Should we learn english?

Question

I'm a student and we are given the option to learn a forgien language. Many of the people I have talked to were forced to learn spanish by their parents because of illegal immigrants and you may need it in some job situations, which is true. I on the other hand was allowed to choose whatever language I wanted to(Spanish, German, or French). I really would like to learn sign language but it was not an option at my school. I felt I should choose the language I liked and not what society would benifit from, because I do not support illegal immigrants choosing not to learn English when, there are free classes they can take to learn(maybe not in your city, but there are in mine). So, I choose to learn French because I like the language and would like to visit France someday. Do you think this will still be a useful language? What is your opinion on learning spanish just for the illegal immigrants?

oh snap you probably relized this already but i ment, should we learn spanish/should they learn english opps

so far very good answers thanks

Answer 1

I think it's rididculous!!! They're coming into our country, from Mexico knowing that it's an English speaking country. If they want to be here so bad, they should learn to speak our language and respect our laws and our culture. I'd bet you almost anything that if an American went to Mexico, first of all illegally, and demanded that everyone learned English just for them. They'd one, probably throw them is jail for being there illegally, two they'd say "Yeah right" But instead our country caters to them, so it's makes more want to come over to the US. We learn their language in school, it's a required class to graduate. We give them health care, we let them mooch off of our tax dollars by letting them live on welfare. Most of them drive without a driver's license, therefore no car insurance. They get in a wreck, all well. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against mexicans really, I've had lots of Mexican friends. I've seen lots of hard working ones making a honest living working harder and for less wages than most Americans. I know they're not all on welfare, and I also know there is a lot of Americans mooching off of welfare too. But there's a lot of them that aren't working. There's also more crime in cities where the majority of people are mexican. They're no longer a minority, like they claim to be. They're taking over our country and we're allowing it, especially California. I went to Arizona for a week, and came back. I knew I was back in California, when I went to use the restroom in a gas station. Above the door it read "Banos" below THAT, it read "Restroom"

Answer 2

You don't have to study a language just to speak with a certain population. Learning another language (yes, even if that language is Spanish) will teach you a lot about your own language and about other parts of the world.

French is a fine language, so good for you. And choosing a language because you like it is a fine choice. The language I studied in high school and college was German. I loved it. It helped my understanding of my own language and some things about my heritage. It also helped me do better on grammar tests.

I do wish that I knew more Spanish, but, hey, it's never too late to learn. So, for you, today is French; maybe tomorrow sign language, eh?

Answer 3

I think that French is not a useful language in the United States. It is your choice not to learn Spanish, just like it is the illegal/legal immigrants choice not to learn English. However, they start to learn English because they realized that they need it to survive. In your case you don't need it to survive but you could be making more money. So next time that they give a Bilingual speaking person, who speaks English and Spanish, a 10% raise on their salary you'll probably be b*tching about why you didn't learn Spanish or hating on them because you feel it's not "fair" that they should get a raise for speaking another language. Life is not fair, if it were then people would be allowed to enter the United States legally with out having to go through that hardship.

Answer 4

I took french in high school even though everyone was telling me Spanish would be more useful. Maybe so, but then again I don't live in an area with too many people who use Spanish either. I really enjoyed French and it is a beautiful language. Plus, this gives me a reason to visit France someday when I have the money.

Answer 5

French is spoken in a good deal of the world, so I'd say after Spanish, it's the most useful of your three options. If immigrants are going to come to the United States, they should be expected to learn and function in English. I don't think immigrants should come here at all if they do not intend to do it legally, but that's an entirely different point.

Answer 6

I don't think it's right to make Americans learn a foreign language because of immigrants. It use to be part of the process to becoming an American citizen was totake and pass a test on our language. I'm sorry I have no pitty for illegal immigrants that come to our country take our jobs for less money and then can't communicate. I think learnin sign language is a very good idea, and learning French as your choice because you would like to go one day gets you one step closer.

Answer 7

You don't learn spanish just because of illegal immigrants. You learn it because there's many countries out there that speak spanish and spanish is a lot easier to learn than French. I agree that you should be able to pick what language you want to learn, because you'll probably be more interested and learn it faster. French will be useful because that's what they speak in France, and you don't want them to know you're american.

Answer 8

Yes it is still used in many places.

Sign language you can get tapes for-there are some nice ones. Along with English one for those who need it.

I don't believe it is fair for the Spanish speaking to expect people to change for them--do the other Nationalities here in the US expect that?

Knowing another language is nice-but in a Nation-one language has purpose. One unites-two divides-history!
And there are safety and cost issues.

Answer 9

Mais oui! Learn French ... they speak French as a first language in quite a few countries anyway, and as a second language in many more ... I don't think you should have to learn Spanish to accommodate anybody ... unless you want to go and live in a Spanish speaking country, which this isn't ... !!!!

Answer 10

I think it's great you want to learn French and I encourage all American's to learn a different language...

Keep in mind, we live next to Mexico, so it is natural for some here to speak in their native tongue...

You know Switzerland, which is true democracy, recognize three languages? French, German and Italian...The reason is, that they are share borders to this country and hold majorities there...