Bilingualism in America

[ReN0]

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/
releases/archives/facts_for_features_spe cial_editions/002270.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/cens us/2003-06-18-Census_x.htm

http://www.firmaspress.com/780.htm
http://www.stopthenorthamericanunion.com /Bilingualism.html

With the Hispanic culture the largest minority in the United States at almost 40 million people, should our country start moving towards bilingualism? Some state governments are passing legislation to introduce Spanish classes from kindergarten throughout high school and in some areas, like some stores for instance, you'll see signs that point out areas in both Spanish and English.

In the United States, we don't have an official language but English is considered our "unofficial official" language one would assume, but by 2050 with almost 70 million Hispanics and millions more coming from Hispanic heritage should us as Americans start learning Spanish?

I, personally, am not really trying to take a stand on the issue and the links I have are supposed to give arguments for both sides, but I was just wondering what your opinions are.

[stafffighter]

This has been going around for like 20 years and honestly the issue just isn't as prevaliant as it once was. More and more the hispanic community is losing the stigma of being uneducated in the name of patriotism and the issue of them not taking up english is less of an issue.

[poxpower]

Make them learn english.
Everyone on the planet should learn english and drop whatever tard-ass language they're using, and that's form someone who's a native french speaker.

Don't let them divide the community with their language because all it does is isolate them into their own communities with their own culture and all that shit and next thing you know those idiots want their own country.

[ReN0]

At 3/7/08 05:55 PM, stafffighter wrote: This has been going around for like 20 years and honestly the issue just isn't as prevaliant as it once was. More and more the hispanic community is losing the stigma of being uneducated in the name of patriotism and the issue of them not taking up english is less of an issue.

Well, I'm more not saying the Hispanic community is uneducated or anything. Should we cater to their needs at all? I don't know if we should or not, that's just more what I'm going for. To apply for citizenship it is legally mandatory that you know how to read and speak English, but should us as a country try to be more well versed ourselves?

At times it just seems that America is trying to convert the whole world to our language because we can. I understand that we're a global superpower, but should the world just only be English? Or should learn how they talk, and then let them learn what we speak. It just seems globally smarter to know how to communicate in different languages because English isn't even the most spoken language in the world. It'll be hard to outnumber the Chinese though.

http://www.krysstal.com/spoken.html

[KeithHybrid]

Bilingualism will become an increasingly important trait to have as our world becomes more and more globalized.

[Tancrisism]

I don't think it's entirely necessary. The areas where the Hispanic population is especially large essentially are bilingual, but in places like Minnesotta or Massachusetts (where Portuguese is more prevalant than Spanish), it's really not worth it.

[stafffighter]

At 3/7/08 06:03 PM, KeithHybrid wrote: Bilingualism will become an increasingly important trait to have as our world becomes more and more globalized.

If anything globilization means the embracing of each others cultures and languages. And yes liberal white people, speaking in english is a cultural trait. So domestically it would make it less important.

[ReN0]

At 3/7/08 06:03 PM, KeithHybrid wrote: Bilingualism will become an increasingly important trait to have as our world becomes more and more globalized.

From this, I realize my initial original post might've been a little too narrow-minded. America's nice, but really I should be focusing more on a global scale anyways. About bilingualism globally, we're in a period of massive globalization, we're already debating political issues from different continents right now.

Obviously, a global language for everyone will result in utter failure and ruin. Sanskrit anyone? But we should be more well versed than just English. We're down around 600 million speakers from being #1 in the most spoken language so we know it's not logical to think that will be the dominant world wide language. Embrace everyone's culture and language, and get out and learn some more!

Hope that didn't just nullify all I said in my original post though.

[AdamRice]

English is superior to all other languages. People who speak English natively, including myself, do not have to learn other languages. It is those that do not speak this tung that need to learn.

Yes I am absolutely serious. Only with English can you have the world's greatest entertainment industry, Hollywood, and an endless creation of slang and double meanings. Also that dialect that black people speak, it's like English, but completely incomprehensible to the white suburbanite.

[Der-Lowe]

At 3/7/08 05:58 PM, poxpower wrote: Make them learn english.
Everyone on the planet should learn english and drop whatever tard-ass language they're using

Or Chinese. It will be quite useful in the future.

At 3/7/08 06:02 PM, ReN0 wrote: At times it just seems that America is trying to convert the whole world to our language because we can.

Instead of using the present continuous there, I'd use past simple.
Seriously, where've you been during the 20th century?

Anyway, I think English is an appropriate global language, because it's quite simple.

[ReN0]

At 3/7/08 06:28 PM, Der-Lowe wrote:

At 3/7/08 05:58 PM, poxpower wrote: Make them learn english.
Everyone on the planet should learn english and drop whatever tard-ass language they're using

Or Chinese. It will be quite useful in the future.

At 3/7/08 06:02 PM, ReN0 wrote: At times it just seems that America is trying to convert the whole world to our language because we can.

Instead of using the present continuous there, I'd use past simple.
Seriously, where've you been during the 20th century?

Anyway, I think English is an appropriate global language, because it's quite simple.

Ok, ok, America is trying to globalize the world in it's image. Yeah, it's not something new, but I was just trying to get people's opinions on it from a current perspective.

And of course we would think English is simple! We learned the language. If we grew up learning Spanish, we're going to think that's simple. Sure, maybe that can't be said about all languages, but I'm pretty sure whatever language you grew up with is the language you'll assume is the easiest to learn.

[Tancrisism]

At 3/7/08 06:27 PM, AdamRice wrote: English is superior to all other languages. People who speak English natively, including myself, do not have to learn other languages. It is those that do not speak this tung that need to learn.

Don't have to, but should.

Yes I am absolutely serious. Only with English can you have the world's greatest entertainment industry

Coincidence. It's not the language that created it, if fate would have it it could be just like it is now but Polish.

, Hollywood

Big fucking woop.

and an endless creation of slang and double meanings.

Other languages have their slang too.

Also that dialect that black people speak, it's like English, but completely incomprehensible to the white suburbanite.

Oh, now I love English.

To be honest, I do enjoy English, but it is always good to learn another language just for the sake of learning one. It allows you to see through a different cultural perspective.

[Der-Lowe]

At 3/7/08 06:35 PM, ReN0 wrote: Ok, ok, America is trying to globalize the world in it's image.

Not America, English has been a global language since looong ago, firstly, sharing the title with French, and when France lost its international relevance, English became #1.
It all revolves around England, not the US.

And of course we would think English is simple! We learned the language.

=)
Assuming is risky.

If we grew up learning Spanish, we're going to think that's simple. Sure, maybe that can't be said about all languages, but I'm pretty sure whatever language you grew up with is the language you'll assume is the easiest to learn.

No.
English is a simple language, it rarely and simply conjugates verbs (there are rather few tenses as well), and declinations are non-existent, since words do not have a gender.
The only difficulty lies in the reading, because a word has multiple possible ways of being pronounciated, and the existence of so many vowel sounds.

[wickedtoaster]

To be honest, I do enjoy English, but it is always good to learn another language just for the sake of learning one. It allows you to see through a different cultural perspective.

yeah i agree its great to learn a new language, awesome, but it shouldn't be necessary. bilingualism would result in the mandatory teaching of Spanish in schools along side English with equal time allocated, which is a waste to millions, let alone a waste of money and time. The few sole spanish speaking people that are in our country should learn our dominant language of English before we are forced to learn their minor language of spanish. yes globally it would be helpful, but nationally it is not.

[poxpower]

At 3/7/08 06:28 PM, Der-Lowe wrote:

Or Chinese. It will be quite useful in the future.

No, because it's an idiotic and impossible complicated language to learn.

Take it from me. If you learn French, you will spend most of your class time learning the idiot grammar instead of putting that time to more productive things like learning real things.

Chinese would be a giant waste of time for everyone.

[samwazhere]

English should be the national language in America. Being outbred by hispanics means that spanish will become the national language then you either get seperatist states who don't want to conform like Quebec. Or the hispanics slow down their breeding as they gain wealth and another race takes over; it won't end.

[cellardoor6]

Everyone should learn a second language. There have been studies that show that people who learn a second language have higher IQs, better spatial comprehension, and are able to communicate way, way better in their native language. I think that if you don't learn a second language, you're missing out.

With that said, English should be the official language in the US, and people who can't speak it should be forced to learn it. If we allow Hispanics to keep their isolated little Spanish-speaking communities without assimilating in our culture and language, we're opening the doors for the Reconquista. This is especially considering Hispanics happen to be concentrated in the areas of land that they think belongs to them and that the US stole from them. They are coming here illegally, not learning English, not paying taxes, and due to the sheer numbers of them and the communities that are accommodating them, they aren't given the proper incentive to actually pay their dues and assimilate. They are basically colonizing us.

By trying to be politically correct and becoming tolerant of people who don't even desire to become part of America, we're basically setting ourselves up for disintegration.

[Der-Lowe]

At 3/7/08 07:09 PM, poxpower wrote:

At 3/7/08 06:28 PM, Der-Lowe wrote:

Or Chinese. It will be quite useful in the future.

No, because it's an idiotic and impossible complicated language to learn.

Ohh, I am well aware of that.
But don't underestimate the power of money.

[tawc]

At 3/7/08 09:52 PM, cellardoor6 wrote:

They are basically colonizing us.

Good. At least their not Mudering the Natives. leave them be. Let them speak their language. English isn't Americas official language. And America doesn't have an 'official' culture.
Think of all the great US citezens who had hispanic background.

[SadisticMonkey]

Make it available, yes, but by no means should anyone be forced to learn Spanish.

[Tancrisism]

At 3/7/08 09:52 PM, cellardoor6 wrote: They are basically colonizing us.

Look, I don't know if it is different in Washington, but here in California (ex-Mexico) there is no colonization. There is an enormous amount of Hispanic people, but they integrate quite well, and if they don't they simply work in the lowly working-class positions. They may stick to their own communities, but this doesn't harm us in any way.

[Tri-Nitro-Toluene]

At 3/7/08 06:28 PM, Der-Lowe wrote: Anyway, I think English is an appropriate global language, because it's quite simple.

Actually, English is quite a complicated language.

We have a hell of a lot of synonyms, we spell words with different meanings exactly the same, plus because English is a bastard language that has stolen words and then changed the pronunciations of them there isn't a natural link with other language like there is say between Italian, French and Spanish which ( to my knowledge) are very similar and therfore makes learning them if you can speka the other easier, and what links there are, are made irrelevant by the fact we change how everything is pronounced to a large part.

All this makes English a bitch to learn if you don't start at an early age when it's easier to start learning a second language. Still not as bad as cantonese which makes use of tones in a way that can completley change the emaning of word, but it's still pretty hard.

[fli]

*Expecting "English Only" rant*
Bilingualism is good, I speak more than two languages... but I'm most fluent in both English and Spanish.

However, I don't expect the US will be a bilingual country because, as with most children of immigrants, they lose their parental tongue.

When I have my own children, and even though I REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY hate this fact.... they will most likely be ONLY ENGLISH speak dorks.

That's right... only English-- a huge disability in my opinion.

Now, what I do expect in the future, if we've studied the history of the English language and see how it adapts, is that English will add a variety of words. Already Mexicans already added words such as "buckaroo" and "ranch" to the English language.

So, yes-- Syntax wise... we'll be speaking "English"-- but we could expect an increase of loan words from Mexican culture, especially for new technologies, food, and business.