English may be her language, but she doesn’t seem to know more than a couple phrases that she uses over and over in her lyrics.
It’s a complicated message that nobody much seems able to understand.
I do not press 1 for English.
Interesting to see all the pictures of the English classes seem to come from before the 1960’s. This probably explains why this is an issue 50 years later.
Hmmm… What has happened to America between now and those old photos of immigrants learning English? Language is culture, and culture is tradition, and those Russian and Italian immigrants wanted to become part of American culture (as did my German speaking and Croatian speaking forefathers). But American culture has changed.
We’ve lost much of our culture, much of our tradition, and what’s left has become centered upon money, radical individualism, unbridled freedom of expression, broken families, etc. Above all, attitudes toward family divide us from our Spanish speaking neighbors and immigrants from the south.
Mexicans are happy to work and live in America for its economic opportunities, but I for one cannot fault them for keeping their language, if doing so helps them hold onto values that we have left behind.
Well, that just seems a bit stupid.
R-E-D-N-E-C-K
It’s the same in any language
I taught English as a second language to new immigrants. Trust me, they want to learn English, which, by the way, is a very difficult language to learn. Most Spanish-speaking immigrants’ grandchildren do not speak Spanish, which is a shame. Being bilingual is a real asset.
To those of you who reallly hate immigrants: how would you fare in another country? How long would it take you to learn their language?
i can to america by my mother’s womb and i learned the language like anyone that comes here should, if i travel anywhere (god forbid) i will learn their language.
btw subtitles are interesting in other languages
I think it would be very simple if you pressed 2, the phone would just hang up, instead of switching languages, with maybe a little verbiage of “Learn English” before it actually slammed the phone down !!!
Q: What do you call someone who speaks several languages?
A: A polyglot.
Q: What do you call someone who speaks two languages?
A: Bilingual.
Q: What do you call someone who speaks only one language?
A: American.
We don’t have an official language.
wow. She’s um, certainly open minded, isn’t she?
Ugh.
No he entendido ni una palabra…
People should not be forced to learn English if they don’t want to!!!!
…..
Oh, if they want to get a job, earn wages, put food on the table and a roof over their family’s head, etc…sure, they need to learn English for that.
….
Bottom line, they will not get far without learning the common language…..and the rest of the US shouldn’t have to translate everything to another language (unless it is in the process of teaching someone to learn English).
go home mexican if you wont learn my language
It doesn’t matter where you come from in this world, if you in a country other than your own, be you Mexican, British, French, Cuban, Chinese or Sudanese, you need to learn to speak the language of that country or else remain in your own.
I’m from Britain, born and raised, however, where I work, there are many foreign nationals, from all over the world, but mainly Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Bloc, a great many of whom have taken the time to learn the English language and all of it’s different mannerisms, etc, so that they can earn a wage, gain respect, but most of all, fit in and understand what it is they need to do in their day to day job. These people haven’t abandoned any principles or culture, they have instead, embraced a new skill and language that will help them further in their lives.
I don’t know about you, but I’m an gringo living in Alta California (the Governator’s state). We stole it fair and square from Mexico in 1849, and the people here spoke Spanish, ’cause they had killed off almost all the prior natives who spoke different languages. I’ve got no problem with them still speaking Spanish, and posting signs in Spanish, and doing business in Spanish, as long as I can do government business in English.
BTW, 1849 was right about the same time my European ancestors were coming through Ellis Island. They accommodated themselves to the language spoken where they settled, which happened to be English.
Hasta la vista, baby.
I personally think they should learn english, although the banking system as in ATM cards shouldn’t make you ask the question what langauge you want… the fricken card should reflect it in a magnetic code when you insert it… what the hell is wrong with that picture???
I wholeheartedly agree with her. Everyone who comes to the country should learn the native language. Podunk, Pequot, Cherokee, Apache….
(I just love it when people get their political point of view off a bumper sticker.)
English may be her language, but she doesn’t seem to know more than a couple phrases that she uses over and over in her lyrics.
It’s a complicated message that nobody much seems able to understand.
I do not press 1 for English.
Interesting to see all the pictures of the English classes seem to come from before the 1960’s. This probably explains why this is an issue 50 years later.
Hmmm… What has happened to America between now and those old photos of immigrants learning English? Language is culture, and culture is tradition, and those Russian and Italian immigrants wanted to become part of American culture (as did my German speaking and Croatian speaking forefathers). But American culture has changed.
We’ve lost much of our culture, much of our tradition, and what’s left has become centered upon money, radical individualism, unbridled freedom of expression, broken families, etc. Above all, attitudes toward family divide us from our Spanish speaking neighbors and immigrants from the south.
Mexicans are happy to work and live in America for its economic opportunities, but I for one cannot fault them for keeping their language, if doing so helps them hold onto values that we have left behind.
Well, that just seems a bit stupid.
R-E-D-N-E-C-K
It’s the same in any language
I taught English as a second language to new immigrants. Trust me, they want to learn English, which, by the way, is a very difficult language to learn. Most Spanish-speaking immigrants’ grandchildren do not speak Spanish, which is a shame. Being bilingual is a real asset.
To those of you who reallly hate immigrants: how would you fare in another country? How long would it take you to learn their language?
i can to america by my mother’s womb and i learned the language like anyone that comes here should, if i travel anywhere (god forbid) i will learn their language.
btw subtitles are interesting in other languages
I think it would be very simple if you pressed 2, the phone would just hang up, instead of switching languages, with maybe a little verbiage of “Learn English” before it actually slammed the phone down !!!
Q: What do you call someone who speaks several languages?
A: A polyglot.
Q: What do you call someone who speaks two languages?
A: Bilingual.
Q: What do you call someone who speaks only one language?
A: American.
We don’t have an official language.
wow. She’s um, certainly open minded, isn’t she?
Ugh.
No he entendido ni una palabra…
People should not be forced to learn English if they don’t want to!!!!
…..
Oh, if they want to get a job, earn wages, put food on the table and a roof over their family’s head, etc…sure, they need to learn English for that.
….
Bottom line, they will not get far without learning the common language…..and the rest of the US shouldn’t have to translate everything to another language (unless it is in the process of teaching someone to learn English).
go home mexican if you wont learn my language
It doesn’t matter where you come from in this world, if you in a country other than your own, be you Mexican, British, French, Cuban, Chinese or Sudanese, you need to learn to speak the language of that country or else remain in your own.
I’m from Britain, born and raised, however, where I work, there are many foreign nationals, from all over the world, but mainly Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Bloc, a great many of whom have taken the time to learn the English language and all of it’s different mannerisms, etc, so that they can earn a wage, gain respect, but most of all, fit in and understand what it is they need to do in their day to day job. These people haven’t abandoned any principles or culture, they have instead, embraced a new skill and language that will help them further in their lives.
I don’t know about you, but I’m an gringo living in Alta California (the Governator’s state). We stole it fair and square from Mexico in 1849, and the people here spoke Spanish, ’cause they had killed off almost all the prior natives who spoke different languages. I’ve got no problem with them still speaking Spanish, and posting signs in Spanish, and doing business in Spanish, as long as I can do government business in English.
BTW, 1849 was right about the same time my European ancestors were coming through Ellis Island. They accommodated themselves to the language spoken where they settled, which happened to be English.
Hasta la vista, baby.
I personally think they should learn english, although the banking system as in ATM cards shouldn’t make you ask the question what langauge you want… the fricken card should reflect it in a magnetic code when you insert it… what the hell is wrong with that picture???
I wholeheartedly agree with her. Everyone who comes to the country should learn the native language. Podunk, Pequot, Cherokee, Apache….
(I just love it when people get their political point of view off a bumper sticker.)