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That would be a "no".
This whole thing about the trucker being fined is precisely WHY we don't need an official language. It's far too open to abuse like this.
We don't have an official language and we seem to be doing just fine. It's when we have LAWS about language that they get abused.how you would solve such problems as...
IF in 10-20 years ANY language is what is spoken by a majority and it is what infrastructure’s language is then I would have to learn that new language to function properly in this society. I must ask you what you have against an official language. Do you feel that every country should just do away with their official languages? Then what happens to all the street signs, do we have to make them all enormous to fit as many different languages as possible? Should everybody learn the roughly 6500 spoken languages, and the hundreds of written languages? This is highly impractical, most countries have an official language to avoid these obvious problems. Almost every country in the world makes it so you must learn their common language to become a citizen. It is a matter of making sure that everything moves smoothly in that country.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who shares these thoughts. For a moment there I thought I was boarding the bigot boat.
I mean, when my church sends out missionaries to foreign nations, they take classes to learn their language so that they can effectively communicate with those in the country. To me that seems like common sense. What other option is there? Forcing the rest of the country to learn english to make it easier for you? Shouldn't you be expected to make a bit of a sacrifice and relinquish a few conveniences for your ultimate well being that you are striving for in the said country?
I believe:
- People who come to live in the US should do all they can to learn English as well as they can.
- People who come here and learn English should also do all they can to pass their native tongue on to their children.
- People who live in the US and speak English as their native tongue should try to learn other languages.
- When people from one country visit another country, they should take their dictionaries along and try to communicate the best they can in the target language.
-We should appreciate the diversity of language and celebrate knowing multiple languages.
- We should have a common language in the US, that everybody speaks or is trying to speak. I vote for English, since it's the most popular here.
To me, this is common sense. People should do what they should do and we shouldn't have to pass laws on common sense.
Learn it.So you're going based on popularity correct? What do you do when the popular language is different whether official or not?
First of all Arabic is the official language of Iraq and our troops do get training in basic Arabic. Secondly yes you may be able to go for a while without learning the language of the land you are in but you will have an incredibly hard time finding any kind of decent employment, not to mention doing other things such as driving for example (Those one way streets can be dangerous if you go the wrong way down them). Not to mention all of the people you wont be able to communicate. And in Russia especially its going to be bad news if you cant understand what the police are ordering you to do, they don't play around.:slap:
I know for a fact that I could make it in Japan speaking only English. People do it all the time as well as Russia, China, Afghanistan and so on. Do you feel our soldiers need to learn any of the Iraqi languages.
That is different from a court mandated "official language".
What about them?
Learn it.
They're not a single nation.Exactly what I asked. They all have their own languages and do fine with them. Not all of them speak the same language and they are doing fine.
It won't?And how will having an official language affect their sovereignty?
Nope. Learn English, too.But than if English is still official and majority of the people know the new popular language and don't use English anymore official government documents are still in English. See the problem?
Then by all means work on your communication skills. I can definitely see the need.
But why would we want the government to get into the business of who speaks what. Who cares? If I go someplace and can't communicate, I will find somewhere that I can. That's why we have so many ethnic neighborhoods. Making it legally binding smacks of xenoglossophobia and supremacy issues. It is what it is.
However, I don't believe I called you or anyone else a bigot in this thread.
Scuba Pete said:So, we need to introduce grounds for bigotry rather than eliminate them? That just sounds so hinky to me.
Scuba Pete said:Au contraire! I understand the roots of bigotry incredibly well. It first tries to squelch all diversity. If you don't look like us, speak like us or believe what we do: YOU MUST CHANGE TO MATCH US. It's crystal clear to me and revolting all at the same time.
Scuba Pete said:Surely you have statistics to support your xenoglossophobia. You wouldn't make this stuff up, now would you?
Scuba Pete said:I believe the NEED to have an official language is completely based on phobia, both ethnic and language based.
LittlePinky82 said:But than if English is still official and majority of the people know the new popular language and don't use English anymore official government documents are still in English. See the problem?
What technicality? I either called you a bigot or I didn't. I may have pointed out bigoted notions and statements, but I did not call you or anyone else in this thread a bigot. I am sorry that you and others have a hard time ADMITTING when you are wrong. I suppose I will be blamed for that as well.Sure, you never said the exact words "You are a bigot", but that's a technicality.
How would your life be any "easier" if English should become the "official" language. Sure, it would be easier for xenophobes to discriminate and have the law on their side, but other than pandering to biases and/or phobias, there is simply NO compelling reason for an official language. As I pointed out, it didn't seem to help in either Afghanistan or Iraq. The next step will be to ban certain types of dress here in America.I think we should because it would make a whole lot of things much easier for everyone.
\Then by all means work on your communication skills. I can definitely see the need.
But why would we want the government to get into the business of who speaks what. Who cares? If I go someplace and can't communicate, I will find somewhere that I can. That's why we have so many ethnic neighborhoods. Making it legally binding smacks of xenoglossophobia and supremacy issues. It is what it is.
What technicality? I either called you a bigot or I didn't. I may have pointed out bigoted notions and statements, but I did not call you or anyone else in this thread a bigot. I am sorry that you and others have a hard time ADMITTING when you are wrong. I suppose I will be blamed for that as well.
How would your life be any "easier" if English should become the "official" language. Sure, it would be easier for xenophobes to discriminate and have the law on their side, but other than pandering to biases and/or phobias, there is simply NO compelling reason for an official language. As I pointed out, it didn't seem to help in either Afghanistan or Iraq. The next step will be to ban certain types of dress here in America.
It's intrusive and NOT needed.The reason the government would get into the business of who speaks what is simple, its needed.
What information aren't you getting RIGHT now?Our entire society or any society runs through communication, if you cant communicate then you cant pass along the most basic information.
You will find the VAST majority of signage to be produced by local and state governments. There might be money from the Federal Government, but they are done on a local level.The federal government pays for a lot of the street signs; it has to decide what language to put them in.
Perhaps you have found the secret to governmental inefficiency. But really, we don't have this NOW and they seem to be doing fine.Federal employees have to be able to communicate with each other to work, if you have a team of people that need to work together and they all speak different languages then your not going to get too much done.
OMG, the SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING!!!And what about the school systems, standardized test must be printed and every public school in America currently has English on its curriculum should we change that? What if you started hiring teachers that spoke just any language and did not know English?
//edited for brevity//
I could go on with the problems that could occur all day but the point it that people need to have a common language to communicate and with out communication our society would come to a virtual standstill. So I ask you again Pete how would you solve these kinds of issues?
This is so silly! It's intrusive and NOT needed. [/font][/size] What information aren't you getting RIGHT now? [/font][/size] You will find the VAST majority of signage to be produced by local and state governments. There might be money from the Federal Government, but they are done on a local level. [/font][/size] Perhaps you have found the secret to governmental inefficiency. But really, we don't have this NOW and they seem to be doing fine. [/font][/size] OMG, the SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING!!!
Currently, we DON'T have an official language, we merely have a common one. NONE of these issues have reared their ugly heads so far, and pandering to your XENOGLOSSOPHOBIA will not make them appear!
The only change would be to give bigots the ability to PUNISH people for their diversity. We can see this with the poor trucker already. Is this the type of intolerant society you want us to change in to? Quelle domage!
Since John has a daughter in college he decided to pick up a part-time job and needed a commercial driver's license, so he headed to the division of motor vehicles to get the manual.
John Lippincott: "And I said, 'I would like a study manual to get my commercial license,'" and she said, 'Well, we have plenty of them here in Spanish, but we don't have any in English.'"
This was in Deerfield Beach, prime real estate for English-speaking Americans, so John asked the next logical question.
John Lippincott: "And I said, 'When do you expect to have some of them in?' and she said, 'I couldn't begin to tell you.'"
Now, when John called us, we assumed one driver's license office had run out of English language manuals and would soon get them in, so, a few days later, I went to the Deerfield office. No English manuals, and no idea when they would get some.
John Lippincott: "You should have written manuals in English, period. I mean it's fine with the Spanish too, but English should be there."
We also stopped in at the Oakland Park office. Again, no commercial manuals in English.
Producer: "Just Spanish."
We then tried the DMV office in Pompano Beach.
Producer: "Only Spanish. They said they have been out for months."
Three offices, all three out of English language manuals, but there were plenty of manuals in Spanish.