You should speak the language of a country if you live there.

[David Floyd]

Personally I think illegals should be rounded up and thrown out.
While it should not be a law that immigrants must speak English, in the US we should only print signs, notices, etc. in English and force them to learn English in that.
Not to mention its damn annoying and stupid as hell for there to be a push to teach in Spanish only - or Spanish/whatever AT ALL - in public schools.

[LTEC!]

All the while you gringos expect everyone else in the world to speak english?
Everyone is entitled to their own language. Speaking the countries language where you are at within your limitations is a courtesy.

Do not expect the rest of the world to change their antiamerican views if you don't change your own views about ther rest of the world.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by David Floyd
Personally I think illegals should be rounded up and thrown out.
While it should not be a law that immigrants must speak English, in the US we should only print signs, notices, etc. in English and force them to learn English in that.
Not to mention its damn annoying and stupid as hell for there to be a push to teach in Spanish only - or Spanish/whatever AT ALL - in public schools.

I agree. To have spanish speaking schools would only widen the ethnic divide.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Well then, you had better stop talking the NZ stuff, and learn USAian.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Lefty Scaevola
Well then, you had better stop talking the NZ stuff, and learn USAian.

Okay godammit y'all!

[Kropotkin]

How do they promote those spanish-speaking schools? What are their motives? It sounds pretty stupid and countra-productive to me. And at the same time the spanish-speaking minority hasn't got a long history in the country of USA (except possibly in some areas) like many other minorities all over the globe so it seems strange.

[Guynemer]

Originally posted by our_man
If they want to speak only Spanish, the U.S. should accomodate them by shipping them back to Mexico. Unless Spanish is a national language in the U.S.? Even so, they should still have to take English classes.

Interesting. So English has been designated the official language of the U.S. then? I hadn't heard anything about that. Thanks for the heads up.


What is with this "shipping them back to..." phrase that people use? "They don't want to learn English? Ship 'em back to Mexico!" "They want reparations? Ship 'em back to Africa!" Are you compensating for a shortfall in the phallus department or something? All that testosterone make little Mr. Wee Wee get all excited?

[Guynemer]

Originally posted by David Floyd
Not to mention its damn annoying and stupid as hell for there to be a push to teach in Spanish only - or Spanish/whatever AT ALL - in public schools.

Wait a minute, Floyd. This might be a bit of a threadjack, but this seems insane, even for you. Spanish shouldn't be taught AT ALL in public schools?

[MrBaggins]

Nothing wrong with a little nationalism now and then, Guynemer, or there wouldn't be any nations.

[Guynemer]

And that would be a bad thing how, exactly?

[MrBaggins]

We wouldnt have any national flags for starters.

The olympics would be confusing.

And people in the middle east would have a confusing list of people to blame.

[Guynemer]

I must admit, that's a pretty convincing list.

[Caligastia]

Guynemer-

How are people ever going to get along if they dont learn to communicate with each other? By having spanish-only schools we would be creating mini-countries within the US. This just isolates people from each other and adds to racial tension.

[Dauphin]

Should everyone on Poly be expected to speak English, or is just the lingua franca.

[Felch]

Originally posted by David Floyd
Personally I think illegals should be rounded up and thrown out.

David, be wary of urging the government to use coercive methods for a seemingly good end. I think people have the right to live freely wherever they wish, so long as they don't violate the rights of others in doing so. The fact that we have immigration restrictions in this country beyond they obvious (invading armies ought to be stopped at the borders), is a travesty. Anybody who wants to be American and is willing to accept our principles of freedom and democracy should be allowed in.

As far as learning the language, I think people should be encouraged to learn English, if only because that's one of the keys to economic wellbeing in the US. But if somebody wants to speak Spanish or French (my grandfather grew up in the bayou and didn't learn English until his teen years), that's entirely their business. Public schools should be run however the local community wants them run.

Also keep in mind that there is no official language in the United States. The Constitution does not grant that authority, and the First Ammendment could reasonably be viewed to prohibit it.