Bush says immigrants should learn to speak English

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/bush_national_anthem;_ylt=AnZBCvNxTdnyFu9N7QBuqxWs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

"I think people who want to be citizens of this country ought to learn English," Bush said.

I agree.

 

I agree, though it is about the only thing I agree with when it comes to President Bush. If Americans went to another country and only spoke English, they'd be SOL, but here in the US we cater to people who don't. This is precisely one of the reasons why the country is falling apart.

 

Land of the free?

I don't care what language people speak as long as they don't complain when people can't understand them.

ha ha ha ha!

 

I'm serious. Go to China or Mexico and demand that schools allow you to speak English, and watch what happens. A buddy of mine went to Korea, and all the signs in the Airport were in Korean..........but if you go to LAX, our signs are in multiple languages. The US needs to stop catering to people who don't speak English, because most countries do not return the favor.

 

I agree. I don't think I should have to pick what language I want at the ATM. I hate that.

 

I think Americans or Brits who go to live in another country should learn that speaking the lingo doesn't mean SHOUTING at the natives. I also think Bush should be tarred and feathered for lying through his teeth to the people that elected him but that's another story.

By the way, what is SOL? Sorry for being dense. I was thinking So Out of Line ... Sad Old Lumps?

 

And sorry for the double post unless (anyone else gets in there first) but more or less since there were hole-in-the -wall cash machines I've lived in other countries and I like having the facility to pick English. Why is that a bad thing to reciprocate in the US? I'm sure many a US traveller has been delighted to find he can actually make sense of the ATM without speaking Chinese.

 

Many Europeans and Asians speak English.

And as far as LAX's airport signs being bilingual....

 

What's the deal with the drive-through having braille for the blind? Ray Charles shouldn't be driving.... ; )

 

Free medical, free schooling, free retirement...yes, a lot of things are free.

The purpose of a unifying a language is to reduce the chances of balkanize a country, and to keep it's communication open and vital.

People are free to speak any language they want to, but our schools should always teach a primary language (not to say you can't learn others), if we wish to remain one country.

I do think it's helpful for business to unify a similiar code of conduct on this. Regardless, you can't have two completely different isolated cultures in one country, and think that time won't separate them.

 

I agree, that it is a nice feature, but english should be the default in the U.S. in places that tourists are not likely to visit. I hit the wrong button one time and get all confused.

 

Funny story. I took my nephew to the DMV to pick up his license, and while we were waiting in line, a Mexican lady was there to pick up her license but she couldn't speak a world of English. So the counter lady, a black woman, keeps trying to ask her for various things, but of course she couldn't speak English, so she just kept saying "No habla Ingles", until a Mexican-speaking counterperson came over. As she's handing the Mexican lady her driver's license, the black woman mutters utter her breath, "How the hell you going to drive when you can't even read the street signs?"

Funniest damn thing I ever heard.

 

"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 man's becoming in very fact 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, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...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

Umm, no. I live in Korea (and Texas kinda 50/50). The signs are also in English. Even the buses announce stops once in Korean, and once in English.

 

I think it's only in the poor/undeveloped/very right wing countries which don't cater for other languages. I know that even school newletters in some UK schools are sent out in every language from bangladeshi and arabic to chinese and greek.

But I agree, when someone comes to a country they should conform to that country and learn the language. Also, English is (in my opinion) the best language to know if you don't already know it, it's extremely useful in that respect.

 

They have to, because we have the money to buy their products.

Europe made English their official language just recently.
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Future news: America makes Spanish their official language.

 

As a foreigner in Mexico, you have no rights to free speech ie their constitution allows them to kick you out if you are a burden.

Mexico's sourthern border policy is shoot to kill or they take your money/molest you. I believe they've only naturalized 15k people in five years,...so it's ironic they are telling us how to run our border and country. I'm sure they would be whining if we were half as strict as they are.

Simple truth: they're not producing as much oil, so the revenue for keeping this corrupt government going must come through illegal immigration...

 

Didn't mexico find a huge oil reserve not too long ago? In 2-3 years, I thought I read mexico would be pumping out tons of oil.

 

It's funny how we live in a world where oil dictates who are allies and enemies more effectively than anything else. You would've thought a government would spend just 10 or 20 billion on one of those renewable energy cars which oil companies supposedly purchase and hide.

 

Saudi Arabia being a key example

I just saw a news story on TV today about Brazil. Their cars run on ethanol produced from sugar cane. They've been doing this for years now. And it's a lot cheaper than oil. More than 50% of the cars purchased in Brazil last year ran on this kind of fuel.

If Brazil can get 50% of their cars running off sugar cane, why can't we? Oh that's right, we have an oil man running our country

 

http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=263489&selected=Analyses


They've claim to found a huge reserve, which would take 8 years to start on. Read about the problems they face (in the above link...sorry I'm not yet a certified to have live links). Fact is, their fate is really up to whether or not they'll change their constitution or just roll with what they have. Their political choses in the next few years will determine the fate of their country. It seems that many are ignorantly leaning the wrong way ie they might vote a nationalizing socialists into power.


"Mexican President Vicente Fox recently said a new oil field has been discovered off the coast of southern Veracruz in the Gulf of Mexico. The field, which could hold reserves of up to 10 billion barrels of crude, would significantly increase Mexico's total oil reserves, which currently stand at 46.4 billion barrels. However oil production at this site will take several years for technical reasons alone, not to mention the current legal and financial restrictions that Petroleos Mexicanos faces in developing this and other fields."