You might want to make allowances for those who use the language more precisely than you do.
This would involve understanding the difference between a Nation and a State.
Charlie is entirely correct in asserting that We have always had a National language, and that it is English (or, at least a form of same).
What we do not have is a State language.
Tom Watson - WoodDorker tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (email)
On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 12:31:10 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ron Magen" quickly quoth:
If you used an American Express card you wouldn't be so lucky. Ayup, they're all Indian CS now, too.
- Metaphors Be With You -
Strange that a man calling people stupid, backs it up with elementary school history facts. Before Cherokee, humans in ( what is now) the US, grunted and banged as a language. By your elementary reasoning we should accept that as a language as well.
The original languages in the US all melted into on language, English. For a reason. A functioning country cannot function without commons.
Wonder how this guy would feel if he had an accident, called 911 and they did not speak English.
Brings up the question. People in the US who cannot speak English, are they a burden or a profit to our society?
What was Andrew Dice Clay's joke??? :)
Chris
There are damn few higher forms of "social responsibility" than serving your country; "Every man an island" is inarguably the antithesis of "serving your country"; and "unity" is something while learn by doing so.
And it is well documented that those who haven't will attempt to argue otherwise ... and to those, it's always a waste of your breath.
I, for one, would be much happier in a society of people who have served their country, than take from their country.
Chris
On 9/18/2005 12:28 PM Chris mumbled something about the following:
Let's see if you can follow this logic. Not everyone in the US has spoken English since the beginning of the US. Now, because we have people who speak something else, it's no longer okay that there are people who don't speak english? What about the vast differences between english in the Northeast and the deep south, or the midwest, or even California, for that matter. None of us speak the same english. We don't even speak english according to the Brits, so what is our national language again?
They already are 'mentally'. That's the first step! John
Are you writing in English? The words are familiar, but what you're saying is a mystery.
There are many ways to serve, none of which involve demanding that you be served.
See if you can follow this logic: file your court papers in Farsi and see what happens.
No one that I know of has said it is not OK to speak another language. What is not OK is the insistence that the official systems in the U.S. be made to use different languages and teach different languages. As I recall, when the large mass of Italians hit the U.S., most of them learned English as quickly as possible. Same with the Germans and the French who showed up here. In fact, all the Vietnamese I know speak pretty good English, as do most of the Pakistanis and Indians, though their singsong accent often baffles me...quite possibly because of my poor hearing at this point in my life.
English differs little in its written form from Alabama to Maine and west to Washington and California, and doesn't change a whole lot in Chicago, St. Louis and Des Moines.
Dialects of languages are common in all major languages. If you get curious, Google Chinese and discover how many dialects a billion or two people can form. In English, though, the written form remains the same.
Learn something about English, and language in general, before calling others stupid, please.
That isn't quite true about those immigrants. There were large enclaves of Italian, Germans, French, Finns, Swedes, etc. where the people mostly spoke their native language and many of the actual immigrants never learned English or didn't learn it very well. But to be fair, they usually made their kids go to school and learn English. I have a friend who is a Finn that never spoke any English until he went to the first grade.
Ah, but the written form of Chinese is the same regardless of the dialect. But those dialects in Chinese are far different from our regional accents.
Nonetheless, I agree, using translations in conduction of government and teaching in different languages is a waste of resources and a waste of money.
Good first step there, George, recognizing your problem ... reading comprehension.
The "mystery" is where/how the hell you came up with "demanding to be served" as an issue ... but it's a notable fact that those who give the most, generally "demand" the least.
Was, wenn wir entschieden, über USENET mit irgendeiner Sprache zu sprechen, wählten wir? Würde dieses wirklich für das Sprechen mit einer großen Gruppe wirkungsvoll sein? Es sollte nicht eine Überraschung sein, die Englisch unsere nationale Sprache ist. Dies hat für mehr als 100 Jahre gegolten. Daß eine Gesellschaft eine allgemeine Form von Kommunikationen benötigt, sollten nicht Raketenwissenschaft sein. Es scheint ziemlich unhöflich, zu verlangen daß Gesellschaftänderung, weil Neulinge ablehnen, die nationale Sprache zu erlernen. Dieses ergibt nur eine zersplitterte Gesellschaft und ringt gegen sich. Ich wählte Deutsches in dieser Kommunikation für einen Grund vor.Wenn meine Vorfahren die gleiche Logik verwendet hatten, würden Sie Deutsches verstehen müssen, um mit mir in diesem Forum zu sprechen. Verstehen Sie dieses?
My apologies to true German speaking participants of rec.woodworking. I'm sure the grammar in the above is absolutely atrocious. It was, however, meant to convey a point. That point is that a common language is not a luxury in a cohesive society, it is a necessity. That the language in the United States is English is a fact, to rail against that fact, or to work against it only serves to further divide that society and make it less cohesive and able to function well with itself and others.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
I was told many years ago that one of the reasons Switzerland has been able to "enforce" their neutrality from world conflicts is that every adult has served in their armed forces and is a permanent life member of their military, including having their uniform, weapon, etc, @ home ready for immediate callup.
This was told to me in the '60s/'70s by a Swiss who was attending a tech school with me. I have no idea if this is still true.
No comprehension problems here. Please learn to write.
On 9/18/2005 10:59 PM Mark & Juanita mumbled something about the followin= g:
e:
Ich verstehe tadellos gut. Es bedeutet nicht, ich darin =FCbereinstimme, =
da=DF wir eine nationale Sprache haben, noch bedeutet sie mich zustimmt, =
da=DF wir ein haben sollten. Wir haben nie ein in der Geschichte der US=20 gehabt, und ihn jetzt nach 200 Plusjahren zu =E4ndern w=FCrde ein Fehler = sein.
--=20 Odinn RCOS #7 SENS(less)
"The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself." -- Sir Richard Francis Burton
Reeky's unofficial homepage ...
Well, the terrain may be a contributing factor, but a resolute and ready citizenry doesn't hurt. All the tunnels are pre-mined and good defensive positions prepared, so they say.
Israelis were doing pretty well as long as they had clearly identified enemies, then too many people started "bitching" about their country's internal politics and ignoring the threat. Got a bit more dangerous. When the propagandists and the people spend their time harping on the single issue with which they disagree, and see the opposite party as a greater enemy than the external ones sworn to cut their throats ... well, it's not good.
^^^^^^^
I'll bet the Australians, New Zealanders, English and Canadians do too. ;-)
And I one who spoke nothing but Russian until he was twelve. He was raised in Washington DC.
Though there are idiomatic sxpressions unique to each dialect that, even when weritten, make sense only in the context of their respective dialects.
I disagree. In many cases it is not only not a waste it is essential to the proper functioning of government when you consider that functioning includes police investigations, courtroom testimony disaster relief, and so on.
In education it is far from wasteful to teach English to non speakers of English and other languages to English speakers.
Do they pay taxes? Is your money better than theirs?
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