patrick.net

I don't think it's racist, but I do think it's stupid and short sighted to get mad at folks who don't speak English. Even if immigrants never master the English language, their kids will almost certainly speak English, probably exclusively. My parents moved us to the US when I was 4, and I attended Japanese school every Saturday from kindergarten till 10th grade, but despite their best efforts, my Japanese language skills today are rather poor.

I remember hearing a story on NPR about how languages are disappearing every year, and that one day everyone will probably be speaking English. When that day comes, I hope all of the "Speak English in Amurica!" folks will be happy. Personally, I think it's actually kind of sad.

It has always been prejudicial, and/or racist to tell someone to speak English. It is non of your f**king business what language other people want to speak among themselves. Intiendes pendejos?

Every comment directed at a person and deemed offensive is RACIST in PC america.

They should have used this technique instead:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/NK1_B8zX87w

toshi says

I remember hearing a story on NPR about how languages are disappearing every year, and that one day everyone will probably be speaking English. When that day comes, I hope all of the "Speak English in Amurica!" folks will be happy. Personally, I think it's actually kind of sad.

Doubt it. I bet everyone will be speaking Chinese or Spanish. English is losing ground in America, because it's already racist to speak English in some parts of California.

There's no official language of the US. Hell, when they were first trying to decide that point, German was on the cards as a possibility. But they didn't vote one in, or write it up. So the US doesn't have one. I think it was a mistake; the lack of an official language means motor vehicle departments across the 50 states have to offer written tests in an insane number of languages, or to offer translation assistance during the sitting of the test. Multiply that across the bureaucracies, sooner or later you're starting to talk about real money.

There's a lobby group (http://www.usenglish.org/view/2) which lobbies for English to be the official language of the US. The chairman is even from Chile originally. It's a great idea. You should get behind it.

But it's not actually currently true.

Hell, though, let's assume that it is. If you're reffing, and I'm playing football and I speak to a teammate in Spanish or Urdu or Klingon. What the fuck do you care? Is there anything in the rulebook that says I can't? Are you afraid I'm talking about your mother? Why would you bother worrying about it?

It's not racist. But it might be bigoted, and it's certainly not professional. Just do your job.

FortWayne says

Doubt it. I bet everyone will be speaking Chinese or Spanish. English is losing ground in America, because it's already racist to speak English in some parts of California.

"Mao’s former kingdom is the fastest growing economy in the world and English teachers are very much in demand. Often the only requirements are being a native speaker and holding a university degree. You need look no further than www.TEFL.com to discover the variety and quantity of placements available, and once you arrive, they immediately double.

The kids are learning machines and a pleasure to teach once you get the hang of planning for 60. I found it invaluable to adopt ideas from www.bogglesworldesl.com and, www.onestopenglish.com."
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0501/jobs_teaching_english_in_china_plentiful.shtml

"From Colombia & Spain to Turkey & China:
10 Great Options for Teaching English Abroad in 2015 - 2016"
http://www.internationalteflacademy.com/blog/bid/191536/10-hottest-job-markets-for-teaching-english-abroad-in-2015

"Private School Teaching Salary in Dubai. Teaching jobs in Dubai offer a competitive salary, typically ranging from 9,000 – 15,000 AED/month (approximately $2,400 to $4,000) tax-free. Administrative roles may offer a higher salary based on qualifications and experience."
https://www.teachaway.com/teach-in-dubai-uae

"Between 2009 and 2014, in cities like Mumbai that provide alternatives to vernacular medium instruction, there has been a consistent drop in class I enrollments across all mediums of instruction except English. This trend isn’t limited to urban India, however; English medium schools are sprouting in villages across the country, and parents are willing to pay more than 500 rupees a month to send their child to one. In fact, between 2003 and 2011, there has been a whopping 274% rise in enrollments in English medium schools across India."
http://www.sankalpforum.com/a-growing-demand-for-english-medium-instruction/

"You can’t talk about Asia without mentioning Japan. While the Japanese economy has stagnated over the past decade, it’s demand for English language teachers has not. Japan has a mature market for TESOL teachers and has probably the longest tradition of English language programs in Asia."
http://tesoltrainers.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-global-need-for-english-language.html

FortWayne says

Doubt it. I bet everyone will be speaking Chinese or Spanish. English is losing ground in America, because it's already racist to speak English in some parts of California.

You really do live in some bizzaro alternative universe. Where exactly is english losing ground in America? Any proof of that at all? You providing proof of anything would be a unique event. I lived in the rio grande valley for years. The parents talk in spanish, the kids answer in english, the grandkids don't speak or understand spanish at all. The bullshit about people living for generations in America without learning english is a fairy tale fed to you by rightwingnut.com that you are actually gullible enough to buy into.

Everyone will be speaking english. If you ever travelled further than the state fair you might learn something. Where ever you go in the world english is everyone's second language. Go to places where there is lots of contract workers, the middle east for example, there might be 50 languages but only english is common to everyone.

Here's what I don't understand.

Everyone says Racism is based only on skin color.

But then "His-Spanic" is a race...based on...language(?)

And it doesn't even make sense. Brazil, one of the largest His-Spanic countries speaks Portuguese...so are they His-Portuguese?

And don't say that Portugal is a subset of Spain...I've been to both, and the Portuguese language is more like a vulgate version of the original Latin of Rome.

Same thing with Asian...there's Chinese and Japanese. People who "look Asian". But what about India...it's part of Asia too and people there look all different from white to black.

Then there's the White Race. One time I was in Italy staying in a house. There were workmen from the North of Italy, blonde haired, blue eyed and fair skinned. There were Italians from the South...dark skinned, brown eyed and black haired. They yelled Italian at each other but neither could understand! And yet somehow even within one county two groups who cannot communicate and look completely different are considered not only of the same "race" but the same nationality!

FortWayne says

toshi says

I remember hearing a story on NPR about how languages are disappearing every year, and that one day everyone will probably be speaking English. When that day comes, I hope all of the "Speak English in Amurica!" folks will be happy. Personally, I think it's actually kind of sad.

Doubt it. I bet everyone will be speaking Chinese or Spanish. English is losing ground in America, because it's already racist to speak English in some parts of California.

"it is already racist to speak English in some parts of California" - as if there were any readers on here, who didn't know you were a moron, you write something like that! You poor victim, somebody said, "you are in el centro, don't you think you should speak Spanish?" Sure!!!! sure!!! However, I have actually been told to speak English by people in line in grocery stores, banks, even in my gym. As if it was any of their business, or yours, or any other low class stupid person, to bother me about my language choice. I speak English, and given my 99% on the graduate record exams english section, I'll take a test against any racist moron on English ability. But Spanish was my first language, I also speak Portuguese, and am learning Mandarin. So, any chance I get to speak another language, I'm taking it. If that bothers you teaparty KKK dimbulbs, so what?

bob2356 says

The bullshit about people living for generations in America without learning english is a fairy tale fed to you by rightwingnut.com that you are actually gullible enough to buy into.

What the hell are you smoking there Bob? I see people every day who grew up in America and don't speak English, born and raised right here in California. Maybe you should step outside your limited world for once yourself!

blastfrompast says

"it is already racist to speak English in some parts of California" - as if there were any readers on here, who didn't know you were a moron, you write something like that! You poor victim, somebody said, "you are in el centro, don't you think you should speak Spanish?" Sure!!!! sure!!! However, I have actually been told to speak English by people in line in grocery stores, banks, even in my gym. As if it was any of their business, or yours, or any other low class stupid person, to bother me about my language choice. I speak English, and given my 99% on the graduate record exams english section, I'll take a test against any racist moron on English ability. But Spanish was my first language, I also speak Portuguese, and am learning Mandarin. So, any chance I get to speak another language, I'm taking it. If that bothers you teaparty KKK dimbulbs, so what?

You are the kind of person who is a problem, because you think everyone is racist because they speak English and prefer to speak it in America. Pat yourself on the back for speaking Spanish while at it, give yourself a cookie you racist America hating prick.

English is the new international language and has been unofficially for decades. Everywhere I go in the world people speak English as a second language and usually pride themselves on their various levels of mastery.
In this country the kids of immigrants speak English well or well enough, and only maybe half of them speak even passable Spanish. Unless they take Spanish in school, they won't know the language well enough to get by at all. The grandkids are half white or half Asian and speak English only.

The problem is not immigration but immigration velocity. It must be slow enough for assimilation to be the most desirable outcome for the immigrants themselves. To put it bluntly: "You came here and adopted the U.S. as your new country. Act like it."
All this "pride" I see in their country of origin seems vastly misplaced and boils down to flat-out racism. They LEFT their nations because they were shitholes and they could do better here. So being "proud" to be from Mexico or Guatemala or Somalia or wherever is just saying that they think people from those countries are the best people, not that those countries are the best. Which is racist, yo!
America took your brown/black/yellow ass in without being that way, so what gives you the right to be racist against the people already living here?
That kind of attitude is what makes native born Americans say "go home!"

My beef isn't people speaking Spanish. It isn't even making everyday documents and licenses available in Spanish.

It's insisting of having 1000s of documents and hiring special teachers for Laotian, Urdu, Mongol, and Guarani - oops, we got 5 kids that speak Ekky-tak-tak, gotta go spend millions on Ekky-tak-tak fluent teachers and printing everything from Pueblo Colorado and the State and City Hall in Ekky-tak-tak.

FortWayne says

You are the kind of person who is a problem, because you think everyone is racist because they speak English and prefer to speak it in America. Pat yourself on the back for speaking Spanish while at it, give yourself a cookie you racist America hating prick.

Really? show where I said any of that, you lying POS. I DON'T CARE what language you speak, in your little old trailer, YOU on the other hand, seem greatly bothered by other AMERICANS speaking other languages. It isn't your business. Quigley says

America took your brown/black/yellow ass in

you know something, it isn't "playing the race card" to point out what a disgusting bigot you are with your own quotes.

FortWayne says

bob2356 says

The bullshit about people living for generations in America without learning english is a fairy tale fed to you by rightwingnut.com that you are actually gullible enough to buy into.

What the hell are you smoking there Bob? I see people every day who grew up in America and don't speak English, born and raised right here in California. Maybe you should step outside your limited world for once yourself!

Bullshit. Typical FW logical fallacy. If they don't speak english how do you know they grew up in america? Did you ask them in their native language? How did you manage that? Show one example of anyone "raised in america" that doesn't speak english. I've never met one. How would I know if I did meet one since I couldn't understand them unless they spoke really clear (non canadian) french really slowly?

You do realize california was a spanish speaking area for twice as long as it has been an english speaking area don't you?

My limited world has me spending time in every state but alaska, living in 11 states more than a year, travelled (as in stopped and spent time) to at least 25 countries so far, have 3 permanent residencies, and 3 citizenships. Where have you been that makes you so worldly?

Stop using Reagan's picture, everything you write would have embarressed Reagan.

bob2356 says

Bullshit. Typical FW logical fallacy. If they don't speak english how do you know they grew up in america? Did you ask them in their native language? How did you manage that? Show one example of anyone "raised in america" that doesn't speak english. I've never met one. How would I know if I did meet one since I couldn't understand them unless they spoke really clear (non canadian) french really slowly?

You do realize california was a spanish speaking area for twice as long as it has been an english speaking area don't you?

My limited world has me spending time in every state but alaska, living in 11 states more than a year, travelled (as in stopped and spent time) to at least 25 countries so far, have 3 permanent residencies, and 3 citizenships. Where have you been that makes you so worldly?

Stop using Reagan's picture, everything you write would have embarressed Reagan.

I actually agree with Bob here. I haven't seen a Hispanic kid who could not translate English to their parents.
Irony: When my kids had to take a second language, I made them take Spanish. Why? Because I told them "If you want to get ahead in California. you will need to learn Spanish"

Is it racism if an Algonquin goes to Mexico and is told to speak Spanish?

thunderlips11 says

Is it racism if an Algonquin goes to Mexico and is told to speak Spanish?

yes. But, I doubt it ever happened, more than likely people just asked, "what language is that" same as when i travelled Mexico with a Brazilian girlfriend.

blastfrompast says

yes. But, I doubt it ever happened, more than likely people just asked, "what language is that" same as when i travelled Mexico with a Brazilian girlfriend.

You realize that Mexico translates very little legal stuff for visitors or potential immigrants. No free translators in a criminal court, no English immigration documentation, nothing. It must all be done in Spanish, translated into Spanish, and apostilled at the person's expense. Most US States and the Fed Gov will accept untranslated Mexican documents. Contrast that with racist America where the court won't proceed until you have a translator, and most documentation is available in all major and quite a few minor languages, and certainly spanish.

bob2356 says

Bullshit. Typical FW logical fallacy. If they don't speak english how do you know they grew up in america? Did you ask them in their native language?

I speak enough Spanish to converse with most Spanish speaking folk around Bobby. Plenty of people like that in East LA.

bob2356 says

You do realize california was a spanish speaking area for twice as long as it has been an english speaking area don't you?

Do I care what you spoke before and for how long? I couldn't care less if you spoke French for the past 3 million years. Today this is America, speak English!

bob2356 says

My limited world has me spending time in every state but Alaska, living in 11 states more than a year, travelled (as in stopped and spent time) to at least 25 countries so far, have 3 permanent residencies, and 3 citizenships. Where have you been that makes you so worldly?

I've been in enough places that I don't need to arrogantly claim that having 3 citizenships makes me a new messiah. Get off your high horse there bud.

FortWayne says

bob2356 says

Bullshit. Typical FW logical fallacy. If they don't speak english how do you know they grew up in america? Did you ask them in their native language?

I speak enough Spanish to converse with most Spanish speaking folk around Bobby. Plenty of people like that in East LA.

Yea right, I'm sure. So as patnet's resident racist you spend your time hanging in east LA with the bros on the hood who don't speak english even though they were raised in america. I don't think so. Amazing that they were raised in america without going to school, seeing tv, listening to radio, or having any other exposure to enough english to learn the basics. I've never met one even when I lived 10 miles from Matamoros, yet you somehow find plenty. Bullshit to your ridiculous claim.

FortWayne says

I've been in enough places that I don't need to arrogantly claim that having 3 citizenships makes me a new messiah.

You claimed I had a limited world. I was disabusing you of that notion with a plain and simple statement of facts. You are the one who keeps talking like you've never travelled further than the local walmart.

bob2356 says

So as patnet's resident racist you spend your time hanging in east LA with the bros on the hood who don't speak english even though they were raised in america. I don't think so. Amazing that they were raised in america without going to school, seeing tv, listening to radio, or having any other exposure to enough english to learn the basics. I've never met one even when I lived 10 miles from Matamoros, yet you somehow find plenty. Bullshit to your ridiculous claim.

Spanish is not a race, it's a language, you'd know that if you got more than third grade education bob.

Call it KKKrazy says

I couldn't care less if you spoke Christian gay-hatred for the past entirety of your primitive life. Today gay marriage is American law. Act American!

That's not American, that's just you and your boyfriends screwed up view of it, because liberal mommy couldn't raise you up a decent adult.

FortWayne says

Spanish is not a race, it's a language, you'd know that if you got more than third grade education bob.

Racism today is commonly defined as the hatred of one person by another because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. Which you would have known if you had gotten more than a second grade education.

Judaism isn't a race either, it's a religion. You are saying the holocaust wasn't racism? I'd love to hear how you spin that. I need a good laugh.

I'm still waiting to hear how a right wingnut bigot spends so much time in east la talking to illegals in spanish. Yea, sure right.

FortWayne says

What the hell are you smoking there Bob? I see people every day who grew up in America and don't speak English, born and raised right here in California. Maybe you should step outside your limited world for once yourself!

Haven';t you learned by now ? FW makes up his facts. His reasoning is based on his imagination.

In this case, who knows, maybe he thinks if someone speaks fluent spanish that it means they don't speak Emglish. Yes, there really are people THAT stupid.

The truth is there are a lot of Hispanic kids that were born here and speak perfect English (with no accent whatsoever) but also speak very good Spanish (often Mexican Spanish) also without accent.

A lot of normal people envy being bilingual in that way.

bob2356 says

Racism today is commonly defined as the hatred of one person by another because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. Which you would have known if you had gotten more than a second grade education.

Actually Bob, it's:

"the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races."

Grow a brain Bob for your own sake, not mine.

bob2356 says

Racism today is commonly defined

.. as offending another person. Unless the offended is a straight white male. Even the Jewish are jumping the sinking straight while privileged ship and denounce their whiteness as there is zero upside these days: https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/09/22/jews-in-america-struggled-for-generations-to-become-white-now-we-must-give-up-that-privilege-to-fight-racism/

Save your breath fw...sbh's been takin it in the ass since amoebas formed cheeks...
FortWayne says

Call it KKKrazy says

I couldn't care less if you spoke Christian gay-hatred for the past entirety of your primitive life. Today gay marriage is American law. Act American!

That's not American, that's just you and your boyfriends screwed up view of it, because liberal mommy couldn't raise you up a decent adult.

FortWayne says

Grow a brain Bob for your own sake, not mine.

I'm waiting to hear about how the holocaust isn't racism or the ins and outs of hanging out in east la in order to expand my knowledge base. All I hear is crickets.

marcus says

Haven';t you learned by now ? FW makes up his facts. His reasoning is based on his imagination.

Yes but he's pretty funny. The image of the biggest everything phob white supremist right wingnut on patnet asking people in east LA in spanish if they were born in the US is hysterical.