Immigrants should learn English

[Cast No Shadow]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/apr/14/david-cameron-immigrants-learn-english

Ok, whether you're English, British, American, whatever. This is what our PM is proposing in England, and I want to know your opinions.

In a way, I get it. England is England, and I think people should accept our culture when they come here, and learn our language.

I don't want this thread to become offensive, so please respect and enjoy each others opinions, and if you disagree with what someone says, please be polite 😀

 

[BuffyElevated]

Well, it's my personal opinion that if you move to another country, you need to make every effort to learn that country's culture and language. I'm not saying you need to change everything about yourself, or give up who you are, but it makes sense to learn the native language if you're going to be living in a country for longer than a month or so.

 

[Cast No Shadow]

[MENTION=7585]Kean[/MENTION] - completely agree, but I do think immigrants should learn about the native culture if they want to come to the UK.

 

[sisterofmercy]

I think that by learning the language of the land you're living in it just makes life that much easier so it makes sense to really. If I were to move to France and not know French I'd be terrified half of the time.

I don't think it should be necessary though, you can't force someone to learn something like that. As long as they have enough to get by in their job then that's all you can really ask of them to be honest, the rest should be their own choice. I'd hate to live in a country that had such an authoritarian stance, that would put me even more on edge than being in a foreign land and not knowing the lingo.

Aa far as culture goes though I completely disagree. What is the British culture these days anyway? It's a mixture of different cultures which pretty much goes back to when we used to be invaded back in the day. You shouldn't expect people to give up their entire way of doing things when you move to a country. As long as they follow the law then it's up to them.

 

[Kean]

[MENTION=7585]Kean[/MENTION] - completely agree, but I do think immigrants should learn about the native culture if they want to come to the UK.

I agree, even just for your own benefit learning the language in adopted country will make your standard of living easier. If I was to move to a non-English speaking country, learning the language would even be a question. I'd insist on it, for myself.

However, what Cameron said in that speech is teetering dangerously close to xenophobia.

 

[Washburne]

Without having read the article... I will I promise.

Yes, of course immigrants should learn the language of the contry they move to. But then what? How good do they have to get and how fast?

If I don't remember wrong a party in Sweden tried to raise the question some time back saying that to become a swedish citizen you have to pass a language test. Funny thing though, not all politicians passed the test. In the party in question not even some of their top names. Way to go...

 

[VisionGirl]

You know, I really can't speak to the situation in the UK, because the historical situation in the US is so different. Ours is a nation of immigrants, founded by immigrants & the main reason English is the predominant language is due to the influence of British rule not because the majority of people come from British ancestry.

Sure, personally I think people should (& most of the time do)earn the predominant language, but I don't think it should be enforced legally. Actually you cann't enforce that legally although you can insist the government not provide information I'n a person's predominant language. You guys know that I work in Special Education and I consider it unethical (plus it would be illegal under IDEA) to not provide information in a parents' language. Implementing some kind of law to this effect would be difficult & would Conflict with existing laws.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Should an immigrant learn the English language?
If they learn it to the degree of that opening sentence, what good will it do?
The opening sentence is incomplete, it doesn't say anything or propose anything. It merely states that if you move from one of those countries.
If that is a quote on what he said, I'd suggest he learns how to properly form a sentence, that he should learn English.

 

[Zeppo]

Aa far as culture goes though I completely disagree. What is the British culture these days anyway? It's a mixture of different cultures which pretty much goes back to when we used to be invaded back in the day. You shouldn't expect people to give up their entire way of doing things when you move to a country. As long as they follow the law then it's up to them.

Learning about the culture you're living in does not mean giving up your own. Social norms, restuarant (tipping, ordering) etiquette, thank-you's, etc. need to be learned to pay respect to the place you now chose to call home. It's so easy to freely practise your own way of life in many countries within your own home or church, especially in Canada, so there's no reason to not know culture. If you expect the country you immigrate into to respect your culture you must respect the country's culture, otherwise none of those indigenous to the country will want you there. Doesn't mean you're giving up anything.

I think basic language should be known, like manners. As someone who works with people at a dayjob in customer service it gets really frustrating trying to understand what someone is trying to say by pointing or butchering an English word so it's unrecognizable to my ear only to have them growl/laugh at me and litterally having to guess on what they want. Once was a time where I made a $50 mistake and I was the one who was in trouble and I was very thorough with the guests. So sometimes it's not just an annoyance but also costly! It would only benefit everyone and hurt no one if there were more expectations when it came to learning a language of the country one immigrates to.

 

[FetalPig]

just pointing out that that article was written in april - for a while i thought he had said that today. phew!

does it strike anyone else as weird that it's written in the future tense? he will say this .. he will do that ... did they get a copy of the text before he read the speech??

As to the question itself - i think it's a good idea to be able to speak to the people around you.

castnoshadow agrees: would it matter if he'd said it today?

after the riots last week it would be a strange thing to focus on

 

[Cast No Shadow]

As long as they follow the law then it's up to them.

Saying this in a completely neutral way, just as a point of interest, what are your opinions on the Sharia law that has come into play in this country?

 

[sisterofmercy]

Saying this in a completely neutral way, just as a point of interest, what are your opinions on the Sharia law that has come into play in this country?

I don't get the fuss surrounding it to be honest and I've only really heard people kicking up a fuss about it from the Daily Mail. It hasn't really been implemented where I am either so I'm not that well versed in it.

 

[Cast No Shadow]

I don't get the fuss surrounding it to be honest and I've only really heard people kicking up a fuss about it from the Daily Mail. It hasn't really been implemented where I am either so I'm not that well versed in it.

I guess it depends upon where you live, being from West Yorkshire, there is quite a large Muslim population, and Sharia law tends to come up whenever the...I don't know, "general" law comes under scrutiny. It becomes fairly frustrating.

 

[WileyDairyGnome]

I just wish the whole world spoke the same language. Would make things so much easier.

 

[caritas08]

Well in Texas the other main language besides English is Spanish. I think that people who immigrate here from Mexico (or any other nation) will have more options for financial success if they learn English but asking someone to learn another language is a lot, especially when they are older. So, no I don't think it should be required at all. However, most people who immigrate will put forth their best effort to learn English simply by their survival instinct (especially since us Americans are in general so awful at learning foreign languages). I speak enough Spanish to help someone in a medical emergency or traffic accident etc. but I'm still not where I'd like to be.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-5JSX7jk5I"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-5JSX7jk5I[/ame]

The big debate among educators is when to start teaching English to the students who are receiving education in Spanish. For the students who have been here since they were four (or younger) some educators say English should begun to be taught in second grade, others fourth and still others sixth (which in my opinion is too long to wait for a student who has been in the States since they were four).

 

[Skytteflickan88]

I don't know much of the situation in Britain, the politic overall or the politician in question so this might be very unfair to say, but he sounds very much like the leader of a party in sweden who has for the first time in history become one of the parties in goverment (sweden is controlled by one part, but those parties that had enough votes get to sit in government and help make decisions, election every fourth year,). And that party was started by nazis sometimes in the 80s I believe.

They don't call themselves nazis anymore, they can often seem like any other party, but sometimes they say or do something that makes you remember the roots of that organization. Sometimes members of that party say something outrageous and racist, but others in the party can deny they have those opinions, but I wonder...

Anyway, back to this politician. I can't say if he's overreacting or not about the language, since this article doesn't actually mention any specific problems with immigrants not knowing English. It's very vauge. I mean, do they disturb communities more than English speaking citizens who are angry and bitter?

I also can't say if he's overreacting about immigration. Obviously forced marriages are a no no, but where does he draw the line? Will he go as far as taht part I just spoke of?

I have no fear of girls in niquabs, or that Sweden will become more multicultural, but at the same time, opression shouldn't be allowed. But that goes both ways.

 

[arabella]

I think it would be ridiculous for me to move to Guatemala and expect that everyone just cater to my English speaking preference. If I move to a country that speaks another language and have any interest in surviving or thriving then I think I ought to expect to learn the language. I think that international airports in other countries are really the only places that I expect things to be written in multiple languages...otherwise I see no reason for signs to be written in a language other that the official language of that country.

 

[InsaneMystic]

While I don't think it's right to call for "perfect" cultural assimilation (i.e., giving up the home culture completely), I do think that making it mandatory for an immigrant to at least speak the language of the new home well enough to get by on it in everyday life without constant need for an interpreter is a perfectly sensible idea.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I just talked to a military wife today whose husband got orders for Germany. I told her that I heard the Rosetta Stone program for German was really good and she said "Oh, I have no plans to learn their language." I was like "Um, what do you plan on doing, then? Not everyone is going to speak English." She said "I just won't leave the post." WTF, dude.

 

[NY State of Mind]

Well coming from immigrants my parents were here as kids so they had no problems but my grandparents had different successful rates....One side learned English very well even if an accent is present on my grandmother. The other side understood somewhat but never really got it down because from my other grandmother's experience she was treated rudely and made fun of for her speech so she was discouraged to speak English and just decided to speak to her own family/people which doesn't help learning a language any better obviously. Well thats my 2 cents on the subject....