Bush Wants Newcomers to Know English

[zimagirl79]

The White House took both sides in a dispute over English being the national language Friday as a broad immigration bill moved toward a final Senate vote next week with one conservative predicting it will never become law.

Bush's support for the dueling sides doesn't stray from his long-held view on learning English, said White House press secretary Tony Snow.

"What the president has said all along is that he wants to make sure that people who become American citizens have a command of the English language," Snow said. "It's as simple as that."

The Senate on Thursday approved an amendment sponsored by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., that would declare English the national language. But it also approved an alternative proposal sponsored by Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., designating English the nation's "common and unifying language." Before the vote on the alternative, Inhofe warned his colleagues, "You can't have it both ways."

The White House seemed to. "We have supported both of these," Snow said of the two amendments.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, speaking Friday in Houston, added to the confusion.

"The president has never supported making English the national language," Gonzales said, adding, "I don't see the need to have legislation or a law that says English is going to be the national language."

As governor of Texas and a presidential candidate in 1980, Bush supported bilingual education programs. He sprinkles Spanish into his presidential speeches and has released political commercials in Spanish. But he also has said the National Anthem should be sung in English.

The president plans to address immigration reform in his weekly radio address Saturday. He has generally favored a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and a guest worker program that would bring more foreigners to the U.S. to fill jobs. Both are central elements of the bill before the Senate.


Full Read (http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/ap/2006/05/19/ap2760385.html)


My take on this is that if you're going to come to this country, yes you should know English. I see no problem with making it official. Although the Hispanic community seems to think this is directed at them, they are not the only foreign-language-speaking immigrants here. We have people from all over the world. It bugs me when I see a sign posted in 8-10 different languages. I wouldn't expect other countries to translate everything into English either. If I moved to France or Germany - or Zimbabwe for that matter - I'd plan on knowing the language so I could get by.

I guess what really got to me was hearing the National Anthem sung in Spanish. That's not right.

[zimagirl79]

And of course the Inquirer had to poke fun.

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=31831

[Micron]

Convengo. Aunque la lengua es un problema para la mayoría, deben aprender la lengua del país que están viviendo adentro.

Imigrants are now becoming a problem for most major countries. A survey carried out on over 17,000 people in 16 countries, asked the question:

Suppose a young person who wanted to leave this country asked you to recommend where to lead a good life, what country would you recommend?

Australia was the top choice of respondents from Britain (31 per cent) and Canada (18 per cent), while Americans and the French chose Canada (16 and 14 per cent respectively).

Australia and Canada were the most recommended destinations for people from the Netherlands and Germany.

Britain was the top choice from those asked in Spain and Poland, Pakistan, and china while those from India overwhelmingly suggested the United States as a top emigration destination (38 per cent).

Somewhat surprisingly, not one of the 16 countries picked New Zealand as their top choice. The other countries to be recommended were Germany (by Turkey and Russia), China (by Pakistan), France (by Lebanon), Japan (by Indonesia), and the United Arab Emirates (by Jordan).

Its a big problem these days. If the UN looked at how some of these countries were run, instead of mediating wars, it would stop the majority from emigrating.

[xpgeek]

If I were to move to Spain or Brazil or Germany or wherever, I would be expected to learn the local language to live there for good. I don't think its fair that people here don't.

I live in a city where a good 65% of the population is hispanic, and I have had big trouble finding work because of the fact that I don't speak spanish. Most employers demand their employees speak spanish because so few of their customers speak english.

[zimagirl79]

ah Micron! You're bilingual! :D
I remember just a tiny bit from high school Spanish, and I know how to cuss a little in Slovak and say nice things in German

[Uguel]

San Diego where I live is very hispanic. It is very different from the East coast. The restaurant and groceries offer a huge choice of Mexican food but if you look for something you use to eat in the East for years, you better be patient!... not only some of the food might be hard to find but also many people never heard about it. :roll:

[Vairkjosa]

I for one wish to not comment on this too much. I do travel and have been to a few non-english speaking countries. I did not learn the local language then and have no plans to ever try to learn another language, I have enough problems with my own english.

There are acceptable international languages that will get you by when "visiting" another country.
I can only say this, my mother, who was Italian and a recent Immigrant into the United States, forbad us to speak Italian in our home. My father was as Scottish as they come. No Allen really isn't an Irish name.

If the language of the U.S. is going to be English, so be it, it's really not going to change a damn thing. Thats like telling the pope he has to be Italian to live in Rome.
Most of the schools around us already teach "English" as a second language because a lot of our mexican speaking friends do have trouble learning english. I have been lucky in that my neighbors don't have a lot of trouble conversing with me in english. Comprende.