Iowa Aviation Weather...en Espanol

This thread is about foreign language weather websites being paid for
with US taxpayer dollars. [...]

You can rant all you want about Spanish not being a foreign language
in America, but you will be both irrelevant and wrong.

Uhhh... no. The website was in =Spanish=, so it is relevant whether it
is a foreign language or not. And the word "foreign" doesn't mean
"foreign to Jay". Spanish is not foreign to the United States.

So, such a rant would be is relevant, and right. Not irrelevant and wrong.

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.

Jose
--
Humans are pack animals. Above all things, they have a deep need to
follow something, be it a leader, a creed, or a mob. Whosoever fully
understands this holds the world in his hands.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Uhhh... no. The website was in =Spanish=, so it is relevant whether it
is a foreign language or not. And the word "foreign" doesn't mean
"foreign to Jay". Spanish is not foreign to the United States.

So, such a rant would be is relevant, and right. Not irrelevant and wrong.

Um, sorry to burst your bubble, Jose, but Spanish is a foreign
language in the United States. Just because an ever-growing segment
of the population speaks it does not make it anything but foreign.

My German ancestors onces dominated the upper midwest, especially
Wisconsin. In Milwaukee, it was completely normal to hear only German
spoken, everywhere. (In fact, I have nieces and nephews currently
attending German-language-only school in Milwaukee.)

That never changed the fact that German was (and still is) a foreign
language in America, and my ancestors learned the native tongue --
English -- as rapidly as possible.

And the US government certainly didn't squander tax money translating
everything into German for them.

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.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

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.

and my ancestors learned the native tongue --
English -- as rapidly as possible...

Make me laugh. English is most assuredly =not= the native tongue of
this country.

I don't care how much it costs -- *ANY* amount is absurd.

.... and how do you decide the validity of that argument? After all, it
can be applied to GA too. "Any amount of taxpayer dollars in support of
pleasure flying is absurd."

Jose
--
Humans are pack animals. Above all things, they have a deep need to
follow something, be it a leader, a creed, or a mob. Whosoever fully
understands this holds the world in his hands.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"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.

Foreign: Of, characteristic of, or from a place or country other than the
one being considered.

Since neither English nor Spanish originated in the US, both could
technically be called foreign. That said, since 82% of the US population
speak English, you could argue that English is "characteristic of" the USA,
and therefore, not foreign. However, since only 12% of the population speak
Spanish you couldn't really say that it is "characteristic of" the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languag..._United_States

BDS

BDS wrote:

Since neither English nor Spanish originated in the US, both could
technically be called foreign. That said, since 82% of the US population
speak English, you could argue that English is "characteristic of" the USA,
and therefore, not foreign. However, since only 12% of the population speak
Spanish you couldn't really say that it is "characteristic of" the US.


There you go again... trying to inject logic into a political discussion.

Jose writes:

... and how do you decide the validity of that argument? After all, it
can be applied to GA too. "Any amount of taxpayer dollars in support of
pleasure flying is absurd."

That time will probably come. Unfortunately, the same logic does not seem to
be applied to support of foreign languages for people too stupid to learn
English.

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

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

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

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.

If the government supports Spanish translations, then everyone else will want their favorite language provided. Where do you draw the line?

Dunno. Depends how much it costs. Google seems to do well translating
nearly everything, and totally for free.

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.

That statement belies your lack of understanding of what English is. It
is not a language driven by authority, such as Spanish or French. Words
mean what people mean them to mean. It is quite evident in context what
each of us is saying.

What's your definition of a foreign language? (I don't need any
authoritative references).

Jose
--
Humans are pack animals. Above all things, they have a deep need to
follow something, be it a leader, a creed, or a mob. Whosoever fully
understands this holds the world in his hands.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.