You are in the U.S please speak English

[XandNobody]

True story bro

While funny, there is a fundamental failing with that picture.

I can not speak for all Americans mind you, but the failing is that the picture is ignoring both the issue and roles. In the first panel, the man behind the counter is speaking English. Sure, it's broken English, and there are some Americans I'm sure who are that bloody anal as to react like a twelve year old to it, but the vast majority? We honestly wouldn't care. If the point gets across, good on you. I mean hell, this is a country where I personally know college students that have tried to turn in papers with "txt" talk in them. Grammar really doesn't seem important to the general populace despite what the internet would have you belive. However, let's say the man behind the counter had been speaking Spanish. He's behind the counter, at a place of business, in a country where the primary language is English. First of all, it's safe to say that if he works in America, he probably lives America, border towns not withstanding. He should learn English. Second of all, he works at a job, where he interacts, verbally, with English speaking people all day. I'm sorry, yes, again, he needs to learn English.

As to the second frame, it misses the point of the argument again. Yes, I'm well aware of the truth that our tourists apparently draw their population from the most loud and asshole-ish among us, and for that I really, truly, am sorry a thousand times over, but the point is that the man who works there is now German. He's speaking German, while living in Germany, at a job in Germany. You can see why I like this man and feel that he makes sense. Thus, he is a perfect example of how you logically live in a country with one major speaking language, and speak it yourself. It was up to the tourist to either learn German, or stay in his "safe" little tourist area where being an American asshole is all but expected and leave the people just trying to live their lives the hell alone.

It's a fun comic, but in order to have worked properly the second panel would have needed to have an American completely missing the point by working at the job in Germany, without knowing German, while a German customer tried to do, well, anything constructive.

TDLR; No, read it. Else-wise go watch TV.

 

[tenny20ca]

What is the definition of English? I don't think U.S. Americans speak English, or rather proper English. I would like to put forward that what they speak is distinctly U.S. American English.

Case in point: I was playing online with a friend from the U.K. He speaks proper (British) English, some U.S. Americans told him to "speak english" and to "learn english". I had to explain to them that he was speaking english, from England, where English originated.

I think this may be a moot point because 94% of U.S. Americans "claiming to speak it 'well' or 'very well'." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_States

Are you so worried about 6% of your population? In Canada about 85% of the population can speak English, 31% French. We get along fine. (Yes that adds up to more then 100% alot of Canadians are bilingual).

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

true learning a foreign language is difficult, however...

the only reason i don't learn mandarin, is the fact that not a single person i know or have ever met speaks the language, and from what i have seen/know, i will never ever ever have any reason to ever go to asia, as i hate next to all asian food and it causes me to have ass piss for 3 hours, and i don't have the money to spare for that kind of a trip plus the alphabet from what i saw is fucking difficult as hell, so there is literally zero real world use for it in my book, and i would assume this is similar to many many people i know (Hell i know plenty of second generation asians who moved here who don't know jack shit from their ancestral language, including mandarin, so obviously they have the same logic as i do to a point)

oh and

DHEY TURK HISH DURGGG?!@???

And the exact same thing goes for most people you encounter who don't speak English. They'll live in closed off communities where they don't have to speak anything other than their first language, they'll not feel the need to connect to somewhere they don't plan on going and if they do ever need to go somewhere where they need to speak English they'll probably have a satisfactory knowledge of the language or be lucky enough to meet someone who speaks their language.

Don't get me wrong, I think everyone speaking one language would be incredibly practical, but sometimes people are just stubborn. I'm a man of courtesy and manners, so I think that if you emigrate you should learn the dominant language as a courtesy to the country and it's people.

In addition, you should learn their language when they immigrate as a courtesy too. If everyone was more courteous then we'd all be far better off. Sadly, it's rare that you'll have the time or the interest to learn their language, even if you are courteous.

 

[DazBurger]

I personally think that most Americans need to learn English.

 

[KoalaKid]

I think everyone I like should learn to speak the language I made up.

 

[health-bar]

there a lot of foreign people in germany that dont speak german

and the Germans fucking hate them because of it.

 

[ChickenZombie]

Thats very ethnocentric of you. I mean i know where you are coming from, but most people who dont speak english but live in the US arent thinking to themselves "Na, i dont want to learn english". They try but they arent going to try to speak a language that they barley know unless they have to.

 

[jonyboy13]

Damn it people, don't feed the troll.

(Generalization ahead You rather have them live in a third world country with no human terms just because they don't speak, in the OP's case, broken English? (The irony was quite amusing by the way.)

 

[FallenRainbows]

Seriously? Bare in mind you talk about a country that is the banner of freedom and one composed (almost) entirely of immigrants. Why in the hell should people conform to you? I mean I'm English I live in England, I have to deal with my idiot peers being blatantly racist every-time somebody speaks Polish. I mean come on, they do you no harm at all, and pretty much no foreign national here has expected anyone to speak their language if it is not their own and from my many american friends neither have they heard of such a thing.

*sigh*

 

[XandNobody]

I personally think that most Americans need to learn English.

Even with my previous post taken into account, I agree, one-thousand percent... >.>

 

[The Becker]

I don't expect visitors to learn the local language. I expect citizens and residents to learn it though.

i assume he is talkin' bout dem illegals

OT: We are probably the most diverse country out there so... yeah it would be nice if more people didn't speak spanish though

 

[FuzzyRaccoon]

true learning a foreign language is difficult, however...

the only reason i don't learn mandarin, is the fact that not a single person i know or have ever met speaks the language, and from what i have seen/know, i will never ever ever have any reason to ever go to asia, as i hate next to all asian food and it causes me to have ass piss for 3 hours, and i don't have the money to spare for that kind of a trip plus the alphabet from what i saw is fucking difficult as hell, so there is literally zero real world use for it in my book, and i would assume this is similar to many many people i know (Hell i know plenty of second generation asians who moved here who don't know jack shit from their ancestral language, including mandarin, so obviously they have the same logic as i do to a point)

oh and

DHEY TURK HISH DURGGG?!@???

And the exact same thing goes for most people you encounter who don't speak English. They'll live in closed off communities where they don't have to speak anything other than their first language, they'll not feel the need to connect to somewhere they don't plan on going and if they do ever need to go somewhere where they need to speak English they'll probably have a satisfactory knowledge of the language or be lucky enough to meet someone who speaks their language.

Don't get me wrong, I think everyone speaking one language would be incredibly practical, but sometimes people are just stubborn. I'm a man of courtesy and manners, so I think that if you emigrate you should learn the dominant language as a courtesy to the country and it's people.

In addition, you should learn their language when they immigrate as a courtesy too. If everyone was more courteous then we'd all be far better off. Sadly, it's rare that you'll have the time or the interest to learn their language, even if you are courteous.

Wow. This is actually a very nice way of putting it. As a child of immigrants, I can tell you that this is pretty spot on. Generally what our relatives do when they say, get paperwork in english or something is that they'll come over to my house and get my mom to help them. Most of them don't care about leaving, and are satisfied with their rather pathetic lot in life.


Personally, I think languages are wonderful things. I've noticed that they change the way that you think. If you were to call me stupid in english, I'd probably laugh at your lame comeback. If you called me stupid in spanish, I'd have to beat the crap out of you for that extreme defamation. Culturally, things shift, you have to respond differently. I actually find that to be wondrous. It's like a new part of your mind is opening up every time you switch over to the other language.

 

[Yokai]

A very large percentage of the population (Don't quote me on this, but I think it's about 15-20%) have Spanish as their first language, or their parents' first language. There are also relatively large French-, Chinese- and Arabic-speaking populations, and there have been for decades or centuries. As a country built off the foundations of other countries, with an official language built off the foundations of other languages, we really don't have an excuse to be particular about the languages people speak.

Besides, is this really an issue? Are you, OP, constantly accosted by various damn foreigners who shout at you in languages you don't understand? Why bring this up?

 

[DaysBefore]

Yeah, and everyone that lives in Canada should speak English and French, how dare they desecrate our land with their vile foreign tongues! I say we, as a people, rise up and deport every person in Canada, no, North America, that can not speak English! Vive Le Anglais!

 

[Thaluikhain]

I personally think that most Americans need to learn English.

I'd agree...except that the English think that a billion is 10^12, not 10^9, which I don't, so they are obviously wrong.

But, everyone should go back to having Latin as the universal language. No, wait, French...you are allowed to stereotype French speakers as being sexy, but the only people who speak Latin tend to be Catholic Priests and old professors, and you can't get away with that.

Failing that, USAliens should all learn to speak like French-Canadians, cause they sound nicer.

 

[Hollock]

Here's the thing. It would be nice if an immigrant would like to learn English, but they don't have to. It's easier to integrate into society if you speak it, but you don't have to. It's called freedom. And if an immigrant is moving to a new place, there's a good chance that they're going to a place where they know they will have a community of people who speak their language. That's how we get chinatowns and little Italys. And of course 'Mericans could try to learn another language too.

 

[Jacco]

Is that too much to ask?

Yes. You can't ask someone something if neither of you speak the same language, now can you?


OT: I agree. People can speak whatever language they want in private, but we shouldn't have to accommodate whatever their native language is. They are living here by choice and they should respect the fact that we are an English speaking country.

100 years ago during the great migration from Europe, those immigrants came and busted their asses to learn and adapt to American society and culture. Immigrants today come here and expect everything to be the same as home.

That being said, I am all for mandating that grade school children be required to learn a second and possibly even third language for the simple fact that it makes them more rounded individuals and makes travel and international communication easier.

 

[Farther than stars]

Well the U.S. doesn't actually have a national language....

I don't know whether I should be glad that anyone pointed this out or sad that it took the 7th post to do so. Either way, right on! ;D

Yes, it's true. The U.S. doesn't have a national language and the official reason for that is that a vast amount of immigrants come over from Mexico and thus speak Spanish as their only language. Forcing English on them right off the bat is often considered not worth it and morally on shacky grounds. (Of course the opertunity is there if they want to learn it.)
Why is it morally on shacky grounds? Well, did your ancestors bother learning Algic, Na-Dené and Uto-Aztecan from Native Americans? No! They created a country and built a nation in which freedom was the highest value. They formed a country out of many different cultures and backgrounds and languages too, espcially English (from the Irish), Dutch and Italian. This America was a place where everyone could enjoy personal liberty and speak whatever language they brought with them. If your ancestors created that America, then don't you owe to them to allow the newcomers that same opportunity?

Also,

If I permanently move to France and expect everyone there to learn English instead of me learning French that would make me a bit of an asshole but if you do it in the U.S.

You're telling me the immigrants are insisting that you learn their language? Where did you get this from?

Edit:

Is that too much to ask?

Yes. You can't ask someone something if neither of you speak the same language, now can you?

That's funny. Why can't other people who bother joking around use that kind of wit? ;D

 

[The Mighty Thesaurus]

If I moved to China or Argentina I would at least make the attempt to learn the primary language of the region. To expect newcomers to do the same is not too much to ask, is it? Although, I truly don't know what the dominant language is in America right now to be honest.

You have to remember that many of this people are quite poor, and may be unable to afford the money and time it takes to learn the language in a formal environment. They will pick up the language eventually (at least a pidgin or creole), but it could take years to happen.

 

[mikeybuthge]

lets go back to communicating through vocal clicks and drum beats, one international language, done