I think you miss-spelled the words, Vince524 is my hero. He is the wind beneath my wings.
Oh my! Will do, sir!
Vince524 es una rata apestosa que usa calzones de olanes.
I think you miss-spelled the words, Vince524 is my hero. He is the wind beneath my wings.
Anyway, as I said, having signs and official documents and phones etc in two languages only leads to a sense of Us and Them. A common sociological phenomena.
And my opinion is: if we're going to have one country - united, whole, happy and productive - then we can't have barriers, like language and separate rules etc., that increase divisiveness.
most of europe has bi- or multi-lingual signs. they manage.
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.
Of course, people are going to speak whatever they want in private and in their own small communities - but nationwide, as a whole, in order for there to be proper communication among disparate communities across the nation and even within small towns, English has always been the way to do it.
And in the past, other immigrants had hostilities to deal with also. Can you imagine if towns all over the country had started posting official signs in German as well as English? Or Italian? Or any language besides what has always been generally accepted as "the common tongue"?
Anyway, as I said, having signs and official documents and phones etc in two languages only leads to a sense of Us and Them. A common sociological phenomena.
And my opinion is: if we're going to have one country - united, whole, happy and productive - then we can't have barriers, like language and separate rules etc., that increase divisiveness.
As a non-American, am I right in thinking that some states have a lot of Spanish-speaking residents? So surely it's a good idea in those areas?
And in the past, other immigrants had hostilities to deal with also.
Can you imagine if towns all over the country had started posting official signs in German as well as English? Or Italian? Or any language besides what has always been generally accepted as "the common tongue"?
And my opinion is: if we're going to have one country - united, whole, happy and productive - then we can't have barriers, like language and separate rules etc., that increase divisiveness.
All governmental business is conducted in English. All sessions of Congress, all state assemblies, all local municipal meetings from the town council to the PTA.
It must be even tougher to learn english in Spain where they dub everything (horribly).
Not was? Vergib mich, bitte, aber ich verstehe das nicht.
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?
Probably not, if we haven't evolved socially much since the days of my great-grandparents who lived the classic 1890s-1920's immigrant experience in America -- Ellis Island, Lower East Side tenements, the whole Once Upon A Time in America trip, including the enforced assimilation of their kids in school without regard for whether the parents wanted it or not. And they were all legal immigrants.Possibly yes.
I don't think that's a fair comparison (or whatever it is) because, you know, it's Walmart. Who wouldn't fall to pieces if they had to shop there? But yeah, her reaction to the school program is a bunch of horsecrap.... Driving to another school will fracture her family?
I guess if the local Target closed down, making her have to shop at Walmart, it would end her marriage and cause her to become suicidal.
As others have pointed out, English is not our official language and there is no requirement for business to be conducted in English, nor has it always been conducted in 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.
Of course, people are going to speak whatever they want in private and in their own small communities - but nationwide, as a whole, in order for there to be proper communication among disparate communities across the nation and even within small towns, English has always been the way to do it.
And in the past, other immigrants had hostilities to deal with also. Can you imagine if towns all over the country had started posting official signs in German as well as English? Or Italian? Or any language besides what has always been generally accepted as "the common tongue"?
Anyway, as I said, having signs and official documents and phones etc in two languages only leads to a sense of Us and Them. A common sociological phenomena.
And my opinion is: if we're going to have one country - united, whole, happy and productive - then we can't have barriers, like language and separate rules etc., that increase divisiveness.
Give me a break! It's been more 56 years since I last studied it. I remember using it in the sense of, "Is that not so?" Of course, I sometimes remember things wrong.
I would like to add also that I'm kind of dismayed at the number of responses to this story that suggest that learning languages is a burden, or is not part of basic instruction, or should be optional and not a requirement.
Oh my! Will do, sir!
Vince524 es una rata apestosa que usa calzones de olanes.
One word at a time? I can go to Google Translate, just paste in the sentence, and it automagically figures out the source language and converts it to English (probably because it sees my IP address is in the USA) for me:
http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|Vince524%20es%20una%20rata%20apestosa%20que%20usa%20calzones%20de%20olanes.
Who needs to learn a furrin' languidge when we've gots Teh InnerNets?
I explained why. Besides, it doesn't have to be every single math class every day, all the time. And I'm still just seeing an objection to the class being challenging, which I said I didn't think was really a good argument. What you bring up is the argument for good teachers, not an argument against bilingual instruction. I mean, I've sucked at math my entire life and struggled in all my classes. Having them in a language I didn't know would not have made them any harder for me. But I did manage to pass them. If someone as math-disabled as I am could figure out a way to cope, then it's entirely do-able, I assure you. Measuring by my math experience lowers the bar pretty drastically.Why?
I mean, yeah, learning a second language should be required, and in and of itself, I don't have an issue with it starting earlier. However, there are kids who struggle with math, reading, science. I know a lot of teachers. I've heard a lot of stories of kids who just have trouble with the basics. Also, not all kids have a great support system at home who will help with homework.
I wouldn't want kids to have their math grades suffer because they are in a dual language class and they're not getting the Spanish part and they have issues with the math on top of it.
Also, why just Spanish?
I can also see it just rubbing parents the wrong way to just tell them, "It's our way or the highway, Amigo."
I'm still hung up on the part where parents should decide when their kids can handle a particular teaching method. As far as I know, few parents are also education professionals. I think judging whether a given child is handling a given method well should be a team effort among the parents, the child and the teacher, but the one who is doing the teaching is the teacher. Before people just announce they don't want this for their child, they should at least give the teacher a listen and maybe a test run, yes?
I'm still hung up on the part where parents should decide when their kids can handle a particular teaching method. As far as I know, few parents are also education professionals. I think judging whether a given child is handling a given method well should be a team effort among the parents, the child and the teacher, but the one who is doing the teaching is the teacher. Before people just announce they don't want this for their child, they should at least give the teacher a listen and maybe a test run, yes?
So does this mean EVERY TEACHER will have to be bilingual?