Someone who has lived in the USA for 23 years still doesn't speak English.

[Mononoke28 137]

Yeah OP, what's wrong whichoo?!

Don't you know OP that there is something with your OP IQ if you're wondering about your friends lack of English knowledge.

Someone should tell the OP that her OP friend is not doing anything wrong.

You hear me OP?

Diana

[Peikko 1,575]

Where on earth did you get the idea that this had anything to do with the OP's IQ? Bizarre, however, it does say something about the way this person treats people if this is her best friend she is bitching about.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

If the person has managed to get by without a minimum standard of English, I'm not sure what the justification would be for imposing it on them.

From what I understand the only aspect of immigration that this ties into is whether or not the immigrant is a public charge. Obviously not being able to speak the language of the majority will provide some detriment in terms of employment opportunities - but if this person has been here for 20+ years and is afloat financially and doing well for themselves I'm not sure I understand the rationale that their not learning English makes them somehow deficient.

I also don't agree with this concept of "assimilation". As long as a person is law abiding I don't see why its my business what language they speak.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

If the person has managed to get by without a minimum standard of English, I'm not sure what the justification would be for imposing it on them.

From what I understand the only aspect of immigration that this ties into is whether or not the immigrant is a public charge. Obviously not being able to speak the language of the majority will provide some detriment in terms of employment opportunities - but if this person has been here for 20+ years and is afloat financially and doing well for themselves I'm not sure I understand the rationale that their not learning English makes them somehow deficient.

I also don't agree with this concept of "assimilation". As long as a person is law abiding I don't see why its my business what language they speak.

Seis, I concur. Like PH said, if someone does not speak English, that does not make them illiterate; just not-bilingual: or maybe they are bilingual (like most of us are) with a thick accent.

If they are honest working people, pay their taxes, follow the law, etc.; they can speak Sanskrit for all I care. Would they be better off if they spoke English? Who knows? And if so, which version of English would that be? Massachusetts? NYC Ebonics? Georgia southern?

I am sorry, but this b1tching about people's accents and verbal personalities is a bit too presumptuous and arrogant. Show me a native speaker of any language without a regional accent. One.

[pedroh 21]

i dont thinks she was referring to the accent regarding 'broken english'. but i agree with you, an accent doesnt make a person illiterate, or that they can't speak a language 'properly'

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

There are of course plenty of Americans who struggle with basic English. Perhaps they haven't assimilated properly and should be sent to Cuba. Or jail.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

i dont thinks she was referring to the accent regarding 'broken english'. but i agree with you, an accent doesnt make a person illiterate, or that they can't speak a language 'properly'

and nothing against panamania, she is a dear friend of mine ; but the whole assault on people's right to speak whatever the flying fukc they want as long as they manage to live decent lives is just too upsetting. I cannot see the day when a pendejo will tell me I cannot speak Spanish, of French, or Italian. Land of the free my assss it would be.

[pedroh 21]

y la llevo puesta orgullosamente

[Peikko 1,575]

I apologize to the OP if my remarks were a little strong. I presume I have somehow missed the point of the question regarding her friend. I still think I would be miffed though if someone I thought of as a best friend started asking stranges if they thought I was lazy or stupid just because I have a terrible way of speaking English. However, there has to be some motivation that is in the best interest of the friend, I guess.

[panamania79 2]

Where on earth did you get the idea that this had anything to do with the OP's IQ? Bizarre, however, it does say something about the way this person treats people if this is her best friend she is bitching about.

I'm not bitching,I'm just talking.

y la llevo puesta orgullosamente

Yo tambien !

i dont thinks she was referring to the accent regarding 'broken english'. but i agree with you, an accent doesnt make a person illiterate, or that they can't speak a language 'properly'

and nothing against panamania, she is a dear friend of mine ; but the whole assault on people's right to speak whatever the flying fukc they want as long as they manage to live decent lives is just too upsetting. I cannot see the day when a pendejo will tell me I cannot speak Spanish, of French, or Italian. Land of the free my assss it would be.

Me neither he can speak Swahili for all I care but I just find it odd that he's been here so long and still comes out with stuff like "you drinkie."

If the person has managed to get by without a minimum standard of English, I'm not sure what the justification would be for imposing it on them.

From what I understand the only aspect of immigration that this ties into is whether or not the immigrant is a public charge. Obviously not being able to speak the language of the majority will provide some detriment in terms of employment opportunities - but if this person has been here for 20+ years and is afloat financially and doing well for themselves I'm not sure I understand the rationale that their not learning English makes them somehow deficient.

I also don't agree with this concept of "assimilation". As long as a person is law abiding I don't see why its my business what language they speak.

Seis, I concur. Like PH said, if someone does not speak English, that does not make them illiterate; just not-bilingual: or maybe they are bilingual (like most of us are) with a thick accent.

If they are honest working people, pay their taxes, follow the law, etc.; they can speak Sanskrit for all I care. Would they be better off if they spoke English? Who knows? And if so, which version of English would that be? Massachusetts? NYC Ebonics? Georgia southern?

I am sorry, but this b1tching about people's accents and verbal personalities is a bit too presumptuous and arrogant. Show me a native speaker of any language without a regional accent. One.

If you heard my New England accent,you'd probabaly laugh also.And like I said,I'm not bitching,I'm just talking.

I had to add to this living in heavily populated areas of hispanics, I grew up with cubans and puerto Ricans, and now in orlando with a mix of everything.

I have to say a lot of people in New Jersey where I grew up never needed to learn to speak english, and they still don't.

I had to learn to speak spanish to get a job there, if not I had to travel to Manhattan

which I did, or travel our to other parts of Jersey where it was more american based, I come from the most densely populates city in the United States, its called Union City New Jersey, its right outside of NYC, we are on the other side of the Lincoln Tunnel

UC, has always been a big immigrant town, during the 40's til the 60's it was heavily populated European immigrants, but they learned english, they wouldn't be catered to

Including my grandparents they came from Germany in the late 1800's but they learned to speak english, the spoke to each other in German, but not to there kids, they thought they were given an opportunity to be here in the US they should learn the language

so to say UC, had Italians, Jews, Germans, Irish, Polish, and a few others but mostly those, after a while the cubans came and everything in our city had changed, the strange thing is there were so many that for some reason things in the city changed to the point where the signs on the doors were in spanish than english and you had to bi lingual to get a job

my mom learned spanish, at forty something, everyone in my family speaks spanish, all of my siblings are married to cubans as well as all of cousins, my kids are half Puerto Rican, there grandmother on there fathers side doesn't speak a lick of english, well she can say a few words, but she has lived in the same city for the past 45 years and has no need to learn english because everything she needs there is someone who speaks spanish

every american I went to school with which wasn't many speak spanish

so I guess its all where you grow up, I love where I am from I love the people I wouldn't have changed a thing except to get them to speak english it can only help them

Aikon is from Union City hehhehe you know the rapper, i don't know how to spell his name

but anyhoo, It was a bit upsetting not being able to get a job as easliy in your own hometown because you didn't speak the language , but we got by i got my first job at 13 i worked for cubans, it was a great experience, the owner of the place he as well didn't speak english and he owned half of my city, pretty damn amazing

well thats all for now

Kathleen

Cool Story! I grew up most of my life in Texas and I learned Spanish also. We lived in a mostly English speaking neighborhood but in my school there were lots of Puerto Ricans, Mexicans not to mention Tongans and Vietnamese and Cambodian people. I started young and now I speak fluent Spanish. But in our school there were the ESL classes where the kids would learn English and the majority by the time the graduated HS spoke it as well as the rest of us..... I use my bilingual skills every day, and I have from almost the time that I started working with the same company I am with now, I started when I was 17 and worked there all thru University. ..

I guess it's all in how bad someone wants to learn something. I remember working with guys from Puerto Rico..they'd been working in Texas for..8, 9 years when I met them..and they'd say how their wives still didn't speak English and stuff...mostly because they thought the women didn't want to go out and get a job...so they didn't learn english...anyhoo..

My husband is funny..He's only been here for 2 1/2 years so his English is far from perfect...but makes a good effort and writes it extremely well. He does say some funny things too...I remeber when he was still in Panama I taught him the word "Dorky" and since then..anything he thinks is well..dorky...is "eso esta BIEN DORKY!"

You should hear my Manuel...."eso esta todo focopiado."He made that one up himself.

Yeah OP, what's wrong whichoo?!

Don't you know OP that there is something with your OP IQ if you're wondering about your friends lack of English knowledge.

Someone should tell the OP that her OP friend is not doing anything wrong.

You hear me OP?

Diana

I never said he was,did I ?

[kerewin21 2]

We are a modern 21st century industrialized welfare state with 19th century immigration policy. IMO the family based policy where the immigrant is the priority is like the tail wagging the dog. Immigration is a privilege and the priority of immigration policy should benefit the American people rather than to convenience the immigrant.

Immigration policy today has been bastardized into a globalized charity event, jobs fair, and consumer outreach program to benefit primarily the special interests that have congress in their pocket. The American people are last in line of the priorities. That needs to change.

I agree with that. I can't tell you how many patients show up in my clinic or emergency room, fresh off the plane, here because their brother or sister or child sponsored them. They get free medical care in NYC and they are too sick to ever work or to contribute to our country. Meanwhile there are skilled workers out there who can't get visas because of caps.

[Heracles 417]

I also don't agree with this concept of "assimilation". As long as a person is law abiding I don't see why its my business what language they speak.

Why not. Why should Americans be the doormat. If I decided to move to another nation than it is up to me to try to assimilate and at the very least respect their culture. Yet the status quo is the other way around here. Where an American is branded as being racist for speaking up yet others are allowed to force their culture on Americans.

As I posted earlier. My friend teachers in an affluent county. The teachers have been instructed that even in the 5th grade, they cannot force a Latin-American child born in America to learn English. That is just ridiculous and would never ever happen in any other OECD nation.

I agree with that. I can't tell you how many patients show up in my clinic or emergency room, fresh off the plane, here because their brother or sister or child sponsored them. They get free medical care in NYC and they are too sick to ever work or to contribute to our country. Meanwhile there are skilled workers out there who can't get visas because of caps.

Australia got around this. There is now a 2 year waiting rule to receive government benefits for all new immigrants; unless they are refugees.

[Peikko 1,575]

No country requires it's citizens or immigrants to be proficient in the host countries language - that's just wierd.

Ok, I have no idea if that statement is true, but it should be.

Tell me, if someone falls in while in Australia and they can't afford to pay for treatment, what exactly happens?

[SteveLaura 0]

Immigrants have always congregated around their own kind and always will. You don't think there were Irish areas, Italian areas, Chinese areas, German areas, etc when the US first opened its doors? You think they all sat around saying, "Howdy y'all" to each other?

Abide by the laws of the country. Learning the language may help you progress in your career, if that's important to you. If you want to wear clothes from your homeland, speak your mother tongue, eat your native food etc, what's it to me? Should I not celebrate Guy Fawkes Night, I wonder?

[Peikko 1,575]

Phah, Guy Falkes!