Dana, Try this...
I have a neighbor, he seems like a nice guy with a nice family.. but I don't know.. because he doesn't speak a word of English I'd like to tell him he has a nice garden.... But I can't because he doesn't speak a word of English I'd like to tell him that the air in his tires is low.... But I can't because he doesn't speak a word of English I need to tell him that he needs to keep his dog out of my yard and on a leash, his little boy loves that dog, and I'd hate to see it get hurt in the road or picked up by animal control But I can't because he doesn't speak a word of English... I saw his daughter at the mall, she was with a boy, that didn't look like the kind of boy I'd want my daughter with, if I had one But I can't because he doesn't speak a word of English.... He needs to be aware that his HOA dues are going to go way up, he didn't go to the meeting because he doesn't speak a word of English.... there's a million other things that he should know but no one can tell him because he doesn't speak a word of English and don't tell me it's up to me to learn his language -- Scott Stewart ColdFusion Developer SSTWebworks 7241 Jillspring Ct. Springfield, Va. 22152 (703) 220-2835 http://www.sstwebworks.com -----Original Message----- From: Dana Tierney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 10:58 PM To: CF-Community Subject: Re: English in America in trouble? Gruss, I have not advocated making Spanish an official language so you are completely beside the point. I really don't care much about this either way, but when I see people frothing at the mouth about the enormous cost of not requiring everyone to speak English, my bullshit detector goes off, that's all. Sitting here in the multicultural heart of Nuevo Mexico where we routinely translate official notices into Spanish, Navaho and Vietnamese... I guess I don't see it. I fail to perceive the chaos. There's probably a line item for translators somewhere -- I doubt it amounts to much. I do think that if Quebec is going to insist that French be an official language of Alberta and British Columbia where there are very few French speakers, then English should be an official language of Quebec. But language has a totally different meaning there and the society defines itself as a mosaic. Does the world stop turning? No. Where they have been costs to Canadian biligualism they have primarily been to manufacturers of products who had to redesign all their labels to accomodate both languages, but this has already happened in the US, de facto. I guess I just don't see why people care. If these immigrants chose to limit their options by failing to learn English, the consequences really don't affect anyone else except perhaps tangentially. The waitress at the Mexican restaurant might have to go get someone else if I have a problem with the check. So what? I spent part of the afternoon today doing user support with hand gestures. If the ASL instructor I'm talking to does not understand me -- I don't speak ASL -- we go to writing or typing the conversation out in English. We make it work. This was also my experience when trying to buy film or huevos mexicanas in Mexico. If the people actually tried, a conversation could be had. If they got hung up on how fractured my sentences were, well, I bought lunch elsewhere, pretty much. NPV of attempting to communicate - a sale ;) ::shrug::: >> Dana wrote: >> I don't think it will affect your poor widdle taxes. > >Well, my taxes aren't "widdle" due to the AMT, and of course it would >affect them. > >Tell me the value to the US taxpayer in adding an additional official >language and, if there is value, I'll back you. (Make an NPV >argument; THAT I'd love to hear). > >But you don't have a good argument, there is no value to the taxpayer, >and the cost would be enormous. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Upgrade to Adobe ColdFusion MX7 The most significant release in over 10 years. Upgrade & see new features. http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion?sdid=RVJR Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:233894 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
