This blog is not intended in making an offensive point. I am just trying to prove a point. Don't get offended and post stupid comments after you're done saying imature things because I warned you in the beggining.
I have come across through many situations in my life in which people have told me racist things. One thing that realy bugs me up to date. Many people say to me, "This is america, speak english". I am really bugged when I hear this. I don't see the reason why so man people say this to spanish speakers. My reasons are:
1. Amendment I: Freedom of speech (Mind that in the constitution it doesn't say, English only)
2. It's not your business anyways to what they are talking about unless you're being nosy and want to know what they are speaking
3. How many countries do americans go to and speak heir language without others saying for ex. "this is France, speak french"
I have also noticed that people tend to say this to spanish speakers. I see Chinese people for ex. speaking Chinese and I don't see americans saying "This is america, speak english". People seriously need to stop discrimination against all races, not just us spanish people. It is stupid, there is no point to it and it just leads to more anger and agression to this world.
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This was nice to read, since that is such an ignorant satement. I made a post about a similar topic earlier this week.
There's a difference between tourists and inhabitants though:: In France the French will talk to the American tourists in English, and they teach English and other languages in their schools, but they have laws protecting and maintaining their language for the people that live there. Generally though, Europe is used to many people passing through other countries that speak different languages since so many language are close to each other.
The point I usually make is: If you want to live somewhere, you should learn the native language. If I were to move to Mexico, I would definitely want to have a firm grasp on the language before I make the big move.
The problem isn't with the occassional Spanglish or with people who speak both languages. The problems arises when you have an immigrant--be it legal or otherwise--that cannot speak the language of the country he's emigrated to at all. Then there becomes a problem to communicate with this person, and if an emergency occurs the problem shows it's ugly head. It's hard to tell a paramedic where it hurts when you two can find a common language to speak.
In high school I took 3 years of Spanish. I feel it is very practical to learn this language and we can all benefit from knowing more than one language.
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What bothers me is that the great majority of people come to this country try to learn the language or try to learn the language. People criticize people who are still learning too much and just assume that they don't speak English at all- and then perpetuate a stereotype that immigrants don't bother with it. If you remember taking high school spanish classes, you will remember that it was very hard to express what you wanted to say without proper grammar or vocabulary.
For people learning an entire language and then moving doesn't always help when they are escaping bad circumstances. Or just in general. People in America who go on business to other countries to work for a few years definately don't have time before the move to even learn the basics of the language(s).
I completely agree, it is very frustruating, ever since I have come to America it has happened to me. This is something that needs to stop because, like the creater of this blog stated: you don't see other people (from other countries/places) saying it to others, American's etc. I have never heard a Puerto Rican tell an American tourist or whatever, this is Puerto Rico, speak Spanish. *sigh* whatever. I hate discrimination/racism, etc.
PS: It is nice to see someone that appreciates and loves the Spanish language ^_^
xTiAxLiNDAx
Hmmm....good point.
Given the circumstance, I can see why the sudden flight from country to country wouldn't allow much time for English lessons. However, it would be very helpful for people who do have the time to learn the language. I'd rather learn first, then move. If I went to....let's say, Russia, I couldn't hope to learn simply through osmosis. I'd need some serious help.
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I believe to say to a person "Speak English this is America" is wrong, but I also believe to move to another country is taking the responsibility of learning the language. Many people do not say anything to Asian's because most the time they speak to each other in their language but English to other English speakers. I have noticed (living 10 minutes from the Mexican border) that most Spanish speakers speak absolutely no English. I have tried on occasion to communicate at restaurants and I end up with a failed communication channel. If I moved to another country I know I would try to speak their native language.
Après la pluie le beau temps. ♥
"This is America, stop speaking Spanish."
I've had this said to me, and I'm a native English speaker, just learning Spanish in school. Add onto that that my appearance is clearly Irish. And people have said this to me.
My response? "This is America, and I'll speak Spanish as much as I want."
Honestly, my experience has showed me that it's purely racism and prejudice. It's something bred into so many children nowadays, and it needs to be stopped before it gets any farther than it has. I can understand someone being frustrated with someone who's been here in the States for several years and hasn't made an attempt to learn any English, but must people cling to such stereotypes?
And that's comin' at ya' from yer local redneck hippie.
Some of them really are trying to learn English. The problem is assuming that the peope who you meet don't try. I worked at a Mexican restaurant for a while and the whole staff was trying to learn, but they were so shy and insecure that they gave me the English speaking tables.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
I agree, but it will differ from place to place, being in San Diego they don't feel the need to learn English because so many people in San Diego speak Spanish and they can get away with not learning English. Of course in a restaurant, they are more likely to try as well.
Après la pluie le beau temps. ♥
There could be more Spanish-speaking people in San Diego that don't make an effort. However, since it is an area with a large Hispanic/Latino population, there could be more programs such as free ESL classes causing more actual people to learn English. You never know. It's not fair to assume unless you talk with a wide variety of Spanish-speaking people or have a reliable source who has done just that.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
Well everyday down here I attempt to communicate with many many people. So I have had experience attempting to communicate with Mexicans. And there are not a lot of ESL programs and the ones that are available are not free. San Diego is a very impoverished area especially where there are large amounts of Mexicans.
Après la pluie le beau temps. ♥
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I think we should have less immigration. I am totally against flooding America with people that don't speak our language. Almost all the studies suggest that only two groups benefit from mass immigration: the employers and the immigrants themselves. Everybody else picks up the tab. Poor Americans are particularly hurt but middle class taxpayers also bear more than their share of the load.
There is NOTHING FREE about free ESL programs. English teachers, as you well know since I believe you are one, have to be paid. That means that somebody is picking up the tab. Free means that it is either funded by charity or funded by the taxpayers. Charities can spend their money how they choose (I won't be donating to those particular charities!) but I strenuously object to taxpayer dollars being spent on ESL programs. America has plenty of other problems like the high cost of tuition or our bankrupt medicare and social security systems where those dollars could be better spent.
Immigrants should take responsibility and bear the cost of themselves learning English. No immigrant should be given permanent residency without being able to pass a reasonably rigourous verbal an written English Test. If they can't come up with $500 to buy themselves Rossetta Stone Software or hire a tutor then they are not the kind of immigrants we want anyway because as soon as they become citizens we'll have to start supporting them with welfare.
American citizanship is a precious thing and those immigrants who really want it will find a way to learn English.
What are all these "studies" you are talking about? Could you back that? Because those studies are wron if they areeven real. Califronia's economy wouldn't survive without immigration. I like having produce thank you very much. They do all the jobs that Americans think they are too good for. So it does not only benefit the immigrants and the employers, it benefits me and just about every other Californian.
Après la pluie le beau temps. ♥
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Thank you for asking.
These studies are everywhere and almost all of them conclude that illegal immigration is a terrible loser for taxpayers and also for poor Americans. Only the employers benefit. The very few studies that try to put lipstick on this pig are badly flawed. For example there is one that gets cited frequently that talks about the $6 billion that illegal aliens pay into Social Security. And that is true but they fail to mention the $16 billion they take out of the Federal Treasury annually in other services.
Here is one:
The High Cost of Cheap Labor
It pegs the NET cost of illegal aliens at the Federal Level at about $10 billion after the trivial taxes they pay and further it says if you made them legal, the cost would climb to $30 billion annually because they would only pay slightly mopre taxes but would qualify for many more benefits. The costs to the individual states are even worse because they get stuck with the bulk of education, healthcare and justice system costs for illegal immigration.
I used to live in California. I graduated from college there in 1979. There were very few illegal aliens there then and the economy was doing just fine without them and I'm sure it could again. In those days California also had a public school system that was the pride of the nation. I think now California's public schools are now ranked 47'th in the nation. That is an amazing drop in just 30 years.
California is currently looking at a $16 billion dollar deficit. Here is a study which puts the NET cost to California taxpayers for illegal immigration at $8.8 billion meaning that illegal immigration accounts for more than half of your deficit. As a result of your deficit, I believe your governor is talking about cutting back educational spending and letting criminals out of prison early among other things. It sounds like things are on the right track there. NOT! The California tax base is fleeing California in droves trying to escape the disaster as California descends into third world status.
The Costs to Local Taxpayers for Illegal or "Guest" Workers
We heard the same nonsense about the California agricultural economy collapsing back at the end of the Bracero Guest Worker Program in the 1960s. Specifically everybody was predicting the end of commercial tomato production in California. Actually what happened was that it mechanized and now about 20% of the people produce about 400% more tomatoes then they did back then. Here is a really interesting case study for you.
There Is Nothing More Permanent Than Temporary Foreign Workers
In California agriculture has a lot of room for mechanization. For example probably one of the most illegal alien intensive crop in California is raisins. Yet in Australia the raisin industry is almost entirely mechanized. It is the ready availability of easily exploited dirt cheap labor that is keeping California farmers from investing in increased productivity. Almost the identical comparison can be made between California and Australia for wine production. Really when you think about it, the arguments that California farmers (and you) are making in favor of cheap illegal labor are almost identical to the arguments that were made in the South in favor of slavery. The California farmers have dreamed up an even better system though because southern slave farmers had to feed, clothe and provide medical care for their slaves whereas California farmers have figured out how to exploit them with ridiculously low wages and then unload most of those costs onto the taxpayer.
As far as jobs that Americans won't do, that is complete economic nonsense and also an insult to hard working Americans everywhere. You have just bought into the President Bush's bumper sticker slogan. Americans will do any job no matter how difficult IF IT PAYS enough. Garbage man jobs are usually unionized and pay really well. It is an extremely nasty and physically demanding job but the pay is right and there are plenty of people willing to take these high paying jobs. There are only about 4 states that really have a lot of illegal immigrants. If Americans won't do these jobs then how are the other 46 states getting by? .Of course Americans will do thos jobs. If we sent the illegal aliens home the wages for these jobs would rise to the point where they were attractive.
Actually, illegal aliens are depressing wages for Americans in the unskilled labor sectors of our economy. These are the poorest Americans and we owe it to them not to have policies that damage their precarious lives. Here is a study by George Borjas who is one of the country's premier labor economists and who has studied this particular issue extensively. He found sgniicant depression of wages for unskilled Americans and found that it was particularly damaging to black Americans (but who cares about them anyway?). Of course that is common sensical. If you increase the supply the price will go down. Read it for yourself:
Increasing the Supply of LaborThrough Immigration: Measuring the Impact on Native-born Workers
If you are really interested I can post you lots more stuff. On this issue I spend a lot of time reading and am extremely well informed.
I did not read all of that, but while I am sure it is helpful and insightful about illegal aliens, you never mention anything about illegal immigration.
"I think we should have less immigration. I am totally against flooding America with people that don't speak our language."
Hmm that seems a little different. You need to be clear what you're talking about. I was talking about legal immigration. I know illegal immigration is costly, and that is why I was talking about legal immigration.
Après la pluie le beau temps. ♥
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It is really all about the numbers.
I am totally against illegal immigration for many, many reasons not the least of which is that it is illegal. My biggest concern is that it amplifies the disaster which is being caused by our legal immigration policy.
I am not against legal immigration. I think certain immigrants contribute a lot to America. But I think the numbers of legal immigrants are far too high and I think we should be MUCH more selective about which immigrants we select. I favor a point system like they use in Canada, Australia and Brittain.
Legal immigration could be extremely beneficial for America but because our system is badly designed it is at best neutral and probably is a massive drain on taxpayers. As it is, our population growth is totally,100% being driven by immigration and the projections show our population headed for 450 billion by 2050 (a 50% increase in just over 40 years) and almost a billion by the turn of the next century. I doubt America will be a better place with all those new people. Every single one of our problems is either caused by too many people or becomes harder to solve as we add people. Is that what you want for your children?
By the way, how is the traffic situation down there in San Diego? When I lived in Southern California LA at a horrific rush hour but San Diego seemed to be almost immune to this problem. Do you think it will get better if the population of Southern California goes up by 50%?
Even if you did not read the other stuff, you really should watch this video because it is really dramatic and will definately impact your thinking.
Immigration by the numbers
There is a new study which I believe is due out tomorrow which is going to make the case that the government is badly underestimating the cost of immigration to native born Americans because they have systematically refused to track and study these costs. I'll post it if I can lay hands on it. Coincidently, it seems that governments around the world are starting to come to the realization that mass legal immigration is a losing proposition. Brittain has flooded their country with third world immigrants for the past couple of decades. Here is what their House of Lords concluded just a few days ago:
Immigration Is Of 'No Economic Benefit'
The comments that follow that article are entertaining too. The British people are furious about what has been done to their country in the name of diversity and dubious economic gain.
The way I look at it is, America wouldn't be here if it weren't for immigration. Right now we are just repeating history. The early 1900s was like this and I am afraid we cannot pick and choose which immigrants we want to come here.
Actually you are right. San Diego's traffic is nothing compared to LA. I rarely hit traffic, and when I say traffic I mean slowed driving. Slowed as in like 60-65 mph. Everybody in San Diego drives so fast it is ridiculous. I don't think it will get that much worse because people here heavily rely on our public transportation. We have a really great system with buses and a trolley.
Après la pluie le beau temps. ♥
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First, I apologize for not keeping up with this post and replying to your comment so late.
I am of the opinion that thre should be more free ESL classes becuase I intend on offering free ESL classes. I personally feel that it is my duty as an American do aid and welcome guests and new citizens to our country. I realize the effects of immigration on taxpayers, but like you said if it's a charity situation and an English teacher works for free, then it's not an issue.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
I completely agree with you...I hate it when anyone makes any racist comment especially ones like that...think about it for a second...This is America, speak English...why are we telling people to speak English, not American? B/c we don't even have our own language. I don't see the problem with people learning english as long as they can comfortably communicate to get what they need...it's just not fair.
It's not an ignorant statment. I understand that Spanish speakes have a responsibility to learn english if they come to america. But obviously, that is not the point of thi blog. The point of this blog is that a lot of people like me, which speak english, are told "this is america", speak english". Well, I do know english and I'm sure lucky I speak spanish too. What I don't understand why people think hey have the right to say such things.
=D
I don't know how many times I have been walking through WalMart which is the place in America where I am most likely to encounter a foreign language and heard a group of Hispanic men, thinking that the Spanish language gave them cover, making disparaging and lewd comments about women. They are creating a hostile environment and saying things that would never be tolerated in English.
The reason Americans don't like people speaking in another language is that it is extremely rude.
Actually, what I've learned about different languages in the workplace isn't so much that they are saying these things, it's that those that don't speak the language think they're saying insulting things because they can't understand the languages the others are speaking. It's not the actual words, but the lack of understanding.
Now, that's not to say that what people say in different languages should be shrugged off, but people should be knowledgeable enough in the secondary language that the speakers of that languages can't get away was saying such things.
There are many "pockets" of languages other than English, too. Where I live, for example, the languages I hear most often other than English are Aramaic (or Arabic, I don't know enough about either to really tell the difference) and Spanish. Where my husband grew up, the secondary language was Dutch. I think schools in those areas should also teach the secondary (or one of the secondary in places where there are several) language as well. This will help to break down those barriers and keep the workplace less hostile.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
Actually, you're incorrect in your "This is France, speak French..." statement.
no, they don't force you to speak French there.
But when you speak English like an American, they laugh at you. You get no respect.
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
Haha! So true! I went there and I speak French so hey, pas de quoi. But my poor, poor mom. She lost me in the mall (very scary might I add) and she had to yell at the employees to help her, because of course they spoke English. They all do. They never told us to speak French though, hehe.
Après la pluie le beau temps. ♥
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I never said the French said that. I put that up as a sarcastic example.
=D
If you permanantly live in a country you should speak the language. If I moved to Mexico I should learn spanish. I already know spanish and have broken alot of barriers between people who have no idea what they were saying.
The funny thing is Spanish speaking people from another country, some normally know english they just do not want you to know that.
http://www.progressiveu.org/032913-lupus-uncureable-wait-what
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That is true, my school is the same thing. Some people thought think that they should speak english just because they can't understand them. I hate it when thety say to speak english for no reason.
=D
I have actually heard English is one of the hardest languages to learn..not saying that is true I just heard that.
I agree because I can read spanish and understand it when people are talking (depending how fast) But I can't speak it perfectly and have a hard time writing it. I am sure it is the same with English.
http://www.progressiveu.org/032913-lupus-uncureable-wait-what
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English IS one of the hardest languages to learn.
Think about it. Our phonics is a joke half the time, because there are so manny different ways to pronounce different letter combinations. (Example: according to our phonics, "fish" can be spelled "ghyti.")
Not to mention the fact that we have many words spoken the same way, but written differently and with different meanings. (read/reed, and especially there/their/they're)
ANd when you look at other languages, with the strict and consistent rules, ours is the odd one out.
And that's comin' at ya' from yer local redneck hippie.