Robin's commentary
From time to time, both Daniel and myself have posted jobs that require their applicants to be bilingual or specify that they are fluent in Spanish.
It was refreshing for a change, to see a job posting 01976: Cook1 at the University of Oregon, which reads, "... ability to read and write English"
One of the reasons why this is significant and why I am talking about it, is because it has become commonplace in advertising to announce that the company also accommodates Spanish-speaking people.[not too many Japanese, Vietnamese, etc.]
Not that there is anything wrong with that unless they try to force their employees to speak a different language than what they were hired to speak or risk losing their jobs in the process, a trend that we are starting to hear more and more about.
The problem comes when a company advertises that they only speak English, the PC people go ballistic.
As I have said many a time, we are still a primarily English-speaking culture that is being forced to accommodate another language because of a population explosion [invasion] of people who speak a different language, mostly Spanish, and who refuse to learn our language and assimilate in to this country.
9 comments:
Speaking another language is a bonus for everyone but I refuse to take Spanish because it is forced on me. I take German. In our own country I think people should be able to speak to us in OUR native tongue. The exception being tourists who drop their money and go home.
I read somehwere that it cost the industry millions of dollars to print new labels for food in two languages to accomodate those that don't learn English. And we know who absorbed the cost of that, don't we?
And if we want to have our own English speaking club, we would be biggots.
Anon 9:52, If you want to speak, read, or write in some other language you are absolutely free to do so. But don't start referring to those of us who are speaking, reading, and writing in the English language as bigots. Maybe one day you might learn that English is also considered to be an almost universal language around the world, and is a mandatory subject in many of the other countries. Even the UN, that bastion of anti-Americanism (except when it comes looking for monetary handouts), acknowledges that English is the second language in nearly all the European and Asian countries. Also, don't forget that English is the primary language in England, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, and South Africa. Ireland and South Africa also use their native languages (Gaelic and Boer), but English is primary.
English is also the language in which the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln's Gettyburg Address, and the UN Charter were written. With the possible exception of the UN Charter, none of the above listed documents were written in Spanish. Are you presuming to call the penners of those documents bigots, too?
One other thing, Anon 9:52 - learn to spell. Your continual misspelling is as annoying as you yourself are.
I don't think anyone here is intelligent enough to know more than one language.
Bueno cuiderno, Anonymouse 3.19!
Scottiebill has a serious chip on his shoulder. I think the insinuation was that we are being pegged as bigots if we try and push our own language. Not knowing who anon. is, I can't see how you would be able to say that they continually spell things wrong. And although we would like to believe that English is the most widely spoken language in the world - it is not. Stats say that Mandarin is the most widely spoken. If you are just looking for someone to hack at - more power to you. At least we are all getting a good look at what kind of person you really are.
Laura, If my possible preoccupation with correct spelling, one that I've had since elementary school, is "having a chip on my shoulder" and somehow that offends you, then I am sorry. Not really.
And, if my wanting, as many other thousands of people in this country do, English, the language this country has been using since it came into being some 300-plus years ago, to be the "National language", if not the "Official language" of the country, leads you to somehow "know" what kind of person I am, also offends you, then I would like to say, again, that I'm sorry. I won't, though. You must have some sort of psychic ability to know what a person is like to derive such knowledge without sitting down with that person and having a good, sensible discussion, instead of some thoughts posted on a weblog. You know absolutely nothing about me, not my age, race, work habits, where I live, or my religion (or lack of it). Therefore, you cannot possibly know what "kind" of person I am.
That you choose to make those assumptions about me without knowing me personally, I find that offensive. And if that offends you, then, again, I would like to say I'm sorry. But I'm not and I won't.
MAX Redline (Jay H8) said...
Bueno cuiderno, Anonymouse 3.19!
oh wow, you said 3 words. im convinced
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