Does anyone besides me get fed up when your trying to communicate too, but they can't speak English at all

Question

Some of these people that can't speak any English at all have been living in the U.S. for 25+ years. They don't even try, its like they expect you to speak their language. When Im working I often spend 5-10 min explaining to them before they understand, its very aggervating. If I can I get someone that can speak their language, but its not always avalible. I think their should be a law that makes it a requirement to learn the English language before they can become a U.S. citizen. If I went to live in mexico, I would learn spanish, so I can communicate, why can't they do the same. I don't have a problem with people that speak broken down english becouse at least their trying, and I respect that. For the most part I can understand what their saying. I remember one time someone that was polish said to a manager, "You speak English I speak polish, this a problem." I think thats uncalled for. I feel that if you come to america you should learn how to speak english. Does this agervate you?

Answer 1

I was an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher for 15 years. I developed two learning programs to learn English.
Because English is a hodge'podge of languages and follows too many spelling rules and because it is not a gramatically simple language it is very, very difficult to learn.
Children learn it ieasily if they are around very good English speakers. Adults would, too, however, they are often isolated from good English speaking adults.
There are tapes and DVDs around which could help, but learning our language, or should I say, the lack of learning it is actually due to the cultural isolation that people in our country experience.

My sons tell me that that American English-speaking students in college don't really seek out non-English speaking friends. They have to seek out the English speakers and are often shy or withdrawn.
In college I intentionally sought out foreign friends and in less than two years they were speaking the mother tongue well.
Your experience is more likely than not based upon the vast number of Latinos who have only gone to the second grade. Their progress in English may take three generations instead of two experienced by our European ancestors to become fluent.

By the way, if one comes to the USA more than likely they are first Legal Permanent Residents. After 5 years as a LPR they may qualify for a citizenship test, if they speak English and pass the civics test. Many of the non-English speakers are illegal.
Present law requires all employers and employees to complete and sign the I-9 form swearing under penalty of perjury that the employee has a legal right to work in the USA.
If the employees can't demonstrate their legal status then an employer cannot legally employ them.

Answer 2

You do have to learn English to become a citizen. That does not mean that all citizens speak English, because people born in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico) are automatically citizens and don't have to pass any test. The same is true of people born in other countries who have a parent who is a U.S. citizen. So you don't have to speak English to BE a U.S. citizen, just to BECOME a citizen.

Having had the experience of living for a year in Switzerland and not speaking the local language well at all, I am sympathetic with those who come here with other languages. At least I had the advantage that everybody there understood some English. In the U.S. very few people speak a second language.

I am actually more upset about people who speak only English but never learn to write properly. You, for example, write like a very poorly educated person. You use "your" when you mean "you're," plus "their" instead of "they're," and "its" instead of "it's," and you can't even spell common words like "because" and "aggravate." Your sentence structure stinks, and you don't know enough to use capitals for "Mexico" and "Spanish."

When your own English is perfect, maybe I will be able to take you more seriously.

Answer 3

I just want you to realize that there are atleast 20 grammatical or spelling errors in your question.

In regards to your question:

I think there needs to be a little more understanding between foreigners and Americans. The U.S is getting a really bad rep for being some of the coldest stick up your butt people in the world that look at foreigners as dirt. Honestly, I can't blame them. A good number of Americans I have met make fun of other people's accents to their face and have this very reserved sense of kindness. What's funny though is that the school system in the U.S isn't even teaching their kids proper English. It is far more likely that someone from say India to know more about English grammar and sentence structure than someone you meet in the U.S that has been living there their entire life.

In short, native speakers of English can't speak English. So why get pissed at other people that are still learning?

Answer 4

I used to feel like you. Then I became fascinated with foreign languages (I speak 3 foreign languages in addition to my native English). I can tell you from experience that learning a foreign language is a tough thing to do. Learning it well takes much time and effort to accomplish.

Many people who come here work 2-3 jobs to try to make a living. That leaves them little time to study.

Try learning a second language, you'll understand what they are going through.

Answer 5

What you say is correct....! 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

Answer 6

Besides English, I can speak Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Armenian (Hayren) and some Russian

Answer 7

I agree with you but you have to think that sometimes they cannot learn English because the spend all day long working at when they go home they are just so tired they don't fell like going to school.

Answer 8

while it can be aggravating at times remember that we, as a nation, have no official language; therefore they do not have to learn English. Our government paperwork and other legal documnets does not have to be in English either. If this really upsets you contact your representatives and urge them to get an official language passed.

Answer 9

I totally agree!!!! The government needs to make that a law. I would like to send everyone who doesn't speak English back to where they came from.