Hey, I always speak Spanish when I order Tacos or Burritos, Italian when I order Tagliatelle, Indian (Hindi) when I order Rogan Josh, and French when I order Creme Brulee.
What's the big deal?
What's the big deal?
Want a Cheesesteak... Speak English!
- Thread starter DRB
- Start date
Evidently, one should speak "american" when ordering "american" food...fluff said:
To prepare for travel to various european countries I would acquire a BASIC knowledge of the language. Hell, when I was in France I shopped at grocery stores and went to resturants using only what I had learned in a few days. Same in Italy. If I could get this far using a few days worth of knowledge, why then is it so politically incorrect to suggest that someone learn the language of the place in which they have choosen to reside permanantly?
richcreek said:
yea i know i came off sounding anti-immigration but i'm not. some of my phrasing was a little harsh, but the point was made.
there is a large, large population of mexicans who are in this country illegally in the first place. to tolerate it is one thing, but to bend over backwards to accomodate them (eg making menus, signs, etc in both english and spanish) is sending the wrong message, and is just stupid. if they are coming to america to work for american companies, shouldn't they make the effort to learn the skills they will need for the job? and yes, i do consider speaking english to be one of those skills for foreign workers.. i am an engineer, as such, am i not expected to learn the skills necessary to perform my job? that being said, i fully support developing a guest worker program for foreigners, whether or not the american gov't will come up with one that will work is a different story. i am very opposed to just blatently granting millions of illegal mexican immigrants citizenship, it would be a blatant slap in the face to the people who are trying to do it the legal way (applying for visas, all that jazz. sorry i don't know the whole process offhand).
edit #1:mudgrrl: i actually do know spanish in addition to english. i have family members from venezuela and several friends from s. america as well. i am nowhere near as fluent as i used to be, but enough that i could still function in a spanish speaking country. how many languages do you know?
edit #2: CKxx is putting up (essentially) the same idea i am, he just stated it more elegantly.
That's what's being pushed right now. Obviously, english would be the choice.Changleen said:
Oh we decided on one of them a looooooooong time ago.Changleen said:
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i didn't read the article, but i think i remember seeing something about this on TV. does the owner argue that we let mexican immigrants get away with speaking only Spanish, and sort of cater to them, to the point that they don't have to learn English at all in order to get by? if so, i totally agree. i even wrote a paper about this argument last semester, using 2 of my friends and their parents as examples, one being immigrants from Mejico and the other from Poland. both FOTB.
if a business, say a bank, cares to offer services in 2 languages, is because the spanish/whatever speaking market bringing their business is worth to them. their money worth as much as yours, so they´ll do what they can to get that business.the Inbred said:
i think is akin to an airline offering vegetarian, or low carb meals
why would anybody else, but the involved parties, have a right to void that????
4 years of Spanish in school (figured it would be useful).jonKranked said:
While I was in the Air Force, I got sent to England with bad orders, had to be in Germany the next day, so I didn't have any time to learn my new country's language... learned it with life experience...
Got sent to Romania... so add some Romanian
Was on the French border, so add some French in there...
I have also tried to learn Gaelic and Japanese (not that I needed to, just thought it would be interesting).
and I can figure out some Italian.
I'm all for learning the language of the country that you are in, but I will not condemn someone for not being able to order a cheesesteak.
learning by immersion is sometimes the best way. and props for being multilingual. When I was in italy in 2000 i knew enough spanish that i was able to get around with very problems. italian is really easy to pick up if you know spanish. the verb forms are very close to one another, and a lot of the words are extremely similar.
and i'm not trying to condone someone for not being able to order a cheesesteak, i'm just trying to convey the point that its common sense to learn the 'native' language of the country/region you are moving to.
and for the record geno's cheesesteaks aren't even that good
and i'm not trying to condone someone for not being able to order a cheesesteak, i'm just trying to convey the point that its common sense to learn the 'native' language of the country/region you are moving to.
and for the record geno's cheesesteaks aren't even that good
I made cheesesteaks for dinner Friday night because of this thread. They turned out pretty darn tasty. Nothing like greasy meat and cheese on grilled bun. I sauteed some 'shrooms with the onions for good measure. mmmmmmmm
On a micro-level it makes sense for a business to cater to whatever language a customer wishes to speak. On a macro level, it is economically preferable to have a common language (not just for business, but for policy and academics as well).
I do believe we should cater to people that don't yet speak English. I also believe we should provide the resources to help them learn english and encourage them to take advantage of those opportunities.
At the same time, we've been unwilling to adopt the metric system despite the economic advantages... so there would be a lot of hypocrisy in making a claim for an english standard based on economics.
FWIW - 1st (Dad's side)/2nd (Mom's side) gen white american male - English as a first lang, Italian as a second (now barely conversational), have been conversational in French, Spanish, and Nepali (not anymore), and could survive in German, Czech, Polish, Slovakian. And can swear in Yiddish.
I do believe we should cater to people that don't yet speak English. I also believe we should provide the resources to help them learn english and encourage them to take advantage of those opportunities.
At the same time, we've been unwilling to adopt the metric system despite the economic advantages... so there would be a lot of hypocrisy in making a claim for an english standard based on economics.
FWIW - 1st (Dad's side)/2nd (Mom's side) gen white american male - English as a first lang, Italian as a second (now barely conversational), have been conversational in French, Spanish, and Nepali (not anymore), and could survive in German, Czech, Polish, Slovakian. And can swear in Yiddish.
I wish I didn't have to speak french to get my car fixed.....