BF2S Forums Let the accomodations begin

The Mexican Government refuses to do any official business in English, and imprisons any illegal immigrants.

Talk about hypocracy.


I've taken years of Spanish in school, but i still think learning German, Russian, or Chinese would be far more useful in later life

He makes a point. Although, It's not like they don't teach secondary languages at schools over there...

Or is it just optional? Over here, it's compulsory to start learning French or German when you start High School. Sometimes I think they should start in Primary School when you're a little kid, fastest way to learn a new language is when you're taught it as a child.

Mek-Stizzle wrote:

He makes a point. Although, It's not like they don't teach secondary languages at schools over there...

Or is it just optional? Over here, it's compulsory to start learning French or German when you start High School. Sometimes I think they should start in Primary School when you're a little kid, fastest way to learn a new language is when you're taught it as a child.

They do. It is even a requirement for some high schools and colleges.

MAGUIRE93 wrote:

If you want to live in the US you should speak English idt we should have to learn another language.

I agree with the first part but not the second. This is America and we speak English, if you want to live here, learn English. I think we should learn another language though. The limits of your language are the limits of your mind, and a second or third language would be more valuable to the average person than most of the math we're required to take. It doesn't have to be Spanish, it can be anything.

Think of it this way. Like it or not, a large percentage of people in the US now speak Spanish. If you learn it too, you'll have a big advantage over those who don't and even bigger advantage over the ones who habla Espanol solamente.

Last edited by chittydog (2008-07-09 10:06:48)

i visited Israel several times for work.  Each time i went, i prepared ahead of time by attempting to learn as much common phrases in Hebrew as i could.  it's not that i really needed to since most of the people i ran into had a working knowledge of English, but rather that i wanted to.  Hebrew is their national language.  i don't expect them to accomodate me by speaking English - that's a bonus.  Actually, i feel bad that i don't know their language.  oh...and i felt the same when i went to Mexico too - but i took a few years study in HS so i know many more words than i do in Hebrew.  Either way, i'm not 'expecting' that everyone know English.  This contrasts with people who refuse to learn English in the US.  It's a shame since there are many free or low cost ESOL programs out there to help people learn (night classes too).  there's really no excuse other than they don't respect our culture and think we should change just for them. 

so much for the melting pot ideology.

ATG wrote:

Well, those that can speak Spanish have a whole new range of jobs they may get, like bossing around supervising mexicans.

As a sweat shop owner I can assure you it comes in handy to understand when they say  " Jódale asshole. Violaremos a su mujer y robaremos su tierra. "

Yea, you aren't going to find any gainful employment in Miami or the rest of south Florida unless you are fluently bilingual.  Sad how it has gotten to that point.  When visiting my Parents on the Keys, I just keep going through Miami.  I've been there countless time through work, and am less impressed each time.  One could thrive in Miami and never speak a word of English.

I almost want to learn it for that one reason you listed above... Not to boss them around, but to understand what kind of vulgar shit they are saying about me or my wife whenever we are out and run across a pack of illegals.  Maybe I need to just learn the phrase, "I called INS, they are on their way" in spanish....

CaptainSpaulding71 wrote:

chittydog wrote:

MAGUIRE93 wrote:

If you want to live in the US you should speak English idt we should have to learn another language.

I agree with the first part but not the second. This is America and we speak English, if you want to live here, learn English. I think we should learn another language though. The limits of your language are the limits of your mind, and a second or third language would be more valuable to the average person than most of the math we're required to take. It doesn't have to be Spanish, it can be anything.

Think of it this way. Like it or not, a large percentage of people in the US now speak Spanish. If you learn it too, you'll have a big advantage over those who don't and even bigger advantage over the ones who habla Espanol solamente.

one difficulty in doing this is actually putting into practice what you are learning.  for example, in my HS, i chose spanish as a foreign language.  unfortunately, my area was heavily german in ethnicity and we didn't have anyone to practice with so it was largely forgotten until i came to CA.  here, it's more common to run into spanish speaking people but i still don't have all that much contact, hence my language skills do not improve.

Yeah, I know what you mean.. I took three years of Spanish in high school and even though I live in Texas now, I still use it so infrequently that I barely remember it.

I always wondered why, even before the illegal immigration debate was as heated as it is now, Spanish was sort of 'the' second language taught at most schools. Like in elementary school and middle school (5th and 6th grade at least) you were required to take Spanish.

CaptainSpaulding71 wrote:

i visited Israel several times for work.  Each time i went, i prepared ahead of time by attempting to learn as much common phrases in Hebrew as i could.  it's not that i really needed to since most of the people i ran into had a working knowledge of English, but rather that i wanted to.  Hebrew is their national language.  i don't expect them to accomodate me by speaking English - that's a bonus.  Actually, i feel bad that i don't know their language.  oh...and i felt the same when i went to Mexico too - but i took a few years study in HS so i know many more words than i do in Hebrew.  Either way, i'm not 'expecting' that everyone know English.  This contrasts with people who refuse to learn English in the US.  It's a shame since there are many free or low cost ESOL programs out there to help people learn (night classes too).  there's really no excuse other than they don't respect our culture and think we should change just for them. 

so much for the melting pot ideology.

You're probably better off learning fuckin' Polak if you're gonna visit Israel

Mek-Stizzle wrote:

CaptainSpaulding71 wrote:

i visited Israel several times for work.  Each time i went, i prepared ahead of time by attempting to learn as much common phrases in Hebrew as i could.  it's not that i really needed to since most of the people i ran into had a working knowledge of English, but rather that i wanted to.  Hebrew is their national language.  i don't expect them to accomodate me by speaking English - that's a bonus.  Actually, i feel bad that i don't know their language.  oh...and i felt the same when i went to Mexico too - but i took a few years study in HS so i know many more words than i do in Hebrew.  Either way, i'm not 'expecting' that everyone know English.  This contrasts with people who refuse to learn English in the US.  It's a shame since there are many free or low cost ESOL programs out there to help people learn (night classes too).  there's really no excuse other than they don't respect our culture and think we should change just for them. 

so much for the melting pot ideology.

You're probably better off learning fuckin' Polak if you're gonna visit Israel

you should learn arabic or persian tbh, I hear they're really friendly towards people who speak loudly in arabic

Kmarion wrote:

DBBrinson1 wrote:

Kmarion wrote:

Spanish has been spoken in a good part of America far longer than English has. No, that is not an argument for or against
any official language in America. It is simply a historical reality, much overlooked.

Good read.

So.. Did you know that "English" is the official language of Florida?  That's one that has been much overlooked also.

Did you know that English only laws violate the national constitution?

what the fuck is a constitution

HurricaИe wrote:

I always wondered why, even before the illegal immigration debate was as heated as it is now, Spanish was sort of 'the' second language taught at most schools. Like in elementary school and middle school (5th and 6th grade at least) you were required to take Spanish.

Where I went to school learning French and Spanish was seen as learning a part of state history (Louisiana) and was compulsory beginning in 2nd grade.

And at the time there was still a sizable population of native Spanish speakers in the extreme south eastern part of the state (Islenos) who immigrated in the late 1700s and obviously there are still native speakers of French. There aren't enough speakers of Spanish for any state-wide accommodation, but English and French are the de facto state languages.