Something's not right here....

Donde esta la porta de bano, El Jefe?

PembrokeRiseisPeople: Donde esta la porta de bano, El Jefe?

Crap - am I fired?

Mi pene toca el piso.

/Nuf said

Its a bunch of BS. But there are alot of Mexicans in Salem. Maybe they should make the Mexicans learn english instead.

submitter: No, Oregano is not Spanish for Oregon

No, silly, its Italian.

Now this is straight up racist. Hey, if Geno in PA is racist for his "order in English only" sign, then this policy is *definitely* racist, as they're actually laying people off if they don't speak Spanish.

Instead of, y'know, hiring firefighters that already speak English. In AMERICA.
Here in CA, CDF gets *plenty* of English speaking applicants for their firefighting gigs.

This policy is farking bullshiat.

The United States may very well be the only country in the world where being multi-lingual is frowned upon.

Yaay for ignorance!

Multi ligualism is great, but learn English first.
I'm not good at math, but I can't count the number of people that don't know the difference between "Too", "To", and "Two".

There (intentional) language skills suffer, while we "lower the bar", to justify less accountability, and more funding.

We spend more on education than any other country in the world, with the least "bang for the buck".

stiletto_the_wise The United States may very well be the only country in the world where being multi-lingual is frowned upon.

Incorrect, my wise friend, incorrect. The United States does not frown upon multi-lingual people. I am multi-lingual, being fluent in German (my native tongue), Spanish (having lived in Spain and Mexico prior to coming to the US) and English. My primary language, though, is the one that I learned last, English. I make that my primary language because it is the primary language of the country that I live in. I spoke no English prior to coming the the US, yet managed to learn it enough to get by within six months. Within 2 years I was completely fluent. Unlike today's immigrants, I did not have a "crutch" where everything was available in both English and Spanish. The fault in this should be shouldered by both the immigrants who choose not to learn the language AND the businesses who choose to cater to them.

I live in the United States of America. I speak English.
End of conversation.

Chingarte!

Besame culo!

Utter bullshiat.

I speak bad english, does that count?

What part about put "la agua" on "la fuego" don't you understand? Chingate!

Anyone who asks immigrants to speak English would own slaves if possible.

/flame on!

How DARE they treat the other several hundred languages spoken in the USA like GARBAGE!

DAMN you ELITISTS!

its pronounce ore-ah-gahn-oh, not ore-reg-ah-no...FYI

Why dont they teach the firefighters at least basic relevant phrases in English?? problem solved???

Seems like whoever is enforcing the law here doesnt know the law. Every employee that I hire has to have a form filled out and kept of file documenting that this employee is a legal worker in the US with all the need documents. If you dont have one of these forms for each worker you get a $1,000 fine! It would be my best bet if you cant speak English you most likely dont have all the legal documents to work!!!!!

Welcome to Mexico!

. o O ( Oh please let this turn into a flame war about firefighting... that'd make my day...)

Well as long as they have Klingon Benefits.

no, but it is spanish for "you don't know what weed looks like, so I can easily selll you this spice for 50 an eighth"
/Ah, TJ at 18; good times, good times.

Nuke Mexico for orbit. It's the only way to be sure

onde SbB K HOT iz Denise!

Oregano = Oregon. Yeah right, asshat. Everyone knows that Oregon in Spanish is Origami....

stiletto_the_wise: There's a real difference between frowning on multi-lingualism and being pissed that immigrants are themselves refusing to be multi-lingual. I mean I'm sorry, but my feeling is that if you choose to move to a country you need to dedicate yourself to learning the language. When you are immersed in it, it is actually an amazingly fast process. You may struggle at first but I bet you find peopel are much more helpful if you address them in crummy, broken English than perfect version of your native tounge.

It distrubs me this trend towards the idea that we should allow immigrants, but only certian ones, to never learn the native language here. It's distrubing because it works to create a perminant underclass. If you don't speak English, a great deal of American society is cut off to you. There's jobs you just can't get, there's things you just can't do, there's culture you just miss. It's fine for visiting but if you live here, you need to know it.

It's also distrubing because it's discriminitory. We are saying "Ok we'll pander to the South American immigrants, but not those like the Brazilians that don't speak Spanish, but screw the rest of you." That's just wrong. We need to provide English programs for all immigrants, not Spanish services for some.

What I don't get is the idea of moving to a foriegn country is in part because you like their way of life, their values. That doesn't mean you lose who you are, but it does mean you synthesize in to their culture. America is a great nation because we have immigrants from diverse backgrounds that all brought their own culture here, but all adopted the culture of America to a large degree. It would not be America if we segrated by language and refused to find a common ground.

For better or worse, English IS the American language and you need to laern it if you want to live in America. Not only that, it's useful in general. It is by far the most spoken second language. So if you meet someone that doesn't speak your native language, and you don't speak theirs, the best chance you have for a common ground is English. There's somewhere around one billion peopel that speak English as a second language to some degree, and about 400 million native speakers. That puts it on the same level as Chinese for total number of people that can communicate in it and makes it unparalled in the diversity of those you can communicate with.

It's no idea language, but it is a useful one to have a funcitonal proficiency in, regardless of where you live. Given that if you live in America it's easy to get real good at it, why not? It's not like learning English will cause you to forget your native language, it simply gives you a whole bunch more poeple you can communicate with and makes it real easy to function in American society.

So if there is an emergency and these legal residents that cannot speak English can't find a "Chief" his fellow firefighters might die? Applies the other way too.

Seems idiotic, don't all pilots and air traffic controllers have to speak english, because you don't want to have to go through translaters in emergency situations?

Political correctness run amok, whoohooo.

/and as the other poster pointed out, if they hire Cinese Immigrants, will the chief have to be tri-lingual?

"...to never learn the native language here. It's distrubing because it works to create a perminant underclass."

Would be true if they weren't on the fast track to majority status.

Liberalism tag needed.

I know several FDNY fire fighters, some who are relatives, and the test is given only in English.
If you can't pass the test, you're not in.

Considering NYC has a MUCH larger Hispanic population, I wonder what in all of hell would prompt some place like Oregon to adopt that policy?

Airline pilots world-wide have a standardized language. English.
Could you imagine an air traffic controller having to give emergency instructions in 8 different languages?

Hey, if you don't speak English, and want to mow my lawn, fine, (though even then, there are labels you should be able to read), but at least my life isn't dependent upon it.

I'm farkin tired of all this illegal immigrant Mexican crap. We should have taken care of it years ago. They spread like a disease, and past administrations have allowed it to happen. And fer farks sakes, we are made to feel guilty if we actually enforce our immigration laws. Fark you Liberals.

/Is NOT a Republican
/Is NOT a Conservative

>>No, Oregano is not Spanish for Oregon

Yes it is.

You know I don't speak Spanish!

/Seriously, are the Asinine and Stupid tags on vacation?

I wonder what in all of hell would prompt some place like Oregon to adopt that policy?
It's because this state is full of f*cking idiots.

We ban gay marriage... yet we allow sh*t like this to happen. It's pretty disturbing.

the wearhouse I work in here in N.MI in the shiping & receiving office there is a shelf with a bunch of translation books. We get a bunch of drivers every week from the major carriers that cannot speak a single word of english most are spanish but a few russian and even an one guy from India no idea what he spoke. SO last year the boss got these translation books now we just point at the shelf and let,m pick some are funny a few get haughty but most just stumble thru it we,re all just try,n to get the damn truck unloaded not start a debate.

They want to make sure that the leader of the crews can quickly communicate during an emergencey if the fire turns or if there is another problem on the fire lines.

Then isn't what they are doing ass-backwards anyway?

I mean, how farking retarded is it to have to give out the same instructions in two different languages, thus taking twice the time and putting people at risk?

That's right -- pretty farking retarded.

Great, we've had our first Star Wars posting in this thread, because that's so very cool,
so funny, and so relevant.
School must be out.

Doesn't suprise me. When I lived in Salem I managed a Plaid Pantry and immigrant Mexicans would come in and have there very small children translate for them. Solid class if you ask me.

¡tomaron nuestros trabajos!

Dios Mio!

The reason I see the us is percieved as behind the curve in foreign languages is simple. Anywhere else you learn your native language, and then you learn the international standard language (english). We start out with english, but then what should we learn. Most other languages are fairly region specific. Spanish chinese and maby german or french are the best bets in terms of broad coverage, but they are not ideal. The other thing that we have working against us is the size of our country. I know in northern maine many of the communitys speak quebec french pretty bilingualy with english, and i think the same is true down on the border with mexico. If we had as many countrys as europe all jammed together so close we would probably also have the same linguistic talents that they do since they are already exibeted in the us.

Krupple - Liberalism tag needed.

This has nothing to do with liberalism you farking douche. It has to do with Oregon being covered by 90% forest and they need as many firefighters as they can get. Unfortunately it's far easier to get a spanish speaking boss than it is to get more english speaking firefighters. It's simple supply and demand.

If you don't like it... go fight fires in Oregon.

lol @ submitter

Oregón absolutely is a Spanish name.

they need as many firefighters as they can get. Unfortunately it's far easier to get a spanish speaking boss than it is to get more english speaking firefighters.
You don't live in Oregon, do you?

Um...could some of you fire-breathers please tell me what's so "liberal" about this? Just because something pisses you off doesn't make it liberal.

Like everywhere else in the world, Oregon needs firefighters. Like all firefighters, they must be able to communicate with one another. Evidently Oregon has not been able to hire enough English-speaking firefighters. So they hired firefighters who don't speak English instead. It would be ideal if everyone spoke English, but they don't. It would also seem to make sense if the fire department made all their firefighters learn English, but they haven't. Bad policy? Maybe. But there's nothing liberal about it. Of course, that can be difficult for some people to understand when they've been taught that the battle for the soul of the universe is underway right now and that evil liberals are to blame for everything from headaches to tornadoes.

stiletto_the_wise:

The United States may very well be the only country in the world where being multi-lingual is frowned upon.

Yaay for ignorance!

Multi-lingualism only helps to promote factionalism. Canada is a great example.

Submitter: Where on that link does it say the story is from the Associated Press?