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Topic:
Is a requirement to know the native language pretty much a prerequisite to citizenship everywhere? [Locked] |
Bonzoboy1  Posts: 885
Registered: 2008-8-1 18:04:29
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
Is a requirement to know the native language pretty much a prerequisite to citizenship everywhere? |
If people don't want to learn English when they move to the U.S. that is fine but we should stop wasting money on translators and signs in 20 languages in government offices.
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Yukishiro1  Posts: 3,243
Registered: 2002-9-20 23:52:57
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
Is a requirement to know the native language pretty much a prerequisite to citizenship everywhere? |
Not much money gets spent on that stuff and it is worth it if the alternative is people not understanding important things they should understand.
Of course, for most people who rant about this facts don't matter and it is all about "sending a statement" whether it makes sense to do so or not.  |
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
Is a requirement to know the native language pretty much a prerequisite to citizenship everywhere? |
Yukishiro1 posted:
I just think it's convenient that history never seems to matter when we don't want it to and always matters when we do want it to.
If people actually learned the languages of the places they went to live in you'd be speaking Seminole or something like that.
That might make more sense if the Seminoles, or whoever, were the established nation that everyone else was joining rather than a tribe that got the beat down by its conquerors.
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Yukishiro1 Posts: 3,243
Registered: 2002-9-20 23:52:57
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
Is a requirement to know the native language pretty much a prerequisite to citizenship everywhere? |
So basically people didn't learn to speak seminole because they didn't think they had to.  |
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
Is a requirement to know the native language pretty much a prerequisite to citizenship everywhere? |
Yukishiro1 posted:
So basically people didn't learn to speak seminole because they didn't think they had to.
People didn't learn Seminole because the Seminole had no power to make their language necessary. I'm all for people being free to learn or not learn whatever languages they want. I am also all for restricting publication of documentation and publicly provided services to the English language. The burden for not learning English should fall on the shoulders of those who chose not to learn rather than on the state, imho.
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I radiate more heat than light.
I know what you're trying to do but you're just sailing another failboat over the falls. - imaloon1
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Yukishiro1 Posts: 3,243
Registered: 2002-9-20 23:52:57
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:00am
Subject:
Is a requirement to know the native language pretty much a prerequisite to citizenship everywhere? |
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That's just an argument from emotion. It costs very little to provide critical information in more than one language and the potential gains are large. Most of the stuff that is translated is either (1) very important stuff like "don't walk here, you will fall off the cliff and die" or (2) very technical stuff, that people who don't speak natively are going to have a lot of trouble with no matter what.
Using the state to enforce linguistic uniformity has a long history and it is neither pretty nor positive.
If knowing English is a big advantage most people will learn. If someone people don't want to learn it shouldn't be the state's business to try to force them to, nor should the state cut off its own nose to spite its face by not providing important resources in a variety of languages if the demand is there.
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:01am
Subject:
Is a requirement to know the native language pretty much a prerequisite to citizenship everywhere? |
Yukishiro1 posted:
That's just an argument from emotion. It costs very little to provide critical information in more than one language and the potential gains are large. Most of the stuff that is translated is either (1) very important stuff like "don't walk here, you will fall off the cliff and die" or (2) very technical stuff, that people who don't speak natively are going to have a lot of trouble with no matter what.
Using the state to enforce linguistic uniformity has a long history and it is neither pretty nor positive.
If knowing English is a big advantage most people will learn. If someone people don't want to learn it shouldn't be the state's business to try to force them to, nor should the state cut off its own nose to spite its face by not providing important resources in a variety of languages if the demand is there.
That's just an argument from emotion. The state has no need to force people to learn the language. People have an interest in learning the language to participate in living in the state.
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I radiate more heat than light.
I know what you're trying to do but you're just sailing another failboat over the falls. - imaloon1
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Yukishiro1 Posts: 3,243
Registered: 2002-9-20 23:52:57
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:01am
Subject:
Is a requirement to know the native language pretty much a prerequisite to citizenship everywhere? |
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Well sure. And most of them do.
People arn't going to learn English so they can read the sign saying "don't walk here or you'll die."
Nor are they going to learn English so they can figure out how to do their taxes. Native speakers can't figure out how to do their taxes. It'd be practically impossible in a foreign language no matter how proficient you were.
If you don't provide those resources in other languages it just ends up hurting the state as much as it hurts the people. Cutting off your nose to spite your face is generally a silly thing to do.
Early in this country's history it was super common to find populations of people who spoke other languages and very little if any english. The reason we don't have english as an official language is apparently because people were afraid german might win the ballot in a bunch of places. You can still find some very old people in ohio and other places in the midwest who speak german as their native language and english poorly if at all.
If there are a lot of people in a community who speak another language it really doesn't help anyone for the state to stick its head in the ground and pretend those people don't exist or that its drama queening will cause them to learn the language.
What leads to people not speaking english in america is insular minority communities cut off from the rest of society. The state holding their hand (or not) really has nothing to do with it.
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:01am
Subject:
Is a requirement to know the native language pretty much a prerequisite to citizenship everywhere? |
Darwynnia posted:
If you move to a country, you learn the language(s) spoken there - at least one of them.
It's not that difficult a concept.
Like Spanish in the United States?
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Tych2 Title: Obama Appointed Outpost Czar
Posts: 2,511
Registered: 2005-3-1 06:56:47
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Date Posted:
1/1/00 12:01am
Subject:
Is a requirement to know the native language pretty much a prerequisite to citizenship everywhere? |
Spanish is a distant second in the US. Its not even a little close. It's like 10% or so of the country speaks Spanish as a main language.
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