lil weasel Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Lack of English Skills. Looks like the U.S. is going to have another problem. A U.S. citizen who grew up in Mexico (because of better living conditions) returned to the U.S. to attend High School. She now has English as her Second Language. She wants to run for government election but has been refused the ballot because she 'can't speak fluent English'. Her community doesn't speak 'fluent English' either. What will happen when it reaches the High Courts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Arizona, ey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTA_stu Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Well I don't know what counts as "fluent english" but I go by the Schwarzenegger rule. He was by no means perfect, and that accent made it quite hard to understand him. But he was the freakin' governor of California! If she's worse than him I say no, but if she can reach the level of Schwarzenegger then I say let her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil weasel Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 "I speak English... a little. But... enough", she says. Yes she is worse than The Governor. I'm sure that with 80% of her town only speaking Spanish... (?) well, we will see what the Law says and how the Court 'interprets' it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coin-god Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 IMO you should have a good grasp of the language of the country in wich you want to have a government position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTA_stu Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Yh exactly, I mean 80% of the people she is representing might speak Spanish, but what about the other 20%? And what about when she needs to communicate with other govt. officials. She needs to be able to communicate effectively, otherwise it's going to be a hinderance to her and the people she is trying to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinski Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 If you're going to be good in a governance position, you need to have a good grasp of the language that system operates in. If you've ever read any government documents, you'll know that they might as well be speaking a foreign language with all the bureaucracy, code words and jargon. If you don't even have a functional grasp of natural language in that tongue, you'll never be able to make proper sense of that sort of world. I'm not saying anyone who lives in a country has to learn the lingua franca of said country fluently (although I think they should, but it's a personal choice). But if you want to play the game, make sure you've got the right equipment. If anything, the issue for this seat should be that the person speaks both English and Spanish to a satisfactory level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K^2 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 If you cannot learn to speak a foreign language fluently, you should not be in the government. It's unfortunate we can't start applying this rule to people already in the government, but we got to start somewhere. Prior to filing a bug against any of my code, please consider this response to common concerns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil weasel Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 That's the (sick?) joke. She's a U.S. Citizen by Birth so it's not a foreign language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straznicy Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 She won't serve her constituents effectively if she doesn't comprehend the language of governance to an appropriate level. With that said, I think many states/regions in the USA ought to be making more moves towards full bi-linguality. It's an inevitability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil weasel Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) Interesting case of her living in Mexico for such a long time because it was cheaper for the family... In a 'related' situation. When you walk into your local 'WalMart' type store. Do you find the Spanish/English labeled products turned to have which language facing the aisle? In Wallingford I find the Spanish facing out... Edited February 1, 2012 by lil weasel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaidRaida Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) She's a U.S. Citizen by Birth so it's not a foreign language. Obviously she didn´t learned her mother language well enough for such very linguistic job. But why not giving her a chance. Edited February 1, 2012 by NaidRaida Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coin-god Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 That's the (sick?) joke. She's a U.S. Citizen by Birth so it's not a foreign language. Still, she can't speak it properly. She should if she wants a Government position. And, as someone said, if she can't even learn proper english she shouldn't apply for this kind of job... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingdongs Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 We don't have an official language in the US, but regardless, I don't think that we should have representatives who don't know the de-facto language of the country. How is she going to conduct business on behalf of her constituents if she can barely speak English? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaidRaida Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 But is her English really that bad? I suppose someone living there, even Mexico should speak proper or fluently English. Especially as born American. Sounds allover strange this story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil weasel Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 The Federal Government doesn't have an Official Language... BUT the following states have existing official language laws on their books: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming. A small handful date back more than a few decades, such as Louisiana (1811) and Nebraska (1920), but most official language statutes were passed since the 1970's. As the U. S. of A. Towers over the World, Babel is alive and growing in the U. S. (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingdongs Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 But is her English really that bad? I suppose someone living there, even Mexico should speak proper or fluently English. Especially as born American. Sounds allover strange this story. I think the concern is her language level is no where near where it should be to conduct business in an official government setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeesPwnMets Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Can we see her speak? Is she really good at English? Maybe she thinks she is, but perhaps her English isn't good enough to be a government official. There is a difference between this: "The government cannot tell you what you can or cannot say, they cannot persecute you because of religion, and a newspaper can say whatever they want" and this: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. If her vocabulary is very basic, then I agree with what the judge has to say. You can't just expect to get in the government because you know how to write out a sentence with words you learn in sixth grade. Oh yea, excuse my grammar. I'm half asleep right now.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil weasel Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 She Speaks: http://www.yumasun.com/video/c/1178176697/...council-english Her Lawyer Speaks: http://www.yumasun.com/video/c/1178176697/...council-english Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingdongs Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 She Speaks: http://www.yumasun.com/video/c/1178176697/...council-english Her Lawyer Speaks: http://www.yumasun.com/video/c/1178176697/...council-english Yeah, she is certainly not fluent enough in the language to represent constituents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlfieWilRus Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 (edited) I honestly hope the court doesn't rule in her favour. Because I can just barely understand what she's trying to say. All I can understand is "for my community." Edited February 2, 2012 by AlfieWilRus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTA 360 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Er, there... has... been a ... bopping... on an... apple plane, er..., and many, people did. No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeesPwnMets Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 (edited) She Speaks: http://www.yumasun.com/video/c/1178176697/...council-english Her Lawyer Speaks: http://www.yumasun.com/video/c/1178176697/...council-english Uhh... I'm going to have to agree with the judge on this one. Also, you can't serve the government and expect the US to allow you to hire an interpreter to translate everything you say. Edited February 2, 2012 by YankeesPwnMets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToniForelli Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I don't see the point why people should speak fluent english? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der_Don Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I don't see the point why people should speak fluent english? You're right. There's absolutely no point in speaking the language of the country you live/work in fluently. English is the dominating language in the world, it's all around you, so even if you're not living in an English-speaking part of the world, it's important to have a good grasp of the language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil weasel Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 I don't see the point why people should speak fluent english? You're correct if you only read the title or Did you read the first post? There is no reason to learn any language, if you don't need to use it. Ima hopa youa dunta plana to geta commerciala pioletee licensee... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToniForelli Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 It's the same in my country. They know their mother language, but they don't try to speak fluently. They even steal the words from other countries and laught at them and make them swear words and that is what made my country to speak not fluent lithuanian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil weasel Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 American’s innately know how to speak every language in the World, except Greek. Regrettably to us most of the world speaka da Greek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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