View Full Version : Obama demands we all learn Spanish
In light of Obama's proclamation that we all must learn Spanish to be proper and responsible Americans, I thought I would offer this below.
Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language. and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
Jeff Cook
torbjork
07-11-2008, 01:31
Your point being that the USA of today is exactly the same, socially and demographically speaking, as it was in 1907?
Why is it that Americans (and the English) are so reluctant to learn a foreign language? Spanish would make a very sensible choice as a compulsory second language in primary/middle school, due most importantly to the proximity of large Spanish-speaking countries that the US has considerable interaction with.
Your point being that the USA of today is exactly the same, socially and demographically speaking, as it was in 1907?
Why is it that Americans (and the English) are so reluctant to learn a foreign language? Spanish would make a very sensible choice as a compulsory second language in primary/middle school, due most importantly to the proximity of large Spanish-speaking countries that the US has considerable interaction with.
It's not a problem about learning another language and being at least bilingual. It's about learning another language to cater to the masses that come here and won't learn ours. Big difference. When my parents emigrated here in the 60's they knew that to survive and become Americans they needed to learn the language and they did. Nothing was catered to them in their own language as it is now.
Btw, I'm bilingual.
David Craik
07-11-2008, 05:39
Because we darn well shouldn't have to, to interact with people within the borders of our own nation.
Proficiency in a language learned in middle school or high school will deteriorate if not used, and the fact of the matter is that most Americans don't have personal contact with other countries too often. I once spoke fluent Afrikaans and Sotho, and was quite good in Spanish as well, which I aced in high school. But unfortunately most of this is lost now.
* cross-posted with Tony * - he hit the nail right on the head.
Torb, I have had three years of Spanish instruction, and I can get by with the language in a very basic way.
A practical danger we run into in this country is this: there is a movement by some liberals to make our schools bilingual. We already have enough problems with English-speaking kids failing English classes. Making schools bilingual would be disastrous, and unfair.
What about all of the immigrants we have that are NOT from a Spanish-speaking country? Will we then require that they become trilingual?
The whole notion of forcing or shaming English-speaking Americans to study Spanish is typically liberal-ridiculous. Besides, when I was in high school there was a school requirement that you MUST take a foreign language and pass it. I think it had something to do with college acceptance. I totally agree with making it a requirement to take a foreign language class, but let them chose which one they want to take.
Jeff Cook
Torb, read this. It is a history of immigration/demographics for the US. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Immigration_to_the_United_States At no time was it suggested that any Americans SHOULD learn German, Polish, Italian, French, etc.
Jeff Cook
Michael J. Bray
07-11-2008, 07:15
:bow: I have to agree with Jeff. Obama frankly scares me. Sorry if that offends. Just fact. :bow:
STORMCROW34
07-11-2008, 07:42
Schools are struggling with funding now....who's going to pay for all of those extra teachers when most school systems (at least where I live) are cutting back heavily on existing faculty positions?
It's just B.S. He's pandering to the Hispanic community for votes.
KZMiller
07-11-2008, 09:04
Obama doesn't scare me. I kinda like the guy. But I think he's off base. It would be a different matter if he encouraged more people to become bilingual. But institutionalizing it is isn't necessary or even a good idea. As others have said, other immigrants are expected (and expect themselves) to learn English as part of doing business in the USA. While it's nice that lots of folks plan on helping them out by learning foreign languages, this isn't a bilingual nation.
I've been to nations where it's expected that people will be (at least) bilingual and I liked it a lot. But the US isn't one of those nations and shouldn't have to become one because of pressure from an immigrant population.
I like what Tony, David, and Kami added.
Personally, I believe everyone should be fluent in two languages and able to get by in a third (with hang gestures, pantomime, whatever it takes).
Don't think it should be politically mandated, just a good idea and, if someone wants my respect, being at least a little bit multi-lingual helps.
I nominate Mandarin, Arabic, and Russian as 2nd and 3rd languages for the present era.
Lame Leopard
07-11-2008, 10:28
English: Let's practice. Hello there pretty girl!
Spanish: Vamos a practicar. Ola senorita bonita!
KZMiller
07-11-2008, 12:27
Besides, if everyone was bilingual then a bunch of people would lose their language bonuses at work. :D
In light of Obama's proclamation that we all must learn Spanish to be proper and responsible Americans, I thought I would offer this below.
Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language. and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
Jeff Cook
Teddy was right on target with his statements. He was looking out for what was best for America as a Nation and doing what it would take to make it into the World power it is today.
English is the language of International language of commerce, that’s why English is so important. If your interest is in keep poor people poor and oppressed, diverting their attention away from the language of commerce is one good way to accomplish that goal.
Beware of the underlying motive of anyone that suggests such divisive tactics. Assimilation into any countries population is what brings a country together as a Nation. Dividing groups up by ethnicity or with language barriers is a ploy to maintain control over a certain demographic group of individuals, while weakening the country as a whole.
Frankly; I question weather or not Obama has a clue, as to what it really means to be an American or, is this some socialistic play for more government control of the People,at the expense of our country.
Rouse
KZMiller
07-11-2008, 12:43
Ooo, very good point about language barriers and economic viability of individuals who rely on their native language instead of learning English. Even if we were a bilingual nation it might worsen, not better the situation for Spanish-speaking immigrants. Just thinking about it makes me shiver. So many people treat immigrants like second class (or no class!) citizens anyway. English wouldn't just be the language of commerce but the language of the elite. Yuck.
Besides, if everyone was bilingual then a bunch of people would lose their language bonuses at work. :D
Humph! (:wink2:)
Let's see, in my office:
EE who makes components my SW runs on - Mandarin (mainland)
Boss - Mandarin and Cantonese, French
Mech. Eng. - Shanghai dialect
Sr. SW. Eng (my partner) - Polish, Russian, German
VP - Serbian, Russian
Design Control Guy - Tagalog
Scientists - Pashtun, Hindi
Old VP - Arabic, Berber, French, Italian
Then there's me - High German, Bavarian German, some French (I'm the dummy here). Plus, I can cuss in most of these languages. :laugh:
...and ALL of us can order beer in Spanish. :D
Similar mix in my apartment complex (plus baby talk - but I'm not sure how to order a beer in that language :wink2: ).
And all of us can speak English, of course, which I consider very important to be American (but I'm pretty flexible on how good the English needs to be and I certainly make allowances for people to take some time and learn - it's not always easy.)
I am often amazed that other regions of the USA are not like this. It just doesn't cross my mind not to learn enough of each of these languages to be polite, find a bathroom, or make a joke.
Ooo, very good point about language barriers and economic viability of individuals who rely on their native language instead of learning English. Even if we were a bilingual nation it might worsen, not better the situation for Spanish-speaking immigrants. Just thinking about it makes me shiver. So many people treat immigrants like second class (or no class!) citizens anyway. English wouldn't just be the language of commerce but the language of the elite. Yuck.
That is exactly the point I was making. The “Elite” folks will keep their poor little Spaniards poor, and rule over them at will. That is of coarse, as long as they let them know just how much they feel their "pain".
That always seems to work when a select group of people think that they are getting something “special” at the expense of someone perceived to be doing better off than they are.
That is why Democracies always fail; as soon as people discover that they can vote themselves benefits at the expense of others, its down hill from then on. Irregardless of the fact, that they are being used for someone else’s power hungry motives, or what’s good for the Nation as a whole.
Rouse
David Craik
07-11-2008, 14:29
When I can move to and be employed in a small city in central Mexico without needing to being able to speak Spanish at even a basic level then I will be all for it.
I have been to many different countries, and the very first thing I did before I went is pick up an English/'insert language here' dictionary or at least a phrasebook and try to at least learn enough to get around. Who knew that 'pepperoni' will only get you puzzled looks in Italy? :D Not only to make it easier on myself, but to show some respect to the people whose country I am a guest in. Many seem quite impressed that you at least make the attempt, even though you may only be there for a week or so and fumble with their language horribly. Should we not expect the same from a person who intends to live here permanently? I have yet to travel somewhere that you are not expected to know the language in order to live and work there (outside of Palma De Mallorca, which seems to have a helluva lot more Brits than Spaniards).
In my job I have contact with quite a few Hispanic folk. Being an immigrant myself, I have a lot of respect for most of these guys. They work damn hard trying to make a decent life for themselves and their families. But if a man has lived here for a number of years and still speaks next to none of the language, it absolutely boggles my mind. Their countrymen in the past were certainly not this way, as Tony mentioned.
I cannot imagine living in a country for that long and not being able to communicate effectively, put quite bluntly I consider it rather rude and all these folks are doing is limiting themselves. I can only chalk it up to living by choice in a cultural cocoon without any desire to assimilate into the melting pot we call America, as they are apparently resistant to melting. By making concessions to it we only divide our country further; the same as we do with many racial and cultural concessions in our quest for über-political correctness and self-hate. Being proud of where you came from is great, as long as it doesn't come at the expense of putting to work the knowledge of where you are now. You don't see me wandering around speaking Gàidhlig or Afrikaans to people, and expect them to cater to me by learning the language.
English, like Spanish, Italian, and French are all Latin-based. It isn't that super-difficult for a speaker of one to learn another. It's not a tonal language based on a completely different 'alphabet' like Thai or Arabic. I found it rather amusing on recruiting duty that we had pamphlets printed entirely in Spanish. If a person cannot speak English well enough to read a friggin' pamphlet, just how in the hell are they going to meet the minimum requirements on the ASVAB in order to enlist anyway?
Italians and Russian Jews came by the thousands to this country and learned the language. Spanish speaking people from many nations did as well, also folk from many other countries. I see no reason to mandate that US citizens speak any foreign language, much less a particular one. Our de facto national language is English. You want to live here you can learn it as far as I'm concerned. Even a cursory effort will enable one to speak the language as well as most Americans, who butcher the hell out of it. Nope, no signs in Spanish, no ATM displays in Spanish, no job announcements in Spanish. You want Spanish, move to Spain; they speak much slower there anyway. When I see the question of what language I want on an ATM screen, it quite frankly pi$$es me off.
It's nothing more than a bunch of pandering. You want to force U.S. citizens to speak another language? Make it Cherokee or Navajo.
Torb, I know that you are very well-travelled. However, in Europe there is much more cross-border travel by regular people than here due to the small size of the countries. I think I met more Swedes in Corfu than I did Greeks, and more Germans in Tunisia than native folk. You guys have a wide variety of language and culture in a relatively small area, and a penchant for cross-country travel due to the ease of same that doesn't exist here. Visit Socrates' Garden in Rhodes on any given summer night and count the number of Hellenic patrons. There aren't any, except the talking parrot at the gate. Saying Americans have an aversion to learning other languages is akin to being dismayed that so few Chinese know Russian.
It is up to the person to adapt to their environment and master it, not expect the environment to bend to their will.
David, the US Army had ESL - English as a Second Language (they may still do; not sure). They would enlist someone, usually a Spanish speaker who could not speak English, and I *assume* they were given the ASVAB in Spanish. They ship them off to ESL, then on to the rest of their training. Not sure if that program still exists.
Believe it or not, we STILL have people in uniform who CANNOT speak English. I have run into a few Hispanics/Latinos in the Florida Guard who could not. Friggin' ridiculous.
I was listening to the Rush Limbaugh show today; there was a substitue host. He brought up a GREAT point. We have hundreds of thousands of native English-speakers in this country who cannot speak, read or write English very well at all. He says we should focus on becoming "lingual" before we think about "bilingual." ;)
Jeff Cook
English, like Spanish, Italian, and French are all Latin-based.
Just one correction, English is not a Romantic language, it shares the same roots as the German language. There is some Latin influence because the French speaking Vikings that conquered England used it and at one time a Latin grammar was tried to be imposed on English...which is why you can "to go boldly" but not "to boldly go".
David Craik
07-11-2008, 18:57
One of my drill instructor buddies had a recruit from Nigeria who couldn't speak a lick of English, he regrettably had to be discharged (he was apparently a real motivated fellow too). Nobody knew how in the hell he got in, I think his recruiter was crooked as hell. I had never heard of a Spanish version of the ASVAB...I know that such a version wasn't available for testing anywhere around where I was. I could have doubled my quota.
I can give hundreds of examples of English words which have a Latin base which are similar or related to Spanish and Italian words. There's no 'correction' about it, it is the very basis of why I could grasp Spanish and Italian to some degree. With a basic understanding of Latin and Greek roots it is not hard to decipher many words from all these languages (though I admit French gives me real problems - attempting to boldly go where others have had the gumption to go boldly ;)).
One of my drill instructor buddies had a recruit from Nigeria who couldn't speak a lick of English, he regrettably had to be discharged (he was apparently a real motivated fellow too). Nobody knew how in the hell he got in, I think his recruiter was crooked as hell. I had never heard of a Spanish version of the ASVAB...I know that such a version wasn't available for testing anywhere around where I was. I could have doubled my quota.
I can give hundreds of examples of English words which have a Latin base which are similar or related to Spanish and Italian words. There's no 'correction' about it, it is the very basis of why I could grasp Spanish and Italian to some degree. With a basic understanding of Latin and Greek roots it is not hard to decipher words from all these languages (though I admit French gives me real problems - attempting to boldly go where others have had the gumption to go boldly ;)).
English has borrowed freely from a lot of languages, latin being one of them, also Latin was the language of educations which is why there are a lot of latin words.....but English is still an Indo-Hittite language and is based on the language of the Anglo-Saxons who displaced the peoples the Romans conquered in Britain
From Wikipedia.
"The English language belongs to the western sub-branch of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. "
David Craik
07-11-2008, 19:21
Also from Wikipedia:
"There has also been a major Latin influence in English. Although English is Germanic in grammar, its vocabulary is mostly Italic. Sixty percent of the English vocabulary has its roots in Latin (although much of this is indirect, mostly via Anglo-Norman and French)."
Emphasis mine. You are being obtuse and nit-picky, and my point is unchanged. It has much in common with Spanish and Italian, which is why it is easier for a speaker of those to learn than, say, Korean.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_words_with_English_derivatives
Also from Wikipedia:
"There has also been a major Latin influence in English. Although English is Germanic in grammar, its vocabulary is mostly Italic. Sixty percent of the English vocabulary has its roots in Latin (although much of this is indirect, mostly via Anglo-Norman and French)."
Emphasis mine. You are being obtuse and nit-picky, and my point is unchanged. It has much in common with Spanish and Italian, which is why it is easier for a speaker of those to learn than, say, Korean.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_words_with_English_derivatives
nah, not being nit picky just precise, sorry you took it that way Dave,
English is a ***** for native Romantic language speakers to learn because the grammar is German based. What Wikipedia says is just what I said, English is
a German language with a lot of latin words due to the Norman conquest.
And you can "to boldly go" unless you believe a German based language should follow the grammar of a long dead unrelated language.
Check out The Story of English and Bill Bryson's book on English.
Just a friendly pub discussion Dave, not an argument.
Actually Dave, if you discuss it with any linguistics professor or language professor then they will tell you English is a Germanic language not a Romantic language despite the number of words it borrows from Latin (really the Norman dialect of the French language which may be as related to modern French as old English is to Modern English.)
There is of course a relationship as both may be an Indo-Hittite based language....I was in error before both latin and Germanic languages may be Indo-hittite languages.
With the McCain policy on immigration you better learn to speak Spanish. :laugh:
Just a friendly pub discussion Dave, not an argument.
Um, there's a slight problem with this pub discussion...there's no beer. ;)
David Craik
07-11-2008, 21:34
It doesn't make a crap whether it's Romantic in origin, Indo-Hittite, Germanic, Vulcan, or friggin' Neanderthal grunting. I don't need a language professor or a book to tell me how difficult it is to do what I've already done because of similarities that I've noted myself and which are as plain as day. Yet I can't make heads or tails of German. I said most of the words in both languages come from Latin, which is an indisputable fact.
Que (what - kind of like 'question', eh?) hora(time - rather like 'hour', no? Oh wait, it also means 'hour', imagine that!) es(is! {it})?
Voy(I go - like 'voyage'?) a(to) la(the) playa(beach, from the Latin plagia - all the playas hang out at the beach, right? :D).
Pretty freakin mind boggling. :rolleyes:
Compare Thai to English, and then Spanish to English. See the difference?
Tony, being a fluent Spanish and English speaker do you see more similarity between English and Spanish or Spanish and Okinawan?
This conversation is ridiculous. You're not being precise, you're being pedantic.
English, like Spanish, Italian, and French are all Latin-based.
Sixty percent of the English vocabulary has its roots in Latin
Vulgar Latin developed differently in the various provinces of the Roman Empire, gradually giving rise to such modern languages as French, Catalan, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian.
I respectfully request that we get off the thread drift and back on the topic at hand. Por favor? S'il vous plait? Bitte? Thanks.
Jeff Cook
David Craik
07-11-2008, 22:27
And I respectfully will comply, almighty leader.
Jonathan Randall
07-11-2008, 23:23
While I agree that it is good to study a foreign language in school - and is, and has always been, IIRC, a requirement in college prep. study programs - I think a Spanish requirement would contribute substantially to the Balkanization of The United States. We all remember how Balkanization turned out for the Balkans, don't we? Not being facetious here, it is a real and serious point.
As to the difficulty in learning English, the two, IMO, cancel each other out. My German ancestors learned the rudiments of English more quickly than my Italian ones (according to what I've heard and remember of folks in their Eighties and Nineties when I was 9 or 10), but their vocabulary was always limited. My Italian ancestors had much larger English vocabularies, but their sentence structure remained closer to Italian than English. Neither side of the family considered it the responsibility of the citizens of the United States to learn either Italian or German in order to help them integrate (kind of a contradiction there, isn't it) into American life. In fact, they were so strict about their own children learning and mastering English that my grandparents had limited vocabulary in their parent's and grandparent's native tongues.
As to whether or not Obama's suggestion makes him diabolical, I'll say no. It makes him a politician...
I respectfully request that we get off the thread drift and back on the topic at hand. Por favor? S'il vous plait? Bitte? Thanks.
Jeff Cook
well back on topic, I think Obama is just pandering to the Hispanic population.
Trying to legislate language is a lost cause because of the dynamic nature of it, in Quebec they have been trying to preserve the French language with legislation and the result is the dialects in France and Quebec are drifting apart as the French (in France) are more open to bringing in foreign words.
If Spanish becomes a large enough influence in the US it will just give rise to another dialect and probably the only thing keeping American English and English
English close will be popular communication between the two countries.
English btw is basically the London dialect of the language much like Italian is really the Tuscan/Florentine dialect of Italy.
Tony, being a fluent Spanish and English speaker do you see more similarity between English and Spanish or Spanish and Okinawan?
Oh sure, pull me into this discussion. :D Of course there is that goes without question.
While I was born here my parents sent me to Dominican Republic to live with my grandmother at a very young age so I learned to speak Spanish first then English. I don't remember the difficulties because because when I learned English I was seven, although I remember learning it. What I have noticed though is that I can understand quite a bit of Portuguese and pretty much read it. It as helped somewhat with Italian.
My goal is to learn Japanese though.
David Craik
07-12-2008, 09:07
Sorry Tony, you were the first Spanish/English speaker that popped into my head. :o I wish my Japanese was better; because there are no native speakers around to practice with I lose it as fast as I can learn it, I find myself constantly looking up translations that I knew perfectly well only 5 years ago. :( I even joined a sort of 'Japanese pen pal' site for a time to practice my Japanese with native speakers, unfortunately most of the 'pals' I got were female and rapidly lost interest when they found out that I was married. When I put that I was married and only was interested in linguistic and cultural practice in my profile my hits dwindled to zero. Even though the site expressly said it was to practice language, I think most of the people were looking to 'practice' something else.
I agree that Obama is simply pandering to the Hispanic community for votes. I think learning a new language is a wonderful pursuit and very useful. Apart from simply knowing a new tongue it can give one a bit of insight into one's own language. And even if you only know smatterings of different languages, you can start to see the connections. It's very satisfying too..my high school Spanish isn't a whole lot of good trying to speak with a Puerto Rican or Mexican - they seem to talk so fast - but in Spain it was really cool because I could converse to *some* degree. But like charity, learning a new language should hardly be mandated.
Well around here if you want to pick a second language to communicate I would suggest Old German so you can talk to the Amish.
We also have a large Indian and Ceylonese population so Hindi or whatever it is called would work.
Then you have dirt bag drug pushers from Philadelphia and New York so Ebonics would be a good choice.
If anybody listens to Obama's crap seriously he will only make their lives worse. If you want to have a chance to succeed in the USA learn English (or is it Amarikan?;) ).
Peace
Dennis
Living in a Democracy where so many different things divide us, the existance of one common language is, I think, essential to our ability to continue to function as a nation. American schools should emphasize learning American English first. Additional, languages should be encouraged but, not required. The second language where I grem up in Maine was French ;) which is extremely useful in San Francisco (not!) so what little I had of it I've lost.
Most of my ancestors emigrated from Germany to the US during the aftermath of WWI because they were scared of what was happening. Their main goal in life seems to have been how to assimulate themselves and especially their children into the American mainstream as quickly as possible. When I've explained this to people who are struggling to maintain their cultural identity, their usual reaction is that is "how sad" to which I respond I consider myself American and that is enough for me. Then the conversation either dies or becomes about color and how I can't understand because I am white.
Side-note: English is "technically" a Germanic language. As of 1066 English was born from the Latin-speaking Normans who invaded England, so we have a tremendous amount of Latin influence, as David described. (Very interesting time in history - Battle of Hastings and the stuff happening around that time is worth reading about).
So, English's parents were Germanic (Saxon) and Latin (Norman).
I think that what makes English a Germanic language is the way the grammar works.
I've been trying to figure this out for a long time, myself. In any day I'm bouncing between German, French, and English (and totally confused, too.)
Side-note: English is "technically" a Germanic language. As of 1066 English was born from the Latin-speaking Normans who invaded England, so we have a tremendous amount of Latin influence, as David described. (Very interesting time in history - Battle of Hastings and the stuff happening around that time is worth reading about).
So, English's parents were Germanic (Saxon) and Latin (Norman).
I think that what makes English a Germanic language is the way the grammar works.
I've been trying to figure this out for a long time, myself. In any day I'm bouncing between German, French, and English (and totally confused, too.)
Correct although William the Conqueror was descended from Vikings, not Gauls, the latin influence also comes through because of the Catholic Church, scholarship etc.
At the end of the day the most commonly used words are the German "gut" words not the more analytical latin "abdomen" words....i.e when you are emotional in English you use the German form of the word, when more analytical the Latin.
This is all quite fascinating, but for the second time, please keep the thread on track. You guys can argue about the origins of languages in PM. Or start a separate thread and have at it. This is my second request. *hint*
Jeff Cook
This is all quite fascinating, but for the second time, please keep the thread on track. You guys can argue about the origins of languages in PM. Or start a separate thread and have at it. This is my second request. *hint*
Jeff Cook
point taken, I think we all agree on your first post that trying to legislate bilingualism or study of a foreign language is 1) ridiculous 2) not even feasible.
back on topic, speaking as someone from a bilingual country and viewing the situation in Belgium, having more than one language does just seem to cause more problems than would exist in a unilingual country.
I seriously think if politicians would just let the natural course of things run then it would be a much better idea, instead in Canada we have "official" bilingualism meaning there is legislation that the heads of the civil service etc. be bilingual. Since the Quebecers have more incentive to learn English than the Rest of Canada (ROC) to learn French they get a more than their share of high ranking jobs, and since they are guaranteed 25% of parliament they also get more than their fair share of political representatives.
There is no need to legislate for Spanish as a second language or English as an official language, if the Hispanic population has a big enough influence everyone will just end up speaking a common hybrid of the two languages just like the Normans and Anglo-Saxons all ended up speaking English.
On the other hand Switzerland seems to get along fine with 4 official languages so maybe I am completely wrong on this and it is just the Canadians and Belgians surly natures causing all the problems.
shinbushi
07-13-2008, 13:19
On the other hand Switzerland seems to get along fine with 4 official languages so maybe I am completely wrong on this and it is just the Canadians and Belgians surly natures causing all the problems.
We first need to have ONE official language before having more than one
Cliff Hargrave
07-13-2008, 14:39
Being this close to Louisiana, I know people that don't speak English or barely speak it, they speak French!
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