[Grovenet] Habla English?

[Meredith Bliss]

You may also want to reflect on the fact that there are at least three major 
languages that have been in common use in the British Isles for many 
centuries. And then there is English, and while you may be able to navigate 
around London fairly well with knowledge of only "standard English," you may 
well find that in Manchester, as in many other locales, you don't have a 
chance.
	--Bud (who loves Dylan Thomas' remark about BBC announcers "who speak as 
though they had the Elgin Marbles in their mouths")

On Monday 15 January 2007 08:38, Dale Wiley wrote:
> You may all continue to debate the viability of speaking a foreign language
> versus not, and the fact that 38% of the students in our District are
> Hispanic, which tends to be a somewhat accurate measurement of the area
> demographics.
>
> The fact is that depending on the type of business you are in, the ability
> to speak Spanish is damn near a requirement in order to effectively
> communicate with a work force or clientintle. Many jobs now offer a premium
> for bilingual employees..health care, sheriff and police work, any job
> requiring a lot of contact with non English speaking people.
>
> Many years ago, my work force in the construction and nursery business
> became Spanish speaking. I have had 4 members of the same family working
> for us, and we have taught each other the others languages. We can
> effectively converse in either English or Spanish. I feel that having a
> student graduate from high school with a proficiency in a second language
> would greatly increase their chances in certain sections of the  employment
> market. it did for my niece, it got her a 7% premium for being a fluent
> Spanish speaker in teaching second grade.
>
> What do you call a person who only speaks one language ??  Scroll down for
> the answer ...
>
>
>
>
> An American. in
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com]On
> Behalf Of David Morelli
> Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 12:11 AM
> To: Forest Grove local interests list
> Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Habla English?
>
> On Jan 14, 2007, at 9:30 AM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
> > My gosh, David. What does Dr. King have to do with this? Martin
> > Luther King was an American, born and raised and killed here, for
> > all the beauty of his life and the shame of his death means to
> > America.
> >
> > Dr King was a great example of how important it is to know the
> > language of one's homeland. How effective do you think he would
> > have been preaching in some obscure African dialect?
> >
> > This is about language, not race. This is about language, not
> > ethnic choices.
>
> I was talking about the consequences of encouraging division rather
> than coming together.  There are sufficient examples of nations that
> have serious problems caused by deep divisions in their populace.
> Those divisions may be along language, race, economic, religious, or
> other lines.  When those divisions are serious enough they can
> fracture the nation.  When they are less serious, they can distract
> the progress of the nation while people spend their energies
> compensating for the problems raised by the division.  Language is
> one division that this nation faces, and I would like to see that
> fracture minimized.
>
> > No one is suggesting that Spanish speaking people would not be able
> > to participate in "their country". That's Mexico! The question is
> > whether we make the USA look and act and sound like Mexico.
>
> That statement is a good example of what concerns me.  Spanish
> speaking people in this country may be from here, Mexico or
> elsewhere.  Some of them were born here and that makes their country
> the United States of America.  I want those Americans to be part of
> this nation, and to consider them self as part of this nation.  That
> is why I support English language education as a high priority in our
> system for all not-speakers.  I prefer total immersion in English,
> because that appears to have the highest success rate in developing
> English speakers.
>
> > ...
> > I believe that if someone wants to immigrate, no matter the reason,
> > they should understand that they will live here with a significant
> > handicap if
> > they fail to learn to read, write, and speak English well. I object
> > to our spending money trying to accommodate those folks as if they
> > had a "right" to expect that Spanish be used here as it was at home.
>
> Funny thing, even though Spanish is the official language of Mexico,
> it is not necessarily the first language of the poorest Mexican
> migrants.  Mexico has made official translations of their national
> anthem into the following native languages: Chinanteco, Hña Hñu,
> Mixteco, Maya, Nahuatl and Tenek because there are sufficient numbers
> of those people who do not speak Spanish as a first language.  We
> should help our citizens and residents speak our common language to
> avoid that problem.
>
> > ...
> >
> > Ron D'Eau Claire
>
> David
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-- 
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Just happy to be here, but speaking 
only for myself!
Meredith Bliss --- www.rdrop.com/~mbliss
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