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[Chezzymann]

What is this.

What is with this "Spanish versus English"line that keeps popping up so much recently?

I once went to a barnes and noble, saw some spanish magazines, and got PISSED. What if all them mexicans take over this country??? I can't spanish!!!!

Spoiler

build wall pls

 

[Ishan]

The line is whatever there's demand for. You say "super accommodative" as if the US just throws the languages up there for the good will of the people... they don't. Language options are valued when there is number of people that require them in the area to make it worth it -- ie you don't wanna be missing out on a ton of _______ customers/clients in the area because they don't have a way to communicate with you.



Also a Canadian here

Having had a Chinese girlfriend who studied English a long number of years, it's still stressful to take care of all your needs in a foreign tongue. Hell, anyone that's had any kind of relationship with someone of a different native language should know the hardships caused by simple language misunderstandings and the frustration of not being able to express exactly the words you have in mind.

Languages are hard. Yes, learn the language of the land, but it's incredibly helpful to have the option of speaking in your native tongue wherever possible.

You do realize you're half making my point for me . On one hand you're saying it's a business point on the other how it's a outreach point . So which is it ? We dealt with it India as of now by going English plus each States language .(we have 20+). And fuck yeah every emergency issue airport should have as many languages as possible .(this May be a non issue once comp language processing techniques develop more) but the question was for everyday life issues . So there yes it's evidently a business decision it seems.

 

[Ishan]

Republicans need to come left by a large amount. The majority of the Right is so far right they might as well be listed as extremists when compared to Republicans of the past.

I will say Trump knows how to sell himself to a specific portion of the population, but that portion is highly uneducated, xenophobic, racist and sadly too uniformed or just plain hard-headed to know or try and understand they continue to vote against themselves, choosing to believe that a past where they were on top is coming back. I really hope this kind of viewpoint will largely be left in the past in a generation.



Super surprising to me actually. Think we would have nailed that down at some point or another. Tho...the range of dialects and half languages spoken here is super astounding. Like what is currently spoken in rural parts of WV, a language that is centuries old and is at risk of dying out.

Edit: To OPs points below, you would need to actually bring back the requirement that all news has to accomodate as many sides of the argument as possible. The removal of that in the 80s gave rise to people who love to spout the idea of liberal media and try to legitmize it, like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and a host of other far right talking heads. Bring the right back to the left somewhat would also go a long way in helping that.

Hmm yeah I've heard some of the conservative radio stations and it's almost like you're in a different world . Also is bringing the right back left a valid option when you have at least 25-30 percent of the country supporting trump .. And 40-45% willing to go along with him

 

[Ultryx]

1.) English is the predominant language of the United States and if you come here and hope to be successful I believe you should learn and use the language. I would do the same for any country I went to. It's hypocritical to bitch about the availability of other languages. I've been to Japan and so much stuff over there has English language on nearly everything. It was convenient to say the least, although my brother and I did take time to learn as much as we could as travelers. Be respectful of the county.

2.) US media is just awful across the board. The advent of the internet made things substantially worse with the addition of social media. Now thousands of people's blogs and opinion pieces are taken straight as "news" (e.g. Tomi Lahren). The entire system needs an overhaul, much like other organizations.

Edit: Just clarifying that other languages are cool, and even encouraged. I just think you should also speak and understand the predominant language at the time. That's all!

 

[Liquid-San]

So what I meant by the second part is the economic viewpoint of the GOP does have some points debating now they've gone all wacko with the Obama hate but examples would be does something like tpp and free trade help and how when what timelines etc etc the problem is and this was the main point of my second question the right has discredited all media sources apart from extreme echo chambers such as brietbart that as is being increasingly pointed out there are no gatekeepers or fact checkers now so how to address that problem

I'll try to answer this to the best of my ability from what I grasped, (I take it English is not your first language, so no need to keep trying to regurgitate the same question). Anyways, I'll answer these out of order. For the media coverage issue, the blame seems to lie with the conservatives themselves. If they wouldn't let their media outlets spiral out of control, (Fox News), or let those with skewed views run ahead in polls, (i.e. Trump), they'd have more of the swing voters support them. It seems to me that conservatives in general tend to only cater to their demographics, while not attempting to hear the other side of the argument.

As for TPP helping, I think it can go both ways. We live in a nation where there is a rise of small business openings every year, but with that, comes financial hurdles. If we were to leverage the use of the TPP, I feel that this would diminish their concerns over sales done overseas. The existing businesses that depend on most of their profits from overseas ventures, will also benefit from this. However, this is two-fold as tax credits will be eliminated, but with a large shadow looming over international trade that clearly favors large business transactions as opposed to small ones, I can't say if it'll help out in the domestic sense as promotion of local goods won't be executed. There have also been concerns over negotiations done in secret with the other 11 countries, so the lack of transparency is unsettling.

As for free trade, I can't help there as I'm not too well-versed on the topic. Of course, this all just my two cents, OP. Hope it helped a little.

EDIT: Reading up on some of the replies to the OP, (including the OP's), and this is one hell of a messy thread.

 

[GuessMyUserName]

You do realize you're half making my point for me . On one hand you're saying it's a business point on the other how it's a outreach point . So which is it ? We dealt with it India as of now by going English plus each States language .(we have 20+). And fuck yeah every emergency issue airport should have as many languages as possible .(this May be a non issue once comp language processing techniques develop more) but the question was for everyday life issues . So there yes it's evidently a business decision it seems.

What are you talking about? If you want to attract _____ costumers you'll offer _____ languages. That's a constant throughout my post.

In the instance of my ex, she would go with banks and car dealerships that could offer Mandarin -- they draw in more customers because their customers can communicate easier with them. Outreach IS business.

 

[IggyChooChoo]

You have got to be kidding me . Just FYI your unvis make us internationals take the toefl (test for English as a foreign language) the sats and gres have a huge English component ... And every time a person tas they have to prove their English proficiency. So no shit . I guess your public universities are violating that by making us teach and be better in English and forcing and judging us on our ability to speak and write it when it comes to determining our admissions ...


I can get some of the posts but just wow

Why are you saying wow? I am really only familiar with title 6 in a medical context, but obviously the issue of higher education is treated somewhat differently than a hospital. Even so, people do file discrimination suits. I assume you could try that as well if you feel you've been discriminated against.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news...his-university-discrimination-after-dismissal

 

[BronzeWolf]

And like every ten percent of India speaks a different language . You're at 2 given how American demographics are moving towards inclusiveness you'll end up with more the question was along the lines of what do you do when you end up with 20 such as we have in India . So yes if it's a purely business decision okay . Makes sense . That's what I was asking

How come you have 20 languages and everyone of them is 10%? Do you even math?

Here in Mexico, Spanish is the official language but even then, the native people's languages are recognized and cared for in the constitution. Outreach is made by the government to provide services to people that speak the regional people's languages like Maya. It's not about percentages, is about inclusion and removing hurdles from your citizens instead of adding them. For public service,. it's about serving it's own people.

Business will do what's best for business, and giving more options to communicate creates a competitive advantage over those other business that don't provide that option. Business can do what they want though.

It's fairly simple, and the only way to negate that is to be an asshole.

I think you are bitter because the evaluation of your English is quite bad. But you have to be aware that public service and schools are different beasts. In general, schools can do whatever they want too, just like a busniess.

Also, the USA has always been a country that has embraced multi-culturality and cultural inclusiveness. It's been like it's thing since forever. Remember "Land of Opportunity"? Not "Land of Opportunity if you only know English".

 

[Boney]

Off topic but I wanted to mention how I love that Netflix has the art of the deal as a dark comedy

 

[Izuna]

IMO they should just have English, and Spanish accent speaking English.

 

[BronzeWolf]

IMO they should just have English, and Spanish accent speaking English.

El Fuck-o you

 

[gutter_trash]

The US should 100% make English its official language. Bilingualism is a pain in the ass that does nothing but drive people apart. There's nothing to gain from creating an environment where you don't have to know the common tongue.

-Canadian

Pierre Trudeau is the best Prime Minister in Canadian history, and his son Justin is on his way to live up to his dad

Canada's bilingualism is awesome.

what is not awesome are the shitty education system that Provinces fail to educate children on learning a 2nd language correctly because Provinces are idiots (all of them)

being bilingual is a positive, not a negative

 

[dark_chris]

There's a different between "I think Trump is an idiot" vs "I know Trump is an idiot" with 'knowing' actually being true.

 

[JP_]

Calls into customer service are usually such a pleasure to deal with and then I see the Spanish language option and it just makes me so so mad omg why can't I just enjoy my pleasant calls into customer service without being reminded that English isn't the only language that people speak?

 

[Dalibor68]

I've been to Japan and so much stuff over there has English language on nearly everything. It was convenient to say the least, although my brother and I did take time to learn as much as we could as travelers. Be respectful of the county.

Not defending him or anything, just reacting to this specific part of your post because I just came back from Tokyo myself: obviously these are different things. English descriptions on most things in Japan are necessary because nobody other than the japanese can read japanese letters and english is pretty much the (western) world language now. It's not because they have a growing english minority (that will be majority in the foreseeable future). When I was in Miami in 2013 the minimarket/hairdresser/most of the other staff in our appartment hotel complex could not speak any english or only very broken english (and spanish instead). Maybe that is what OP means and based on his own experiences he thinks most hispanics prefer to speak spanish and wonders what/if anything will change once they become the majority. Not sure what that has to do with trump / conservatives though.

 

[Noirulus]

Thread title is one of those phrases like "I'm not a racist but..." wherein no matter the next statement you know it's going to be fucked

I hope you realize your pointless post only serves to set a narrative against the OP who's trying to engage GAF in his discussion. What he's saying isn't even bad but without giving any particular reason you're saying it's fucked.

 

[otake]

I believe the OP needs to be clear about the conservative issues he is asking about.

 

[Darkangel]

Pierre Trudeau is the best Prime Minister in Canadian history, and his son Justin is on his way to live up to his dad

Canada's bilingualism is awesome.

what is not awesome are the shitty education system that Provinces fail to educate children on learning a 2nd language correctly because Provinces are idiots (all of them)

being bilingual is a positive, not a negative

I really don't see what's awesome about it.

You basically get the same outcome (everyone being able to communicate with each other), only you've added a cumbersome and costly middle step (learning an entirely different language). I think the pros of having a country where 99% of people can clearly and effectively communicate from childhood far outweigh the perceived benefits of bilingualism.

Sure it's cool to know another language, but on a national scale it's just a pointless headache that can lead to problems.

 

[Iksenpets]

1. If any of those languages became large enough to justify including them, sure! And in certain neighborhoods with large populations of one immigrant group or another, you 100% see that. These are all just private companies, catering to the needs of the customers they have. There's not some mandate to support Spanish or any other language. And ultimately, just due to geography, no other language is going to rise to Spanish' position in the US, because no other language shares a large land border with the US, other than Québécois French. I mean, a third of US territory is formerly Mexico. Nothing else can compete with that. You're never going to have 30 million Chinese speakers in the US so long as they have to cross the Pacific, the same way Italian/German/Polish never entrenched themselves as major languages during previous immigration waves, outside of small neighborhood communities.

2. I don't really get this question? The lack of adequate conservative media is something conservatives have to address internally, and which so far they've failed to do.

 

[ColonelSkills]

I really don't see what's awesome about it.

You basically get the same outcome (everyone being able to communicate with each other), only you've added a cumbersome and costly middle step (learning an entirely different language). I think the pros of having a country where 99% of people can clearly and effectively communicate from childhood far outweigh the perceived benefits of bilingualism.

Sure it's cool to know another language, but on a national scale it's just a pointless headache that can lead to problems.

Ahahaha.

::Teaching French to English speakers::
"We added a costly middle step, how awful"

::Teaching English to French speakers::
"Good, now you can effectively communicate with us"

I, too, like destroying vast swaths of culture because it inconveniences me slightly. Down with the French. What have they given us other than the Parti Québécois anyway?

 

[Sobriquet]

There is a valid conservative viewpoint from republicans . As far as lower govt spending and other issues etc are concerned

Republicans* are not fiscally conservative. Their "concern" is a ruse. They want to take away or privatize social services and increase the military budget.

*those in power, not people who vote Republican

 

[Ishan]

How come you have 20 languages and everyone of them is 10%? Do you even math?

Here in Mexico, Spanish is the official language but even then, the native people's languages are recognized and cared for in the constitution. Outreach is made by the government to provide services to people that speak the regional people's languages like Maya. It's not about percentages, is about inclusion and removing hurdles from your citizens instead of adding them. For public service,. it's about serving it's own people.

Business will do what's best for business, and giving more options to communicate creates a competitive advantage over those other business that don't provide that option. Business can do what they want though.

It's fairly simple, and the only way to negate that is to be an asshole.

I think you are bitter because the evaluation of your English is quite bad. But you have to be aware that public service and schools are different beasts. In general, schools can do whatever they want too, just like a busniess.

Also, the USA has always been a country that has embraced multi-culturality and cultural inclusiveness. It's been like it's thing since forever. Remember "Land of Opportunity"? Not "Land of Opportunity if you only know English".

Yes I do math almost everyone here speaks multiple languages

 

[PlayALLtheGames]

Not going to answer the language question because it was dumb and I'm sure it has been covered extensively in the thread.

I'll tell you how we can help, though: vote in progressive leaders at all levels to push progressive policies. As things improve, what conservative nutjobs say won't matter to the average person because the evidence that things are better will be visible in their everyday lives.

Any conservative with a shred of honesty will see the same. With those conservatives, we can have some real discussions about policies.

The other conservatives? Fuck them. We have wasted a lot of time listening to the "concerns" of backwards idiots who have nothing to contribute. They can sit around and cry about America being taken from them and claim it's a terrible country right up until their last breath, and they will. That doesn't mean what they're saying has any legitimacy or needs to be taken into account when making decisions.

 

[Kelsdesu]

This is why Trump is good for our country. He exposes closet racism.

 

[ThatGayWolf]

What is this.

What is with this "Spanish versus English"line that keeps popping up so much recently?

Ironically, a turn of phrase that probably stems from a poor grasp of English.

 

[Eye for an Eye]

To answer your questions:
1. A private entity can serve with any language they please, english or otherwise. You see most doing English and Spanish, because that's where the money is. There is no other reason.

A government had to provide communication opportunities for all the major languages, but those who can only speak that language cannot expect the same quality of service as those who know english. The wait times will be longer, you will have less of a chance to talk to someone you want, etc.

Of course that's large govt. agencies. Obviously your local DMV can't be expected to do that. The US has no official language at the federal level, and that must be reapected.

Actually, you are entitled to a translator at those businesses. Doctors offices, hospitals, court, dmv, and so many more. Obviously, if you have a business in a highly populous area of hispanics, then there's a greater likelihood of having spanish speaking employees. But for medical, they usually bring in a neutral third party translator. One who understands the terminology in both languages to accurately translate for the doctor and the patient.

Unfortunately for many families, the child becomes the translator and its irresponsible to do that in a proffesional setting when the child doesn't understand what is going on.

 

[gutter_trash]

I really don't see what's awesome about it.

You basically get the same outcome (everyone being able to communicate with each other), only you've added a cumbersome and costly middle step (learning an entirely different language). I think the pros of having a country where 99% of people can clearly and effectively communicate from childhood far outweigh the perceived benefits of bilingualism.

Sure it's cool to know another language, but on a national scale it's just a pointless headache that can lead to problems.

You are like pretending that a large potion of our history must be ignored, erased and expunged which is not a Canadian attitude

I am sorry that our education system sucks for failing to teach French properly to native English speakers but that is the fault of our garbage Provinces who suck in Education more than anything else

Scandinavian countries are highly successful at teaching a 2nd language to their students; they all come out of elementary schools speaking multiple languages

but as for our shitty Provinces however...

 

[atr0cious]

Whatever you do OP, don't call a hospital in a major city, especially if you live on the coast.

 

[uncelestial]

America doesn't even have an official language. Surprisingly.

Actually I'm shocked that one didn't get defined during one immigration panic or another.

You don't need an immigration panic to have an official language. Even the most liberal countries in the world (Sweden, et al) have official languages. I never really bought the idea that linguistic minorities (which is a real term!) are better served staying in their own language for their entire life while living in the US. It seems intuitive to me that an official language would facilitate integration/assimilation and economic advancement for people who make the effort and learn that language. As long as the government (including law enforcement and military) have protocols for other languages in cases of war and emergency, I see no problem with it (and most likely, as in other countries, we would do much better than that). Nor does the vast majority of the population of the US, which includes people of many backgrounds. It's not necessarily some kind of hateful idea to have one.

 

[WedgeX]

Well OP. I dispute your second claim.

2) there are legitimate concerns if you're a conservative and how can that be addressed in a reasonable manner (Fox News is wacko , brietbart is horrific . nyt and others are good but for now not trusted) what's the middle ground ? And how can we fix this as ppl (not just Americans but ppl of the world )

People (millenials, specifically) trust, more than distrust, most actual news organizations. The middle ground is for people who don't trust actual news organizations to...actually trust them. Conservatives in the US need to create actual news organizations rather than build party/movement mouthpieces that fabricate investigative pieces.

 

[Darkangel]

Ahahaha.

::Teaching French to English speakers::
"We added a costly middle step, how awful"

::Teaching English to French speakers::
"Good, now you can effectively communicate with us"

I, too, like destroying vast swaths of culture because it inconveniences me slightly. Down with the French. What have they given us other than the Parti Québécois anyway?

I'd say learning a new language is a little more than a slight inconvenience.

People in Quebec gain a lot more from learning English than anglophones do from learning French. Francophones are a minority both nationally, and on a continental level. Maybe its not fair that English turned out to be the lingua franca of the world, but that's just the way it is. Quebec itself is barely bilingual with stuff like Bill 101 floating around. Maybe they should just become their own country and be done with it.

The situation in the US is entirely different.

Right now the US is lucky in that they don't have a Spanish version of Quebec. They can avoid the whole lingual-cultural eradication issue by never having it in the first place. Want to become an American? Be prepared to learn English. I don't want to sound like I dislike Quebec (hell, half my family is from there), but the history of Canada has basically been a tug-of-war match between the anglophones and francophone. Things would work better if the entire country was just one or the other.

You are like pretending that a large potion of our history must be ignored, erased and expunged which is not a Canadian attitude

I am sorry that our education system sucks for failing to teach French properly to native English speakers but that is the fault of our garbage Provinces who suck in Education more than anything else

Scandinavian countries are highly successful at teaching a 2nd language to their students; they all come out of elementary schools speaking multiple languages

but as for our shitty Provinces however...

Canada is forced to deal with language issues due to historical reasons, but the US doesn't have that burden.

There's a big difference between a Scandinavian learning English (the lingua franca of the world), and a Canadian learning French in order to deal with a single province (and parts of New Brunswick).

 

[Warm Machine]

Official languages are important. Everyone should learn a second or third language. Everywhere I've travelled from Europe to South East Asia people knew how to speak English and it would be ideal if the reverse could be true.

That said I think Blade Runner's idea of a city speak is not far from the truth.

 

[gutter_trash]

Look at this way. French descendants in the US don't know French. French descendants in Canada still do.

 

[Goldenroad]

I also think Trump is an idiot, BUT...I think he's a racist, hateful, fear mongering piece of garbage as well.

 

[JP_]

As technology progresses, language barriers are becoming less and less of an obstacle. Seems even sillier to make a big deal about it today. Just comes off as xenophobic.

 

[Milksheikhs]

I'm not American or conservative, what are the important bipartisan concerns and issues on conservatives' minds?

There is literally a book written by conservative former governor Mike Huckabee called "God, guns, grits and gravy"...so....

 

[Nafai1123]

I also think Trump is an idiot, BUT...I think he's a racist, hateful, fear mongering piece of garbage as well.

I think Trump is an idiot, BUT....then I realized that's an insult to idiots.

 

[capitalCORN]

If anyone doesn't know, this is the same guy who vehemently defended the rich for tax evasion during the recent release of tax shelter scandals.

In any case, in Toronto, the municipal government issues all releases in at least a dozen languages. Hell, anything that might be a public service is automatically done the same way. And it's not due to a law or anything, it's just the nature of things.

 

[Ishan]

If anyone doesn't know, this is the same guy who vehemently defended the rich for tax evasion during the recent release of tax shelter scandals.

In any case, in Toronto, the municipal government issues all releases in at least a dozen languages. Hell, anything that might be a public service is automatically done the same way. And it's not due to a law or anything, it's just the nature of things.

Huh err iirc I said if it's legal it's fine which was the viewpoint of half the ppl in that thread so yeah ..

 

[Hyperactivity]

OP's name spelled backwards... hmm...

I, uh, doubt it

Pretty sure OP is indian

 

[LookAtMeGo]

Its like that time I drove into Quebec and all the signs were in French! How am I supposed to know where to go!? Maybe I could stop and ask for directions. Oh wait!

 

[AntraxSuicide]

And like every ten percent of India speaks a different language . You're at 2 given how American demographics are moving towards inclusiveness you'll end up with more the question was along the lines of what do you do when you end up with 20 such as we have in India . So yes if it's a purely business decision okay . Makes sense . That's what I was asking

You still have to argue why this would happen though. Like, it might be difficult to handle that many languages, but there is zero evidence that the US is moving to a mutually disjoint set of people speaking different languages. We have English spoken by a large majority of the populace, and now Spanish has risen to a level where it's probably a good idea to offer Spanish options. Other than those 2 languages, there isn't really a need for more options. Honestly, if it ever did happen, as another poster put it, we'd just add in that third option.

 

[FO-totality]

Not only is English not the official language of the United States, but the one time we almost did get an official language, it was likely going to end up being two languages: English and German. At one point German was so widely spoken in the U.S. that many newspapers printed an English and a German edition in some cities. The advent of World War I made speaking German much less cool than it used to be, though, so that all got dropped in a hurry.

The notion that American citizens should only be speaking English is a very recent invention of the far right.

There almost was a requirement that all federal documents be published in German. That's as close as we got.

I literally have zero idea why. I feel like it was probably some guy at the Convention who refused to budge and this was his "no, now i'm going to be the dick!"

This is an urban legend.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhlenberg_legend

 

[Acerac]

To answer question 1 in the OP, I legitimately believe that many automated answering services are meant to be annoying to break the will of those who are calling. They could easily have this as a separate option listed towards the end of all the initial choices, it never is.

That is why the music they play is always such shit quality. There's no good reason for it to be this way, the businesses in question just don't want to talk to you.

 

[Angelus Errare]

I went to an H Mart and everything was in Korean. Save us Trump.

 

[Horse Detective]

Is there ever a sentence which abbreviates "people" to ppl that doesn't run on and sound devoid of logic?

 

[The Beard]

The OP's name spelled backward is Interesting, indeed.

Nashi (youth movement)

According to Edward Lucas, in The New Cold War: Putin's Russia and the Threat to the West, Nashi is seen as Putin's version of the Soviet Komsomol.[50](p102)

Nashi has been accused of recruiting skinheads and local hooligans to intimidate rival youth groups.[25] Such activities caused Gavin Knight, in New Statesman, to draw the conclusion that "Nashi’s true function was as a personality cult for Putin whose job was intimidate, bully and harass his opponents."[51] The movement has evoked comparisons with the Hitler Youth, in the mainstream media,[9][10][11][12] to the extent that Nashi, together with other pro-Putin youth organizations, were derogatively nicknamed Putinjugend.[52][53][54][55]


A Nashi advertisement was described in a Time magazine article as "reminiscent of Soviet-era propaganda with its non sequitur acceleration of hysteria". The advertisement read: "Tomorrow there will be war in Iran. The day after tomorrow Russia will be governed externally!"[56] The Boston Globe said that "movement's Brownshirt tactics certain evoke shades of Hitler Youth, as does the emphasis on physical fitness, clean living, and procreation for the Motherland".[10] Some[who?] view the emergence of this and, more recently, other similar organisations, such as Young Guard of United Russia and Locals, as one of the signs of Russia under Putin "sliding into fascism, with state control of the economy, media, politics and society becoming increasingly heavy-handed".[51][57][58]

The National Bolsheviks have accused Nashi of leading attacks on their members, including one in Moscow in August 2005.[59] Liberal youth leader Ilya Yashin has also denounced Nashi as a cover for "storm brigades" that will use violence against democratic organizations and claimed that their formation is only part of Putin's fear of losing power in a manner similar to the Orange Revolution of Ukraine.[60] One young National Bolshevik, Roman Sadykhov, joined Nashi's sister organisation Young Russia (Rumol) in order to investigate its activities. He claimed that Rumol formed a group of hooligan ultras to conduct street battles against members of the opposition.[61] Their training included the construction of smoke bombs. He secretly taped meetings he had attended. At one of the meetings, Surkov said that he found the training for street combat "terrifically interesting."[21](p172)

Nashi has been accused of being a group of "football hooligans and racist skinheads" preaching hostility of certain races traditionally targeted by Russian nationalists- such as Chechens, Georgians, Armenians, Azeris, Circassians, Uzbeks, Jews, Poles, etc.[62][63]​

It's not even spelled the same though. Smh.

Ishan is not Nashi spelled backwards.

 

[ColonelSkills]

I'd say learning a new language is a little more than a slight inconvenience.

People in Quebec gain a lot more from learning English than anglophones do from learning French. Francophones are a minority both nationally, and on a continental level. Maybe its not fair that English turned out to be the lingua franca of the world, but that's just the way it is. Quebec itself is barely bilingual with stuff like Bill 101 floating around. Maybe they should just become their own country and be done with it.

The situation in the US is entirely different.

Right now the US is lucky in that they don't have a Spanish version of Quebec. They can avoid the whole lingual-cultural eradication issue by never having it in the first place. Want to become an American? Be prepared to learn English. I don't want to sound like I dislike Quebec (hell, half my family is from there), but the history of Canada has basically been a tug-of-war match between the anglophones and francophone. Things would work better if the entire country was just one or the other.

I'm only going to touch on this first bit since it was addressed to me (also because I never said anything about the US), but I agree on the bit about it being a huge pain in the ass to learn a new language.

I think that, more than just communication, learning how to speak with other people gives you an appreciation of their culture, can provide some semblance of empathy from another's viewpoint, and not place the entire burden on a minority. Yeah, English is king of the mountain. Fair or not, that's how it is. But it doesn't need to use the position to eradicate other options. It does not need to be an ISO or IEEE standard. There are concerns outside of "learn this protocol".

I realize this is an expensive, troublesome effort. Learning a language is hard as hell. But it is more than just a method of communication, it gives a sense of unity to people who are different, and that the majority does not want to eradicate part of what makes you, you. Learning French (as poorly as I did learn it) gave me some insight into Quebec. I believe it assists me with understanding this country on the whole a lot better.

I agree with gutter_trash on this particular issue. Bilingualism is awesome. I wish the education was far, far, far better and not just a token effort. I would like to see more options for things on a local level, where high Mennonite population areas have an option to learn German, or classes on the Native dialects that are in the area.

The country doesn't suffer from bilingualism, our bilingualism suffers because we're really shit and lazy about it.

 

[CyberMiguel]

There are a lot of countries with no official language. I think we manage just fine without having to "draw a line" anywhere.

Actually, a line HAS to be drawn, for practical and legal reasons. If the USA choses English and Español as the official languages, all legal documentation has to be written in both languages, and every spanish speaking citizen would not be able to argue ignorance about a new law or regulation because of "I don't know any english".

In any case, everyday life would be the same. The only implications would be legal ones.

 

[DedValve]

What does any of this have to do with Trump? Is it part of his campaign to make sure english is the default, spanish is 1 and now Hillary and Trump are in a furious debate over which languages are 2-9?

Same for question 2.