Why do you choose to not SPEAK ENGLISH? You live/Work in the US but wont learn the language?
I work in Customer Service, and I find it quite rude on a daily basis that someone will ask me if I speak any other language other than English to help assist them.
What I mean is, You move to this country because you want a better life for you and your children. You pay taxes here on your income, and become an American Citizen. You get a good paying job here, so you can buy that nice house in the suburbs, send your kids to a good school, and buy those two new cars. Then one of your car’s breaks down, and you take it to your selling dealer – and you get upset and develop and attitude because the service advisor does not speak polish?
Then you get your 6 yr old kid to try and translate the English into the Polish, and the 6 yr old kid gets confused and does not know how to properly translate because what you are trying to explain is all confusing to him?
WHAT? AMERICA GIVES YOU ALL THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE THE BETTER THINGS IN LIFE, AND YOU CAN NOT LEARN TO SPEAK IT’S LANGUAGE?
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I quite agree with you, and the problem is not just American. There are Moroccans in the Netherlands who have lived here for over 30 years and don’t speak Dutch. No matter how you look at it, it is never wise to cut yourself off from the main stream in the country you live in.
ixnay on the engrish
Yes I totally agree!!!
Thanks and amen.
If i went to any other country I would have to learn to speak that language. I think it should be part of becoming a US citizen.
How can they answer this question if they can’t speak english?
And perhaps they don’t have the opportunity to learn english. Perhaps they have just moved to this country. the child is learning english because the parent had sense enough to place him.her in an english speaking school.
or perhaps they are very old. or have come with their family and are so afraid of this new world that they are afraid to go outside of their home alone. Or perhaps they weren’t all that thrilled about leaving their own country but had no choice.
somewhere way back when you had an ancestor who was in the same boat. perhaps yours were english speaking to begin with but they were still afraid when they landed here.
try a little more understanding and a little less smugness next time you are met with this situation.
I agree. That should be the first thing they learn BEFORE getting citizenship. I cannot imagine moving to a foreign country and NOT knowing the language. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? How would you ever do or get anything?? I went to a mexican restaurant several months ago and just wanted to know what the cost was of a Margarita before I ordered it. I swear I asked the guy like 3 times and after that blank stare and nod and no answer I finally decided that he didn’t know what the frig I was talking about so I just ordered it anyway, but, I mean… come on!! You work at a restaurant and you don’t know the words “cost” or “price” ? Sheesh! Talk about poor customer service. Needless to say, I did not go back!!
I agree on what you have written. English is the universal language. La lingua pura. Everybody should know the basics of it (I’m not native myself).
I know about the morrocans in the Netherlands that someone reffered, I worked there for 6 months. Now I’m in Germany, where the same applies to Turkish and Italian communities. But I find it even more serious that people like german, french, italian, etc, don’t have a basic knowledge of english…
First of all maybe they just moved here, sometimes other family members are here before them and they already know English hence the translating kids,then there is english spoken at school where the kids learn it and have you ever tried to learn a language other than your own as an older adult? give them a break you don’t know the circumstances. If they have been in this country for a long time than that is a different story. Everyone should learn enough to get along but not neccesary to have a full blown converstion
Justme, your opening statements are a wash. You have them backwards.
Older generation immigrants speak fluid English, and they themselves are a bit concerned that their grandchildren somehow don’t know but several words.
When America stops protecting immigrants and treating them like royalty, then the immigrants will have to learn a bit of English to survive.
It also has to do with this absurd notion that people, most commonly of ethnic backgrounds must speak only their language, at least as a primary, for if they don’t then they are somehow turning their backs on their ancestry.
;rolls eyes;
Dude don’t refer USA as America, Mexico Canada and all of south America they are all America. Look man like you said they they let everybody in here, this is the country of all languages and this is a great country, but hey they are obviously doing something right when everybody who comes from another country is doing better then as you say “Americans” I talked to this Greek man who is a millionaire who don’t speak English something you don’t have to speak English to succeed in the US so why bother. instead of whining why don’t you do something constructive with your time and learn other languages. I mean you talking about is not going to change anything, what was that maybe twenty mins of your life that you lost on that cust, and this is what you are doing to make up for it.
Wow. The pure hatred in your post took my breath away. I ended up living in Japan for a year quite by accident. I was sent on 5 days notice to help in the Tokyo office. I spoke no Japanese. I ended up staying for a year. I worked at learning as much of the language as possible but that was certainly not enough to converse with a customer service person. I found the Japanese to be so very polite and helpful and because of their willingness to try to help me I found I was more inclined to work harder to learn the language.
America is the melting pot and always has been. Doubtless your own family showed up here unable to speak english.
It’s people like you who make me embarrassed to be American.
Well, if you work in Customer Service and you don’t like that, then you should work somewhere else, not there.
Polish is NOT the issue here. How many people speak Polish here ? Of course it is absurd and illogical to expect that people spoke Polish.
But I really advise you to learn Spanish, because we are becoming the second most commonly spoken language in the USA, and in just a few years, we shall be the largest “minority” in this country.
According to The Godfather, the most representative book about this country, not speaking Spanish affects the business, and they can kill your best friend, but don’t affect the business
I can’t imagine living in any country and not speak the language. But learning the language takes time. Be patient with those people – maybe they are doing their best. They come to your country to work; they don’t have much time left for going to language course, don’t you think? Maybe with less pressure, they’d learn better.
To “freespirit”: if you were in French restaurant, I suppose you would break your tongue trying to at least “sound” French… That’s pure racism, nothing else.
You all expect that everybody should speak English. You travel to other countries and speak English and expect that they speak it. And… what do you know… we DO speak English…
And you don’t even bother to learn a few words of the language of the fellow humans who live in the same city as you.