No it’s because you interview lots of people at random. Then you select the one or two you want to put on the air.
I understand that. I contend that most work very hard to learn English. It’s one of the most difficult languages to learn, for non_germanic language speakers. German was much easier for me to learn than Spanish. Simply because English is my native tongue.
My job involves speaking to a lot of Latino immigrants. They are often hard to understand, but the fact they know more English than I do Spanish means I have extra patience in helping them out. Using a few phrases in Spanish to help them relax and slow down enough for me to understand them and they to understand me helps immensely. I don’t expect perfect English from someone that was born in a non-English-speaking country. I respect they can even get to conversational English. It’s more fluent than than I can speak any foreign language save German.
Where I get my hackles up is when an employee of an American company answers my “Hello” with “Se habla Espanol?”. Then I respond, “Perdon, no”, and the phone is hung up.
Maybe the person just doesn’t give a shit about learning the language to convey why they’re losing hundreds of dollars because the computer system is messed up. Maybe the owner just doesn’t give a shit that his/her employees can’t speak English and therefore is losing those hundreds of dollars until someone that speaks English can call me. And this is one restaurant of thousands. You have no idea how much money is lost each day in one fast food franchise due to people not being able to use a debit card because the store’s manager doesn’t know what a modem is and can’t understand enough English to understand the description.
Couple that with the lack of understanding between what a computer tower is and a register. God bless 'em for trying, but while a register is technically a computer, it isn’t the one in the office I want them to log onto when I say “The office computer.”
A lack of English skills is cute and all when talking about skills needed for picking fruit. It’s pretty fucking serious when you realize the lack of knowing the language is affecting many other sectors.
Sorry, folks. A concerted effort to learn English is required if you want to make it in this country as almost all other immigrants have or are trying to do. Insulating yourself in a neighborhood that never speaks the language will never help you improve the neighborhood. Nor your life. Language is one of the identifying pillars of society. Always has been.
If someone wants to come to America, it’s usually because they have to work so hard just to survive, they’ll see learning the native language is a small price to pay for living here.
English is the language in the US. It’s not “official”. But if you want to thrive here, you better learn it. If not, don’t expect your host to study 50 different languages. You knew it was English coming into the deal.
I call Bullshit. I see too many damn people that are far younger than I that appear gleeful when given a glance and then utter something they think I don’t understand in Spanish. I DID attend Spanish class, and everybody knows the dirty words. When I hear “puta”, I’m pissed. Maybe I did give them a dirty look. Yah, I don’t like hearing small children with the young parents that are encouraging them to stay in their box of foreign language. I think that those children will be or are at a disadvantage, but then, once they’re in our schools they’ll learn our language at our expense.
I’m sorry (not really) but I admit to abhorring illegal immigration. My dad came here legally in 1953 from Germany. He joined our military. He didn’t know a word of English when he got here @ 19 and worked hard to learn and fit in. My mom and grandmother made huge fun of his accent and his appetite! He learned, assimilated and found a good trade with which he could quite comfortably raise a family. Can these migrant workers who are paid a pittance say that? They send all their money home to their families (supporting your family is good), however it removes it from circulation here. I take offense at those who skirt the law and then hem and haw about how poorly they’re looked upon.
If you don’t disregard our methods and try to become an American (which includes speaking English) then by all means, welcome. If, like others have posted, a person(s) sneaks in here in the dark or in backs of sweltering semi-trailers or for crissakes wooden boxes, haven’t you a clue that what you’re doing might not be okay with us? Is it even a concern? I don’t think that I’d want to live somewhere that I’d have to look over my shoulder for authorities who might hassle me constantly. Or be afraid to go to the hospital. Or the police station if I’d been harmed. Or for that matter, where I’d be reviled.
Damn it, respect the country you so want to be a part of. Sneaking in and trying to hide is demeaning to self and disrespectful of law.
Pile on at will…
Let me see. You have students who walk out of school, which is the only chance just about anyone has to make their life into a success, and you say “way to pick out the stupid one, Fox”? :rolleyes: They had a 100% chance of picking out the stupid one.
Oh…American. Parts of Canada speak French, in Mexico, the language is Spanish. Oh," American" as in U.S. citizen…ever live in Puerto Rico?
Just being me.