"Que?"

Kill all the Hatians?

And why should we learn their language. Let them learn English.

yo no compredo nessicittas hablas esponol para la escuala.

Teach business languages in schools. I learned spanish in the barrio, yo.

/donde esta mi perros?
//hehehehe

Right now, the bill doesn't specify how schools will pay for the mandatory classes or where the money will come from.

No money, no time. This hardly seems the way to solve the fact that schools are failing to meet the requirements of adult life.

/THere, almost forgot to make a useful comment :)

Law number 89, known as the Cuban Adjustment act, was adopted by the US congress on the 2nd of November of 1966:

"This privileged law affords the Cuban illegal immigrant the opportunity, to work legally, to govt. welfare, to unemployment benefits, and to free medical care, things that the average immigrant by no means is entitled to."

And why should we learn their language. Let them learn English.

well, not that I advocate just for spanish, but it's a lot better to learn any language when young. my elementary school started teaching us spanish in 3rd grade, just because there was a teacher who knew it fluently. I haven't taken Spanish since 5th grade, but still remember enough of it.

as long as those spanish kids are getting extra lessons to learn english well too, who cares.

And why should we learn their language. Let them learn English.

Umm, last time I checked, English is a requirement in all schools. And we should learn their language since it is the second most widely spoken language in the country and I believe the most widely spoken in our hemisphere.

i_hate_milk: I believe the most widely spoken in our hemisphere.

That's nice, but we're the economic superpower and they need us more than we need them. I say let them learn English.

/imperialist

UDel_kitty well, not that I advocate just for spanish, but it's a lot better to learn any language when young.

That is really what it is all about. The more you learn as a child, the more you are capable of learning. But, it's not like we're busy making math geniusi, lets go for language arts. :)

That's nice, but we're the economic superpower and they need us more than we need them. I say let them learn English.

How can you fully exploit them if they can't understand you telling them to STFU and GBTW?

eddyatwork

Hey, if you're for handicapping children to economic advantages, more power to you.

Economic superpower or not, individual Americans are no more valuable to companies or to themselves than any other worker in the world. That's where the term "global economy" came from. Tomorrow's university graduates aren't just competing against other Americans, they're competing against every university graduate in the world.

So yeah, English. Language of business and all that. Except business that takes place outside of North American shores.

And, for another thing, I'm really tired of hearing people say "They live in our country, they should learn English," when I've seen no end of North Americans that travel abroad without even a conversational understanding of the language native to the country they're visiting.

i_hate_milk: How can you fully exploit them if they can't understand you

Duh. You speak more loudly of course.

GWShenlong05: And, for another thing, I'm really tired of hearing people say "They live in our country, they should learn English," when I've seen no end of North Americans that travel abroad without even a conversational understanding of the language native to the country they're visiting.

Two different things. It's never been a requirement to learn a foreign language when you go on vacation. But when you're talking about moving to a country, that's different. If I was going to move to Mexico I sure as hell would learn Spanish, I would consider it a necessity. But they come live here and many don't bother to learn English because they know #1) In the right neighborhood they can live among 90% Spanish speaking neighbors, and #2) The US is bending more and more to accomodate their culture at the expense of ours. This is a perfect example of that.

Epsilon:

Exactly, couldn't have said it better myself.

/Tired of messages in spanish on my answering machine, when the answering machine greeting is in english, and I probably don't sound anything like the person they were trying to call

It still is an excellent idea for children to learn a 2nd language in the elementary years. All sorts of studies show that children who learn a 2nd language do better in school & have better learning skills that they can use later on in life. It has something to do with increasing the connections between the left hemisphere & right hemisphere of the brain.

European schools require a 2nd language & some even a 3rd language to be learned in the elementary years. My high school pen pal from Germany also knew English, Italian & French fluently.

Just think of how much competitive the US could be on the global market if our citizens were fluent in more languages. If you are looking for new markets for your business, don't you think people would be more likely to do business with you if you came to them in their own language. The fact that you took the time to learn their ways & approach them with it makes people more open to doing business with you.

Great! Half the kids in Florida schools can't speak/write English properly. Now they can be semi-literate in two languages!

Epsilon

I'm not talking about vacations. I have friends that work in other countries (China, Japan, South Africa, Vietnam, etc), and they b*tch to me about their inability to communicate to people that haven't bothered to learn English.

You heard me right.

Bothered. To learn English.

Welcome to America.

Now speak ENGLISH.

One common language within a country is what we should be striving for. If you don't speak English, you will not excel as far in your job as some one who can speak it. Everything else is a waste of money.

Public education is stupid. I don't oppose this idea, but it is one of those crappy "one size fits all" ideas.

Parents should make this decision, not administrators or politicians. Certainly some would (and should) choose to do so, for practical reasons or heritage.

If we are making any language mandatory, I would strongly suggest Mandarin.

Bill Shatner has been let down once again.

hey as long as they don't have to take it again in high school, who cares? it's going to be a requirement at some point, why not make it earlier when the language centers are actually forming? especially in a place like florida, with miami and all the puerto ricans.

don't worry, when the extraterrestrial overlords come someday, we'll all eventually be speaking the same language.

GWShenlong05:
North Americans that travel abroad without even a conversational understanding of the language

...

I'm not talking about vacations.

Then you shouldn't have said "travel". Living somewhere isn't generally considered travel.

Dammit, this is America. Everyone should speak American!

This is a great idea. All kids should learn another language as early as possible. It not only sticks more easily, it helps when you're trying to figure out conjugations in English!

eddyatwork

And why should we learn their language. Let them learn English.

I believe that first sentence was a question, and thus, should end with a question mark. Ahh, sweet irony.

/mechanics Nazi
//troll

rickmus: If you don't speak English multiple languages, you will not excel as far in your job as some one someone who can speak it.

There, fixed that for ya.

Students in many other countries (certainly in Europe) learn AT least one other language.
Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world and the official language of many countries.
Many places give hiring preference to people who can also speak Spanish.
The earlier you learn a language, the easier it is to learn it.

So, in other words, this would be a great idea. If it weren't Another Unfunded Mandate.

eddyatwork

That's nice, but we're the economic superpower and they need us more than we need them. I say let them learn English.

/imperialist


Look at the outside-the-US economies, especialy in high tech fields. We won't be the world's only economic superpower for long. Look at how we're borrowing recklessly without a firm finincial footing. We might not be an economic superpower at all for long. It's sad to have to think about, but we might be doing our kids a disservice if we don't prepare them to speak the languages of othther coontries as it might some day be required for them to find a job. Do I want this? No. Do I think it is certain, far from it, but I truly beleive that it is short-sighted to not consider, and prepare for, the poissiblity that we will not remain the predominant world economic power for long.

/Writing this makes me feel tired
//Thinking about it doubly so

I live in a Spanish speaking (Cuban) neighborhood. I had no idea until I moved here how bad it was. I do speak Spanish, as well as a smidge of French, German and Russian. I did bother to learn. But here, right in the mddle of the NYC Metro area I have a grocery store on the corner whose owners DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH, my laundromat manager and workers DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH, and the other miscellaneous stores in the area don't even bother to TRY to speak English.

I've lived here for almost 10 years. In that time I've improved my Spanish skills simply out of having to be sure I can get them to give me the right change, the right product, or if the stupid washer/dryer isn't working, to get my farking clothes back.

If in 10 years my Spanish can improve, these jerks can at least TRY to learn my language too. But they don't bother and they do not care.

Stereotyping? No. My daily life experience, YES.

I am moving in two weeks to someplace else where I don't have to have Babelfish to communicate with my own landlord or to carry a Spanish dictionary to the store to be sure they don't cheat me.

eWay ouldSHay eachTay igPay atinLay.

/I took three years of it in elementary school and now I'm ambasador to Pig Lationia.
//I also don't have any friends. But I'm trying to expand my horizons by learning Pig Latino. So here's to hoping.

I'm all for teaching second languages at an earlier age. However, I disagree with requiring that language to be Spanish.

All of these "learn to speak english!" arguments are misplaced -- this is not the debate from last year when they were trying to make spanish-only schools. They do still have to learn english.

Learning other languages is great, and it is much easier for children. We could really take a hint from the other countries producing bi-and-trilingual speakers. Mandating spanish (specifically) seems misguided, but I doubt elementry schools are even capable of offering a wide range of options... so it is a good start. I would love to see a requirement of a second language where they actually got to chose which it would be, though.

/knows some spanish, greek, & german... plans on learning more

Welcome to America.

Now speak ENGLISH.

I'd much prefer "Speak English? Welcome to America."

bubbaprog: What I don't understand is why French is still one of the major languages taught in public schools when it's spoken by a very, very small percentage of Earth's residents compared to English, Spanish, Hindi, Chinese, etc.

Couldn't agree more. When I was at school our choices were French or German. Much more useful would have been Spanish, Mandarin or Cantonese. Sexier would have been Italian or Russian.

French - France, the Low Countries and parts of North Africa.
Spanish - Spain, most of South America, a lot of the souther n U.S.

No contest really.

Gee, let's madate a new requirement but not have any money to fund it. Way to go guys! How about we teach the kids science, math, english (since this is the US and we speak English as the national language), Social Sciences and a few electives. Besides, how much spanish are kids in k5 thru second grade going to use much less remember in a grade or two after they stop taking it? I guess I wouldn't mind them having to take it if the schools were properly funded and not overcrowded like they are now. Plus, if they have to cut out recess for this would you really want to have to teach these wound up kids? I think not.

I took Spanish from K5 thru 7th grade...in a private school. I can count to 20 and say my name in Spanish. Why am I so bad at it after 8 years of lessons? Because I never used it except in class. Language studies don't really help unless you have total immersion into using it most of the day (or at least more than an hour. Actually less than that if you take out for settling the kids down & such). Just another well meaning bill that is going to have bad results.

/maybe I should study it again so I can find out if my illegal construction working next door neighbors are talking about me or not.

We should teach Chinese to our children... they'll need it.

/I, for one, welcome our new Chinese overlords.
//MUAHAHA!!!

2005-11-12 05:15:20 PM Walljasper

Welcome to America.

Now speak ENGLISH.

Um...why? It's not the official language, after all.

/prefers Pidgin, braddah
//homeschools