If your in America shouldn't you be speaking English??

Question

Tell me this isn't wrong. The Citizenship test to become a United States citizen is offered in spanish to those who can not speak english fluently. I say learn the language or get the F**K out.
And another thing.. I refuse to cater to those idiots by learning spanish. They can learn MY language if they want to talk to me.

excuse me "SomeDumb..whatever" But I encounter spanish speaking people on a daily basis. I live In Tucson, AZ and im in the military so dont tell me I dont know what im talking about. And another thing im not racist im just fed up with getting crapped on by Mexicans every day. There lazy and they expect us to do things for them.

Answer 1

I feel strongly that English should be the dominant language of the US. A common language is what will form a strong community and a common form of communication. We can offer free courses to immigrants to help them learn english to help them assimilate but we should not spend extraordinary funds to provide everything in multiple languages. Yes, we are a melting pot and yes, we want to allow/encourage diversity but multiple languages will only serve to limit people from truly becoming one; it will create barriers and it will cost us all in the long run. Learning another language is not asking too much of foreigners who seek a better life in America!

Answer 2

I don't subscribe to your vitriol, but I'll answer your question, hoping that your narrrow-mindedness will shrink just a tad.
I think, no matter where you live, learning the language of the host country is in your best interest. It allows you a greater sense of freedom (the ability to tell and understand great jokes, kind words, stand up for yourself). I have lived in another country and chose to learn the language so that I COULD enjoy a better quality of life. Most of the time, the people were quite gracious when I made mistakes. I can't always say the same about many Americans that exercise too little forgiveness, and become indignant, while visiting other countries, when the natives don't speak English.
Personally, I think you're quite foolish in not taking advantage of your present duty assignment's location, and learning to speak Spanish. Get a grip! The majority of the U.S population will be Hispanic within the next 10 years, and will be bilingual...do you plan on becoming totally obsolete? The language is a Romanic Language, and can open up the doors to easily learning French and Italian. Think about it, pal. You could ask for whatever you needed without having to get your knickers up in a bunch, and just might even have a chance at making new friends!. Good luck!

Answer 3

You say you're not racist, but you describe Mexicans as lazy. How do you deal with that contradiction?

My dear, when you say all X are Y, you are making a sweeping statement that, when applied to human groups, is racist or sexist or whatever the category. Lumping people together into large groups and declaring that they have common (usually negative) characteristics is unreasonable and unscientific. People are individuals, and the most you can say is what statistics you have. And you do not have a statistic for something as vague as "lazy." My own experience is that the Mexicans around here work harder than the whites. I challenge you to come up with facts to support your sweeping generalization.

As to your original question regarding English language, I think requiring the citizenship test to be in English is reasonable on its face, but I'm wondering about how it will be applied. I mean, what about someone who was born speaking English, but does not read or write all that well? Maybe it is reasonable to deny them citizenship, too, but I'm remembering the voter literacy tests in the south years ago, and I get nervous. Would such a requirement come to haunt us, since our schools really don't teach English very well anymore?

Answer 4

First, I agree with you completely. When I travel to foreign countries, I either hire an interpretor or I speak their language. I don't know enough about the citizenship test to comment.

What really angers me is the fact that 99% of the people on this website, who are english speaking Americans, can't spell. The yahoo site even offers spell check.

For example, look at this question, "If your in America shouldn't you be speaking English?" Your? your? did you mean You're short for you are?

Come on...look before you starting flinging poop out your cage...

Answer 5

I think we should find a happy middle ground. If everyone is too stubborn to change anything, it will continue on as it is now, with everyone speaking their own language only. I think everyone should learn a few phrases in another language and it would alleviate quite a bit of problems.

On the other hand, I work in a call center for a phone company and even though we have hundreds of thousands of customers calling in, our company doesn't offer any department that speaks any other language than English. Either you speak English, or you find someone that does to call for you.

Answer 6

America does not have an 'official' language...

In the early days of the formation of this country, when it came time for our forefathers to write the documents that would lay the foundations of our sovereignty, English beat out German as the language of choice BY ONLY ONE VOTE.

That said, English IS the predominant language used in the U.S., and it is the language in which all of this country's laws are written.

Furthermore, anybody who wants to be economically viable in the global market, at least at this point in history, needs some command of the English language, it's that simple: It's not an opinion, it's not a theory...

It's just a f*****g fact of life...

Answer 7

Okay, There is only one argument to your question: The United States of America has never declared a national language. now, that being said. Germans, Italians, Russians, etc that came to our country in the early 1900's all learned our language. what's so hard? My best friend in High School spoke spanish as a first language. I've taken intro to Chicano Studies and my opinion has not changed.

Answer 8

If you go to another country then you should learn the language well enough to get by at least. I think english should be the only language citizenship test should be offered in. But we have too many bleeding hearts in this country that feel that we should cater to them instead.

Answer 9

I don't know if you are asking for opinion or legal precidence, but remember: the United States does not have a de jure official language. English has, over many years become the de facto official language, but this is custom, not law. The original framers of the constitution specifically chose not to make any one language official, in part due to the argument of whether the official language sgould be English or German.

Answer 10

I think that people should be allowed to live in America no matter what language they speak, BUT I do not believe you should be allowed to become a citizen if you can not speak English well enough to take the citizenship test in English.