2006-10-19 15:48:59 · 27 answers · asked by ShoeShine 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Immigration
Have you ever tried learning Spanish by watching Telemundo?
Try it sometime and then check back on your idea.
Just because you'll hear some BS story about a celebrity that learned English by watching The Price is Right or something don't think that really works.
2006-10-19 15:58:44 · answer #1 · answered by Bonecrusher 3 · 4⤊ 2⤋
The same reason of why someone can't learn Spanish, or any lenguage that suits you, from watching TV.
At leas a year taking classes will do. I got here ( against my wishes, and legally ) when I was 16, I went to school right away and learned English pretty quick. Then again, I was taking English as a second lenguage in hIgh school in Mexico.
So not all of us are lazy, my two youngest brothers graduated from college here.
Don't stereotype everybody.
2006-10-20 00:26:35 · answer #2 · answered by howdoyou k 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A decade ago to learn English, you had to attend costly English classes or purchase course material like tapes and books. Now you can learn English for free from the comfort of your home using the Internet. The BBC and the British Council offer a number of on line courses, which teach written and spoken English. You can also improve your English by watching television programs and reading English newspapers. For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/qnzpt
2006-10-21 20:55:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
truthfully, they could, easily. Surround themselves with English - TV - radio - newspaper..
as silly as this sounds, why not sesame street.. our children learn to speak Spanish there.. so why can't they learn English there. Think about it, seriously. It takes letter by letter, sound by sound..
northmiam... quite a few immigrants have learned to speak the language of the country they've entered.. sometimes learning it this way, isn't such a bad thing.
Sorry, but again, speak the language of the country you're in.. period. I would fully expect to do that if I chose to live elsewhere.
graduate student..visiting is visiting. We're talking about those that wish to stay here.. in such cases, yes, they need to learn the language spoken here.. English.
2006-10-19 23:03:17 · answer #4 · answered by sassy 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
There is little or no incentive for them to learn English.
"Press 1 For English"
Our schools are teaching classes in Spanish, our retail stores are posting their signs in Spanish, instructions are invariably bi-lingual, Television shows that aren't already Spanish, provide Spanish with SAP option and, most recently, the Democrats struck down a bill to make English the official language of the United States - by an overwhelming majority!
2006-10-19 23:05:09 · answer #5 · answered by LeAnne 7 · 6⤊ 0⤋
I heard that the first english words the illegals learned were: "attention all K Mart shoppers".
2006-10-19 23:41:35 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think the bigger question here is: Why do so many countries have citizens that know English in addition to their primary language, yet Mexico- which is located right next to the United States- is full of people that don't know English?
-Also, you must remember that when there is no need or desire to do something, it usually isn't done.....
2006-10-19 23:03:13 · answer #7 · answered by AW 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Why are Americans insisting that everybody else learn a second language, while many of us sit back and can barely speak English ourselves? What if the Native Americans had required the Pilgrims to speak Navajo or Cherokee (or whatever) before stepping foot on Plymouth Rock or be deported back to England? Africans should have had a Swahili-only policy before letting Europeans into their lands. Would have saved us all a lot of trouble.
2006-10-19 23:09:50 · answer #8 · answered by neekyboo 2 · 0⤊ 4⤋
Why do you automatically assume they don't learn English? Many illegals that I've contacted with know how to speak English (sure they have an accent). Another question you should ask yourself is, why don't Americans learn French when they visit France or learn Chinese when they visit China, or learn German when they visit Germany? Americans on the whole are only fluent in one language while immigrants are fluent in many. I for one am fluent in 4 languages and learning two more while I'm still in graduate school.
2006-10-19 22:57:57 · answer #9 · answered by graduate student 3 · 3⤊ 4⤋
They actually can, but they don't want to, because they're kind of very lazy and prefer to watch Spanish channels. And they don't read their English linguistics textbooks either.
2006-10-19 22:59:55 · answer #10 · answered by me 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋