Ejumacation
I am a frequent viewer of FOX News, and by frequent I mean that I like it as background noise in my house. When I converse with other “educated” folks and base conversation off of what I heard on FOX, I sometimes get goffed at as those people claim that FOX has no factual basis and is just there to defy the left wing media (to which I say Huzzah!). I have tried to open my horizons by reading more news sites (albeit right wing) and was wondering where many of my readers went for their daily inputs. Just for notes sake, I visit townhall.com, newsmax, foxnews and cnn daily. Just a random thought.
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Oh yeah, and my thought of the week has been that in High School we learned a foreign language to graduate. So why is it that my foreign language is gradually becoming the national expectation? My biggoted view now is that by Americans learning to speak spanish we are actually appeasing the imiigration problem.  I have been in many conversations of the past week involving the immigration issues and I am sure I am seen as a bit of a biggot now. So am I biggoted or just patriotic. I am sure I will have future conversations at my work place so this conversation will continue.
January 19th, 2006 at 9:44 am
A bigot for not wanting to learn and become proficient in a language not our own… hell no. Granted most citizens of European nations can speak multiple languages, but they also begin learning them at a much younger age. I hardly think anyone could become experts at French or Spanish after two years of high school classes. Immigrants come to our country typically for a better lifestyle, well then make them work for that better lifestyle. They should really have to face more than just hopping a fence or swimming across a river.
January 19th, 2006 at 10:31 am
Well, I don’t know if the European reference applies. With several European countries smaller than some US States (!) they need to know several languages because the people the meet everyday might be from up to as many as four other countries. Europe is famous for their open market areas. Image going to four different shops in the US and one speaks Spanish, one Chinese, one French, and one Russian. Of course they pick up the languages faster because it is part of their daily routine.
BTW - I get my news from Yahoo and the various Routers feeds, most notably Odd News.
January 19th, 2006 at 10:32 am
And speaking of Ejumacation, I mean Reuters not Routers!!!
January 19th, 2006 at 10:56 am
you one ejumacated boy…..I guess it’s that Pennsylvania Mountain Education coming out! LOL/JK
January 19th, 2006 at 11:42 am
I agree with both Michael and Andy. If I go to Mexico, Spain, Italy, etc and can’t manage because I speak English and they don’t, well tough crap Wha. If they come to the US and can’t speak English, tough crap for them. Fortunately, as Andy mentioned, they speak many languages, including English, because of the close geographic proximity, open markets, daily exposure, and education at an earlier age. However, I feel the education has little to do with it. For those of us with younger siblings like myself, they have been exposed to foreign language, especially Spanish, since elementary school. $5 says my oldest sister couldn’t do more than eat and cloth herself in Mexico or Spain, and that’s if she’s lucky. I could pull that off with just a couple years worth in HS myself. Immersion, as Orange knows, is the best way to learn. Another great point Andy makes is the proximity to other languages. They look at language more like we look at dialect. It took some of you a while to pick up on Appalachain American when meeting me, and the northeast accent and speed of talk, and phrases still get me on some words you guys shoot around. This is applicable in another geographically large country, China, where dialects of a base language vary tremendously and knowing “Chinese” may or may not help you.
January 19th, 2006 at 2:47 pm
I’m a big fan of being multi-langual (I’m not multi-langual unfortunately) not for the sake of others so much as for my sake. That might be for future business interactions or picking up a hooker in Argentina — well I guess that’s a business interaction too.
One thing to remember is that until WWI, German was very prevalent in parts of the country. That pair of huge, national wars gave everyone incentive to speak English and appear more American. Short of that kind of major conflict, things will probably continue to devolve.
For hispanics coming here without knowing English, well I hope they learn English and we shouldn’t cater too much to their way of life — being “American” should be of much greater importance than to be black, hispanic, asian, etc., etc. Keeping English as the main language will be helped greatly by teaching all children primarily in English.
January 19th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
I guess maybe the problem lies within the fact that the official language of The United States Of America is not English. What you make ask? What you may demand! It’s true! English is not the official language of the USA. In fact, the US does not have an official language. It may be in part that early settlers didn’t want to force a national language on the country and therefore alienate anyone who doesn’t speak it. I’m not really sure and hopefully someone here can enlighten me. The point is, the reason why you can buy a can opener and the instruction manual is 90 pages long is because there are 180 different languages in it, is not just because they probably ship that can opener all over the world but probably more to do with the fact that by selling their product in the US, they need to cover everyone who lives here. I was reading in news a short while back that the adult illiteracy rate is the highest it has been in a long time. The study was done by giving a sampling of adult Americans a simple set of directions. They then tested the sample do a basic comprehension test. The point was if there was a state of emergency, they could hand out an English emergency manual and people could follow it. I forget what percent exactly (but it was large) could not follow the simple directions given to them in English. This may (or may not) shock you but it shocked me. What shocked me even more wasn’t the fact that most of them couldn’t read, it was that they couldn’t read English!
So what can we do about it? I don’t know but one popular suggestion is that since the majority of people speak English, why don’t we make the official language English? In my own opinion I do not believe this is a good idea since, say the population of the nation shifts and the majority of the US now speaks Spanish(as some experts believe will happen in like 15-20 years)? All they would need is a majority vote and the national language could be then changed to Spanish and Lord knows I cannot learn another language!! I say, leave the US with no official language and teach kids English in schools and offer ESL classes for adults. And it’s not just Hispanics and Spanish! I don’t mean to discriminate and I am not a racist or anything. Certainly Brad and I know just because our mothers both taught/teach at WWP and since Andy I, Brad, and Doug all went there too that many people (and many of our friend’s parents) spoke only Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Korean, etc. I always thought it was kind of sad when I worked at Best Buy and I asked a family a question and the eight-year-old had to translate for the rest of the family. Anyways – I’m sorry for the rambling. I’ll stop before my post eats the rest of Brad’s blog.
January 19th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
No no, that’s the point of blogs, get the conversations rolling. That and not polluting email boxes with ramblings! Continue on! I will post later when I have a free chance.
January 20th, 2006 at 8:46 am
1. I just want to point out that Agent is one of the few lazy Americans that can actually converse in Spanish.
2. I don’t think you’re a biggot. I think you’re a good guy, and if you have a problem with that why don’t you go f@ck your sister in the eye.
3. I try to get a good mix of liberal/conservative media so I can attempt to read between the lines for the truth.
January 20th, 2006 at 10:14 am
Wow this was a hot-button. Sorry it took me so long to get in on the action - broadband is down, so I’m on dialup still.
Anywho: Brad - yes, you have been migrating right over the last few years. It’s easy for me to see, because I was watching from afar. Doesn’t make you a bad person in anyway, but your views have defintely started to follow the “Churchillian path” a little early, unlike Doug, who at 3 called Winston a commie pig and signed up with the NRA (jk). As to news, I am with Mr. Funk. I watch the local news (out of DC - mostly middle to slightly left on TV), read the local paper (doesn’t get any red’er) and peruse multiple places online.
Now on to immigration. We learn languages in school to add “culture value” to our lives, to make us more marketable to colleges, or simply because our parents said so. It is indeed very useful to learn a language that is spoken in more then one place, and I have gotten extensive use out of my spanish in my world travels - work and pleasure alike. But while my co-name has pointed out that the US has refused to name an official language, it is clear that the defacto languag is and always will be English, even if it isn’t proper english. Immigration involves both introducing the “founded members” of the society you are joining to your cultures and ideas, while at the same time embracing the cultures and ideas of your new home. Part of that is indeed language. It is PERFECTLY ok to speak whatever language your heart desires at home or with your family (Esperanto anyone?). Keeping your heritage should never be a something to be used against you. That said, OUTSIDE of the home, the expectation is that you will at a minimum learn the language of the masses, which in our case is English. Sure, there may be instances where you can find neighborhoods that are comprised of people like you, and they add a sense of comfort when you are new to an area. It is still incumbant on the immigrant to learn the local langages to conduct trade, as well as learn the local customs so as not to offend in certain situations.
The largest problem we have in America and immigration has very little to do with people coming in, at least directly. The issue is not a new one, and it certainly won’t go away: Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt. Look at our history - it is FULL of bigotry and violence towards those who were coming off the boat. And for what? Because “Dey’re takin r jobs!”? It’s protectionism, plain and simple, and goes against everything we our country was founded on. Yes, there must be limits - we can’t fling the doors wide open, and yes, those limits mean that some will get through “illegally”. It happens.
So we are left with 3 scenarios.
1) Close the doors and become isolationist. I can’t think of any good things that would bring that wouldn’t be outweighed by the bad.
2) Fling open the doors and take them all in. See above.
3) Take some in, and really make progress in combatting the reasons why they are leaving their own home. We pay a lot of lip service to “helping or friends grow” and such so that in turn, their citizens stop leaving. And then we complain when companies move jobs overseas to employ people in their backyards, and at the same time keeping prices low enough for the majority of our population to benefit. I’m not saying outsourcing is the answer, I am merely pointing out that we are awfully two-faced.
So it’s time to decide: Do you want them employed there, or here?
Now: Brad - I have been approached by a competitor of yours in NC. What do you really think of the Turkey bidness? Honesty would be helpful. Shoot me an email at my gmail account…
January 20th, 2006 at 10:58 am
1. There’s one “g” in “bigot”.
2. My wife went to a Dallas school whose population was somewhere between 60-70% illegal immigrants. Said illegal immigrants were known to boo the National Anthem at school assemblies and raise a ruckus unless the Mexican Anthem was played.
I have zero respect for that kind of behavior. You come here, you come here legally, you obey our laws and you learn our freakin’ language.
January 20th, 2006 at 11:58 am
1. Doug is absolutely right. There is only one “g” in “bigot.” There are however, two “i”s in “Idiot,” but no “i” in “Team.” Of course, there is an “M” and an “e.”
2. I love “Queso” dip. I really do. And you can’t just make the stuff at home. You gotta go to the restaurant. Man, they bring out that burrito so fast, too. Speedy little b@tards. Gotta love’m.
January 20th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
That’s it. I’m eatin mexican tonight, getting p!ss drunk on Margarittas, and pulling a ‘dirty sanchez’! Funk out!!
January 20th, 2006 at 2:22 pm
Sweet, the second dirty sanchez comment by a different person in my immediate realm of friends this week. In a medium open for all to read, even better. Let’s stock the Rio Grande with pirrannah and see waht happens. I’ld pay for a ticket and pair of night goggles.
January 20th, 2006 at 5:43 pm
I am not against immigration, just the illegal kind. Maybe I wasn’t clear.
January 24th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
blah blah blah blah … why am I even here