Push 1 for English

[Shadow Wolf]

I am a bit of a troglodyte - I didn't even know who she was week ago. LOL.

The last fast food job I had (and I will gladly die before making it so it isn't my last) people who were constantly playing this rubbish on their phones (I made fun of my boss for being too old for a "teenaged dream."). And working for an inventory company, I heard many things that I would rather not have heard from having to car pool. It was kinda funny, because my girlfriend at the time would mention some rubbish song, I would say I've never heard it, and she would say that yes, I have, in whoever's car, or at whatever store over their radio.
I still think it sounds like Beyonce really wants a cigarette. God. And people say metal is hard to understand.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Our esteemed friend, Revoltingest, has argued: "Note that I'm not arguing for uniformity, but rather for a single thing in common, ie, language." I want to say that I agree with that goal 100%. A single common language that is English in the United States.

The only thing with that is America has always been a multilingual state.In 1776 we had English, French, and German. The Irish would later come, the Italians would add their own words, and Spanish has held a constant presence since at least the days of the "Wild West" up to today. And of course today a study in law is a de facto course in a handful of Latin. It does make it easier to have one language, but America has never been a nation of one language. Even before the sovereign United States of America, German, French, African, and Spanish words have been here, they have shaped American English into what it is today, and you could easily eliminate a huge chunk of the dictionary if it wasn't for those other languages, especially German and French, and all those cowboy terms wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Spanish (well, or at least they wouldn't exist in American English).
Pretty much America has always been English spoken by the masses and the language of predominate immigrant groups. If things in the Middle East keep getting worse, rather than debating about Spanish we'll probably be debating over Arabic.

 

[Copernicus]

The only thing with that is America has always been a multilingual state.In 1776 we had English, French, and German. The Irish would later come, the Italians would add their own words, and Spanish has held a constant presence since at least the days of the "Wild West" up to today. And of course today a study in law is a de facto course in a handful of Latin. It does make it easier to have one language, but America has never been a nation of one language. Even before the sovereign United States of America, German, French, African, and Spanish words have been here, they have shaped American English into what it is today, and you could easily eliminate a huge chunk of the dictionary if it wasn't for those other languages, especially German and French, and all those cowboy terms wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Spanish (well, or at least they wouldn't exist in American English).
Pretty much America has always been English spoken by the masses and the language of predominate immigrant groups. If things in the Middle East keep getting worse, rather than debating about Spanish we'll probably be debating over Arabic.

I very much agree with everything you said, Shadow. America has never been a nation of one language, but the language of government has always been English. Other languages have been added as needed by local governments, and I support that, too. If we were to have an official language enshrined in law--something that I very much oppose--then I would argue that we need to make Spanish another of our official languages, at the very least, because so many of our legal citizens are Spanish-dominant. But the fact is that I do not want any ethnicity to get special privileges. English is the official standard, but we should make room for all others at a local level as needed. Spanish is so common in the US that it makes sense for businesses and governments to reflect that in services that they offer to the public.

 

[sun rise]

I don't think Godwin's law applies when Hitler is actually relevant.
When discussing pogroms, he's the poster child.
Moreover, I was responding to a rather leading request.

The thread is relevant to the OP being about English language usage in America? Hmmm.

 

[sun rise]

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Other languages have been added as needed by local governments, and I support that, too.

I've never heard of that happening, but it makes a lot of sense. As I mentioned earlier, Indiana does a lot of business with Germany, so why shouldn't Indiana high school grads be required to at least know enough German to show the flow of Germans coming and going that we are making an effort to learn and to help each other overcome language barriers and learn from each other? Or know some Spanish, because there are many Mexican immigrants here in some parts. I've long said that Indiana, in regards to foreign languages, German is the business language and Spanish is the worker language (there is also Japanese on a business level, but not even close to the amount of German, and you probably won't encounter any Japanese people like you will German people). Regardless of which route you take, here it is only to your own advantage to at least make the effort to know at least the basics of one or both of the languages. Of course you can get by without, but even working a cash register you are likely to meet people who are from either Germany or Mexico, and having that basic understanding can go a long ways in helping to clear up when you and the customer aren't exactly sure what is being communicated back-and-forth. And because learning another language helps you to know and realize your own colloquialisms and regional dialects, it helps you to be more clear when communicating with someone who just barely knows how to order fast food in English, which is a definite plus from a business perspective.

 

[Kirran]

A reminder: things have changed in Europe in many ways since the pogroms. I don't think that's a valid opposition to our gun policies.

 

[Seeker of Ka]

Since the US has no official language I guess I can no longer feel indignant about having to push 1 for English.

I believe that is should be set to where the official language of the United States should be the most spoken language of the people at any given time. So right now it should be english. For those of you who think that we need to make english official to preserve "american culture" then all of the Europeans, Africans, and Asians should have learned Native American languages when they came over.

 

[Augustus]

Offering more than 1 communication option with the aim of having a greater number of people understand is the devil's work. Political correctness gone mad.

I really hate it when I go on holiday and they put signs and menus in English as well as the local language so I can understand them. I mean, if you were on a train and the station sign said 'Beijing' as well as '北京', that would be unbearable.

It really get's my goat when people speak to me in English also. I'd much rather hotel receptionist said '我可以帮你，先生', rather than 'Can I help you sir?' and taxi drivers said '是的，我知道那个地方。这不是很远' rather than 'yes, I know that place. It's not very far'.

Bloody do gooders.

 

[Revoltingest]

That can't be right.
It shows Algic where Yooper is spoken.

 

[Monk Of Reason]

Jews & Poles knuckling under to the Nazis.
(You know you expected at least the first example.)

How was their actions or systems desirable? What reason or gain would we have if we had emulated them?

 

[Revoltingest]

How was their actions or systems desirable? What reason or gain would we have if we had emulated them?

I was advocating keeping our opposite system, ie, we're defiant gun owners.

 

[Monk Of Reason]

I was advocating keeping our opposite system, ie, we're defiant gun owners.

And what I had stated in general before is that if there are better or more desirable systems than our own then it only makes sense to utilize those outlines. If something is not deemed desirable I doubt we should emulate it.

 

[Revoltingest]

And what I had stated in general before is that if there are better or more desirable systems than our own then it only makes sense to utilize those outlines. If something is not deemed desirable I doubt we should emulate it.

Hard to argue with that.
(I'm try'n to think of a way.)

 

[columbus]

That can't be right.
It shows Algic where Yooper is spoken.

Just wait until those darn natives start demanding their ancestral homeland back, the way the Zionists do.

And we are not talking about ancient history either. An enormous amount of the USA is covered by treaties signed by the US government giving permanent ownership to First Nation tribes.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it
Tom

 

[Revoltingest]

Just wait until those darn natives start demanding their ancestral homeland back, the way the Zionists do.

And we are not talking about ancient history either. An enormous amount of the USA is covered by treaties signed by the US government giving permanent ownership to First Nation tribes.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it
Tom

I don't smoke.

 

[Copernicus]

I've never heard of that happening, but it makes a lot of sense. As I mentioned earlier, Indiana does a lot of business with Germany, so why shouldn't Indiana high school grads be required to at least know enough German to show the flow of Germans coming and going that we are making an effort to learn and to help each other overcome language barriers and learn from each other? Or know some Spanish, because there are many Mexican immigrants here in some parts. I've long said that Indiana, in regards to foreign languages, German is the business language and Spanish is the worker language (there is also Japanese on a business level, but not even close to the amount of German, and you probably won't encounter any Japanese people like you will German people). Regardless of which route you take, here it is only to your own advantage to at least make the effort to know at least the basics of one or both of the languages. Of course you can get by without, but even working a cash register you are likely to meet people who are from either Germany or Mexico, and having that basic understanding can go a long ways in helping to clear up when you and the customer aren't exactly sure what is being communicated back-and-forth. And because learning another language helps you to know and realize your own colloquialisms and regional dialects, it helps you to be more clear when communicating with someone who just barely knows how to order fast food in English, which is a definite plus from a business perspective.

As an example of how it has worked in the past, the Detroit inburb of Hamtramck, where I spent the first four years of my life, had a population that was over 90% Polish. It was, in fact, a Polish ghetto for a few decades. Although my grandfather was a naturalized citizen, my grandmother never was, and both spoke Polish most of the time. My father was one of their two "anchor babies". All city documents were required to be in both English and Polish. I doubt that that is true today, because only about 15% of the population is of Polish descent, and few probably speak more than a few words of Polish now.

I'm in favor of a foreign language requirement in high school, but I would not force students to learn a particular language like German just because the local government depends on trade with Germany. Not surprisingly, a great many Germans speak English quite well. It is the second language of Germany. Most of the world's languages are under a great deal of pressure from the growing influence of English, especially on younger generations of speakers. Because of globalization, linguistic diversity in the world is diminishing rapidly. Sunrise's linguistic map of Native American languages does not tell you how many people actually speak the language of their ancestors today. Many of the languages in those language families are already extinct.