plan on living in the US, you should learn english it makes everyone elses life easier. But if you are staying, not living here...you shouldnt have to- though its easier if you learn it, so you can communicate with the majority of the people. I have no respect for those who refuse to not learn english. Its often times those who speak spanish, because the others are so eager to learn english [like my family] and our homes are farther away, so we cant just go back if something major happens. I remember once i was watching the real world, and the one guy was talking to a french waiter in english, and he didnt know what he was saying, and he got all pissed off of. But i sat there thinking, you are in HIS country, you should have tried to learn french [in fact they were supposed to], just like if he came to the US youd want him to learn english.

[no9t9 0]

since i helped her out, i had to talk to allot of parents, and i ran into about 50-60 people who did NOT sspeak english ONCE so ever!!

It's funny how you are complaining about people's English when, pretty much your first line, is wrong. It's not "ONCE so ever"... it's "WHAT so ever".

But, I do hate those people who can't speak english. They come to my school/company and I have to work with them on reports and presentations. They don't understand what they need to do. And when they do understand, they can't do the work because they produce CRAP. Then, when they have to do a presentation, it gets even worse.

They just ride my coat tails to get through a project. It is very irritating when I have to do their work for them and they get the credit. I also hate it when I have to correct their work because they can't produce anything worth while.

[Sharn 0]

Wow, took the word right out of my mouth. The only problem is, most of the people who can't speak english are *Illegal* immigrants. I fully agree that you should HAVE to know the native language unless your just visiting for a month.For ANYWHERE, not just America. Like, we tried to sell and old Chev Blazer for cheap. Half the people who stopped were Mexicans who could not speak English. (No offense meant with using Mexican) And they'd be like "much - truck?" and I'm like "....what? " So, yeah, it gets VERY annoying.And it'll never be put to an end, considering half the manual labor workforce is built up from them. >.>

[Sinari 0]

I thought that you had to take English courses to learn English before you entered any American school district.... Obviously not. We're not required to learn a language to graduate but I still take French because there are people who simply only speak that one language. I wish you could take a language that would be a little more useful for the career that I want like Latin, but that's not what my school thinks that I need to know.

[MaineFishing45 0]

Albus never could I agree with you so much more. I need to take 3 years of spanish to get into a good college, let alone graduate with a Advanced Diploma at high school.Anyways I personally think Mexico is dumping there problem on the US, so we are forced to speak a language that is dominating the world and our own country! When our kids have kids, its going to be Spanish, enlgish will turn into the new latin for America. The only people that will be speaking some english will be the Brits, and Auzzi's .I understand that they can come into the country, but they should know some english, it does not have to be perfect. I also understand why we have to lean the languages, but our schools need better language teachers. Because staring at a laptop and smart board screen don't teach kids english through a e-program with a text book.

[Chrisseh 0]

I've been saying this for years! I totally agree... I lived in Northern Illinois for the first 15 years of my life, and it was always SUCH A PAIN to go anywhere, because every drive through fast food restaurant you'd go to... you'd get a Spanish speaking person taking your order in broken english on the other side. You could barely understand them with their accent, 85% of the time your order was messed up, something was forgotten or just wrong alltogether. Even after the digital displays came up, you'd spend 5 minutes correcting the things that came up. It's a pain!I understand that there are MANY Spanish speaking people in the area, but sheesh, working in a place where communication with the customer is important, you need to speak fluent English. My younger cousins go to school down there, and I guess they're just a couple out of a handful of English-speaking students there! I'm sure the staff speaks English, so why not the students? They have every right to speak Spanish to their friends, at home, whatever, but in the outside world (School, work, ect), they need to speak English. It's the national language... it SHOULD be required when they move over here! Their kids should be required to take special classes that teach english. The parents should be required to take english classes before becoming a full fledged citizen and getting a job that deals with working with customers. It might sound harsh, but that's just the way it should be.It's even worse now... I go down to visit my family and friends down in Illinois a few times a year, there have been times I've gone into McDonalds, and upon uttering your order in English, the cashier rolls their eyes and calls the manager to come translate. I have nothiing against Spanish speaking people, I've known many who could speak both English and Spanish very well, and others should follow in their footsteps.

[Albus Dumbledore 0]

The only problem is, most of the people who can't speak english are *Illegal* immigrants.

lol!!

aint that the turth....

that is a whole nother vent topic waiting to be started...

[Madkat-Z 0]

I know your feeling. However I work at a college where you are required to prove that you have learned English and if they haven't they must take English classes before they can take other classes. I'm currently taking Japanese in college and I'm quickly learning how hard English is compared to Japanese. So I can understand why some people don't choose to learn it, but if you are planning to live in a country that speaks a different language then your native language you should be required to learn that language.Plus, I agree with you that if the kid doesn't prove that he can speak or write English that he should be required, not optional, to take ELL classes. I have read in the news before about Spanish speaking Americans say that the English speaking Americans should also learn Spanish because so many people speak Spanish. Well all I can say on that issue is, first off, English is dominant language here not Spanish, and Second, its more of an effort to get all the English speaking Americans to learn Spanish as well, then all the Spanish speaking Americans to learn English.Whats odd is I have never heard of this issue coming up in other countries, with the exception of countries in Europe, which is understandable because those countries are so close together. However the United States is so huge compare to the countries in Europe, not to mention most of it is so far away from Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries.

Edited August 27, 2006 by Madkat-Z (see edit history)

[iVTEC 0]

I know what your saying,but people come over here because were they used to live it was in war's zone or the goverment sent them here and they were treated like crap.Be helpful to them they will respect you alot and they can teach you things and a better way to live because they have not experienced (cable,internet,TV,even telaphones) were so used to it and we take it for granted they can teach us not too.(Just my opinion)

[JasperIk 0]

I know what your saying,but people come over here because were they used to live it was in war's zone or the goverment sent them here and they were treated like crap.Be helpful to them they will respect you alot and they can teach you things and a better way to live because they have not experienced (cable,internet,TV,even telaphones) were so used to it and we take it for granted they can teach us not too.(Just my opinion)

A lot of countries do have tv, internet, and phones so i dont know what you are talking about. Maybe not every citizen has them, but they do have them available. Im just saying, because I was born in Russia and i dont know why people think We have NOTHING there we do, we have a lot of entertainment stuff, some may be a little more monitered then in other countries but we have it. Same with, a friend of mine she is from mexico and she was asked if they even had TV in there, um hello spanish soap operas? We who come from another country are hardly aliens from outerspace.

He was more talking about people who choose not to speak english, whats the point of trying to help someone learn english if they arent willing to learn

[brainless 0]

jasper: talking about ignorance ... my brother was asked whether Hitler was still in charge in Germany when he went to the USofNA three years ago (and those guys meant it o_O)anyways, have a look at the history of the United States of North America:1) "discovered" by a non-english speaker about 600 years ago.2) first european settlements on the american continents - not english.3) native people - did not speak english, spanish, german, italian, portugese, dutch or french.4) the USofNA did not always cover all the area from the East Coast to the West Coast and from Mexico/Cuba to Canada - huge parts of what are now the southern states of the USofNA have been taken by Spaniards before the USofNA invaded them......so actually, a) "the Europeans" should have, following your way of thinking, learned the indigene languages and the official language of the USofNA should be spanish (since the people of the USofNA came to places where spanish was the official _and_ dominant language...)

[Albus Dumbledore 0]

but the past is behind people.... and it should always be...But if you want to get tecnical about it here ya go


ever since america was called america the dominate language has been english

we took what little land the mexicans in america from them in the war of 1812 since they would not allow us to expand out rail-road sytem we took the land from them, i do not remember what it was called when we did take it from them, but we did.

but first the amiericans (who were english speaking people) bought the louisiana purchace which was most of the united states, and the dominate langauge of what was the 13 origional colonies (all english speaking). now became a much larger america.... then we took over the land from the mexicans who refused to let us do what we were doing and so we decided to take california as well... makeing it part of america who's dominate language was english....

the delceration of independance was written in english, the dominate language of america...

therefore, ever since the actuallity of america being america with americans in it, not indians, not mexicans, not anyone else the dominate language has been english. and until the past 10-20 years, more and more illegal aliens have been coming in from everywhere! and they dont speak english.... so i fear that americas dominate language will soon become to not so dominate language...

-thinks-
lets see, we took land from mexico, maybe they have some grand ideal of trying to get it back from us.... lmao



------------------------------
left somthing out

(since the people of the USofNA came to places where spanish was the official _and_ dominant language...)

so what..... so we took their land, wooptie do...now what are they trying to do, push us out of what is now our land and has been our land for the past 100 and 80 somthing years?? that is what i think they are trying to do, push us all out so they think they can get it back... lol

we invaided, and we conquered..... so we took

just because we invaided mexican land doesn't mean that the language of that land should be spanish. america conquered that land, making it apart of america.... therfore it is now american soil therefore it should be the american language of ENGLISH
Edited August 27, 2006 by Albus Dumbledore (see edit history)