Learn Spanish. And Japanese. And Korean. And French. And Russian.

Does speaking only one language strike anyone else as fundamentally limiting? And kind of embarassing, given how many places throughout history have been multi-lingual?

Actually, that's a myth, which has unfortunately been receiving a lot of airplay recently.

Ain't Snopes great?

Well, if English is gonna be the national language, Bush better start learning it now!

(And surely Iraqis don't consider themselves to be 'brown people'. I don't think they have any kind of solidarity with afro-american, african people and so on...)
Its the growth of the Spanish language they seem to oppose, and Mexicans aren't considered brown are they???
I dunno. Semantics.

The news post makes it seem as if Alberto Gonzalez is espousing things contrary to the Administration's official line. However, I think that in reality the White House is very conflicted on the subject of immigration. Bush has been very strong with latino/a voters up to this point, but the GOP's immigration strategies and bullshit stunts like this are alienating them. But a lack of decisive (anti-)immigration strategy is alienating the party base of middle-aged white conservative men. The GOP is pissed at Bush, so they'd much rather concentrate on immigration than on the fiasco in Iraq. But Bush wants to save his political capital with the latino/a voters, so he's actually trying to concentrate on Iraq so that he doesn't have to pick sides in the immigration debate. Gonzalez was probably saying what he thought was the White House line, and then the Administration backpedaled in order to not take sides.

It's kind of pathetic. You've gotta love anything that can rip the GOP voting block asunder like idiotic douchebaggery like the "National Language" Bill, which indidentally contains no power of actual enforcement for said bill.

Also, America should not have a national language. I've had this debate with my Mom time and again, so I won't get into it here. But it goes against the idea of what this country is.

Aw crap.

[Edited on May 22, 2006 9:39PM]

Fuck that I have enough trouble with one language

Oh right, like what they speak in Manchester is "English."

[Edited on May 22, 2006 by NickFaust]

i'm kind of thinking that maybe, you know, we should try to develop a culture before we go trying to spread it around.

It's a regional dialect but it's still English. You could say the same of Scousers, people from Yorkshire, the West Country, Brummies, cockerneys. When it comes to spelling (colour) and pronunciation (tw@*) then it's English.





*not being rude but I just think it's pretty funny/irritating to hear people pronounce it 'twot'

whatever...anything to deflect from reality huh?...as the nation goes bankrupt , let's make some things clear...a national language..great , the deficit just got smaller and everyone has affordable healthcare and teachers get more money...riiiiiight...meanwhile , declare war on the poor and keep the news machine rolling spewing out garbage no one cares about...our slogan should be..."america..destroyer of cultures at home or abroad..you choose" ...have a wonderful day

[Edited on May 23, 2006 by razorbladesonata]

We kinda do have a culture. It's represented to the outside world by the likes of Nike, McDonalds, and Britney Spears. Now you begin to see why Western "culture" is considered a pernicious infection in many places worldwide...

we don't have culture. we have consumerism and elements of culture. every attempt in this country to build a unique identifying culture has been shit on by the same kinds of people who want to declare a "unifying" national language now: social conservatives who are against any public investment in the arts whatsoever, and fundamentalist religious organizations that feel that the arts are a worship of the earthly self, and godless. the only kind of culture those groups support is a religious one, and in a religion where celebratory imagery or music is more or less blasphemy, that's really not much a culture at all. britney spears isn't culture; she's a corporate distraction for the huddled masses from things that actually matter.

Indeed. Not all Mancunians speak with that broad stereotyped accent of "Know wot ahm sayin innit." I have been 'accused' of being from Yorkshire and America before oddly enough.
However my well spoken Irish boyfriend takes the piss out of me because I once said "gets chippy..." that is a bit Manc.
What I find worse is people thinking that "glass" is said "glaaarse." *Cringe*

[Edited on May 23, 2006 by wendoo]

I fail to see how making English the national language is racist.