If you're going to live in a country, please learn their language first
544 replies, posted
[QUOTE=PvtCupcakes;29848487]Yeah it's pretty funny how many Europeans learn English because Americans refuse to speak anything else. Hilarious.[/QUOTE]
That's more a case of Brits refusing to learn anything else.
[QUOTE=borisvdb;29848352]
But say if your were studying abroad, would you need to learn their language fluently?
[/QUOTE]
Then you need to know their language especially well. How can you study if you can barely understand what the lecture is about?
Working in a supermarket, I don't like trying to communicate with people that can't speak English.
The area that I work in isn't like the US, either. There isn't really a great majority of any one particular nationality among immigrants (south-east Asian, Indian, North and Southern African, Middle Eastern, etc.) so no one culture has started "bleeding" (I'm not really sure what other word to use, sorry if that evokes the wrong images) into ours and learning any given language of those particular countries wouldn't be all that useful.
OP, I'm pretty sure they do that on purpose just to get rid of you.
When I lived in Germany and the telemarketers called me I'd always speak in English and say I don't speak German, they would hang up instantly :v:
Just wanted to point out that there is no official language in the US, English is [i]De Facto[/i], and that don't really mean a thing. Anyways most products, TV and costumer support are starting to support spanish aswell, since the second most spoken language in america is Spanish. Like it or not.
Although it's not the official language, it should be. The [I]vast[/I] majority of the populations speaks English. Most everything is produced in English, sometimes with Spanish instructions / subtitles.
I was once at a fast food place, where a Spanish women made her entire families order by pointing at pictures because nobody in the restaurant spoke Spanish, and none of her Family spoke English. Sounds funny, but it was also annoying because we were behind her, and it took ~20 seconds for them to figure out each thing she wanted. She'd point in the direction, then the cashier would point at a picture, she'd say no and point again, and the cashier moved on to the next picture, this went on until she got to the right picture, then it would start again with the next part of the order. Amusing at first, but hot old fast.
That's just an example of the inconvenience that can be caused by not knowing English, especially up here in Pennsylvania where aside from some Amish families, rarely anyone speaks anything else (and even then they're polite enough to know the language).
It's also good for safety reasons, and even convenience to the speaker. ALL street and traffic signs are written in English here.
Yo no se lo que me estas tratando de decir. Yo no entiendo esta idioma de estupidez.
[QUOTE=Xion12;29850690]Yo no se lo que me estas tratando de decir. Yo no entiendo esta idioma de estupidez.[/QUOTE]
Oh google translate, you so funny.
[QUOTE=Protocol7;29847182]bilingual english and spanish master race[/QUOTE]
i'm quad
:smug:
[QUOTE=Tyrannosaur;29829369]As a telemarketer for a charity, I call a lot of people everyday.[/QUOTE]
FUCK OFF
-The American People
[QUOTE=TH89;29851349]FUCK OFF
-The American People[/QUOTE]
truer words have never been typed
Also anyone who has worked in the service industry can tell you it's definitely not "just Mexicans" who can't speak English
i hate it when telemarketers call me so.....
In a way it's unfortunate that in today's society a good percentage of the population is living in places where the socially accepted language differs from their own. At the same time, while it's encouraged that they blend in and learn this language, it's also unfortunate that many countries only have one official language, which would marginalize foreign populations.
[QUOTE=Tyrannosaur;29829369]As a telemarketer for a charity, I call a lot of people everyday. And it pisses me to no end when I call someone and they answer and say "I don't speak English" or they answer the phone speaking Spanish. If you're going to come to America, learn English first. Every other culture knows how this works, they have come to America and integrated into society as normal people. The British, French, Chinese, Russians, Germans, and even the Bosnians have all integrated into American society. They only group that has failed to is the Mexicans. Now I understand that some Mexicans are good people and have learned English and integrated into American society, but many of them have not.
And you know that these Mexicans who don't speak English are illegal immigrants, because you have to learn English in order to become a US citizen, it's part of the citizenship test that all legal immigrants are required to take. This doesn't just go for America, it goes for all countries, please, learn the language of the country you're immigrating to. I wouldn't move to France if I didn't speak French or Japan if I didn't speak Japanese.
-The American People[/QUOTE]
Comeon, They're not going to give you money anyway.
I gave a whole speech for class on why English shouldn't be the Official Language. Don't go there.
[QUOTE=BagMinge104;29829562]In many poorer countries the tools to comprehensively learn a new language such as English do not exist or are out of reach for potential immigrants. To expect them to learn English before arriving is unreasonable and ignores the situations they exist in.[/QUOTE]
If you can't learn the language of the country you're trying to become a citizen of, then you shouldn't be in that fucking country.
[QUOTE=TheChantzGuy;29851552]If you can't learn the language of the country you're trying to become a citizen of, then you shouldn't be in that fucking country.[/QUOTE]
It's a free country, nobody's forcing you to speak Spanish. Deal with it
[QUOTE=TheChantzGuy;29851552]If you can't learn the language of the country you're trying to become a citizen of, then you shouldn't be in that fucking country.[/QUOTE]
As TH89 said in this post:
[QUOTE=TH89;29851680]It's a free country, nobody's forcing you to speak Spanish. Deal with it[/QUOTE]
I'd have to disagree with you on this point. Many people are escaping dangers and other situations in their home countries to more safe countries. In many cases, they do not speak the language of that country, which is a problem.
Yeah, they have more important things to worry about than making sure widdle babby pampered American kid doesn't have to hear someone speaking a language he doesn't understand :ccc
[QUOTE=TH89;29851785]Yeah, they have more important things to worry about than making sure widdle babby pampered American kid doesn't have to hear someone speaking a language he doesn't understand :ccc[/QUOTE]
Exactly my point. While learning the language of that country is important, it's not the [i]most important[/i] thing on their list of priorities, most likely.
to be honest if you are going to any country you should have atleast basic mastery of their language. I've learned spanish and german atleast a little bit before going to places that speak those language and it helped alot.
[QUOTE=Kman1;29851519]I gave a whole speech for class on why English shouldn't be the Official Language. Don't go there.[/QUOTE]
Although I'm arguing against that, I'm interested in what you have to say.
[QUOTE=TH89;29851785]Yeah, they have more important things to worry about than making sure widdle babby pampered American kid doesn't have to hear someone speaking a language he doesn't understand :ccc[/QUOTE]
Oh no! They can talk to us! They're going to lose their entire culture! OH NOOOOO
[QUOTE=BagMinge104;29829425]ITT a racist with no knowledge of the concept of the immigrant experience speals for the "American People".[/QUOTE]
If I went to live in mexico you can bet your fucking ass that I'd learn how to speak spanish before going there. It's not racist to expect them to do the same, unless you think for some reason there should be some double standard.
Why are so many people in this thread assuming no Americans know other languages?
It's a requirement to take at least 2 years of language to graduate high school, and most colleges won't accept you without at least 4 years total (middle school counts as one year because it's slow)
I also know plenty of kids here who were brought up in families where they spoke foreign languages like German, French, Chinese, etc.
This thread isn't about no Americans knowing spanish, plenty of us do. It's about the Mexican immigrants not trying to learn English.
If you are willing to spend the time, effort, and money to move to another country, the least you could do would be to learn their main language.
[editline]15th May 2011[/editline]
Why are so many people in this thread assuming no Americans know other languages?
It's a requirement to take at least 2 years of language to graduate high school, and most colleges won't accept you without at least 4 years total (middle school counts as one year because it's slow)
I also know plenty of kids here who were brought up in families where they spoke foreign languages like German, French, Chinese, etc.
This thread isn't about no Americans knowing spanish, plenty of us do. It's about the Mexican immigrants not trying to learn English.
If you are willing to spend the time, effort, and money to move to another country, the least you could do would be to learn their main language.
It's annoying as shit when someone comes up to you and starts speaking Spanish when they know damn well know that you don't.
Move to Russia
Can't Speak Russian
Move to France
Cant speak French
Move to Spain
Cant speak Spanish
???
Shouldn't think it would be any different for America.
[QUOTE=Swilly;29852357]Oh no! They can talk to us! They're going to lose their entire culture! OH NOOOOO[/QUOTE]
What does that have anything to do with what I said
If someone can't speak English, they'll suffer the consequences. They won't be able to get jobs beyond manual labor and will probably live in poverty. They also get you deal with you lovely monolingual kids going GRR LEARN ENGLISH all day. And if they don't like that? It's too bad for them.
Similarly, if you don't learn Spanish, you won't be able to get jobs that involve dealing with people who speak Spanish. You also might not be able to get into some universities, like the University of California? Don't like it? Too bad for you.
I'm sorry if you think having to encounter people who speak Spanish is some outrageous injustice against you. This is how a free country works, though.
in canada you don't need to learn english to be here, which kind of sucks :\
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