English-Only Workplace Policies Trigger Lawsuits

[MikeC]

.

The only reason we might have a latin speaking majority is because the bastads think they can walk in our country and take advantage of the bleeding heart idiots. Immigration has always been restricted and it should be. The illegals need kicked out. I am also all for changing the law so a child of an illegal immigrant born in the US does not gain automatic citizenship either. Legal immigration is great. Illegal immigration is the opposite of great, terrible actually. I work in the roofing industry. We employ a lot of immigrants and I have worked with many. They are almost always great people and fun to work with. However if they are illegal then they need to go back and go through the system to immigrate.

Ahh...knock me over with a feather.

[qiphlow]

if one is moving to another country (legally or illegally), then i believe that one ought to make an effort to learn to speak the commom language(s) of that country. i do not believe that one should feel entitled to have services provided to them in their native language if that language differs from the one commonly spoken in one's country of residence.

[Dmitri]

freedom is for everyone, not just english speaking peoples.

So what about everyone else whose native language isn't English or Spanish? How many options do you expect to hear when you call some business, a few thousand? (There are about 7 thousand spoken languages in the world.) Listed alphabetically, so that nobody's offended, right? So, let's see...

"For Abanyom, press 1"
"For Abaza, press 2"
"For Abenaki, press 3"
"For Abkhaz or Abkhazian, press 4"
"For Abujmaria, press 5"
....
"For English, press 2714"

Majority here speaks English, it has been historically so for long enough, so common sense suggests it should be the official language. There are plenty of immigrants in a lot of countries, and they (countries) are just as "free", and yet the vast majority of countries has one official language, not two or more.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

ok, so, why not have a multilingual country.

Official languages are ok, but the states should have at least 3.

[Dmitri]

There's got to be one common language, otherwise we'll have Babylon on our hands.

[Walter Joyce]

ok, so, why not have a multilingual country.

Official languages are ok, but the states should have at least 3.

And what would those three be?

English and Spanish seem to be on your list,but what is the third?

I think we should have no official language. We've gotten by for over 200 years without one.

I also think that unless you have a legitimate business justification to require that your employees speak English, you'll have a hard time surviving a legal challenge to an English only policy.

I think that learning to speak English is a good first step at assimilation, but I don't think you can or should prohibit a person from earning a living while they are learning the language.

Honestly, I have enough serious issues in my own life that I'm not going to worry about things like this too much.

Let's not forget that we are a nation of immigrants.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

chinese

[Darth Rock&Roll]

...or ebonic, whoever lobbies hardest for the win.

[qiphlow]

esperanto!

[Mike Strong]

Every individual has the right to speak whatever language they want to, ...

... every business owner has a right to say, " English Only - when you are working in my shop ".


When I graduated from Culinary School I was turned down for many bread baking jobs, because I did not speak Spanish, - and I was cool with that.

But I think it is time for an officail language in the U.S. - it's just common sense.

In daily life I use vocabulary that I was using in the 4th grade, and am greeted by, " whaz dat mean"?

Mexican mothers have been up in arms about bi-lingual eduacation, saying, " teach our kids ENGLISH - they already speak Mexican".

English Immersion for immagrant children ! Let them learn the tounge of the old country on thier own time.

Look at the way the Chinese approach the whole thing, - that's the way to do it !

I plan on putting Mandarin on the back burner, and learning Spanish ...

... I'll probably spell better in Spanish than I do in English!

Last night I had to make flash cards for a new poker dealer I'm training, because I couldn't get him to call out for, "player's checks on table 4", or "Fill on table 4"...

... it gets loud and busy in the poker room , and we all need to be on the same sheet of music.

We hired 10 new dealers for The WSOP, and will only keep 3 when it is over, ...

... I hope this kid makes it, - I like him, and he is good in the box, but if he doesn't make the cut, it will be because he can't communicate in English when he is under presure.


just my $.02

I

[Darth Rock&Roll]

esperanto!

strictly for eggheads I believe.

[Steve James]

Imo, the people who are in power, not the nationality, determine the language. Yeah, I agree; when in Rome, you should speak Italian, even if you're just visiting. But, everyone knows that Americans travel a lot but most rarely learn to speak Italian, and the same goes for Spain or Mexico. That is; unless it comes to getting a job: Americans always learn the language of the country where they need to work.

The "English only" debate in the US is different, though. There's not a national language because the "nation" of today was a multi-cultural, multi-lingual place for thousands of years before any European languages were ever spoken here, and it was almost 300 years before the Founding Fathers in 1789 decided that the 13 United States did not have an official language. There's no way to be a strict Constitutional constructionist "and" argue for an official language.

I think everyone agrees that immigrants should learn to speak English. But, that's often wishful thinking because the English-speakers who employ immigrants --especially illegal ones-- do not require them to speak English. Now, I think it'd be perfectly ok to require a waiter in a French restaurant to speak French. And, it'd be equally ok to require a waiter at McDonald's Times Square to speak English. However, if we started a poll, how many of us could say that the guy/gal who checks out at the grocery, parks cars, washes dishes, mows lawns, minds the baby while the parents work, etc., etc., all speak English.

However, I don't buy the argument that, since English is the de facto official language, it should be made official. Why? If there's a business where the owner doesn't speak your language, go somewhere else. Isn't this desire for an official language just another form of government interference?

I don't think that there's a good Tower of Babel argument for requiring a single language. England has a single language, but not everyone can speak or understand all the varieties on the island and its possessions. Cockney is just as English as Jamaican creole, and vice versa. India and Switzerland are even better examples.

India (the nation) is comprised of speakers of several major languages. However, they have is an "official" language for law and government: English. The one language allows the nation to communicate, yes. However, it is not a case of the Hindi speakers imposing their language on the speakers of Urdu because they have a majority. And, the official language is primarily a written one. As in Great Britain, there is a (relative) standard for "writing" English --that has little to do with whether everyone understands the way people "speak."

Switzerland, otoh, has 4 "official" languages. But, if you really want to get ahead, you need to speak Swiss German. Yet, in the Italian region, lots of people do not speak French, and vice versa with the German part. Ironically, almost no one speaks the "national" Swiss language of Romansch --but, it's still one of the official languages.

Making a language official seems unnecessary; and just because someone sues --as in this case-- doesn't mean that they'll win. Then again, I'm not sure I can agree that an employer can require that an employee "not" speak a language other than English, or firing him/her for doing so. It might depend on the job, though.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

also, the fault of the tower of babel argument is that it started with one language! then because we were finally capable of making an attempt at foiling god, he broke our tower and made us all speak different languages!

so, tower of babel argument supports many languages ultimately and is not against.

mmmmm sweet bible logic. lol

[DeusTrismegistus]

I think everyone agrees that immigrants should learn to speak English. But, that's often wishful thinking because the English-speakers who employ immigrants --especially illegal ones-- do not require them to speak English. Now, I think it'd be perfectly ok to require a waiter in a French restaurant to speak French. And, it'd be equally ok to require a waiter at McDonald's Times Square to speak English. However, if we started a poll, how many of us could say that the guy/gal who checks out at the grocery, parks cars, washes dishes, mows lawns, minds the baby while the parents work, etc., etc., all speak English.

However, I don't buy the argument that, since English is the de facto official language, it should be made official. Why? If there's a business where the owner doesn't speak your language, go somewhere else. Isn't this desire for an official language just another form of government interference?

I don't think that there's a good Tower of Babel argument for requiring a single language. England has a single language, but not everyone can speak or understand all the varieties on the island and its possessions. Cockney is just as English as Jamaican creole, and vice versa. India and Switzerland are even better examples.

India (the nation) is comprised of speakers of several major languages. However, they have is an "official" language for law and government: English. The one language allows the nation to communicate, yes. However, it is not a case of the Hindi speakers imposing their language on the speakers of Urdu because they have a majority. And, the official language is primarily a written one. As in Great Britain, there is a (relative) standard for "writing" English --that has little to do with whether everyone understands the way people "speak."

Switzerland, otoh, has 4 "official" languages. But, if you really want to get ahead, you need to speak Swiss German. Yet, in the Italian region, lots of people do not speak French, and vice versa with the German part. Ironically, almost no one speaks the "national" Swiss language of Romansch --but, it's still one of the official languages.

Making a language official seems unnecessary; and just because someone sues --as in this case-- doesn't mean that they'll win. Then again, I'm not sure I can agree that an employer can require that an employee "not" speak a language other than English, or firing him/her for doing so. It might depend on the job, though.

My problem isn't with making something official. My problem is with people coming into another country and expecting the country to bend over and make everything fit their idea of what it should be. People have gained this habit of assuming they have a right to everything. Drivers liscense for example. It is a priviledge. It can be taken away and given out at will by the government. Now people are suing because they can't read english and say its descrimantory. I say boo f-ing hoo learn to interact in the country you live in. If you can't make an effort to learn the language of the country you are in then you obviously don't want to be here that badly so get back out. This especially pisses me off when its people bending over to make life easier for illegals.

[Darthwing Teorist]

My problem isn't with making something official. My problem is with people coming into another country and expecting the country to bend over and make everything fit their idea of what it should be. People have gained this habit of assuming they have a right to everything. Drivers liscense for example. It is a priviledge. It can be taken away and given out at will by the government. Now people are suing because they can't read english and say its descrimantory. I say boo f-ing hoo learn to interact in the country you live in. If you can't make an effort to learn the language of the country you are in then you obviously don't want to be here that badly so get back out. This especially pisses me off when its people bending over to make life easier for illegals.

This is part of how society evolves.