Bilingualism: A burning issue

Washington Times ^ | 10/26/02 | Linda Chavez

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Someone set Rita Montero's Volvo on fire as it sat parked in front of her Denver home last week. Maybe it's just a coincidence that she is leading the effort in Colorado to replace failing bilingual education programs with English immersion classes. But she doesn't think so, and neither do I. Colorado and Massachusetts are the two states where ballot initiatives this year will offer voters the chance to eliminate bilingual education, as California did in 1998 and Arizona in 2000.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Those who speak Spanish intend to be in charge and they're not going to let anyone start some movement that undermines their efforts. I've posted that many times here and have been flamed each time. Hide and watch, wait and see.

[nmh]

SInce I don't want my daughter tobe enslaved to a low paying job, she is not allowed to learn spanish. German is acceptable as a second language and of course, English, the language of business is a priority. Odd how ALL other immigrants couldn't wait to learn English and assimulate. To not assimulate creates confusion and dissention.

[meenie]

You will have to have an interpreter with you when you go to Walmart in the future. Just imagine the embarassment looking for the hand tools section and winding up in the men's restroom. Learn the Espanol now!

[meenie]

You will have to have an interpreter with you when you go to Walmart in the future. Just imagine the embarassment looking for the hand tools section and winding up in the men's restroom. Learn the Espanol now!

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"You will have to have an interpreter with you when you go to Walmart in the future. "

You're right, that's why I've started to study Arabic so I won't have to worry about that.

If the liberals have their way then the Latinos while a major sub-group and worthy to be pandered to are only 1/3 as Politically Correct as Muslims.

Be Prepared as we learned in the Boy Scouts!

[I_Love_My_Husband]

PING the list

Also...of course, the bilingual forces are evil.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Hispanic children need to learn English if they are to succeed in the United States,

and they won't [learn English] if they're instructed in Spanish all day.

[FITZ]

SInce I don't want my daughter tobe enslaved to a low paying job, she is not allowed to learn spanish.

Learning Spanish doesn't enslave you to a low paying job. It's a good language to learn if someone wants to, especially if they'd like to travel to Spain or other Spanish speaking countries. The important thing though is to have English as a common language that all citizens understand and can communicate with one another.

[nmh]

Me: SInce I don't want my daughter tobe enslaved to a low paying job, she is not allowed to learn spanish.

You: Learning Spanish doesn't enslave you to a low paying job. It's a good language to learn if someone wants to, especially if they'd like to travel to Spain or other Spanish speaking countries. The important thing though is to have English as a common language that all citizens understand and can communicate with one another.

Me: Hispanics aren't in high paying jobs. They refuse to learn English. Till they sucomb to English they won't have high paying jobs. I also don't want her around those who thumb their nose at speaking English and wish to remain at the bottom of the economic scale.

We have no desire to visit Spain, Mexico or any other Spanish country.

I'm glad to see that you also agree that it is important to speak English. So why shouldn't Hispanics learn and speak English since it is the language of business? Their stubborness to not learn English is what will continue to hold them back, hence, I have no desire to have my daughter surround herself with a bunch of anti-American losers.

[nmh]

Me: Since I don't want my daughter to be enslaved to a low paying job, she is not allowed to learn spanish.

You: Learning Spanish doesn't enslave you to a low paying job. It's a good language to learn if someone wants to, especially if they'd like to travel to Spain or other Spanish speaking countries. The important thing though is to have English as a common language that all citizens understand and can communicate with one another.

Me: Hispanics aren't in high paying jobs. They refuse to learn English. Till they sucomb to English they won't have high paying jobs. I also don't want her around those who thumb their nose at speaking English and wish to remain at the bottom of the economic scale.

We have no desire to visit Spain, Mexico or any other Spanish country.

I'm glad to see that you also agree that it is important to speak English. So why shouldn't Hispanics learn and speak English since it is the language of business? Their stubborness to not learn English is what will continue to hold them back, hence, I have no desire to have my daughter surround herself with a bunch of anti-American losers.

[FITZ]

Obviously Hispanics should learn English, they're fools when they won't make sure their kids know it before sending them off to school. As a foreign language though, I think Spanish is good to learn and I think learning at least one foreign language is a good thing to do. If you know Spanish well enough, you can pretty much understand Portuguese and Italian also. Besides it's one of the easiest languages to learn, it takes only one or two classes and you can travel on your own through a Spanish speaking country which makes travel more interesting.

[FITZ]

Technically my job doesn't require any foreign language skills, but learning a foreign language doesn't hurt or help my pay level. It didn't get me a pay cut to learn Spanish or disqualify me so I'd have to take a lower job.

[nmh]

"You will have to have an interpreter with you when you go to Walmart in the future. Just imagine the embarassment looking for the hand tools section and winding up in the men's restroom. Learn the Espanol now!"

Too funny! I think I'll have to order those tools over the internet and avoid those HIGH paying employees that only speak Spanish. See, always a way to minimize the enounteres to those who wish to remain in low paying jobs. Paying the S&H is no problem here.