Enlish Only!

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   tksenseiposted 13 years ago

   Amusing gaff
   
   http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/06/23 … ference%2F

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      onthewritesideposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      LOL!  Now that's funny!

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      wordscribe41posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      That's hilarious!  Pretty sad, too.  Thanks for sharing.

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      Drew Breezzyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      oh the irony

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   RooBeeposted 13 years ago

   Now, that's funny.

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   My Inner Jewposted 13 years ago

   haha thats great...I am all for american's knowing multiple languages...honestly we are behind every other country and it is going to hurt our chances getting good jobs as more people move to the US from foreign countries.

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   spiderpamposted 13 years ago

   

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   SweetiePieposted 13 years ago

   Many signs here in California are in both English and Spanish, but I can read the latter language enough to comprehend most.  Once my brother in law and I had an out and out debate about how he should learn a little bit of Spanish since he works with people on construction sites that speak limited English, which made him very mad.  However, he was the one complaining about the language barrier and having to draw pictures, so if he learned a little bit of Spanish that could greatly help.  I wish I spoke the language more proficiently, so sometimes it is fun to watch those stations to try and see how much I can comprehend.

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      My Inner Jewposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Now I also think that if you are going to be a citizen or live here you should know english.  It is important to know english more so.

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         SweetiePieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         In California many people are recent immigrants learning the language, and since I work with the public I often have to communicate with many ESL speakers.  Many are learning the language, but being able to speak Spanish also helps me.  I enjoy being able to communicate with people as much as I can, so by strengthing my Spanish language skills I am able to convey what I am thinking and feeling to more people.
         
         I personally think foreign languages should be taught in US schools earlier, which is why Americans are behind Europeans on that accord.  I had a pen pal from Norway who spoke fluent English by the time she was in seventh grade, and she did not even live around any native speakers.  She simply wanted to be able to communicate with a wide range of people.

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            tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I wonder about that. I do think learning languages is a good in and of itself, but it is still the case today that most Americans will rarely, if ever, need to use foreign language skills throughout their working lives. If teaching time is a limited resource, might that time not be better spent improving math and science skills, for example? I'm not sure, just putting it out there.
            
            Also, I wonder if all the signs and phone prompts and whatnot in Spanish aren't really to the detriment of Spanish-speaking immigrants and unfair to non-Spanish speaking immigrants. Again, just putting it out there.

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               SweetiePieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               For many of us we are interested in knowing more about the world, and living in California I would say there is a need for bilingual signs.  Canada used to have the stigma regarding bilingualism, but they finally got over their issues with it.  The reality is many people in the US are bilingual, or have parents that are, so I do not think your ideas would be helpful.  I am just putting that out there.

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                  tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  You don't think that having access to almost everything in Spanish might retard the acquisition of English for many Spanish-speaking immigrants?
                  
                  Knowing about the world is nice, but not what I was talking about.

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                     SweetiePieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     No I think it will prompt people to become more bilingual, which actually is a good brain exercise really .  You may not be talking about knowing more about the world, but I certainly am when it comes to being able to speak Spanish more fluently.

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                        tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        Are you saying those signs and whatnot are there to teach native English speakers to speak Spanish?!

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                           SweetiePieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           For me it has.  You know a good part of the English language is based on French and Latin anyway, so it is not at all that difficult to find cognate words.  Also, I have noticed my niece and nephew know far more Spanish words than I did growing up.  In many ways Spanish words are infiltrating the colloquial language, which does not bother me.  English is one of the most mixed up languages in the world anyway, and that goes back to the days of Norman the Conqueror when French became the official language of the court in England.

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                              Aya Katzposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                              William the Conqueror. ;->

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                                 SweetiePieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                                 No Spanish is not the poor man's language as I have known many intellectuals that speak it.  That is only perception.

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                                 SweetiePieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                                 I am cognizant it is William.  I am a smart cookie with history, I was just typing fast.  Try not to correct people before they have a chance to go back and edit lol.

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                              tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                              Great, but was that the purpose when those signs were put up? In your opinion, should it be?

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   dingdongposted 13 years ago

   Troublesome EEEEEEEEE!!!!!

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   lrohnerposted 13 years ago

   The Montessori schools have the right idea. They start kids learning a second language at 3 years old. (Only problem for my kids was that French was being taught. Not very useful for them.)

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      RKHenryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Oh my.  Next too English, French is the second most common spoke language.  It is spoken through out Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and on and on and on.  It is as common as English, if not more so.  What in heavens gave the idea that French wasn't useful?  Amazing.

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         SweetiePieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I think what Ironher is trying to say is she would prefer her kids to learn another foreign language that is spoken more widely where she lives.  Of course French is useful, but if I had thought more about it I would have taken Spanish in high school instead.

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            RKHenryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Boy this is going to get me into trouble.  But please do excuse me- for this is not how I personally feel.  But in the business world, and in the intellectual community- Spanish is the poor man's language Sweetie.  Only blue collar workers are pushed towards Spanish.  Children with higher intellect, its preferred they be taught French.  Now I'm a big city kid.  I've lived my whole life in the educational community, this has been my personal experience.  Spanish is derived from old world French.  It is not the other way around.  If you are fluent in French, you are capable of speaking quite a bit of Spanish as a side effect. Same with Italian Sweetie.  It is the mother of the romantic languages.  French is far more important to learn.  Because you can communicate with far more people. But hey- no matter the language is it good to learn it.

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               Aya Katzposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Both Spanish and French are derived from Latin. Neither is derived from the other.

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                  RKHenryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                    Spanish is derived from old world French. All languages are built from one another.  All of them.  But of the romantic language bases, French is the predominant influence.  It is the dominator.

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                     tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     The "base" of all the romance languages is Latin. And languages did not develop over time in a simple 1-2-3 progression. It is far more complex than that.

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                        RKHenryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        Well something like that.  Googled that did yeah?

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                           tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           No, thanks for asking.

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                              SweetiePieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                              I do not agree with you at all times TK, but I have noticed people like to disparage your education level.  Not sure why, but I would ignore those type of comments.

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                                 RKHenryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                                 Who did that?  You by making the accusation.  Yes, I believe you just did.  Nice one Sweetie.

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                                    SweetiePieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                                    No accusation, just what I have seen.  I do not always agree with TK, but a few people have been just as abrasive back towards him.

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                                 tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                                 Thank you for the thoughtful comments (really). Some folks 'round here just seem to be very, very sensitive, and apparently live in a sphere where disparaging educational level is the worst possible insult - which is hilarious. Again, thanks.

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                     Aya Katzposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Study the Italic Branch of the Indo-European language family.
                     
                     http://www.danshort.com/ie/iecentum.htm

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                        tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        That's a good link.

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               tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Do you have any proof of this or is it just your prejudice in favor of French? (which you are welcome to)

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                  RKHenryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  prejudice in favor of French?  Yeah that's it.  I'll write a hub about the history of languages, which I carry a degree in from Brown and email it to you.  That be alright with you?

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                     tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Write whatever floats your boat. I'll be happy to read and correct your hub if you want.

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                        RKHenryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        How about you try to apply to my great university, and I'll let you set in my class free for a day.  Better yet, you can help me grade a dissertation or two on the subject matter.  How many languages do you speak?  Fluent in Latin are you?  Well, feel free to speak it if you know it so well.  How about French?  Spanish?  Italian? Cajun?  Or just plain Carolina back hills dialect?  Haven't graded too many thesis in written in Latin with Southern style English twist.  Could be interesting.

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                           tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           Thanks for the invitation, but I've already got a master's degree in Linguistics so I'll pass on the visit. If it makes you feel any better I guess I can get by in 5 or 6 languages alright, and I have proofed, edited, and graded many, many, many university papers of all sorts.
                           
                           
                           Anyway, thanks for your recent hub comments. Much appreciated.

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                              RKHenryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                              Understand doggie language do you?  Hows that dog of yours?  Cute fella.  Like to fetch does he?  Hubs on squirrels, great writer, yeap TK your such a real special person. Howl.

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                                 tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                                 He's not real big on 'fetching' to be honest. Too lazy most times.

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                                 tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                                 If I did I'd be as rich as that little 'Dog Whisperer' guy.

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                                    RKHenryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                                    Tk I will say this much about yourself.  You are good for business and HubPages is certainly about turning a profit.

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                                       tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                                       Sounds good to me!

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                           curiozitiesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           Quemadmodum possums scire utrum vere simus an solum sentiamus nos esse, y'all?

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         lrohnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         RK: My kids have spent most of their time in the US, South America and the Caribbean. Trust me -- their Spanish has been called on many, many times, but never their French. Not even in the French Quarter in New Orleans.

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            SweetiePieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            My experiences are the same as yours having grown up in Southern California where the majority of ESL speakers are of Hispanic origin.  Interestingly I even had several professors that were highly intellectual historians conducting ground breaking research on Spanish colonialism in Mexico, and those first hand documents were obviously not in French.

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   tksenseiposted 13 years ago

   I believe Spanish is spoken by more people than French, and of course Mandarin is the most common first language.

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      RKHenryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      No Tk.  Sorry. You must be American.

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         tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Link?
         
         
         On a side note, where are you from?

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            Make Moneyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Here is a list by popularity:
            
            1. Mandarin Chinese - 882 million
            2. Spanish - 325 million
            3. English - 312-380 million
            4. Arabic - 206-422 million
            5. Hindi - 181 million
            6. Portuguese - 178 million
            7. Bengali - 173 million
            8. Russian - 146 million
            9. Japanese - 128 million
            10. German - 96 million

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               Laura Berwickposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I think there is a middle ground to all of this. As you can see French is not listed on the list above of popularity, but statistics can be interpreted however you like. Although French is not listed on this list, I believe that it is more widely spoken than many of these languages -- many of which are localized to a specific geographic area. French is spoken in many African countries for example which makes it a very useful language if one is interested in international travel.
               
               This is not to say that Spanish is not also a very useful language, especially for someone spending alot of time in the southern US, or Latin America.
               
               I think it really all comes down to where you live, and what you're trying to accomplish with your second language.

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                  tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  http://www.photius.com/rankings/languages2.html

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         tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         You saw the link?

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   apekshaposted 13 years ago

   Now thats funny LOL
   

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    tksenseiposted 13 years ago

    http://www.photius.com/rankings/languages2.html

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    tksenseiposted 13 years ago

    Another link:
    
    
    http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/toptens/ … ages4.html

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    tksenseiposted 13 years ago

    Another link for ya:
    
    
    http://geography.about.com/od/culturalg … guages.htm

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    SweetiePieposted 13 years ago

    I think hubs about dogs are cute.  What is more cute than a dog?

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       tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Other than me? Not much!

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          SweetiePieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I have written hubs about my dogs too, so I meant that as a compliment . I enjoy the animal hubs very much.

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             tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Taken as such! Thank you. I'll check out your doghubs.

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    llanishenposted 13 years ago

    This interesting stuff. They should go back to basics.

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    curiozitiesposted 13 years ago

    My favorite funny English website: http://engrish.com/

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    getpaidtopostposted 13 years ago

    So my spelling is not that bad after all.

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    Leta Sposted 13 years ago

    Definitely knowing Spanish is more useful in South American countries.  It is also the fastest growing language, if I'm not mistaken.
    
    But what RK is saying about French is also true.  Many African nationals speak French (ie, my friend from the Ivory Coast who completed a Phd in French just recently), plus many other French colonized countries....here listed
    
    I cannot say numbers wise it is as common as English, but certainly, when considering world literature, it has been perhaps more influential than Spanish.

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       tksenseiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       You are. It is still Mandarin. English is the most commonly studied foreign language. Spanish checks in after that.

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    VENUGOPAL SIVAGNAposted 13 years ago

    If we give priority to language, then the matter (to be discussed) will go back. Whether we like it or not, English has established itself as a global language. Almost all countries have English-speaking people. It will be better to let it be as it is. English may well be treated as a common language. Let no other controversy crop up in the present controversial world.

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