Tim James is a racist
Hugh Freaking Dillon
Posts: 14,010
Gimli 1993
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
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When in Rome....
If you come to the US, you should be expected to learn the language and conform to the laws.
I always say.... you want a foreigner in the US to speak English......cheat them on their paycheck.
They can count dollars, they should speak English.
9/29/04 Boston, 6/28/08 Mansfield, 8/23/09 Chicago, 5/15/10 Hartford
5/17/10 Boston, 10/15/13 Worcester, 10/16/13 Worcester, 10/25/13 Hartford
8/5/16 Fenway, 8/7/16 Fenway
EV Solo: 6/16/11 Boston, 6/18/11 Hartford,
"With our thoughts we make the world"
On the other hand, you dont need to know a language to drive - so why not teach and test in the person's native language? If they understand it better it means the roads are safer.
no, but the US has always prided itself on asking the world to "bring us your poor and your huddled masses". Surely they aren't just talking to the British in that famous speech?
If you truly believe this, you and I should both be speaking some Native American dialect. Not English.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
then you should be speaking Native American, formerly known as "Indian".
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
1. English is not the official language of the United States! We don't have an official language. It's true that the majority of Americans speak English, but what if/when the majority speak Spanish? Should YOU then be forced to speak Spanish?
2. Most people here speak English because English-speaking people stole this land from peoples who spoke other languages, murdered most of them, and forced those remaining to learn the language of their oppressors, lest they be beaten. Haven't any of you ever heard of Indian schools?
3. I live in New MEXICO. The saying "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us" is absolutely true here. Many of the elders here speak with heavy accents and some in rural communities never learned English. Why should they? We crossed into their land - shouldn't we have learned Spanish? Here in New Mexico, most of our documents are printed in English, Spanish, & Navajo. Guess which of these languages is the Johnny-come-lately of the region? Why should English be any more valid a language than the other two, which have been spoken for centuries longer? And why should it be acceptable to promote English in a way that serves to erase the language and culture of the majority of our citizens?
4. How can we possibly think it's okay to look down on others who don't speak English well when we, ourselves, don't speak English well?? Just look at many of the posts here and you'll see that many Americans - including many who so adamantly defend the English language - don't care enough about the language to even learn how to speak it themselves. What a bunch of fucking hypocrites!
5. Why do we think we have so much room to talk shit when we, seemingly more than any other country in the developed world, are so ignorant of other languages? We're raised to be a bunch of monolingual dumb-fucks in this country - myself included. Just look at all the people on this message board who aren't native English speakers but are able to converse with us. Now how many of us are members of message boards in their languages? We should be embarrassed by our nationalistic ignorance - not proud of it.
6. The argument that our language is not accommodated in other countries so we shouldn't accommodate the languages of others is absolute bullshit. I think most of the other countries in the developed world teach their children English. I remember the first time I left this country, nearly 15 years ago, and went to France. Everyone I talked with spoke to me in English and most of the important signs were in English too. And here I was in their country and couldn't speak more than a couple of words in French. I felt like an idiot. When in Rome, my ass! Go to Rome. They'll speak to you in English.
7. Where exactly do we draw the line? How anal about it are we going to get? Should people not speak Spanglish? Should they not speak with Spanish accents? What about Southern accents or Midwestern accents? Should we all speak just like our New Englander forefathers? Oh, wait.... they spoke British English! Should we all be made to speak like the Brits?
8. What the hell is wrong with printing signs and forms in other languages anyway? It's just practical. Should hospitals not treat people if they can't complete their paperwork in English? Do businesses really want to lose the money of all the people who need to "press 2 for Spanish" just because they're unwilling to accept the needs of their patrons? Do we really want to deny driver's licenses - and therefore car insurance - to anyone who reads English well enough to know the street signs but not well enough to take a written exam?
9. If we should deny driver's licenses to anyone who can't read the exam in English, shouldn't we apply this policy uniformly and deny illiterate people as well? If not, why not? And would that be fair?
10. I went to high school within the Navajo Nation. Should all my classes have been taught in Navajo? Shouldn't you be made to speak Navajo when you stop on the reservation to buy jewelry or get gas? (Good luck with that.)
It's simply a case of people not wanting to change because of entitlement and looking at things on the other foot. Pathetic... and it comes out in measures of racism, hatred, jingoism and ignorance.
Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. - Louis Brandeis
I agree, and it's sad. Not just for the victims of our sense of entitlement, but also for us and our children, who are missing out on a whole world of rich language, culture, and experiences. Shouldn't we WANT to learn other languages? :?
Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. - Louis Brandeis
There's a custodian where I work who's from Mexico. (There are many, but I'm just talking about this one.) (He's a legal immigrant, so don't everyone get their panties in a bunch!) Everyone thinks of him as a non-English speaker. Some people probably look down on him, especially with the double-whammy of not speaking English AND being a janitor. But I work late a lot, so I'm there when he's there and we've talked for hours. He has a strong accent and gets many of the words mixed up, but he is still able to talk to me - in English - though he doesn't talk to many others. I think it's because I'm patient with his learning curve (just as he's patient with me when I don't understand him or when I forget the Spanish words he's taught me) and he has a chance to practice and learn in a safe environment. I teach him some English and he teaches me some Spanish. But the difference is that I don't really speak Spanish at all and here he is having whole conversations with me in English. So as I sit there at my fancy desk with my salaried job, fluent in the sacred American language, speaking with the Mexican who is emptying my trash and isn't even fluent in English, I could look down on him. I think many people would. But really, what I'm always thinking is what a kind, interesting, cultured, and intelligent man he is, and how I wish my cultural experiences and language proficiency were half as great as his are. It's a shame so many people let something as insignificant as a language barrier get in the way of them seeing and appreciating the brilliant people around them.
I wish everyone would put themselves in the shoes of this man and people like him, who have moved to another country and are working hard to learn a language that's not easy to learn and assimilate to a culture that's not their own. I could just as easily be in this man's country and he could choose to look down on me for not yet being fluent in his language, which is no less valid than mine. We should always treat others as we would wish to be treated. And I think we would wish to be treated with understanding and patience.
That's so true and perfectly-phrased!
And you shouldn't be speaking Native American here, I'm in Canada
Besides, saying you should be speaking Native American is like saying people should speak Asian.
Why is that? :?
Correct me if I'm wrong - I might be... ?
Okay, I get it. No, they don't all share the same language. But I think you knew what he meant.
I'll say it....
everyone in North America should know how to speak english!!
Everyone in North America should also know their geography!! Of course it doesn't surprise me at all that you would forget that the entire Spanish-speaking country of Mexico is also part of North America!!
Owned.
9/29/04 Boston, 6/28/08 Mansfield, 8/23/09 Chicago, 5/15/10 Hartford
5/17/10 Boston, 10/15/13 Worcester, 10/16/13 Worcester, 10/25/13 Hartford
8/5/16 Fenway, 8/7/16 Fenway
EV Solo: 6/16/11 Boston, 6/18/11 Hartford,
I'm guessing that is the American way to spell touche'?
I thought he was complimenting my ass.
Here's a question for the Canadians: Is language such a big issue there? Do people think English should be the only language spoken and that all signs and driver's exams, etc. should be in English? Does everyone speak English or do some people speak only French? Are the French-speakers or those who speak English with heavy accents looked down on as a group?
(Of course, accents are relative. Many people who are thought of as having accents would say they don't have accents at all - and that probably includes the guy in the video. I remember once when I had to call this hotel in Canada frequently for a couple of weeks - I couldn't understand a damn thing they were saying. But of course they were speaking English. Seems to me that if we're going to look down on people who speak English with accents - or ban them from teaching English, as AZ has done - then we should do that across the board. Don't just ban English with Spanish accents; ban English with all the other accents too. Then we'll really have a battle on our hands about who in the English-speaking countries and even in the U.S. is really the center of the world! And maybe we would be able to see the absurdity of it all.)
who does WE refer to?