Iowa Aviation Weather...en Espanol

Jay Honeck wrote:

Besides, do you know how much it costs to translate the website into
Spanish? I resent the government translating the website into babytalk.
=That's= where the problem lies.


I don't care how much it costs -- *ANY* amount is absurd. If the NWS
has so much extra money laying around that they can afford such silly
expenditures, I'd say we should get the extra money the FAA craves
from their budget.

And where do you stop? There are well over 100 languages in the world,
and this isn't counting the many dialects around the world. If the
government supports Spanish translations, then everyone else will want
their favorite language provided. Where do you draw the line?

Matt

Jose wrote:

Um, sorry to burst your bubble, Jose, but Spanish is a foreign
language in the United States.


Um, sorry to burst your bubble, Jay, but Spanish is not a foreign
language in the United States.

It is by any reasonable definition of foreign language. What definition
are you using? And please provide a reference to the definition from a
generally recognized and legitimate source. Not just your own
home-grown definition.

Matt

C J Campbell wrote:
I think having signs
and other government services in Spanish is good for business, good for
trade, and good for freedom.


It may be good for business, but in the long term it is not good for
societal cohesion. This country struggles harder every year to find
things to bind together its many factions... a pretty much impossible task.

I don't believe it is any good for freedom either. It makes things more
complicated and increases the requirements for more government. An why
stop at just Spanish? Why print signs in ALL the languages that are
spoken in the United States? That would now include everything from
Arabic to Polynesian.

C J Campbell wrote:

No, I'm in it for the money. I had my heart surgically removed 30 years ago
when I started being a landlord. Didn't need it anymore. I think having signs
and other government services in Spanish is good for business, good for
trade, and good for freedom.

How about Chinese? Japanese? Korean? German? French? Hindu?


Matt

Matt Whiting wrote:
Where do you draw the line?

At the point where the group is so small it has no political influence.
That's the reality, not a statement of my preference in all cases.

Sylvain wrote:

Jose wrote:


I believe it is in English, worldwide. I've never flown in a foreign
country, but my understanding is that ATC is supposed to be in English,
even for the natives.


well, brace yourself for a surprise then when you eventually venture
outside...

--Sylvain

Why, all real countries have ATC who are English capable. France
probably being an exception. :-)

When I flew into St. Petersburg, the Russian controller's English wasn't
great, but I could make out most of it. I think I understood it better
though than did the two German pilots of the Lufthansa Airbus in which I
was riding jump seat.

Matt

Sylvain wrote:

mad8 wrote:


the citizenship test doesn't require being able to speak english. you
can take it in your own language if you pay/provide a translator.


bull****. I just went through the process myself (hey, I have been
a citizen for almost a month now! :-)) and the only exceptions are
for people older than a given age (I don't remember the details, but
you can find it all in 8 CFR) -- but I think it is over 65.

that said, the level of competency required in English as well as
the questions on history/civics were quite disappointing (I had
prepared for much harder stuff); keep in mind though that
very few natural born and US public school educated citizen
would be unable to pass that test.

Yes, that is the ultimate irony.

Matt

C J Campbell wrote:
An interesting question, at that. How much money are we really talking about
here? They have some guy, probably, already on the payroll, or maybe even a
computer translator, that translates the site into Spanish. I bet it doesn't
cost all that much compared to their whole budget. They probably spend more
on wastebaskets every month.


Wait until someone who speaks Lithuanian files a lawsuit.

Ol Shy & Bashful wrote:

On Feb 12, 3:40 pm, "Jay Honeck" wrote:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/forecast/Map...DVN&map.x=121&...

(orhttp://tinyurl.com/39s8j5if that URL wraps...)

Does anyone else find it disturbing that the National Weather Service
in the United States is paying out taxpayer money to a government
employee to create a foreign-language web page?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


Jay
por supuesto pero yo pienso mas gente en estado unidos falta educacion
como otro pieses y lenguas. Esta claro que mas latinos viene aqui y el
mundo es cambiando. No cambio o adjustamente por el individual, el es
muerte en la agua.
Times are changing my friend. I am one of the most adamant in the USA
regarding the use of english as our language but I fear I am ****ing
in the wind. In most of the foreign countries I worked in, I had to
learn at least a modicum of the language to survive. It is indeed
unfortunate that our education system, and by extension, most
Americans, never learn a foreign language well enough to carry on a
simple conversation in anything but english.
To that end, I am making an effort to teach my new son several
languages while he is still in the early stages of speech development
so he'll be able to function in a multi-lingual world.
You should have seen me raising hell in a post office in CA where all
the signs were in spanish. I made enough of a stink that all the signs
were duplicated in english by the end of the week.
I guess it beats being in arabic......or Finnish? ggg

Just wait. Pretty soon our signs will look like the instruction sheets
for most appliances. Three pages of instructions that take 30 pages to
print in 10 different languages.

Matt

Mxsmanic wrote:

What really happens is that Spanish speakers who wish to get ahead in the U.S.
learn to read, write, and speak English. Those who confine themselves to
Spanish live in a large but isolated ghetto and fall prey to hucksters and
demagogues who profit from the captive audience created by monolingual
Hispanophones to further their own ends.


You continue to impress me with your rather accurate grasp of American
politics... especially the part about some politicians actually
exploiting certain socio-economic groups... sucking up to them and
ultimately playing them against others for their own political (and
financial) gain.