[PRCo] PRCo] Re: Europa (Foreign Languages)

[robert simpson]

Don't want to start a firestorm and NO, this is not personal, but.....
   
  Just wondering why 1 in every 5 U. S. citizens don't speak English?  This number seems much too high and implies that they only speak Spanish - and not German, Tagalog, Chinese, French, Vietnamese, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Italian, Greek, Russian, Arabic, Indian, Korean, etc, etc.  Does this imply that these immigrants should also learn Spanish in addition to English plus their native language?    Even most (not all) illegal aliens speak at least basic, rudimentary English.  Immigration laws, last time I checked, still require basic English as a requirement with certain waivers for the infirm and the aged.  
   
  When I lived in Germany, I learned to speak German,  when I traveled to France, I learned to speak at least basic French (enough to travel, get meals, directions, lodging, etc).,  when I traveled to Russia, I learned very basic Russian (with great difficulty because of the Cyrillic alphabet).   Unfortunately, I have all bot forgotten these languages because because I returned home to America - where English is our language.  Remember the old phrase... "...when in Rome, do as the Romans..."??  Wonder why our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, Mayflower Compact, etc. are in English?
   
  Seems it would be easier for the non-English speaking people (mentioned as being possibly 20% of the population) learn to speak English rather than make 80% of the population attempt to learn a foreign language - presumably Spanish.  Who would benefit from this new language requirement?  Certainly not the English speaking majority.  Lest we forget, our Northern neighbor, Canada, has a significant French speaking population in Quebec.
   
  I know, I know - this is politically incorrect in the extreme.
   
  Bob
  from Krazy Kalifornia - where English is the Official Language according to the State Constitution since at least 1986.  See:    http://tinyurl.com/hmm72
  
 
  

What is important here? Spanish is important because 1 in every 5
U. S. citizens speaks it in the home or will shortly. We should all
bite that bullet and be bilingual and quit arguing about whose
culture is ruined by learning a second language.