Óuh!! (Translation: "D'oh!")
If everyone who got into the US undocumentally got a pardon and hearty handshake, would the native USofAnians tolerate bilingualism to help their new documentated neighbors?
Possibly yes.
Óuh!! (Translation: "D'oh!")
If everyone who got into the US undocumentally got a pardon and hearty handshake, would the native USofAnians tolerate bilingualism to help their new documentated neighbors?
Óuh!! (Translation: "D'oh!")
English classes are difficult, lenghty, and often much more expensive than what the family of your average illegal immigrant could afford. When they're taught in public school, they are ludicrously inaccurate to the point of hilariousness.
Óuh!! (Translation: "D'oh!")
All this talk of having a single language bring us together is fine.
...why does it need to be legislated? We don't need some higher authority to come in and tell us what language to speak or how to speak it or where to speak it.
People should be free to talk in whatever way makes them understood to the people they're talking to.
I thought that was "carámba".
My Scandinavian forebears have a fine equivalent: Uff da!
caw
90% of any movies on theaters here in Venezuela for teenagers or above is in English with subtitles
No se te olvide abrir los signos de exclamación "¡¡¡", disculpa ser un nazi de la gramática pero eso siempre me molesta.
...
I almost wish my first language wasn't English because EVERYONE speaks it. No natter where I go, someone notices my accent and will be thrilled to switch to English. Globalism is a crutch in this instance.
A word from south of the border: learning english is hard, even more so when your native tongue is spanish. Because of the phonetics, it would be easier for a mexican to learn japanese.
No se te olvide abrir los signos de exclamación "¡¡¡", disculpa ser un nazi de la gramática pero eso siempre me molesta.
In the past, people have come to America from many countries with different languages (German, Italian, French, Russian, Chinese, African, South American etc.) yet those people learned the lingua franca. They made the decision to integrate into the population and become part of the Whole. Become "a part of the team" so to speak... <snip>
So when people hear or see another language given equal footing as English, the common language of this country from the beginning, they feel threatened.
France was good about that the last time I was there! I didn't brush up on my French, thinking everyone would speak English, and I spoke mostly in French to everyone there. Maybe they were just being polite, but I enjoyed it immensely.
No, they were not being polite, they just don't speak English. Well, most of them don't anyway. Especially the older folks.
I guess it depends on how "outward-looking" a country is. The Netherlands mainly survive by trading with other European nations, so in our schools children learn other languages. English is compulsory in all levels of education. Higher up, one needs to study a second foreign language, usually German or French. So, by the time a student graduates, they have at least six years worth of English under their belt.
English has always been the "official language". All official business in the United States - including contracts, legal proceedings, government proceedings and documents etc has always been conducted in English.This is a false narrative. From the Cajun French spoken in Louisiana to the Spanish spoken in the Southwest to the Chinese spoken in California to the German spoken in the Midwest, etc. etc., there have always been macro and micro communities in the U.S. whose "official communication" was in a language other than English. It is only through technological advances in communication and mobility over the last century or so that those languages have been gradually put aside in favor of English, gradually over generations, due to economics rather than culture. It's not intentional choice to belong to some fictional ideal of a national character; first, people don't live by ideology like that, and second, that ideology is mythic in the first place.
English has never been the common language of the U.S. It has been the dominant language overall, if you view the country as one giant unit, but that's not the same thing.
...I didn't made any embarassing mistakes in this post, did I?
English has never been the common language of the U.S. It has been the dominant language overall, if you view the country as one giant unit, but that's not the same thing.
No problem for me if schools want to create a voluntary bi-lingual learning environment. But forcing it upon kids is problematic. Minds are wired diversely, and what works fine for one kid may not work at all for the next. Some kids need more structure than others, etc. Any certified teachers amongst us could probably do a better job at explaining this point than me, though.
In Maryland, most kids get some foreign language exposure early on. Russian, Japanese, whatever. Just something that isn't English.
English has always been the "official language". All official business in the United States - including contracts, legal proceedings, government proceedings and documents etc has always been conducted in English.
I wouldn't say most. Not where I grew up in Maryland. Perhaps closer to DC, but not out west.
Just like here in VA. In Northern VA, there are so many different cultures. But further south, there are less.
Really? This was in a pretty rural community. I guess I assumed it was in the state curriculum. Maybe it was county-run.
I may have missed it, but I can't see any mention in this thread of the language that is most likely to be the worldwide lingua franca in a couple of generations: Chinese.