I heard Edwards say that immigrants need to ...

... learn English. I thought he was supposed to be so progressive??! I admire his anti-corporate stance, but he keeps going off the deep end by saying weird things like this.

If I went to Britain and spoke Welsh, would there be a problem?

about 5 years ago. He soon found out he HAD to learn Italian just to be able to survive there. Very few people in Sicily speak English, and you need to do every day things like buy food, speak to the utility companies, read traffic signs, rent an appartment and deal with the landlord.....

He works for an American Company there, and his employees are all American, but he soon learned that you don't LIVE at work. It took a while, but he speaks Italian quite well, at least it sounds like it to me!

I think those are the reasons a lot of politicians are saying mut learn to speak English if they come to the US.

but is it a necessity, given the number of historically native Spanish speakers (from New Mexico and Puerto Rico, especially)?

Not every company and store has bi-lingual speakers.

Most communities have historically developed hybrids (such as pidgins and creoles) that allow discussions to take place across linguistic groups. Really, there are quite few words that are necessary to make one's way through any society (this one, how much, buy, no, thank you), especially if both sides are patient with each other. Indeed, pidgins have successfully bridged speakers of European and Asian languages, which is much farther apart than the Spanish speakers (who are of concern) are from English.

This is a simple fact. Non-English speakers in America end up on the lower end of the earning chart.

It is to the benefit of the immigrant to learn English.

We need accessible and free ESL classes in all towns.

American citizenship is not based on ethnic or cultural nationalism, so language shouldn't be a strict qualification so long as the individual can demonstrate the ability to work and live. You can keep promoting the advantages of English, but that is really a different subject.

;-)

The dialect is distinct.

spent the last 5 years in Sicily, with a few holiday trips to other parts of Italy and a few other European countries. the "learned Italian" thing well might have been MY error.

:-)

Especially if you were in England, Scotland or NI. ..........and truth be told.......a lot of Wales as well as the vast majority of Welsh don't speak Welsh. I sort of know that cause I live where I do.:evilgrin:

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards says "English is the language of commerce" in America and English proficiency should be one of the conditions of citizenship for immigrants.

During a campaign event today in Des Moines, a man who described himself as "an advocate for immigrants" asked Edwards for his thoughts on the issue. "You're going to like some of what I have to say and you're not going to like some it, but I'm going to tell you what I believe," Edwards told the crowd.

Edwards has answered Iowans' questions about immigration policy in many forums here. "I do think that somebody who came here illegally...should pay a fine. I don't think we should pretend it didn't happen and the second thing is -- more controversial -- I think they should learn to speak English," Edwards said, to applause from the crowd of more than 200. "But I am strongly in favor of comprehensive reform."

According to Edwards, what is happening along the southern border is "unacceptable" and security needs to be beefed up with more border agents and better technology to track people trying to enter the country illegally. "We should crack down on employers who are knowingly violating the law and exploiting workers," Edwards said, to applause.

http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=913199D6-E6BE-FFCF-BC455791812F198B

want to learn English? Not understanding or speaking the langueage of the country you live in is pretty limiting.

Mz Pip
:dem:

communicate in the country you've chosen as home. I don't hear that as a diminishment of Hispanic culture or even Hispanic language. Just learn English, too.

our country men, should we not be able to understand one another?

Not because they should never speak their native language but for the simple fact that our country, especially the business world, speaks English. People who speak English have far more opportunities in the job market (Multi-lingual have WAY more opportunities)and can earn more. I want to see immigrants succeed here.

So YES they need to learn English for their own benefit and their families benefit.

I believe ESL courses should be widely available and FREE. This benefits the immigrants and the current citizens.

up to. It's VITAL to be as strong as possible. Anyone that refuses to learn English is handicapping him/herself without realizing it. Instantly you don't know if they're exploiting the hell out of you, and the chances are THEY ARE! Here in WPB there's a group that teaches English to sharecroppers, not so they know a foreign language, but so they can DEFEND THEMSELVES against the @-holes that would take advantage of them. A person in a foreign country that doesn't know that country's language and makes no effort to learn it, is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS at a MONSTROUS disadvantage.

In fact, what Edwards said is what is needed for immigrants to do, and it's EXACTLY what Repukes don't want immigrants to do. As long as Repukes can keep immigrants from knowing how they're going to screw them, they'll exploit them to their heart's content.

He was very careful because he seems to know he's talking to people who believe it's desirable or even possible to round up undocumented workers and ship them home.

He seemed to start out with the least charged part of the argument and worked carefully up to the issue of citizenship. JE has done his homework. It was very impressive.

What's funny about the "learn English" meme is that most undocumented workers WANT to learn English, and that's not really what the wingnuts mean anyway. The wingnuttery means "don't speak that Spanish language".

spot on, as usual

lol

:hi:

Of course they need to learn English.

nt

Not to mention, most of them do anyway.

well to be exact American, there are distinct differences between the two dialects, if I am going to be exact about it. I learned English and then I had to learn American... ah spelling and sentence structure... nothing like a whole paragraph sentence!

And as an immigrant myself... who also speaks Spanish and Hebrew, the Senator is right... (I forgot the smattering of Ydish and German)

or county job... i had several jobs there where the mexican gangs ran me off.

:shrug:

up thread. There's nothing un-progressive about it. He's not Tancredo. lol

We should certainly aid in helping immigrants learning the language in any way we can. I don't see why this causes such a huge fuss.

"learn English" thingy as code for their hatred. Normal people like you and me don't hear that level because we don't speak in code.

/Oops. Too bad I can't type in English. :)

He didn't say stop speaking _______________. He said we need to share a language and since English happens to be the most common shared language, it would be practical to share English.

What they said.

Education

Expand Access to Preschools: Building one American education system begins by expanding access to preschools. Just 43 percent of Latino children participate in preschool programs in America, compared to 59 percent of white children. Among Latino children ages three to five who are living in poverty, just 36 percent are enrolled in early childhood care and education programs. Edwards will expand funding for Head Start and increase preschool enrollment so that more students – including Latino students – start school ready to learn. He will also improve the quality and diversity of our preschool teachers by providing scholarships for early childhood educators to obtain college credit and additional training in English language instruction.

Invest in Teachers for English Language Learners: Nearly half of all Latino public school students are English Language Learners (ELLs), but just 29 percent of eighth-grade ELLs meet basic achievement levels in reading compared to 75 percent of non-ELLs. Edwards will provide additional compensation and scholarships to teachers specializing in ELL education where there are shortages and those working in high-poverty schools serving large populations of Latino students. And he will invest in developing smarter tests, including native-language and simplified English tests for ELLs. Edwards will also boost funding for migrant education programs.

End the Dropout Crisis: At nearly 2,000 high schools nationwide – called "dropout factories" – more than 40 percent of students won't graduate. Many of these schools have large populations of Latino students. High school dropouts earn nearly 50 percent less than workers with a diploma or G.E.D., and are only three-quarters as likely to be employed as high school graduates. Edwards will create second chance schools and other paths to graduation to help former dropouts return to school and earn their diploma with flexible class times and locations and connections to youth development services. Edwards will also make sure schools identify likely dropout candidates early on and provide students at risk with alternatives such as academically rigorous smaller schools and classes, flexible and accelerated schedules, academic and support services, career academies and engaging coursework.

College for Everyone: College graduates can expect to earn $1 million more over their lifetimes than high school graduates, and their children are almost twice as likely to attend college. An estimated 200,000 college-qualified graduates fail to go to college each year. About half of Latino young people enroll in college, but few finish, and the white-Latino gap in higher education enrollment increased from 16 percent in 1974 to 26 percent in 2003. As president, Edwards will pass a College for Everyone program – based on the successful model he helped start in North Carolina – to pay for one year of public-college tuition, fees and books for more than 2 million students. In return, students will be required to work part-time, take a college-prep curriculum in high school and stay out of trouble. Edwards will also simplify student aid applications and provide additional college counselors for schools serving low-income students.

Opportunity Agenda

Universal Health Care: Forty-seven million Americans don't have health care and families and businesses are struggling to pay skyrocketing premiums. One out of every three Latinos lack health insurance, twice as many as other Americans. Edwards is the only major candidate who has proposed a specific plan for truly universal health care that will take on the insurance and drug companies, cover every man, woman and child in America and provide better care at a lower cost.

Ending Poverty and Expanding the Middle Class: Every day, nearly 37 million Americans – including more than one out five Latinos – wake up in poverty. Edwards has outlined an ambitious agenda to eliminate poverty within a generation by creating and rewarding work, strengthening families, helping workers save and get ahead, encouraging economically integrated neighborhoods, cracking down on predatory lending, reaching overlooked rural areas and expecting people to help themselves by working whenever they are able. Edwards will raise the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2012, expand the earned income tax credit and strengthen labor laws to make easier for workers to join a union.

Fight Abusive Debt and Help Families Save: Latino borrowers are substantially more likely to receive subprime loans than white borrowers even when they have similar credit scores, and Latino households have less than a dime of wealth for every dollar owned by whites. Edwards will crack down on abusive credit card companies, predatory mortgage lenders, and payday loan shops that take advantage of working families. To help families save, he will provide matched savings accounts for low-wage workers.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Our immigration system needs a fundamental overhaul. Our economy is harmed by an underground economy that features a large and unprotected labor force. And our values are violated by a system that keeps families apart and forces people to live in the shadows, vulnerable to abuse. The first step is to control our borders and stop illegal trafficking. At the same time, it is unrealistic to think that we can deport more than 12 million people. Edwards believes we need to give people here the opportunity to pay a fine and learn English to earn American citizenship.

Edwards will end the backlog of background checks for people who are already in this country and are applying to become lawful permanent residents and, eventually, citizens. Our immigration policies should bring families together, not keep them apart. Edwards believes family reunification is an important value that should be preserved in our immigration laws.

http://www.johnedwards.com/issues/latinos/20070909-latino-opportunity-agenda/

, drive, understand instructions, street signs,

No one with any common sense would think that was weird.

Do you expect people to use sign language to communicate with foreigners, in their own country?

Your and those who think that way -expectectations are skewed.


Senator Edwards and all our forefathers who took the trouble to learn English, the common language of America, when they came here from another country are not and were not weird.

They were people who wanted to fit in, to better themselves , to be part of America., not tourists, not visitors, and not illegal.

Actually learning the language of the country you intend to live in. What a kooky concept. That John Edwards, what a nut.

By ignorant, I mean not understanding what people are saying and not being able to read. Brilliant idea!