English...

[Akame]

I'd like to think after living on both coasts of the US and in the Caribbean for over a decade, I'm pretty culturally diverse. But so help me, if you cannot speak English at even a conversational level you've got no place working for a State college's accounting office. It wastes MY time to have to have two phone conversations and then two more emails trying to reword the same thing so you can understand it.

Your company doesn't pay ME to do your job for you.


/kicks soapbox
/rant off

[Kainzo]

I work for a system's support line for a major Tax Accounting Software Development company... I understand your pain. I get calls from India, Japan, England ... can barely understand or comprehend what they are saying at times.

A callers name was Vajyahannada Mudhaahdmdare (not even remotely kidding)
How can I help you..... V-J? hah

[jilena]

Damnit. I was expecting a Samuel L. Jackson: "...DO YOU SPEAK IT?!"

[Akame]

Damnit. I was expecting a Samuel L. Jackson: "...DO YOU SPEAK IT?!"

I was very (very) tempted to do that. :D

[pickled_heretic]

In the interest of keeping this thread interesting, I want to mention that USA does not have an official language. Legally, public institutions have to accomodate any sort of language you could imagine, including Klingon. Conversely, public employees, given they are US Citizens, should not be legally obligated to speak English given the current legal requirement.

Would you support declaring English the official language of the United States? Should there be any secondary/tertiary official languages declared?

[Akame]

In the interest of keeping this thread interesting, I want to mention that USA does not have an official language. Legally, public institutions have to accommodate any sort of language you could imagine, including Klingon. Conversely, public employees, given they are US Citizens, should not be legally obligated to speak English given the current legal requirement.

Would you support declaring English the official language of the United States? Should there be any secondary/tertiary official languages declared?

I would support declaring English as the official language but at the same time my insides cringe because that would officially mean asinine words in the English dictionary would be "official" as well (Such as ginormous :mad: ).

But, if public institutions have to accommodate languages then wouldn't they have to accommodate the fact that the small business I work for speaks English? The translation requirements seem awfully swapped here.

[PhelanKA]

So long as the lingua franca is English, people working in the US should be expected to speak English fluently. That's just simple logic. When/if the lingua franca changes then I'll be glad to learn that language to accomodate civilization.

[pickled_heretic]

So long as the lingua franca is English, people working in the US should be expected to speak English fluently. That's just simple logic. When/if the lingua franca changes then I'll be glad to learn that language to accomodate civilization.

"should be expected" is not a policy change. Are you saying the status quo is acceptable, or are you saying that English should be made the Official language of the United States?

[guineapig]

http://cdn2.knowyourmeme.com/i/3088/original/English_Motherfucker_Do_You_Speak_It.jpg

[guineapig]

http://cdn2.knowyourmeme.com/i/3088/original/English_Motherfucker_Do_You_Speak_It.jpg


(I was not born in the United States ;))

[Xenephex]

In the interest of keeping this thread interesting, I want to mention that USA does not have an official language. Legally, public institutions have to accomodate any sort of language you could imagine, including Klingon.
I am aware that English is not the official language of the U.S., but can you give me some actual basis for what I bolded above? Not jailhouse lawyer logic please, some kind of real facts.

Also, it is worth noting that English is the official language of most states and a number of our territories as well. While I can imagine situations in which a U.S. citizen might not speak English, and I'm sure there are actual examples somewhere, I seriously doubt that there are sufficient numbers of non-English speaking U.S. citizens to make your subsequent point more than moot.

[Landis]

a lot of puerto ricans do not speak english, and they are US citizens.

[Xenephex]

a lot of puerto ricans do not speak english, and they are US citizens.
Both English and Spanish are official languages in Puerto Rico. My daughter-in-law is Puerto Rican and I have not encountered anyone from the island yet who does not speak at least a reasonable level of English (most are fluent in both languages). There may be some - I'm not so sure there are a lot.

[PhelanKA]

"should be expected" is not a policy change. Are you saying the status quo is acceptable, or are you saying that English should be made the Official language of the United States?

Everyone in the world should be expected to speak English. As I said... It's the lingua franca (that is no longer franca ;) )

But making it a law? Sounds a bit far fetched to me. Common sense should make law obsolete and not the other way around. Unfortunately people want leglislate everything instead of acting in a rational sense and I believe that is what the OP is upset about.

Logically, someone in charge of customer service over the telephone should speak English fluently in the United States. To have hired someone that doesn't speak English fluently is illogical and both the employer and employee should be fired... from a cannon preferably.

[pickled_heretic]

I am aware that English is not the official language of the U.S., but can you give me some actual basis for what I bolded above? Not jailhouse lawyer logic please, some kind of real facts.

Also, it is worth noting that English is the official language of most states and a number of our territories as well. While I can imagine situations in which a U.S. citizen might not speak English, and I'm sure there are actual examples somewhere, I seriously doubt that there are sufficient numbers of non-English speaking U.S. citizens to make your subsequent point more than moot.

Some hospitals and courthouses are legally required to have interpreters on hand for dozens of languages. The story about the mental hospital in Oregon inquiring about a klingon interpreter was famous for a couple of days on the major news syndicates. Forcing hospitals and courthouses to hire interpreters for dozens of different languages incurs overhead costs that are very real, unlike the nonexistant federal policy toward language.

[Landis]

Both English and Spanish are official languages in Puerto Rico. My daughter-in-law is Puerto Rican and I have not encountered anyone from the island yet who does not speak at least a reasonable level of English (most are fluent in both languages). There may be some - I'm not so sure there are a lot.

i assume you mean in the states? obviously those who come here speak english. when i visited PR i met dozens of people who barely spoke english, or not at all.

[PhelanKA]

The story about the mental hospital in Oregon inquiring about a klingon interpreter was famous for a couple of days on the major news syndicates.

That's absurd. Why should we coddle imbeciles like that?

Stop feeding and watering that idiot and I would be willing to bet my month's salary that he would "remember" English with the quickness.

[Xenephex]

i assume you mean in the states? obviously those who come here speak english. when i visited PR i met dozens of people who barely spoke english, or not at all.
I looked it up and evidently you are right.

[pickled_heretic]

That's absurd. Why should we coddle imbeciles like that?

Stop feeding and watering that idiot and I would be willing to bet my month's salary that he would "remember" English with the quickness.

I'm not advocating one policy or the other, I'm just saying that in the current legal environment there is no federal law that says people have to speak English to receive treatment because there's no official language at all.

I can assure you that the hospital that refused to treat someone because they refused to provide translators would be awash in litigation.

[mgellan]

In the interest of keeping this thread interesting, I want to mention that USA does not have an official language. Legally, public institutions have to accomodate any sort of language you could imagine, including Klingon. Conversely, public employees, given they are US Citizens, should not be legally obligated to speak English given the current legal requirement.

Would you support declaring English the official language of the United States? Should there be any secondary/tertiary official languages declared?

Actually, wasn't there a movement to make English and Spanish the official languages of the US? Had us Canadians cringing because of the havoc our official languages (English and Frech) cause...

Regards,
Mg

[rioisk]

Everyone in the world should be expected to speak English. As I said... It's the lingua franca (that is no longer franca ;) )

But making it a law? Sounds a bit far fetched to me. Common sense should make law obsolete and not the other way around. Unfortunately people want leglislate everything instead of acting in a rational sense and I believe that is what the OP is upset about.

Logically, someone in charge of customer service over the telephone should speak English fluently in the United States. To have hired someone that doesn't speak English fluently is illogical and both the employer and employee should be fired... from a cannon preferably.

Perhaps you are right but English isn't exactly the easiest language to learn--especially if you aren't immersed in it day to day. How many languages do you know fluently? Was it super easy for you to learn those additional languages from a book? Oh rosetta stone? Does everybody in the world own computers? Fuck many don't even have access to good books.

From an outside perspective, English is one of the hardest languages to learn and speak because it's a mass of irregularity in grammar/construction/pronunciation.

Further, you must keep in mind that meaning doesn't always translate directly. Very simple example: "Yo tengo hambre" in spanish translates literally in English to "I have hunger". This is possession as opposed to in the English we say "I am hungry" which is a state of being. Imagine the shift in mindset one must have when learning a different language.....not the easiest thing to do for everybody.

I give credit to non-native English speakers for trying as hard as they do and dealing with people who don't have any patience. Not to be racially insensitive but it's the ebonics English that I can't understand......I mean why even try to speak English if it comes out as a bunch of mumbling?

[Reiker]

the following states have existing official language laws on their books: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming. A small handful date back more than a few decades, such as Louisiana (1811) and Nebraska (1920), but most official language statutes were passed since the 1970's.

[Ripcord]

In all public buildings in nyc there are translators for every language you could think of. I go to court once a week for work and they always say "I have to ask this but do you need a translator". I can see why with more non english heard in the streets here then english, but it kind of pisses me off how much trouble we go through to have it that way. Also billboards and subway ads completely in spanish can fuck right off. Along with people who ask me if I habla espanol and get all pissed off when I say no. If you expect to fit in with a non native country, learn the language, I would.

[Theldios]

Perhaps you are right but English isn't exactly the easiest language to learn--especially if you aren't immersed in it day to day. How many languages do you know fluently? Was it super easy for you to learn those additional languages from a book?

I happen to speak 2 languages fluently english and spanish. spanish is my 2nd language and took me 6 months to be conversational in spanish from book learning and speaking to people who speak spanish.
Learning a language is fairly easy if you REALLY want or need to learn.
It is a matter of wanting.
Most are too lazy to try to learn another language to fluency. and that is the problem too many lazy people in the world.

[mr.miketastic]

In all public buildings in nyc there are translators for every language you could think of. I go to court once a week for work and they always say "I have to ask this but do you need a translator". I can see why with more non english heard in the streets here then english, but it kind of pisses me off how much trouble we go through to have it that way. Also billboards and subway ads completely in spanish can fuck right off. Along with people who ask me if I habla espanol and get all pissed off when I say no. If you expect to fit in with a non native country, learn the language, I would.

Go to France and refuse to learn le francais and see what happens lol.

[bufferofnewbies]

The next time someone from the government calls: I'm responding in Klingon. :D

[Thrymm]

Go to France and refuse to learn le francais and see what happens lol.

If you speak German I assume they turn and run, or bend over?

[Reiker]

Apparently speaking Japanese as a foreigner in Japan is a big no-no.

[Leokaiser]

That would make it somewhat difficult to learn Japanese when I'm sent there on placement next year, if true!

Most Japanese (from what I understand) do not expect gaijin to be able to speak any Japanese, and would be delighted to discover that you have made some effort to learn their language; being able to communicate with other cultures is a highly desired skill in Japan.

The problem is that many Japanese, especially in the high population density areas like Tokyo, learn English themselves, so when they see someone they assume will speak English, they want to practice what they have learned with a native speaker. Top tip I have recieved for going across to Japan is not to attempt a language exchange, as the vast majority of that time would be spent teaching English rather than learning Japanese.

[Uaellaen]

If you speak German I assume they turn and run, or bend over?

Bend over:cool:

[Atern]

I believe I speak for a lot of Americans when I say...

Learn English or GTFO.

[eqholmes]

They took our JOOOOORBS!! (something like that)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLni3wbndls

[guineapig]

This thread is extremely dumb...