Onyma Wrote:

" It means the people who complain should also note
> that English is still the primary language in the
> country. They are all upset that there are
> multiple languages in use in the country and that
> they have to choose on a phone system which they
> prefer. They should however take some solice (if
> they are this bothered by it) that English is
> still choice #1."



I feel like there may be some misconception here about what the point of this is, and it's not that we as Americans are upset that there are other languages we don't necessarily understand being spoken here on this shore.

The real bone of contention lies with individuals who have come here and made a decision to live here and claim it as their home and yet don't even give a shit enough about this country or its people to make a realistic attempt to learn the common tongue spoken here.

This, at least to me as an American, is insulting. For this reasoning, and all the underlying tones of political correctness that goes along with it, to have gotten to the point in our society that a recorded message should make us, as a country of English speakers, make a choice at all about what language the message will be in seems like a slap in the face.

IF it were that messages such as these were truly available in ALL the languages that are spoken here, then that could held forth as true tolerance to a standard of multilinguality. What's goin on here though is that a blanketly given air of political correctness is being handed out in regard to typically Spanish speakers only because they are most likley the ones who are NOT as likely to make the effort TO learn the common language here.

These self same individuals also just happen to make up the largest segment of the illegal immigrant population here and the need for appeasement linguisticly to a segment of society that has no real right to be here in the 1st place seems totally and patently absurd.




" I am pointing out that this is a pretty extreme form of
> intolerance against new immigrants to expect them
> to know English before coming to the country.
> (because God forbid we cater to them at all while
> they are learning and inconvenience the already
> English speaking)"


Again, it's not that everyone is expected to know the language before they come here, but that once they are here that they make learning the language a priority. Most Mexican immigrants I've known, who have often been here for many years, will feel it's OK to learn just enough to get 'em by at work and as little as possible otherwise and choose instead to immerse themselves in groups of totally Spanish speakers at other times, never putting forth any real effort to learn it at all.

Personally, this seems incomprehensible. If I made a determination to live anywhere I would know that learning their language would be one of my primary concerns as a part of that decision.



"> I am not an American "



That having been said I'm curious, do live here? Not to say that you couldn't understand the perspective being espoused here if you don't, only that without having encountered these things in the way we do here, the personal impact is indeed a bit different sitting at a keeboard in some other part of the world.