Speaking English in the U.S?

Question

Why do alot of people get offended when others suggest that people from other countries should learn to speak english? I think if you come to America and become a citizen you should learn how to speak the language well enough to communicate to others.I dont think its right that the American people should have to have our tax money spent on interpertors in schools or government agencies(social security office, welfare,etc.)If you want to be here you should learn the language.

I know we are a nation of immigrints my Grandfather was one of them Im not aganist people coming here just that they should speak the language that most people here speak. Try going to Mexico and eating at a restaraunt I bet they dont have anyone there to help you translate.Or any other non english speaking country.

Answer 1

I live in Japan... the gov't doesn't do much here for helping us with things in Japanese. Know what the answer is... learn it, or get a Japanese friend that will help you. Can get a phone bill in half English but that's only because vodafone is originally a British company. Japan's birthrate is exceeding low. Wouldnt be surprised if they end up needing more and more foreigners to pick up the slack. No signs of the gov't helping us out much more with things not in English, but I can but you most foreigners here wish they would.... the characters are hard to read! A few very slow imporovements in train station signs etc for tourism...but not much. Basically, only way to go is get some Japanese friends or learn it yourself.

Different situation entirely, but I'm sure there's something relevant in there :)

Answer 2

Learning the new language (L2) can take a long time, but it's nearly impossible to live in a country for an extended period of time and not learn "survival" L2. I immigrated to Italy for eighteen months, and was not able to take any Italian lessons because of my work schedule. I had a really difficult time, but after about a year I spoke enough Italian to do everything I needed. I firmly believe that the government should hire multi-lingual people to work in offices that have high numbers of immigrants, but that the paperwork and such should be in the official language of that nation. The problem lies not with the immigrants but with that country's immigration law- if they are allowed to immigrate legally without speaking the langauge (as I was in Italy), then they should have basic support that the can understand during the immigration process.

Answer 3

Look it up. Even in the CIA world factbook, there is no official language listed for the US. The Continental states weren't even colonized by completely English speaking people, look at louisiana. And a little before that, noone spoke english here. And now, spanish isn't a minority language, so you have no reason to complain.

"Im not aganist people coming here just that they should speak the language that most people here speak."
*no official language* = we can't force them. That would be infriging on their freedom. Which according to your president, would make us terrorists.

"Try going to Mexico and eating at a restaraunt I bet they dont have anyone there to help you translate."
Yeah, that's right, they don't have translators. That doesn't stop millions of white non spanish speaking americans hopping the border each year.

The average chinese/taiwanese citizen does not speak english nor is being taught to in school.

Answer 4

Agree! We shouldn't be accommodating non-English speakers in this manner. It undercuts the cohesiveness of our culture and discourages assimilation. I also think that speaking foreign languages by employees, among themselves, in the workplace should be forbidden. (Fine at home or on break.) I feel it is rude for foreigners, who do speak English, to speak another language in the presence of Americans, particularly in a situation such as on a bus, subway, certain public gatherings, etc. It's just disrespectful. Tourists would be an exception, of course. This would apply to those who live and work here.
Don't know why it isn't a requirement to have at least a basic, passable knowledge of the English language before granted residency/employment. Wasn't that a requirement at one time? (Maybe I'm thinking about citizenship.)

Answer 5

Well if you think about it, why arent we here in america speaking the many languages of the native americans??? Those were the first languages, NOT ENGLISH!!!!!!!!! Then why when someone from america goes to another country for a visit, they automatically assume that someone will speak english to them, and then get pist off cause no one understands english???? I think this is an issue that is just a waste of time to talk about.

Answer 6

As someone who has taught the English language to a few immigrants, I can tell you that it is difficult for people who have been here "passing" (getting by without speaking English) to reach out and learn English, but people definitely benefit from learning! It has been so difficult for the people I have worked with. They have wanted much more in their lives than they had, and learning English opened so many doors for them that I hate to see anyone keep themselves in the dark because they don't know what is available to them.

Answer 7

In my country Puerto Rico, english is taught since kindergarten as a second language and it has prepared me enough to communicate with americans.

The people who don't know it is because they are not interested. Don't really blame the older people because probably when they were in school english was a brand new subject and the resources and teachers weren't that good.

Young people have no excuse. They have all the resources to learn english. Even from watching TV I improve my english every day.

Answer 8

English is an international language. I am sure most of the schools in the world that have taught English subject. Even in China, Taiwan and developing countries, they are learning English. I doubt that if they want to go US, they cannot speak English. If they cannot speak and understand English, why they still want to go there?

Answer 9

Actually speaking the language of the country that you're currently in is the only way to go. If you go to France and insist that people speak English to you --- they'll voice your same argument and likely tell you to learn French. Fair enough.

Answer 10

In case you don't already know, but America is founded on immigrants, ones that spoke many different languages. Diversity is a great thing, and i think that Americans need to embrace that the entire world is not a cookie cutter place, and that that is a good thing. Wouldn't the world be boring if we were all alike? I think so.