Should Immigrants to the USA learn English?

[Pilotto]

Don't the have to take a test in English to be able to come into the US legally?

that would seriously hurt tourism I think

Of course tourists shouldn't have to learn English. That would be ludicrous. I don't think anyone is arguing that.

[Deusaeuri]

I wouldn't move to Sweden without knowing Swedish, or France without knowing French.
Moving to a country without learning the language they speak is just showing you don't care about their culture/lifestyle, and are probably just there for better paying jobs or some other economic reason.

[Ifreann]

I wouldn't move to Sweden without knowing Swedish, or France without knowing French.
Moving to a country without learning the language they speak is just showing you don't care about their culture/lifestyle, and are probably just there for better paying jobs or some other economic reason.

And your host country should be upset that you care more about contributing to their economy than about their culture and way of life?

[SD_Film Artists]

They shouldn't be forced to, but the state should make it worth their time to do so; such as having official documents in English*. When living long-term in France it's natural and respectful to learn French, so it's the same logic with America.

*This could also include Spanish as America has a significant hispanophone population.

Why does everyone keep using France as the example? They're language snobs, hardly something we should emulate.

How about Québec instead ... the majority are Francophone but it's bilingual by policy.

I only mentioned France because I plan to live there in the future. You'd really want to emulate Québec? The province which has a siege-mentality making it insist on using French words where France uses English words?

[Polocatfan]

I think they should since most things here are in English. It's mainly for communication and stuff. They shouldn't be forced to.

[AiliailiA]

Why does everyone keep using France as the example? They're language snobs, hardly something we should emulate.

How about Québec instead ... the majority are Francophone but it's bilingual by policy.

I only mentioned France because I plan to live there in the future. You'd really want to emulate Québec? The province which has a siege-mentality making it insist on using French words where France uses English words?

I retract that. Turns out the official language is French. I though they had a bilingual policy.

You seem thin-skinned enough. You'll do well in France

[AiliailiA]

I wouldn't move to Sweden without knowing Swedish, or France without knowing French.
Moving to a country without learning the language they speak is just showing you don't care about their culture/lifestyle, and are probably just there for better paying jobs or some other economic reason.

Sweden would be one of the easier places to get by with only English. According to my usual source 86% of the population have English. Only slightly behind the Netherlands.

"Just being there for the better paying jobs" isn't such a bad reason. If you can get that job despite the language disadvantage, you're clearly bringing something valuable (your work) to their country.

[SD_Film Artists]

I only mentioned France because I plan to live there in the future. You'd really want to emulate Québec? The province which has a siege-mentality making it insist on using French words where France uses English words?

You seem thin-skinned enough. You'll do well in France

Thanks...I think..

[Ucropi]

I don't have anything real to add to this discussion, but I feel that it's my duty as a decent and intelligent human to post this video every time I read about Americans talking about immigration.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2chIBe2cG7M

[Prairieland]

And your host country should be upset that you care more about contributing to their economy than about their culture and way of life?

Language is more than just a "way of life" issue, it's a tool that facilitates communication and mutual understanding between cultures and classes. Becoming familiar with the language of an immigrant's adoptive country behooves the immigrant as much as it does the nation; how else does the immigrant achieve social mobility but via assimilation into his new culture?

"Se habla español" has become the most damnable phrase in local commerce. Businesses see potential for profit in immigrants afraid of risking discovery of their illegal status (especially in locations like my former hometown of Waukegan, where it's estimated that as much as a quarter of the total population is undocumented), and reliance on businesses willing to conduct "don't-ask-don't-tell" protocol guarantees an unparalleled level of brand & branch loyalty. There's a difference between immigrant communities maintaining their cultural heritage and language within their own communities, and a faceless executive suit perceiving equally faceless exploitable opportunity. Corporate catering to linguistic minorities only serves to devalue the importance of a lingua franca and emboldens demographic hyperheterogeneity.

Sweden would be one of the easier places to get by with only English. According to my usual source 86% of the population have English. Only slightly behind the Netherlands

As a non-native English speaking immigrant to the United States I can't help but at these figures. It's pretty standard to overvalue one's competence in a foreign language, vis-a-vis "I can understand it better than I can speak it"-esque rationales. This is especially true with non-native speakers of English due to the language's global prominence.

Respondent self-evaluation isn't really as flawlessly empirical a source as censuses (censi?) seem to hope they are.

[The Garahianu Clan]

Gadolequa tsalagi, unega unilutsv!

[America Libertaria]

I wouldn't move to Sweden without knowing Swedish, or France without knowing French.
Moving to a country without learning the language they speak is just showing you don't care about their culture/lifestyle, and are probably just there for better paying jobs or some other economic reason.

And your host country should be upset that you care more about contributing to their economy than about their culture and way of life?

Yes, they should. There are many other ways to improve your economy besides immigration. We should protect our culture and our language. The economy comes second to our way of life.

[Prairieland]

Gadolequa tsalagi, unega unilutsv!

Oh, I get it. You're doing like, the thing. The thing where you say white people are illegal immigrants and aboriginals have been "fighting illegal immigration since 1492." I get it.

[Gallup]

TIL only 94% of Americans can speak English.

[The Garahianu Clan]

Gadolequa tsalagi, unega unilutsv!

Oh, I get it. You're doing like, the thing. The thing where you say white people are illegal immigrants and aboriginals have been "fighting illegal immigration since 1492." I get it.

I might've implied...

[America Libertaria]

Gadolequa tsalagi, unega unilutsv!

Oh, I get it. You're doing like, the thing. The thing where you say white people are illegal immigrants and aboriginals have been "fighting illegal immigration since 1492." I get it.

People don't really understand the fact that we conquered this land and that it's ours now. We had the bigger guns, we won. The "Native Americans" no longer have any legitimate claim to land.

[Gallup]

Oh, I get it. You're doing like, the thing. The thing where you say white people are illegal immigrants and aboriginals have been "fighting illegal immigration since 1492." I get it.

People don't really understand the fact that we conquered this land and that it's ours now. We had the bigger guns, we won. The "Native Americans" no longer have any legitimate claim to land.

Amen!

[Keyboard Warriors]

Oh, I get it. You're doing like, the thing. The thing where you say white people are illegal immigrants and aboriginals have been "fighting illegal immigration since 1492." I get it.

People don't really understand the fact that we conquered this land and that it's ours now. We had the bigger guns, we won. The "Native Americans" no longer have any legitimate claim to land.

Does this logic also apply to violent home invasions?

[Prairieland]

People don't really understand the fact that we conquered this land and that it's ours now. We had the bigger guns, we won. The "Native Americans" no longer have any legitimate claim to land.

HuffPost and The Young Turks are going to have a field day when we start raising this rationale once the Reconquista region's Chicano revival movement gets going.

Does this logic also apply to violent home invasions?

Does the home invasion in question pre-date punitive protocol that must be applied in response to violent home invasions and a sovereign entity capable of carrying it out?

Furthermore, if someone unknowingly infected with an airborne-contagious disease infects another person, is the first person still morally and personally responsible for the second person's death?

[America Libertaria]

People don't really understand the fact that we conquered this land and that it's ours now. We had the bigger guns, we won. The "Native Americans" no longer have any legitimate claim to land.

Does this logic also apply to violent home invasions?

Apples and oranges, my friend. Apples and oranges.

[Keyboard Warriors]

Does this logic also apply to violent home invasions?

Apples and oranges, my friend. Apples and oranges.

Why? If I can violently displace somebody from their country and claim it as my own because I have the bigger gun, why can't I do the same with houses?

[America Libertaria]

Apples and oranges, my friend. Apples and oranges.

Why? If I can violently displace somebody from their country and claim it as my own because I have the bigger gun, why can't I do the same with houses?

What country did the Indians have? What borders were drawn and recognized by other nations? The borders you draw are meaningless if no one recognizes you. There was no entity saying this is the Indian's land. We don't call our takeover a war because we were so quick and swift, but technically it was a legitimate invasion. One which we won and then created a new country one which happened to be on the same land Indians once lived on. It's different from a home invasion because a home is private property which is recognized by a government which has the means to enforce the law and protect property rights.

[Eoghania]

What does speaking English have to do with the ability to follow our nation's law?

The ability to understand what the law is, given it's written in English. Plus, in a number of states, English is the de jure language.

Then there's the basic thing of "if you want to live somewhere, learn the language". You wouldn't expect to move to France without learning French.

[Ifreann]

What does speaking English have to do with the ability to follow our nation's law?

The ability to understand what the law is, given it's written in English. Plus, in a number of states, English is the de jure language.

Then there's the basic thing of "if you want to live somewhere, learn the language". You wouldn't expect to move to France without learning French.

Plenty of people can and do live in France without knowing French.

[Norstal]

Don't the have to take a test in English to be able to come into the US legally?

No? Do you need to speak French to enter France as a tourist?