America is a land of immigrants. Yet they ALL learned English in order to grow & thrive here. Why is it that now, the foreigners expect us to learn their language? If I lived in Spain I would learn Spanish, in China I'd learn Chinese....but I live HERE. So learn ENGLISH!!
2006-07-20 07:02:32 · 20 answers · asked by SuzB 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Etiquette
Dammit! Push the frickin button and get a life! I’m Native American (you know. The ones who were here before you nice people brought us alcohol and small pox infected blankets) and according to your reasoning then you actually should be pushing 2 for English. Because you were the immigrants first and you sure as all hell didn’t learn our ways or our culture. Did you? No! America believes that domination make them right and as such the thought of being inconvenienced by having to actually ‘learn’ how to live together is definite reason to cry foul. It’s no wonder that the world opinion of the US is such that it is.
And to think. This was your first question.
2006-07-20 07:17:41 · answer #1 · answered by Spottedcat 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually, much as I hate to say it, Spotted Cat does have a point. This really isn’t the land of the immigrants because it’s actually the land the immigrants took from those who lived here before. And since as you point out “If I lived in Spain I would learn Spanish, etc…” then if you learn English you should live in England because America is supposed to be the melting pot of cultures and even as such we still don’t all speak one language. Creole is an indigenous language that is commonly spoken in Louisiana and is primarily native to that area as well. So, I’m sorry but the logic of your argument doesn’t really hold up that well.
2006-07-20 14:35:52 · answer #2 · answered by Augustus-Illuminati 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are right that America is a land of immigrants. If you actually meet some immigrants, you will meet very few that don't want to learn English. They recognize that English is the language of power and they want to learn it so they can get ahead in society. However, learning English takes time and resources that they don't usually have. In fact, the immigrant ancestors that you've mentioned here often didn't learn English very well; it's their children who became native speakers of English.
The company who asks you to press 1 for English is simply trying to take advantage of a larger customer base. They recognize that not everybody here can understand English (especially over the phone, which is even harder), but they don't want to limit their earning potential to the money they can only get from their English-speaking customers. Surely you don't have a problem with a little capitalism? :)
It seems to me that the real motivation behind this question is that you don't like immigration, or you don't want to interact with people from other cultures, or something. Please don't frame this as a language issue.
Also, it's not clear how pressing 1 for English means that "foreigners expect us to learn their language" as you've mentioned in your question.
2006-07-20 14:40:04 · answer #3 · answered by drshorty 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not every immigrant is proficient in English yet, but is still leaning. Like someone else said here, they may still feel more comfortable with their native language. I'm always trying to learn Spanish better and I read everything that I can in Spanish, but when I'm offered bilingual instructions for something that is vital to understand, I read the English.
2006-07-20 14:24:19 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
26 countries in the world speak Spanish. Most countries in the world speak more than one language. What is the big deal? Why can't we embrace both languages, and both cultures? Look at our neighbors to the north they speak English and French and, do quite well. I we would all learn to speak Spanish and English we would do better globally.
2006-07-20 14:10:03 · answer #5 · answered by miss_nursie_nurse 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because too many people worry about pissing people off, so we have to cow-tow to the immigrants and give them the option of listening to instructions or speaking with someone in their native language. This really pisses me off at the ATM.
And contrary to your belief, NOT all immigrants learned to speak English before they moved here. We're having our building re-roofed. I asked one of the guys the other day (he was walking around picking up old tar paper, etc.) if they were going to be here on Saturday working. He just looked and me and smiled. He didn't have a friggin clue what I had just said to him.
2006-07-20 16:41:05 · answer #6 · answered by brevejunkie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because even if English is still our primary language, we were founded as a land of immigrants and we still are that nation.
People usually prefer to communicate in their primary languages. Smart businesses provide that option.
If you visited France and had the option to press 2 for English, wouldn't you feel relieved?
2006-07-20 14:39:17 · answer #7 · answered by vicvic* 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
exactly this is a land of immigrants
and there is nowhere written that they have to learn english, rather there is the fact that everyone is equal, so we must respect them, and the language they speak
so grow up, cuz does it really hurt to press 1, it takes less than a second and u loss a calorie
2006-07-20 14:18:12 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If we take a serious look at what you are saying then we should all be speaking red indian language. We all know that is not the case.
"Only in America" is a great little thing we hear time and time again.
2006-07-20 14:08:21 · answer #9 · answered by bhaiyagi 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should be happy that you get to have English at the number 1 spot. Imagine how you'd feel if you got bumped to 3 or 4. Careful sweetie, your racism is showing.
SpottedCat has it right.
2006-07-20 16:22:09 · answer #10 · answered by kalsmom 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋