English Only in Metro Gov't?

[The Tot Pack]

A councilman in Nashville wants to make the Davidson County Government English only.

Funny, how we are suppose to be one of the most progressive cities in the south, yet we have nut cases like this guy declaring everyone that deals with Metro Goverment speak English only.

First, Metro Schools would lose money. Why? For the purpose that the Federal Gov't demands that Schools speak to the student's parents in a way that they will understand. Plus, it wouldn't be fair..for someone new to America that just became naturalized to have to automatically understand English.

Would it be fair if you moved to France (for whatever reason, better jobs, better education) and the French Government Demanded you speak FRENCH?!

Its funny how you turn the tables and ideas change.

But I wanna know what the fine people of Urban Planet say about this.

[cheeriokid61]

Well, I believe that if you move to the US, you do need to learn English. And yes, it would definately be fair for me to speak FRENCH if I lived in FRANCE. However, it is understandable if you do not speak English when you move here, so we do need Spanish speaking people in the government, so that we can communicate with these people. So basically, I think we should keep English as the only official language, but we definately shouldn't ignore these other languages.

[rocky top buzz]

yeah.. sorry.. but if I live in France, I bet I'm going to need to learn french.

I think this bill is spot on accurate. It is not saying that emergency services can't be provided in popular foreign languages, but it's saying that if you do business with Metro, you have to learn english. You are REQUIRED to learn english to become a citizen, so why is this a problem here?

And as far as studnents, aren't students who don't speak english already required to take ESL classes and learn english?

I don't think anyone is saying that you have to speak perfect english n day 1, but we certainly should require those who say they want to be Americans to speak the American language. And why would these immigrants who want citizenship want to NOT learn our native language? are they just mean-spirited and divisive?

If I move to france and want to become french, I'll learn french. Nobody's turning the tables.

[rocky top buzz]

Here's something else to consider: Why is it that only mexican immigrants refuse to learn english? I mean think about it, we have a large kurdish population around here, and every single kurd i know can communicate in english. We have Asian's, Middle Eastern's, and Europeans who all learn the english language if they live here for any period of time. Even the Cubans in Miami typically can speak English.

Why are we making exceptions for one group? Didn't we fight WWII so we wouldn't have to speak Italian, German, and Japanese? Have we just decided that spanish is ok?

[fieldmarshaldj]

Would it be fair if you moved to France (for whatever reason, better jobs, better education) and the French Government Demanded you speak FRENCH?!

Um, yes. Any nation has the right to demand its citizenry adhere to certain basic requirements, language being one.

Also, I wouldn't call Eric Crafton a "nut." But this issue isn't exactly addressing the illegal situation, separate and apart from the assimilation issue, which is also of paramount importance. I'd rather see local/state/federal legislation calling for extremely stiff penalties for EMPLOYERS who utilize illegal labor. That'll go a long way into solving the problem.

[eusebius]

Why this legislation? Are there problems in Metro Gov't with folks misunderstanding eachother due to speaking different languages? I don't have a problem with English being the official language, but I guess I dont understand the need for it. (Why not make cotton the official fabric? "Bailiff, please escort the polyester-clad man out of the courtroom").

[smeagolsfree]

Looking at the Tennessean poll, the support for this runs very deep. The percent was in the upper 80s in support.

I for one welcome this and would not mind seeing everything conducted in English. When immigrants first came to this country they had to learn English out of necessity. I dont think this nation should have to cater to any one group of immigrants or what this is really aimed at, the illegals in this country. If you try to immigrate to other countries around the globe, you will find there are a lot of restrictions in place. We need them here as well.

If you want a job, speak English.

[rocky top buzz]

eusebius, have you had your head in the ground for the past 2 decades? of course there is a need for every American to speak english. There are 2 sides to this:

If you are a mexican immigrant who doesn't speak english, you are pretty much limited to jobs in fast food, construction, or landscaping (this is how Hilary Clinton would prefer things stay). If you learn english, the sky is the limit! I don't know of any medical or law schools in this country that are tought in spanish.

If you are an American, how do assimilate with a neighbor who speaks a foreign language? How do you conduct business with them? Answer: you don't! This forces segregation between English speakers and Spanish speakers. Wasn't the civil rights movement 40 years ago, and now people who cross into this country illegally want to go back in time?

[The Tot Pack]

Civil Rights?! Civil Rights leaders wouldn't DEMAND people to speak English.. thats absurd and stupid.

And I love how you say that Hiliary would LOVE to see immigrants work in low paying jobs...

because i'm sure that Bush doesn't want every Hispanic in Texas to work on one of his farms...

pfft..

[eusebius]

right on...i agree with all your points. Perhaps I was mistaken regarding the nature of the legislation. I didn't think it had anything to do with how I talk to my neighbors or if i could exepct Biology 101 to be offered in another language. So, as far as that goes, i'm with ya.

I'm curious about your rheoritcal question, though: ("If you are an American, how do assimilate with a neighbor who speaks a foreign language? How do you conduct business with them? Answer: You don't"). The first part (neighbor), requires some work--a lot of it, but it's possible. But why the need for assimilation? I think co-operation and civility would do. The second part (business) - if govt bucks are involved, all parties ought to play by house rules -- English or no dice. Otherwise, let the free market play out -- innovation, resilience, acumen win that one.

[fieldmarshaldj]

...because i'm sure that Bush doesn't want every Hispanic in Texas to work on one of his farms...

pfft..

Guess that's why a Hispanic is the U.S. Attorney-General, huh ?

[rocky top buzz]

Yeah, it's funny that Bush has MORE hispanic, black, and minority cabinet members than any president prior to him, and yet people call Bill Clinton the 1st black president?

On March 8th, Former President Hilary Clinton went on a tirade about how we need illegal immigrants to help clean our houses, make our beds, landscape, etc... She wants them kept down on the low end of life. Statistics prove that the more money you make, the more conservative you vote. Not good for the dems.

And... MLK had a dream that one day all people would be created equal... How can we be equal if we can't even communicate?

[The Tot Pack]

i'm letting you communicate. i was sharing my view.

but at the same time i'm loud. i apologize for that.

my political views differ from everyone elses i guess, which is perfectly fine.

i just think its ridiculous for us to HAVE TO MAKE IT A LAW for everyone in metro gov't to speak english.

why make it mandatory? its kinda ricdiculous to me.

i love the clintons by the way. so yeah.

they did more than bush has ever done for our society, and culture.

thank you good night

[samsonh]

I am not quite sure what this will do? Can someone tell me exactly what this bill is proposing to do?

[fieldmarshaldj]

I am not quite sure what this will do? Can someone tell me exactly what this bill is proposing to do?

From what I can tell, the bill got so watered down, it seems to be little more than symbolic. That would make it less than useless, for what it was intending to accomplish in the first place. I was so bored reading beyond the headline on the Tennessean a few days ago, I never saw what it had been reduced to.

[The Tot Pack]

yeah i agree.. its probably just for symbolism now.. nothing more.

which is ridiculous.

but whatev.

i guess everyone has to choose there devil.

mine is clinton

yours is bush.

no need to take the political arguement any further.

[samsonh]

Yeah I thought I saw the "legislation" had been reduced from making English mandatory in Metro to preferred but I may be wrong.

I guess they wanted all communications with Metro(like if you are getting you license?) to be done in only English. But what if someone does not know English? You simply ignore them and tell them to come back and get a license when they speak English? Seems kinda stupid and symbolic more than anything.

If we do mandate English, the government will have to provide English classes, which will cost money. Interestingly, most Hispanics I have met have either known English, or were trying to learn. They want to assimilate, but learning a new language is difficult once you leave childhood. Thats why I believe we should start foreign language classes in Elementary school rather than waiting til high school.

Also what is cool about Europe in general is that if you do not know their language its ok, because the majority of Europeans know English.

[fieldmarshaldj]

If we do mandate English, the government will have to provide English classes, which will cost money.

That's not a bad idea. I'm sure that would be rather cost-effective, actually.

[The Tot Pack]

I agree. Its shown (i know i read this somewhere) that learning at a younger age is more effective and the student learns the subject quicker and faster (a sponge?!)

[fieldmarshaldj]

I agree. Its shown (i know i read this somewhere) that learning at a younger age is more effective and the student learns the subject quicker and faster (a sponge?!)

Yes, this is quite correct. I absolutely favor giving youngsters a full-immersion in foreign language(s), with Spanish being at the top of the list (funny that's the one language I never took, and I took Latin, French, and German -- but I didn't take them until I was a teen, and it was difficult and soon forgotten). Back in the '70s on public television, they used to have a program I remember called "Villa Allegre", which was supposed to help Spanish-speaking children to learn English. It's funny that the one thing I remembered best of all was learning numbers from this program and I knew the set in Espanol BEFORE I entered Kindergarten.

Although I think with regards to teaching English (the subject at hand), the classes would generally be geared more towards adult immigrants.

[BnaBreaker]

Somebody has YET to explain what the positives of this bill are. Is its only purpose to remind all those galldang furners that THIS IS AMURRKA!? This is absolutely pointless legislation in my opinion.

There is little to no evidence that i've ever seen that people AREN'T learning English when they come here. You can't expect people to learn English before they come here. Many of the immigrants, particularly from Latin America and Africa are pretty poor and probably wouldn't be able to afford years upon years of English classes. What is wrong with giving them the option of communicating in their mother tongue here while they become more confident with their English?