Iowa Aviation Weather...en Espanol

"Hamish Reid" wrote

In what sense is Spanish a foreign language in the US? It's the dominant
language in the part of the US I live in...

Just because it is so, does not make it correct.

The United States was made great because of the immigrants moving here, and
the US becoming the "melting pot."

Although there were neighborhoods of native language speakers in large
cities, for the most part, people all learned English, to advance themselves
in our common culture.

Now it does not seem to be fashionable to do so, and is enabled by our
government. Sad.

Youngsters coming into school should be taught English, ONLY, until they are
able to communicate within the classroom setting. Night classes for adults
should be set up, and incentives set out for attending, and becoming English
speakers.

Perhaps no handouts after 6 months, without being functional English
speakers and readers? That would be a start.

There need to be some reversals on policy, soon. I don't see it, though.
--
Jim in NC

In article ,
"Morgans" wrote:

"Hamish Reid" wrote

In what sense is Spanish a foreign language in the US? It's the dominant
language in the part of the US I live in...

Just because it is so, does not make it correct.

The United States was made great because of the immigrants moving here, and
the US becoming the "melting pot."

Although there were neighborhoods of native language speakers in large
cities, for the most part, people all learned English, to advance themselves
in our common culture.

Now it does not seem to be fashionable to do so, and is enabled by our
government. Sad.

Youngsters coming into school should be taught English, ONLY, until they are
able to communicate within the classroom setting. Night classes for adults
should be set up, and incentives set out for attending, and becoming English
speakers.

Perhaps no handouts after 6 months, without being functional English
speakers and readers? That would be a start.

There need to be some reversals on policy, soon. I don't see it, though.

None of that really answers the question: in what sense is Spanish a
foreign language in the US? As several people have pointed out, it
predates English in these parts by a long way, and has been spoken
continuously 'round here by immigrants and native-born citizens alike
for all of that time.

Would you call Lakota a foreign language in the US?

Hamish

"Hamish Reid" wrote

None of that really answers the question: in what sense is Spanish a
foreign language in the US? As several people have pointed out, it
predates English in these parts by a long way, and has been spoken
continuously 'round here by immigrants and native-born citizens alike
for all of that time.

Now you are being silly. English is the official language in the US, and is
the only language of record. That says it all.

Now, it those who refuse to speak it want to sit back in the corner and be
quiet, fine with me.
--
Jim in NC

Morgans wrote:

Now you are being silly. English is the official language in the US, and
is the only language of record. That says it all.

hmm, care to quote the chapter and verse of the relevant CFR where this
is stated? (you can get all the CFRs, not just 14, he gpoaccess.gov
-- ok, there is something about it in 8 CFR, but that's about
naturalization; frankly I haven't read all of them, so you might very
well be right); I don't see it in the constitution however.

as for the 'only language of record', have a look at your US passport
if you have one, and tell us what language or languages it is written
in?

--Sylvain

Sylvain writes:

as for the 'only language of record', have a look at your US passport
if you have one, and tell us what language or languages it is written
in?

Passports are specifically intended for use abroad. Mine is in English and
French.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 23:04:54 -0800, Sylvain wrote:

as for the 'only language of record', have a look at your US passport
if you have one, and tell us what language or languages it is written
in?

To be fair, U.S. passports are not written for Americans to read.
Their polyglot text, intended for the eyes of foreign officials and
police, is a tacit recognition of the concept of native languages.

Don

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 22:31:47 -0800, Morgans wrote
(in article ):


"Hamish Reid" wrote

None of that really answers the question: in what sense is Spanish a
foreign language in the US? As several people have pointed out, it
predates English in these parts by a long way, and has been spoken
continuously 'round here by immigrants and native-born citizens alike
for all of that time.

Now you are being silly. English is the official language in the US, and is
the only language of record. That says it all.

There is no official language in the US. Anyone who says that there is is
ignorant of American history, American law, and American values.

Saints preserve us from becoming like the French, arguing endlessly about
whether every word is sufficiently pure enough to be used in both daily and
official discourse.

Now then, I know of places, I have been to places, where they speak English,
have for generations, and you would barely understand a word they say.
English is now the dominant language of the world. There are more people who
speak English as a second language than those who learned it as their primary
language. But that English has many forms. There is no international or even
national body that can decide what is 'proper' English.

If you want to make English an official language, you then have to decide
which English is the official form. And then you get into arguing about
whether words like "turkey" are English or not. Some knothead will decide
that you cannot eat "beef" because that is French; you have to eat "cow." You
cannot drive an "auto" because that is German. And "cars" are too French. So
they will make up some purely English word. You allow some board of academics
to decide that their politically correct version of English is preferable to
the sexist, racist, patriarchal, oppressive, obnoxious English that you
speak. And there will be endless litigation over whether some contract was
actually written in English. Do you want that? Because I can guarantee you,
all those countries that do have an official language have those things.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

In article ,
"Morgans" wrote:

"Hamish Reid" wrote

None of that really answers the question: in what sense is Spanish a
foreign language in the US? As several people have pointed out, it
predates English in these parts by a long way, and has been spoken
continuously 'round here by immigrants and native-born citizens alike
for all of that time.

Now you are being silly. English is the official language in the US, and is
the only language of record. That says it all.

Now, it those who refuse to speak it want to sit back in the corner and be
quiet, fine with me.

So, once again, what makes Spanish a "foreign language" in the US? I'm
guessing that for you the phrase "foreign language" means something like
"non-official language", or "non-dominant language", or "language I
don't speak", or "language some foreigners use", rather than what the
phrase might mean to many of the rest of us, something like "a language
not spoken by the indigenous peoples of a certain area" (to steal a
definition from somewhere else)?

Your definition is, almost by definition, a little odd don't you think?

Hamish (for whom American English is definitely foreign :-))

Hamish (for whom American English is definitely foreign :-))

So, let me get this straight:

You're saying that Spanish is *not* a foreign language in the United
States, simply because a large portion of people here are originally
from Spanish-speaking countries?

By that definition, German is not a foreign language in Iowa and
Wisconsin. Neither is Italian. Or Irish.

Or have you come up with some intellectually gymnastic limitation on
your theory, like "it's only not a foreign language if the speakers
have not been here more than 'x' generations..."?

Honestly, you guys are hilarious!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Feb 14, 10:46 am, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
Hamish (for whom American English is definitely foreign :-))

So, let me get this straight:

You're saying that Spanish is *not* a foreign language in the United
States, simply because a large portion of people here are originally
from Spanish-speaking countries?

By that definition, German is not a foreign language in Iowa and
Wisconsin. Neither is Italian. Or Irish.

Or have you come up with some intellectually gymnastic limitation on
your theory, like "it's only not a foreign language if the speakers
have not been here more than 'x' generations..."?

Honestly, you guys are hilarious!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

and russian is still a foreign language in parts of NYC, Philly,
Chicago, etc. (you may get more done in brooklyn speaking russian than
english, but nobody is trying to have everything in russian...)