So I joined that group on Facebook.
It makes more sence to me.
I mean we were here first and then the mexicans come in. Then we are REQUIRED to learn spanish?
pfft.
What do you think
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So I joined that group on Facebook.
It makes more sence to me.
I mean we were here first and then the mexicans come in. Then we are REQUIRED to learn spanish?
pfft.
What do you think
Look at it this way, if you learn another language you have better job opportunities...yaay!
I'd like to learn Spanish. I don't think it really matters who's there first or whatever. Knowing another language is always a plus. :shadewink:
I'm surprised people would argue over this lol.
I think Americans should learn English :_;Quote:
Originally Posted by LunaLovegood
Honestly though, I don't see why you wouldn't want to learn a second language. Personally, I love languages more than anything :D
;\
this thread is awful
'we' weren't here first. native americans were. we didn't learn cherokee, we killed them all.
this is really a pretty rude thread. you should think more before you post.
Spanish is a pretty useful language to know. You're not learning it because "the mexicuns awr illegawl immergrants that awr stealin them there jowbs!"
although i essentially agree with no-name, there's still a potential discussion here.
maybe if schools in the US were smarter they'd teach kids chinese? i'm not sure... :roll:
I wanted to learn spanish for so long. And I will.
My attempts so far haven't been very fruitful, but it's going to happen.
And foreign languages should always be taught. Spanish also happens
to be one of the world languages. It does make sense to learn it, even
for that reason alone. Other then that... yeah, pretty much 90% of the
people are learning English one way or the other anyway. I don't really
get why people would be upset because of this...
hehe, no kiddingQuote:
Originally Posted by cygnus
...my opinion? Spellcheck/Correct your grammar prior to posting something involving learning languages.
But anyway, While I think if a person (for conversation's sake, let's just say from Mexico, since that's what most people are concerned with these days.) chooses to move to another country (again, for our purposes, let's just go on ahead and say America.) they should have the courtesy and sense to learn at least enough English (in this case.) to be able to hold a conversation and understand basic sentences and words. If I were to move to Italy (as is one of my plans in the future) I would make sure I knew enough Italian to get by (though technically I already do.) and even though English is basically the most spoken language out there, I would not expect everyone to understand it. Basically, a little bit of education beforehand on their part makes everyone happier in the long run. No language barriers on either side.
That all said, what's the problem with learning another language? I mean, Spanish bored me a bit, but that's cause I learned it in Middle school. I despised middle school. Once I got to high school and took Italian classes, I looked forward to that class every day. Granted it doesn't go along with your thoughts about Spanish, simply cause it's not, but hey. Same concept. I was just looking for something a little different, and since I was interested in visiting Italy, it made sense. (and proved very helpful when I finally did go.)
My apologies for the excessive use of parenthesis. It's a habit I need to control.
ಥ_ಥ
No-name took the words right out of my mouth.
Why were the Native Americans required to learn English? They were here first.
We "have" to learn Spanish, because the US is an "all-inclusive" country (at least, in the way of appearances). The economy is becoming more and more "dependent" (read as: reliant) on Hispanic workers, so it is important to that integration that our newer generations are able to expedite communications with Hispanic people. Whether or not it's a good thing remains to be seen (as of now, it's all about the bottom dollar).
But there isn't a single European/Asian/Australian/African/Etc-American person here, who has the right to say "we were here first," because, well, we weren't. Things are simply changing now, just like they changed when the settlers took things over, way back when - only less violently.
They way I look at it is, either get with the times or don't. There's nothing wrong with being upset with having to change for someone else, but no one of our generation should be making any false claims of entitlement, because the way English was brought to this land was under far more detestable means.
Me? I'm learning Spanish because I think it's a beautiful language. The fact that it's becoming more and more common plays a small part in that, but mostly I'm just fascinated with the language, itself.
I love how terrible you are at using proper English.
God damn, irony is terrific.
Hmm, are you referring to the title of the thread?
Because that is the title of the FB group she joined... Not her own words.
There was also some lack of punctuation and capitalization going on in her post.Quote:
Originally Posted by slash112
Hmm.
This is a pretty sophisticated argument.
I will need some time to digest it.
Sigh... :facepalm:
My recent trip to Spain has changed my opinion on this entirely. To me, the title and OP argument seems like the most self-centered, asshole-ish argument I've ever heard.
Yes, someone traveling to a foreign country SHOULD have some knowledge of the native language. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
However, this attitude is also what is ruining America's image in the rest of the world. We look selfish, ignorant, and oppressive to other countries. And do you know why? Those Americans can't get off of their lazy asses and learn to communicate, even when they have a neighbor that speaks (nearly) the same language! The rest of the world is learning English just to make a better living by dealing with Americans. Everybody I met in Spain had to learn English starting in preschool. Over there, knowing English instantly quadruples one's annual income because so little economic opportunity lies within their home country---so much more lies in America.
The flipside, stated earlier, is also true for us. Nearly all of our business is overseas. How are we going to prosper if we can't communicate with our business partners?
The intellectual aspects of learning another language have already been stated. Really, who would hate the ability to communicate with a larger chunk of the human species? Yes, it takes work, just like every other skill in life. Deal with it.
Living with a Spanish family for five of those days on that trip has also shown me one more thing: it is extremely difficult for a foreigner to communicate when put into a situation where he/she can barely understand a word said. It's the worst feeling in the world!!! I got smacked hard by that, and I've studied Spanish for five years! I felt that every word said in English, even when used improperly, was a small godsend.
And then I realized that this is exactly how a Spanish speaker feels in OUR country.
So please, when learning Spanish, French, or whatever language is being forced onto you by the school system, remember this: it it for your own good, for the good for the United States, and for the good of the entire world!
The problems associated with Hispanic immigrants not learning English is caused by two things:
Volume and Education
The first issue is the sheer volume of Hispanic immigrants we have, when you have millions of people from one country in another country, they will invariably settle down among other people from a similar background/language/culture thus creating ethnic and cultural enclaves. I can't really blame them for this though, in their place, I would do the same. I think the issue with Mexican immigration is to a certain extent comparable to the problems associated with mass German immigration where there was very little integration, both culturally and linguistically and some people were even saying the same things about them as they are now about Hispanics.
The second issue is education. Let's face it. The majority of Hispanic immigrants don't have a great deal of education, sometimes not even High School diplomas and rarely post secondary education of any sort. If we were to let's say replace the amount of non us born Hispanics with a comparable amount of Hispanics who have significant post secondary education, such as doctors, psychologist, architects, I would think that they would integrate much more easily than the lot we have now who would integrate much more smoothly due to socio-economic status and other factors.
That said, I think the issue will resolve itself with ever passing generation. I remember reading somewhere that something like only 9% of 3rd gen Hispanics speak Spanish proficiently.
It doesn't matter. English is the majority language of the US, and it is only common courtesy and common sense that immigrants adapt to the language. Whatever happened 400 or even 200 years ago is not relevant to the current immigration discussion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Onerionaut
The fact is that the US society is by and large Anglophone speaking.
In the past, I have traveled to different countries on short notice, and I have done my best to learn the basics of the language and grammar to get by. My opinion is that people should not try to change the society around you that you move to, you should adapt to it.
Certainly English was imposed on the US, but so was a whole plethora of other languages on other regions of the world. That doesn't mean that if you move to those countries you should snub the whole population by trying to get by on your own native language without having the decency to try to learn the basics of the local language. By that logic, if I move to Algeria I should not try to learn Arabic or French because those languages where themselves imposed on the local population (who are descended from the indigenous Berbers). My thinking is what is in the past is in the past, and what is in the present is in the present. The present that we have is one where the United States is a majority Anglophone nation and just for the sake of a cohesive society immigrants should adapt to the language and culture for that matter.
Same thing here in Canada. Them Frenchies always need it their way :P
They whine and moan for years that we aren't doing enough to 'preserve' their precious 'culture', and say they'll only be happy if all of Canada makes French mandatory in schools. So now the 12 provinces that AREN'T FRENCH have it mandatory to teach french 'till grade 8.
Think how much money went into all the schools in TWELVE PROVINCES to change the curriculum to teach kids french for 8 years. Not only did the kids not have a choice in the first place, but if they did they probably would choose not to... or at least a majority would.
But, no use wasting all my needed energy on getting all flustered over this... it's just that they're so annoying. When I went to Quebec a large percent of the people there looked down on me when I spoke to them in English. Snobby little buggers.
*Caution* Lots of generalizations were used in the above sentences, and much of the anger and ignorance is fueled by a prejudece deep seeded in my youth.
edit:
I should make it clear that I'm first nations, and this is nothing compared to what the Europeans did to us... but that's in the past and this is now.
I disagree. America is billed as being a "melting pot." It is an all-inclusive Nation (or so it claims to be). Part of this includes assimilating some aspects of those diverse cultures within. This country changes along with its ever-changing demographics. Yes, English is the main language of the country now, but soon it's going to apparently have two main languages, and that is due to the number of Mexican immigrants we have moving to this "all-inclusive" country.Quote:
Originally Posted by YesterdayToday
It wouldn't make economic sense for a country that is obviously trying so hard to integrate more Mexican immigrants to not require a course in Spanish, as part of the regular curriculum.
In another country, I might back you on this. But this is America. If it was just a couple of tourists coming in and out of the country, or a couple of people coming over here to live, then sure, they should be doing what they can to learn the main language. But when the country is visibly trying to more closely-knit the two cultures (one of which is already a diverse mixture of other cultures), things are going to change.Quote:
In the past, I have traveled to different countries on short notice, and I have done my best to learn the basics of the language and grammar to get by. My opinion is that people should not try to change the society around you that you move to, you should adapt to it.
Yes, the US is a majority Anglophone nation, and the more America wants to integrate with Mexico, and encourage their migrating here, the more sense it makes to allow language to accommodate each other. Sure, it's easy to just have everyone who comes over here learn to speak English, but the gaps between cultures are going to be bridged much more quickly, if they both learn to speak each other's languages.Quote:
Certainly English was imposed on the US, but so was a whole plethora of other languages on other regions of the world. That doesn't mean that if you move to those countries you should snub the whole population by trying to get by on your own native language without having the decency to try to learn the basics of the local language. By that logic, if I move to Algeria I should not try to learn Arabic or French because those languages where themselves imposed on the local population (who are descended from the indigenous Berbers). My thinking is what is in the past is in the past, and what is in the present is in the present. The present that we have is one where the United States is a majority Anglophone nation and just for the sake of a cohesive society immigrants should adapt to the language and culture for that matter.
Personally, I think the whole argument is silly. It's not like they are completely erasing the English language. Maybe I'm just biased because I actually enjoy learning Spanish, and have lived around Spanish culture all my life, but I really don't see what all the fuss is about.
And what do you have to say about people in other countries being made to learn English?
Obviously the money would be better spent in geography.Quote:
Originally Posted by mindwanderer
(thanks to Xox for finding this one)
http://imgfave.lg1x8z.simplecdn.net/...286763265.jpeg
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oneironaut
Well this may be just my opinion, but I think in the grand scheme of things, a nation it is better to be united under one language at the very least, rather than a bunch of linguistical enclaves.
I have no problem with Spanish or Latino culture, hell i happen to love Cuban music, but the issue is that it makes more economic sense for immigrants themselves to adapt to the country. Otherwise they are putting themselves at a huge disadvantage and they are opening themselves up to exploitation. I have no illusion or right wing delusions about Spanish eclipsing English if that was what you were thinking.
Quote:
In another country, I might back you on this. But this is America. If it was just a couple of tourists coming in and out of the country, or a couple of people coming over here to live, then sure, they should be doing what they can to learn the main language. But when the country is visibly trying to more closely-knit the two cultures (one of which is already a diverse mixture of other cultures), things are going to change.
Yes, demographics change and they are changing. By the middle part of this century Hispanics (of all races) will make around a quarter of the US population. However, I maintain that it is important for a country to have a common language between people, especially in one the size and scope of the US.
Quote:
Yes, the US is a majority Anglophone nation, and the more America wants to integrate with Mexico, and encourage their migrating here, the more sense it makes to allow language to accommodate each other. Sure, it's easy to just have everyone who comes over here learn to speak English, but the gaps between cultures are going to be bridged much more quickly, if they both learn to speak each other's languages.
Personally, I think the whole argument is silly. It's not like they are completely erasing the English language. Maybe I'm just biased because I actually enjoy learning Spanish, and have lived around Spanish culture all my life, but I really don't see what all the fuss is about.
Realistically, a majority of the population is not going to learn another language to accommodate a small percentage of the general population which is either incapable or unwilling to learn the majority language. Don't get me wrong, it is a good thing if people became bilingual.I encourage it. But the main issue here is that the statistics that I have seen show that with every generation Hispanics become more and more assimilated into the majority language. By the third generation or so almost none are proficient in Spanish. So, my point here is that the first generation Hispanics should learn English as an imperative for functioning in a society where like 87-90% of the population is native anglophone. If they don't, they put themselves at a huge disadvantage in society in general. They make less money, they are prone to exploitation, and they integrate much less than another immigrant that learned English.
Ultimately, this hurts their children's future. One way or another they will adjust to English, either this generation does or the next will do so invariably. But if a first gen doesn't do so, they will have a lower quality of life and all the other reasons I listed. So it just makes sense to learn English anyway you look at it.
It depends really. Are they made to learn it in school as a second language or are they forced to speak it and use it to the determent of their native language?Quote:
And what do you have to say about people in other countries being made to learn English?
Certainly in some countries where their languages are not used beyond their own borders, teaching a second, "international" language is beneficial. I mean think of Singapore which uses English and Mandarin as a second language, or India with English. I'm not apposed to learning a second language at school or one being taught in schools. I had years of learning a second language and I wouldn't trade that for anything.
Learning multiple languages makes you SMARTER. Literally. It enables you to think in different ways, to find differences/similarities between languages.
I ought to learn me another language. I've forgotten my two years of high school French.
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/national_language.jpg
Congrats on slotting so neatly into your country's stereotype of foreign ignorance and hostility, LL.
Pretty much everywhere else in the world, you learn a foreign language as a matter of course. I chose German.
I hate threads that start a huge argument/discussion and the OP never comes back. Either embarrassment or trolling, I guess.
I'd say people are pissed because they don't want to learn a language so that they may communicate with people who moved here illegally. From the OP's wording, people in Illinois seem to be required to learn Spanish. Personally, I can understand why some people would feel highly disrespected if they are being asked to make alterations in their lives because other people have broken the law.
I had a long post, but I deleted it. Just wanted to share my general opinion, and part of it comes from living in Russia for 8 months:
Should immigrants to America learn English? Yes.
Should Americans be patient with non-native English speakers? Absolutely!
Should Americans learn other languages? Absolutely!
I also want to add that Americans should also make an effort to learn English. "I don't got no..." used with any sort of frequency ain't gonna cut it in my book. Stop saying "haven't got." And learn to spell! Stop writing essays using the words "cuz" and "smth" and "gonna." You're not texting your teacher. You're writing an essay. Save "lol" for the Internet, please.
It's late and I'm tired and my thoughts are going everywhere. The last was because my Russian students make those mistakes all the time and it drives me NUTS! I'm going to bed.
^So you're saying it's Americans who are butchering the English language? Guess you've never heard Irish English, Scottish English, or even those - in England - who speak with a Cockney accent.
Anyway, in regards to the the topic at hand...should immigrants learn the language of the country they're "moving into"? Uh, yeah. Kind of common courtesy, there, guys. English speaking people have just as much right to "look down upon" (for want of a better term) those with little or no English skills - trying to fit into their community - as an employer for engineers has the right to deny job apps submitted by those who have little or no experience in engineering. This applies to anyone from any nation. If I'm going to Germany, I'm learning German. Period. It's the polite thing to do. Going to their country and telling all the nationals "speak English! I can't understand German! Speak my - the foreigner's - language!" is just plain disrespectful.
And about the whole "the Native Americans were here FIIIIIRST! UR so MEEEEEAN!" bullshit...so the fuck WHAT? That was the past. And although history is important for us to learn - so that we don't repeat our mistakes - we have to come to grips with the fact that we're living in the HERE and the NOW, and that there are matters - language barriers being among them - that affect us HERE and NOW.
[I realize I'll probably get flamed for that. "Fuck you" in advance.]
NOW, the U.S. is populated mostly by English speakers...the cruel methods my ancestors used to achieve this notwithstanding. I can't change their actions. Therefore, why would I be so "asshole-ish" to expect foreigners in (what is NOW) my country to be able to communicate with me in my own language? That just escapes me, guys.
Now, none of this is to say that Americans shouldn't at least try to learn some Spanish. At the basic level of communication, Spanish could be considered an easy language to learn. Trifling, even. People's biggest excuse seems to be "but they talk too fast!" Well, guess what? The words "sólo entiendo cuando habla más lento" will magically cause a Spanish speaker to talk more slowly.
Anyway, I've had enough of this crap. This damn thread has been keeping me from my work for long enough.
You know what would solve all these language dilemmas? If the world got together and created a simple, functional, easy to learn universal language.
Like Esperanto?
I think we should revive latin, then. That's at least where most of our languages stem from.. :D
On a side note, everytime you're killing a language, you're killing an entire way
of thinking and therefore an entire branch of human culture, accomplishments
and perspectives. Language is much more than just communication. It's rooted
in our very nature of understanding our surroundings. I think it is important to
keep this in mind very firmly, when we think about 'a universal language' and to
remind ourselves that we are capable to maybe also speak two, or three of them.
Personally, I'm not complaining about "having to learn English." It's a fun language
and I'm glad it's pretty much universal.
Perhaps everyone should just learn Sumerian? :chuckle:
But people aren't asked to learn Spanish particularly.. It's a decision among other offered languages, like French and German. I picked German in high school. Keep in mind I reside in Southern California, fairly close to the border, and Spanish is not mandatory. A second language is.Quote:
Personally, I can understand why some people would feel highly disrespected if they are being asked to make alterations in their lives because other people have broken the law.
fyeaQuote:
Perhaps everyone should just learn Sumerian?
California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas,was originally part of Mexico. Wasn't Florida a Spanish colony? When the U.S. claimed it as it's own the 'Mexicans' living there became 'Americans' I guess.
Esperanto? Sounds cool. Most languages do not come from Latin, only the romantic languages do, like French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Slovenian, etc. English is a Germanic language. It is interesting that all languages come from an Indo-European root in the middle East except Australian Aborigine, Native American, and African.
English and also german are still strongly influenced by latin.
So now it's the creators of the language who are doing it wrong, eh?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lëzen
And, I'll have you know that a properly spoke Scottish accent is the only accent that actually makes all the sounds of the words correct. At least, that's what I've found to be true.
Exactly lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeeryTheDeer
Btw...learning is fun! Get edumacated.
We are the dumbest country in the world as far as language is concerned. It bugs me when people complain about having to learn another language or piss and moan about just having to learn a few phrases when they go to another country. The majority of the people in the rest of the world know 2 or 3 languages at least. If you grew up in China, you'd probably know 3 or 4. If you grew up in South Africa, you'd probably know anywhere between 4 and 8. I am ashamed to be a stupid American who only knows one language and I wish I had been required to seriously learn one when I was in school.
As it is, the required language programs in this country are a joke. I took spanish for 2 years in highschool and I didn't learn anything. Except, "como se dice" which means "how do you say".
Hola, me llamo Dannon. ?Como se llama?
Me llamo Juan. Como esta?
Bien, gracias, ?y tu?
Asi asi. ?Donde esta el bano?
Repite, por favor.
?Donde esta el bano?
Son las tres y media
Que?
Son las tres y media
No creo que me entienda- ?Donde esta el cuarto de bano? Nessesito urinar pronto.
No entiendo.
lmao dannon...exactly
I usually find it easy to pick up new languages though. When I lived in Bangkok I absolutely loved learning Thai, it's a great language...and they are great people who are so very happy if you can even say Hello in Thai. Most of them speak english btw.
When I was in America for a year I took Spanish 1&2 also and it was justQuote:
Originally Posted by Xaqaria
utterly pointless. They wanted to teach the language through games and
shit like that and besides from the class being very slow paced, there were
no grammatical structures or basics whatsoever involved.
For laughs and giggles, I took German IV and I must say that none of the
students in this class could really speak the language at all. They could
translate simple texts, could say some more or less learned phrases and
some of their variations, but it was in know way possible to hold a
conversation with any of them. Not a single one could even really
understand the teacher and I, when we talked in german.
But what I have found to be a major factor in learning a language is that
you need to have spent some time in a country, where it is actively spoken.
Spanish is my fourth language (school-wise), but I only understand some
and speak none. So my plan is to move to a Spanish-speaking country for
a while and pick up the language as I go. Easiest way, in my opinion.
Yea, when I was in Cambodia I also started to pick up some Khmer andQuote:
Originally Posted by Aquanina
it just makes things so much easier and nicer, too. Unfortunately, I wasn't
forced to speak a lot of it.. but I'll be going back this summer and then I
will put more effort into it.
A little late in a reply.
Oops. Guess I just went to my roots too quickly. Replace "Americans" with "native English speakers" and you'll have what I really meant :) My students still write "smb" and "smth" on their tests and it still drives me crazy! 14 teaching days left in the semester. 4 lesson plans, reviews, and tests. Meh.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lëzen
Beh. This thread is awful. I didn't look at it because I knew what it would be like, and I was right.
Disperse
Thank you for your contribution.Quote:
Originally Posted by lordyM
I do what I can.Quote:
Originally Posted by Xaqaria
http://pcmedia.gamespy.com/pc/image/...1109384869.jpg
I'm a little curious as to what you mean by this. You're not implying that American's don't have their hand in trashing English, are you?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lëzen
This whole thread is pretty sad for one reason. Knowledge is wonderful and for one, knowledge is power. That's not to say that one should learn knowledge to abuse it, but, you get the point. Anyways, back in my country, when I was little and went through the system, I was learning Arabic, English and French at the same time. We used to learn how to read, write and speak the languages. I thought it was a great idea and I still think it's a great idea even after considering that I was taking 8 different subjects at the time with an exam in each subject x 3, etc.... :) People really should stop making such a fuss and come to an understanding with each other. Language is a barrier and only by learning another's language is one able to overcome it :)
Many schools only have one language available, and every school in America pretty much has Spanish, so in some schools at least two years of Spanish actually is a requirement.Quote:
Originally Posted by Invader
Meanwhile I don't know the specifics of the system throughout the U.S. but almost no one I know who took the required amount of years in any foreign language class in high school actually speaks the language with any type of proficiency. What you really ought to be pissed off about is that you're wasting two years of your life in a class that will ultimately attribute nothing of value to you since the odds are there is just enough Spanish around to make you wish you knew Spanish but not enough to get you ingrained in the language and actually proficient in it. Unless of course you come from a hispanic/latino family.
If anyone actually is interested in learning Spanish, btw, there is a site I frequent called SpanishDict which offers both inglés para hablantes de españoles and Spanish for English speakers.
According to the reasoning in the OP, all Americans should be required to learn
1. Adai †
2. Algic (30)
3. Alsean (2) †
4. Atakapa †
5. Beothuk †
6. Caddoan (5)
7. Cayuse †
8. Chimakuan (2)
9. Chimariko †
10. Chinookan (3)
11. Chitimacha †
12. Chumashan (6) †
13. Coahuilteco †
14. Comecrudan (United States & Mexico) (3) †
15. Coosan (2) †
16. Cotoname †
17. Eskimo-Aleut (7)
18. Esselen †
19. Haida
20. Iroquoian (11)
21. Kalapuyan (3) †
22. Karankawa †
23. Karuk
24. Keresan (2)
25. Kiowa-Tanoan (7)
26. Kutenai
27. Maiduan (4)
28. Muskogean (9)
29. Na-Dené (United States, Canada & Mexico) (39)
30. Natchez †
31. Palaihnihan (2)
32. Plateau Penutian (4) (also known as Shahapwailutan)
33. Pomoan (7)
34. Salinan †
35. Salishan (23)
36. Shastan (4) †
37. Siouan-Catawban (19)
38. Siuslaw †
39. Solano †
40. Takelma †
41. Timucua †
42. Tonkawa †
43. Tsimshianic (2)
44. Tunica †
45. Utian (15) (also known as Miwok-Costanoan)
46. Uto-Aztecan (33)
47. Wakashan (7)
48. Washo
49. Wintuan (4)
50. Yana †
51. Yokutsan (3)
52. Yuchi
53. Yuki-Wappo (2) † disputed
54. Yuman-Cochimí (11)
55. Zuni
(copied from wikipedia)
spanish / english integration is the future lol
seriously though, it's expected that latinos/minorities will outnumber white people in the future.
We should mix all languages into a series of hums, clicks, and hissing noises so that we don't have these problems
mmmtikssss ummsss tiktik mmmm tik sssstik
Hey, hey. Watch the language there buddy.Quote:
Originally Posted by lordyM
People only learn languages they feel they are actually going to use. America is a really big country with lots of great sights, so American's don't travel oversea as much as people in other countries. When your country is half the size of California, then if you travel chances are you travel to another country. When your country is the size of America, you simply stay where it is convenient, which is nearly an entire continent if you count Canada since they speak English too.
American's are not going to learn Spanish, because there is really no reason to. Everyone knows spanish speaking people but most of them know English too, so there is no reason to learn it. If you wanted to hang out with a bunch of Mexicans then you just have your Spanish speaking from come with you any way, and problem solved.
People who move here and decide they are not going to speak English are basically saying they can get along fine without knowing it. It might be kind of insulting for them to say they don't want to speak with you, but lets be honest. Most Americans don't speak with their neighbors, so why would a Mexican neighbor want to speak with you?
Though even then, you shouldn't learn a language just because its practical. You should learn a language you actually enjoy speaking and are going to use. Otherwise you won't put in the time, and you are going to suck at it anyway.