• If you're going to live in a country, please learn their language first
    544 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Jo The Shmo;29852692]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.[/QUOTE] I graduated from high school with half a semester of Spanish in which I learned absolutely nothing, and got admitted to a state university. And UC only requires one year for transfer students.
[QUOTE=Noble;29852467]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.[/QUOTE] there should be we have better education and better standard of living here people in mexico often dont have the luxuries so basically by saying that immigrants should be required to learn the language you are saying that only the privileged should be able to immigrate
[QUOTE=Noble;29852467]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.[/QUOTE] gee it's almost as if there's a huge influx of mexican immigrants because mexico is a shitty place to live and probably doesn't have the same educational facilities for learning another language as we do
[QUOTE=Lazor;29853605]gee it's almost as if there's a huge influx of mexican immigrants because mexico is a shitty place to live and probably doesn't have the same educational facilities for learning another language as we do[/QUOTE] no its obviously because they are lazy mexicans duh they just wanna come here speak spanish all day and not pay taxes
If funding for the teaching of languages was rid of and instead spent on connecting up everyone and developing infrastructure I can bet you that 80% of the worlds languages will go extinct within a century.
[QUOTE=codemaster85;29829690]Oh yeah, that's why it's a requirement to take 2 years of a different language to graduate highschool right?[/QUOTE] For Texas, we have to take three years, and most schools only offer Spanish. Some offer French.
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;29853719]If funding for the teaching of languages was rid of and instead spent on connecting up everyone and developing infrastructure I can bet you that 80% of the worlds languages will go extinct within a century.[/QUOTE] not really, most languages try and uphold their own traditional roots and change as little as possible, french being a big example english is actually one of the few languages that changes and adapts really quickly
Do you all really see all of america as a xenophobic when it comes to languages? All my high school classmates are talking about how fun it's going to be to learn as many languages as possible, so we can travel to different places.
I've only taken Spanish in elementary and middle school. I barley know a word of it. Although, I MIGHT of taken a class on Language if it wasn't Spanish, but all my high school offers is Spanish, cause we have so many Mexicans (oh sorry, Spanish speaking citizens) up here in Michigan :rolleyes: I would've liked to learn Dutch or German though, as those are the only Non-English speaking places I might've ever traveled too.
Just because you had classes on it and sat through them doesn't mean you learn a language, you have to put forth effort you know, if you sit around and think wow this shit is stupid who cares, you'll never learn it. So I find it hard to believe you honestly tried and didn't learn jack shit.
[QUOTE=codemaster85;29829690]Oh yeah, that's why it's a requirement to take 2 years of a different language to graduate highschool right?[/QUOTE] Not in my state.
I agree, but you're being an asshole talking only about the Mexicans
[QUOTE=Chrisholl;29854535]Just because you had classes on it and sat through them doesn't mean you learn a language, you have to put forth effort you know, if you sit around and think wow this shit is stupid who cares, you'll never learn it. So I find it hard to believe you honestly tried and didn't learn jack shit.[/QUOTE] If you're responding to me, where did I say I learned Spanish or put fourth Effort, I pretty much spelled out in my post that I never wanted to learn Spanish and that the languages I would've been interested in were not offered.
Op is kind of right. While a person should try to learn the language of the country they are going to live in there are many immigrant who either cant because they have to move in as fast as possible like some mexican or north korean immigrants or the country they came from didn't have good education. Also since most immigrants try to live in a ghetto as soon as they come to a new country there isn't a huge need to learn right away since the people they will be talking to are speak the same language and op comes of as racist when he talks about mexicans.
There's no better way to learn a language than moving to a country that speaks it. It's just the ones that make absolutely zero effort in learning the language that need to piss off. Otherwise you'll always need patience with people in these instances.
"El Gato es en el pantolones"=The cat is in the pants "El pantolones es en el Metro"=the pants are in the train(Or bus, can't remember now) ...That's all I know and I totally know what they mean. That's four years of Spanish down the drain because I never used it, ever.
[QUOTE=imasillypiggy;29854978]Op is kind of right. While a person should try to learn the language of the country they are going to live in there are many immigrant who either cant because they have to move in as fast as possible like some mexican or north korean immigrants or the country they came from didn't have good education. Also since most immigrants try to live in a ghetto as soon as they come to a new country there isn't a huge need to learn right away since the people they will be talking to are speak the same language and op comes of as racist when he talks about mexicans.[/QUOTE] immigrants generally dont try to live in a ghetto as soon as possible, its the only place they can live the culture and language is closer to where they are from so it is a good halfway point to begin integration with the native population, and it is also a lot cheaper, and if family or friends moved up there it gives you a place to go where you instantly have connections i would assume most mexicans would rather live in a nice white suburb than in a ghetto, but cant for those reasons [editline]16th May 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Swilly;29855423]"El Gato es en el pantolones"=The cat is in the pants "El pantolones es en el Metro"=the pants are in the train(Or bus, can't remember now) ...That's all I know and I totally know what they mean. That's four years of Spanish down the drain because I never used it, ever.[/QUOTE] i know just enough to either tell when someone is insulting me, or when someone is giving me basic work orders, and even then i only understand it, im way too self conscious about my accent to try speaking it most of the time
[QUOTE=yawmwen;29855636]immigrants generally dont try to live in a ghetto as soon as possible, its the only place they can live the culture and language is closer to where they are from so it is a good halfway point to begin integration with the native population, and it is also a lot cheaper, and if family or friends moved up there it gives you a place to go where you instantly have connections i would assume most mexicans would rather live in a nice white suburb than in a ghetto, but cant for those reasons [editline]16th May 2011[/editline] i know just enough to either tell when someone is insulting me, or when someone is giving me basic work orders, and even then i only understand it, im way too self conscious about my accent to try speaking it most of the time[/QUOTE] I say it to mess with them :v: Make them think they're more intelligent. Which in hindsight, is both a dick move and nice at the same time.
Language is first! I also think when go to one strane country, it is necessary to learn its language if you wanna yourself work and live better.[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]
Did the European settlers learn the native Americans' language? Just wondering.
[QUOTE=aydin690;29858715]Did the European settlers learn the native Americans' language? Just wondering.[/QUOTE] :v: Are we holding these people at gunpoint?
Next time a telemarketer calls me I'll start speaking a different language just to piss them off.
Anyone who disagrees with this is a completely blind idiot and should go move to some other country. Then you'll realize we're the only idiots letting so many illiterates in and actually ADHERING to their stupidity. I had a fucking nightmare last night that I was sitting in a classroom with 15 kids, and then 5 minutes after the bell rang a bunch of people who couldn't speak English came into the classroom and started making a ruckus and disrupting the class. Then the teacher asked one of them to read and he started reading in Spanish (I know it doesn't make sense to be reading from an English book in Spanish, but it was a dream and that's not the point). I tried to tell the teacher that it makes no fucking sense for him to be reading to the class in Spanish when our first languages are English and they should have to learn OUR language first before fucking coming here and expecting free freedoms, and she just hushed me down and let him keep reading. I probably had this nightmare because this is how I feel about half of the classes I'm in at school, and it pisses me off to no fucking end.
[QUOTE=BagMinge104;29829667]To expect one to learn Engliah once they get here is inevitable. To expect them to have a comprehensive knowledge of one of the hardest languages to learn before getting here and ignoring the ecnomic and social conditions they are in is not.[/QUOTE] Saying english is one of the hardest languages learn is like saying 2 plus 2 equals 5. It's just not true.
That you for this wonderfully well-argued and substantiated assertion.
[QUOTE=Keegs;29854429] I would've liked to learn Dutch or German though, as those are the only Non-English speaking places I might've ever traveled too.[/QUOTE] German is a good language to learn, but never EVER try to learn Dutch. Speaking Dutch is like speaking Klingon with a mouth full of glass. That, and there's so much exceptions and weird rules in the language that the only way to learn it pretty much is by living here from birth. Immigrants try to learn it, but they tend to fail miserably at it. It's sort of a national joke how the Dutch always end up 'learning' a language when they go to a different country, but foreign tourists generally don't speak and never will speak a word Dutch when they come here. It's like some kind of unwritten rule that "[i]thou shalt not speak Dutch in front of the Dutch[/i]". Also, because the Dutch language is so weird, it's weird rules and exceptions tend to carry over when we try to speak different languages. Resulting in silly things such as [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunglish]Dunglish[/url]. "[i]I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and my wife's bottom also.[/i]"
[QUOTE=asdfghjkl';29848438]and he's really fucking late[/QUOTE] So what if I was late with that comment? Does it hurt you to read a point twice in one thread? Just saying there's an American complaining about Mexicans in the USA who don't speak English - despite the fact that English isn't even recognized as the official language.
[QUOTE=BagMinge104;29829667]To expect one to learn Engliah once they get here is inevitable. To expect them to have a comprehensive knowledge of one of the hardest languages to learn before getting here and ignoring the ecnomic and social conditions they are in is not.[/QUOTE] Uh technically speaking, English is one of the most simple languages at a verbal level. Written is somewhat more complex, but it's still not that much harder for others to learn. Just about every other language seems harder. Even if I were to compare it with the group of similar languages - German and French, which already are simple enough, english would still end up being far easier. But agreed on one account - a fresh immigrant is not to be expected to know english, or be fluent. But after a certain amount of time it would be very good for them to learn the majority language on at least a basic communication level. Wasn't it one of Obama's plans actually? Legalise immigrants if they can actually prove to certain extents that they are able to exist as american citizens, one of the required things being passing an english test.
I is know enough engrish? I immigrant now?
Que ? Me no habla espagnol.
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