I saw a hateful fb post the other day by a woman I know quite well, ranting and raving about people being forced to learn English before they come into this country. I have the privilege of teaching two Burmese children in my class on Wednesday nights, and although their English isn't perfect, it's pretty good. The older girl not only speaks English, but she speaks some Spanish in addition to her native language, and is able to passably read and translate a third dialect. How many of us could do that? I took two years of Spanish and I can hardly remember any of it! And yet many Americans act like these people are somehow inferior because they stumble over their words.
I don't advocate hatefulness (at all), but the lack of English-speaking skills is becoming a real problem. I live in an area that has an extremely high Hispanic population, and sometimes the communication difficulties really complicate things. I don't have a problem with people struggling with English, but it seems like a lot of them are not even trying to learn. Since this country's official language is English, I think you should learn it if you plan to live here.
I wouldn't move to China and not expect to learn their language. The point of having a common language is so that we can all communicate with each other.
I don't advocate hatefulness (at all), but the lack of English-speaking skills is becoming a real problem. I live in an area that has an extremely high Hispanic population, and sometimes the communication difficulties really complicate things. I don't have a problem with people struggling with English, but it seems like a lot of them are not even trying to learn. Since this country's official language is English, I think you should learn it if you plan to live here.
I wouldn't move to China and not expect to learn their language. The point of having a common language is so that we can all communicate with each other.
English is one of the hardest languages to learn, ranking right up there with Chinese. Yes, if I moved to another country, I would try to learn the language--but just so I could communicate in order to survive--not to become a linguist in the new language.
Some people are just better at learning new things than others. Some of the people in our class pick up the concepts right away, and others are still struggling with the basics after months of class. One of the things we're doing is studying the test they have to take for citizenship (they have to live here for 6 years first). Newcomers who can barely understand English are expected to pass a test that most teenagers entering college couldn't pass.
I agree that learning English needs to be a priority, mainly as a survival skill. However, I resent the superiority complex that comes across in the diatribes of those who look down on anyone with a heavy accent.
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"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
English is one of the hardest languages to learn, ranking right up there with Chinese. Yes, if I moved to another country, I would try to learn the language--but just so I could communicate in order to survive--not to become a linguist in the new language.
Some people are just better at learning new things than others. Some of the people in our class pick up the concepts right away, and others are still struggling with the basics after months of class. One of the things we're doing is studying the test they have to take for citizenship (they have to live here for 6 years first). Newcomers who can barely understand English are expected to pass a test that most teenagers entering college couldn't pass.
I agree that learning English needs to be a priority, mainly as a survival skill. However, I resent the superiority complex that comes across in the diatribes of those who look down on anyone with a heavy accent.
Yes I agree completely. It took me years to be able to communicate effectively here in New England after immigrating from Texas. The language barrier was a huge challenge.
English is one of the hardest languages to learn, ranking right up there with Chinese. Yes, if I moved to another country, I would try to learn the language--but just so I could communicate in order to survive--not to become a linguist in the new language.
Some people are just better at learning new things than others. Some of the people in our class pick up the concepts right away, and others are still struggling with the basics after months of class. One of the things we're doing is studying the test they have to take for citizenship (they have to live here for 6 years first). Newcomers who can barely understand English are expected to pass a test that most teenagers entering college couldn't pass.
I agree that learning English needs to be a priority, mainly as a survival skill. However, I resent the superiority complex that comes across in the diatribes of those who look down on anyone with a heavy accent.
I don't hear people ranting against people with heavy accents. I do hear rants against people who simply don't try to learn the language.
I stopped at a taco stand the other day, and the people working there could not communicate with me on the most basic topics. I simply wanted to know which of their taco options was beef. Finally I just pointed at one of the options and went for it. I still am not sure what I ate.
If I were *moving* to another country, planning to be a citizen there, I would certainly try to be fluent in the language. I wouldn't want to merely know enough to survive.
I don't advocate hatefulness (at all), but the lack of English-speaking skills is becoming a real problem. I live in an area that has an extremely high Hispanic population, and sometimes the communication difficulties really complicate things. I don't have a problem with people struggling with English, but it seems like a lot of them are not even trying to learn. Since this country's official language is English, I think you should learn it if you plan to live here.
I wouldn't move to China and not expect to learn their language. The point of having a common language is so that we can all communicate with each other.
Jermyn Davidson 
Hybrid Mode
