Why? "Press 1" for English???

The IRS needn't bother. The millions of illegal aliens don't pay income taxes.

If they are legal immigrants, they should have been required to be able to speak English in order to enter this country.

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If they are legal immigrants, they should have been required to be able to speak English in order to enter this country.

The US does not have a legally mandated official language. Therefore, legal immigration should not require that one be fluent in any specific language.

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Originally posted by dolemitejb:

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If they are legal immigrants, they should have been required to be able to speak English in order to enter this country.

The US does not have a legally mandated official language. Therefore, legal immigration should not require that one be fluent in any specific language.

Then we also shouldn't cater to then with the "Press 1 for..." garbage. Can't order lunch in English? Point at an item or menu listing and hope for the best.

Usually pressing 0 will get you to someone faster.

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Originally posted by rum_runner:
in almost every phone call I make, concerning almost ANYTHING with my Gov'ment?
From, say Unemployment Claims...

In California you have the option of English, Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese.

Also as a person who has been stationed all over the world, it is often you will see things in the native language and also in English and Spanish.


Here is a question, if Hispanics become the majority and decide Spanish should be the official language, would you be upset if things were also written in English?

Better yet, lets stop with the English and learn the real native languages of this land.

But oh no, no one wants to do that now do we!!!

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Originally posted by flotown79:
Better yet, lets stop with the English and learn the real native languages of this land.

But oh no, no one wants to do that now do we!!!

Nah we conquered them and stole the land fair and square.

California...yeah, that's a real example to judge anything by.

Here is a question, if Hispanics become the majority and decide Spanish should be the official language, would you be upset if things were also written in English?

Example of why the US is in the shape it is now...Bleeding Heart Liberals.

At least it's still #1.

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Originally posted by JOY4567:
The IRS needn't bother. The millions of illegal aliens don't pay income taxes.

If they are legal immigrants, they should have been required to be able to speak English in order to enter this country.

Perhaps other countries should take the same attitude, wanna fly to Cancun??? Learn to speak Spanish or get thrown off the plane, Drive to Quebec??? Maybe they should ask at the border if you speak French and turn you away if not. My daughter-in-law's parents were here from Japan a couple weeks ago to visit and see her graduate from UNA, guess they should not have been able to come since their English was not very good and in reverse if I decide I want to travel to Japan for a visit with them maybe I should be required to first learn Japanese. Oh and if anyone wants to go on a round the world cruise or a tour of Europe they need to learn every language from every port. Yea that all make a lot of sense.

Bottom line is they make money that way. I don't blame them.

Has anyone traveled to Mexico? There is only one language in Mexico. If you speak English only you just have to point at the menu. The thing is I don't have a problem with that.

check out this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEJfS1v-fU0

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Originally posted by dolemitejb:

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If they are legal immigrants, they should have been required to be able to speak English in order to enter this country.

The US does not have a legally mandated official language. Therefore, legal immigration should not require that one be fluent in any specific language.

It is the law to know basic English to be naturalized.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/si...CM100000b92ca60aRCRD

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Originally posted by ferrellj:
Has anyone traveled to Mexico? There is only one language in Mexico. If you speak English only you just have to point at the menu. The thing is I don't have a problem with that.

That is false. I lived in San Diego for almost 5 years and I have been to Mexico many times. Again most menus have English words also.

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Originally posted by rum_runner:
Here is a question, if Hispanics become the majority and decide Spanish should be the official language, would you be upset if things were also written in English?

Example of why the US is in the shape it is now...Bleeding Heart Liberals.

You did not answer the question.

If Hispanics become the majority and decide Spanish should be the official language, would you be upset if things were also written in English?

BTW, I am an Independent, and you refuse to answer a yes or no question?

All states don't even have English as its official language. Some states have two languages.

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Originally posted by flotown79:
All states don't even have English as its official language. Some states have two languages.

True, California has English and Spanish. Its state constitution is in both, I believe.

Hawaii (English and Hawaiian)

Louisiana (English and French legally recognized, although there is no official language)

New Mexico (English and de facto Spanish)

Maine (English and French both de facto)

American Samoa (Samoan and English)

Guam (Chamorro and English)

Northern Mariana Islands (English, Chamorro, and Carolinian)

Puerto Rico (Spanish and English)

Why complain, Spanish is only one of the 3 most spoken languages in the world.

So can someone please explain how pressing 1 for English impacts your life in a negative way?

Porque prensar el numero dos es para escuchar y/o hablar en español.

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Originally posted by Aude Sapere:
Porque prensar el numero dos es para escuchar y/o hablar en español.

In a circuitous fashion, you made his point.

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Originally posted by Aude Sapere:
Porque prensar el numero dos es para escuchar y/o hablar en español.

Tan sea le impresionando negativamente

Please excuse the lack of ?'s

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It is the law to know basic English to be naturalized.

From what I know of the naturalization process, it is skewed in a manner that makes it extremely difficult for poorly educated immigrants to become naturalized citizens. You link is evidence of this fact as there is no official language of the US, but there is an official language to legally immigrate.

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Originally posted by flotown79:

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Originally posted by ferrellj:
Has anyone traveled to Mexico? There is only one language in Mexico. If you speak English only you just have to point at the menu. The thing is I don't have a problem with that.

That is false. I lived in San Diego for almost 5 years and I have been to Mexico many times. Again most menus have English words also.

If you're in a border town that may be true. Get away from the tourist areas and let me know what you find.

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Originally posted by ferrellj:

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Originally posted by flotown79:

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Originally posted by ferrellj:
Has anyone traveled to Mexico? There is only one language in Mexico. If you speak English only you just have to point at the menu. The thing is I don't have a problem with that.

That is false. I lived in San Diego for almost 5 years and I have been to Mexico many times. Again most menus have English words also.

If you're in a border town that may be true. Get away from the tourist areas and let me know what you find.

Last time I was in Waterloo there were no Spanish maps, signs, ect either.

How many people that live in Mexico speak English as a first or second language vs the amount of people in the US that speak Spanish as a first or second language?

When was the last time you were in Waterloo? The school has plenty of Spanish in it. If I were going to move to Mexico I would learn to speak Spanish. I plan on retiring and dying in North Alabama so I have no reason to learn Spanish, unless I just wanted to listen in on the conversations at Wal-Mart.

According to the 2000 census 28 mil people, over the age of five, speak Spanish in this country.

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Originally posted by ferrellj:
When was the last time you were in Waterloo? The school has plenty of Spanish in it. If I were going to move to Mexico I would learn to speak Spanish. I plan on retiring and dying in North Alabama so I have no reason to learn Spanish, unless I just wanted to listen in on the conversations at Wal-Mart.

Last Monday. I rode up and down County Road 8 many times.

Again I ask how is Spanish negatively impacting your life?

Spanish is one of the more valuable languages to learn as its one of the three most spoken in the western hemisphere, along with English and Portugese.

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Originally posted by ferrellj:
Has anyone traveled to Mexico? There is only one language in Mexico. If you speak English only you just have to point at the menu. The thing is I don't have a problem with that.

I have spent a lot of time in Mexico. Most of the phone menus have an English option, menus at most chain restaurants are available in English. Signs inside most stores and many other public places have English directly under the Spanish. Mexico is easily maneuverable for persons who do not speak Spanish.

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Originally posted by BFred07:

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Originally posted by ferrellj:
Has anyone traveled to Mexico? There is only one language in Mexico. If you speak English only you just have to point at the menu. The thing is I don't have a problem with that.

I have spent a lot of time in Mexico. Most of the phone menus have an English option, menus at most chain restaurants are available in English. Signs inside most stores and many other public places have English directly under the Spanish. Mexico is easily maneuverable for persons who do not speak Spanish.

Glad to know I am not the only one that has seen this.

What's so hard about pressing "1"? Is your finger tired from pressing the first seven numbers? Go back far enough and every single one of us is am immigrant, be nice, have some empathy

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Originally posted by Netracer41:
What's so hard about pressing "1"? Is your finger tired from pressing the first seven numbers? Go back far enough and every single one of us is am immigrant, be nice, have some empathy

Not empathy!!! The very word that got Justice Sotomayor slammed and Justice Thomas got praised for.

Politicians are too funny!!!

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Originally posted by flotown79:

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Originally posted by BFred07:

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Originally posted by ferrellj:
Has anyone traveled to Mexico? There is only one language in Mexico. If you speak English only you just have to point at the menu. The thing is I don't have a problem with that.

I have spent a lot of time in Mexico. Most of the phone menus have an English option, menus at most chain restaurants are available in English. Signs inside most stores and many other public places have English directly under the Spanish. Mexico is easily maneuverable for persons who do not speak Spanish.

Glad to know I am not the only one that has seen this.

Like i said get away from the tourist areas and chain restaurants and tell me how much English you can find.

No...Netracer41, my finger is tired of pulling a VALID SS card out of my wallet to verify that I am a VALID American...and not someone whom has entered "under the wire".

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Originally posted by rum_runner:
No...Netracer41, my finger is tired of pulling a VALID SS card out of my wallet to verify that I am a VALID American...and not someone whom has entered "under the wire".

I have never had to show a SS Card to prove I am an American. How often do you do this and please list the places that demand a SS Card.

I think you don't even have to show ID to get a birth certificate.

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Originally posted by ferrellj:

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Originally posted by flotown79:

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Originally posted by BFred07:

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Originally posted by ferrellj:
Has anyone traveled to Mexico? There is only one language in Mexico. If you speak English only you just have to point at the menu. The thing is I don't have a problem with that.

I have spent a lot of time in Mexico. Most of the phone menus have an English option, menus at most chain restaurants are available in English. Signs inside most stores and many other public places have English directly under the Spanish. Mexico is easily maneuverable for persons who do not speak Spanish.

Glad to know I am not the only one that has seen this.

Like i said get away from the tourist areas and chain restaurants and tell me how much English you can find.

Monterrey, General Escobedo, Juarez, San Luis Potosi... None are tourist destinations (well, Juarez being on the border attracts some sightseeing) But mostly these are industrial areas and that is where most of my time was spent. There are plenty of accommodations made for the non Spanish speaking people in these areas but of course these are also major business centers. The smaller towns I have been to also offer a lot for people that do not speak Spanish. When I say I have spent a lot of time in Mexico I meant that for a few years I was in Mexico working more than I was here at home.

flotown...rode up and down Co. Rd. 8???
Is Waterloo that hard to find?
Maybe you should have stopped and asked someone...who speaks ENGLISH to point you in the right direction.
And, ALL employers are required...by US Law to have a valid SS# on file.
But then, I guess, being from Waterloooooo, you didn't get that notice.

Try Mexico, DF (Mexico City) without any English. Sure, you can do "touristy" things but cannot read most of the placards, the billboards, the menus outside of the main tourist hotels, etc. Forget it if you want to go to anywhere in the Yucatan outside of Cancun or Cozumel. Sure they hablan en ingles in Nuevo Laredo and Tijuana, but try San Cristobal de las Casas, where the main second language is Spanish, Lacodan being the primary outside of the city center!

Try Montreal, the most non-French speaking area of Quebec, and odds are that you wish that you knew the difference between C and F on those faucets and what sortie meant in a metro station.

Entering a country to visit and to LIVE are two very different things. When I VISITED to Germany, I expected there to be language issues. And no, I didn't learn the language in preparateion for my visit. Had I been MOVING to Germany, you can rest assured I'd have made attempts to be able to communicate in THEIR language.

The INS should set up camp in front of Wal-Mart. If our Spanish-speaking friends can't prove they are here legally, load tem up on a bus and ship them back. After caught here a illegally three times, put a parachute on them and drop them over Afghanistan. Bye-bye!

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Originally posted by rum_runner:
flotown...rode up and down Co. Rd. 8???
Is Waterloo that hard to find?
Maybe you should have stopped and asked someone...who speaks ENGLISH to point you in the right direction.
And, ALL employers are required...by US Law to have a valid SS# on file.
But then, I guess, being from Waterloooooo, you didn't get that notice.

You said you were tired of showing your SS card to prove you were an American.

"Originally posted by rum_runner:
No...Netracer41, my finger is tired of pulling a VALID SS card out of my wallet to verify that I am a VALID American...and not someone whom has entered "under the wire".

How many times have you done this? Can you not hold down a job? I have only done this one time in the last 10+ years.

No Waterloo is not hard to find. I said I drove up and down County Rd 8...... To get back and forth from the city to my parents require that action. Maybe you can't use context clues.

Yes I know employers keep copies of SS cards on file. Since they do again how many people have to show theirs to their employer more than once because you stated your finger is tired from pulling yours out. You own statement has proven that you either misspoke or you are lying. Which is it?

Again how is pressing 1 negatively impacting your life?

More Gov'ment WASTE...that's how it effects me, and any other LEGAL, ENGLISH speaking person in this country.
Millions are spent every year printing material for every agency, from Federal down to Local in a language (usually Spanish) other than English, that could be used for other needed things.
No, English is not the offical langauge, but, it was good enough to be used in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, etc, before all of this PC crap came to be enbraced by people, maybe, such as yourself.

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Originally posted by rum_runner:
More Gov'ment WASTE...that's how it effects me, and any other LEGAL, ENGLISH speaking person in this country.
Millions are spent every year printing material for every agency, from Federal down to Local in a language (usually Spanish) other than English, that could be used for other needed things.
No, English is not the offical langauge, but, it was good enough to be used in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, etc, before all of this PC crap came to be enbraced by people, maybe, such as yourself.

Your complaining about the waste on Spanish when we spend billions to go to the moon and outer space. The fed gov gives millions to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and you complain about Spanish. The fed gov gave over 20 billion in over payments to businesses in 2001 and you complain about having to press the #1 button. You have Alabama politicians that get funded from casinos and they vote against gambling, but instead of complaining about that you complain about pressing the #1 button. Troops are loosing their life daily and you are complaining about the #1 one button.

Yes I know it cost to print up things, but there are more and better things to complain about than a **** #1 button.

I tell you what, next time you want to complain about pressing #1, think about that 1% that is defending this country and think to yourself if having to press #1 for English of #2 for Spanish is even in the top 100 of their concerns.

Not enough space on this Forum to list all of the Gov'ment waste, so I chose "Press 1"...
Now, please take your "meds"...

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was good enough to be used in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, etc, before all of this PC crap came to be enbraced by people, maybe, such as yourself.

Since we have a large spanish speaking population (and no, not all of them are illegal) It is more efficient to have materials also printed in Spanish and of course the "press 1 for English". It is not only Government that does so, take a look at the signs inside places such as Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. It is good business to make sure the Spanish speaking population (the ones here legally) can be easily served.

Guess we should ALL learn Spanish...Huh?
Easier than trying to teach THEM free English?

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Originally posted by rum_runner:
Guess we should ALL learn Spanish...Huh?
Easier than trying to teach THEM free English?

LOL, if we all learn Spanish we would be able to do away with the "press one for English" button.
Anyway, my job requires me to be in Mexico from time to time and for a few years I was working in Mexico more than I was home. I have never been fluent in Spanish but because business's, gov't, and people in general tried to be accommodating I found it very easy to get around in Mexico without being able to speak Spanish very well.

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Originally posted by rum_runner:
Guess we should ALL learn Spanish...Huh?
Easier than trying to teach THEM free English?

Learning Spanish is free also.

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Guess we should ALL learn Spanish...Huh?
Easier than trying to teach THEM free English?

That would be ridiculous. Americans are morally, intellectually, and divinely superior to people form other nations, so there is no reason we should ever be inconvenienced.

rum_runner is bent out of shape because they don't offer a number to press for "REDNECK."

Pressing 1 is a bit of an annoyance. Why can't the phone tree simply default to English and request a press 1 for any other languages?

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Originally posted by interventor12:
Pressing 1 is a bit of an annoyance. Why can't the phone tree simply default to English and request a press 1 for any other languages?

It seems as if people have a problem with Spanish being an option no matter if you press 1 for other languages or 1 for English and 2 for Spanish.

Wow, "REDNECK"...
That's original...Professor

I think we should just go ahead and encourage people to speak whatever language they want. That would make the country run so much more smoothly leading to great prosperity. We could be the new Tower of Babel! Look how great THAT turned out.

quote:

Originally posted by rum_runner:
More Gov'ment WASTE...that's how it effects me, and any other LEGAL, ENGLISH speaking person in this country.
Millions are spent every year printing material for every agency, from Federal down to Local in a language (usually Spanish) other than English, that could be used for other needed things.
No, English is not the offical langauge, but, it was good enough to be used in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, etc, before all of this PC crap came to be enbraced by people, maybe, such as yourself.

By this logic we should all be speaking a native American language. Since we moved here and planned to stay. The languages of the Indians was good enough for them far longer than we have been here. Racism isn't cool anymore in case you didn't get the memo.