PRESS One for ENGLISH!!!

[WiNaDeYo]

Tsalagisgo hiwoniha?

(Do you speak Cherokee?)

Ahhhh...the love of languages!

[Humble Janitor]

I understand what you mean Steve.

It's hilarious though that people are more concerned about what languages are spoken than anything else.

[Dantheman62]

If I was to move to Germany, I'd learn German!
If I was to move to France, I'd learn French!
If I was to move to Japan, I'd learn Japanese!
If I was to move anywhere I'd learn the language out of respect and ease of communication.
After working construction for the last 16 years and many, many times being the only American on the job and having to listen to Spanish all day long everyday, it gets annoying!
Having to push 1 for English on the phone gets annoying!
Having to push "here" for English on all the ATM's gets annoying!
All the other people from all the other countries who have migrated here, most have learned the language.
And yes, if I moved to Mexico, I'd learn Spanish! But I shouldn't have to learn Spanish here just so I can communicate on the job!

[Humble Janitor]

Originally Posted by Dantheman62

If I was to move to Germany, I'd learn German!
If I was to move to France, I'd learn French!
If I was to move to Japan, I'd learn Japanese!
If I was to move anywhere I'd learn the language out of respect and ease of communication.
After working construction for the last 16 years and many, many times being the only American on the job and having to listen to Spanish all day long everyday, it gets annoying!
Having to push 1 for English on the phone gets annoying!
Having to push "here" for English on all the ATM's gets annoying!
All the other people from all the other countries who have migrated here, most have learned the language.
And yes, if I moved to Mexico, I'd learn Spanish! But I shouldn't have to learn Spanish here just so I can communicate on the job!

Wasn't Texas once part of Mexico? If so, the whole language debate is moot since these folks were likely here before the Alamo and manifest destiny.

I don't see the point of getting in a huff and puff over something like this. Communication is difficult but I've gotten by for years on finding alternate forms of communication. I'm deaf and you don't hear me clamoring for people to learn ASL. I have to admit that communicating with my co-workers is even more difficult because they don't speak much English and I don't understand Vietnamese. I was actually thinking of learning a few Vietnamese words and using them and hopefully, they might be inspired to learn a bit more English to make communication smoother. I work with some awesome people and I'm glad that I can at least pronounce the names of my co-workers.

I respectively disagree on the language debate and I see things that are far more important than this.

It seems to me like this board is composed of two different factions: The negative, preparedeness-orientated, Ron Paul worshippers and the sensible, positive folks that can see beyond petty politics and petty squabbles.

I'd like to think that I'm a little of both but in the long run, the bigger picture doesn't care about language or the politician-du-jour, nor does it care about duct tape and plastic sheeting.

I hope I haven't offended you, my friend. You have a great sense of humor and I enjoy some of the things that you've posted.

[Swanny]

I got a joke the other day on my phone

The BNP have announced plans to take over UK call centers.
"Good morning you're through to the United Kingdom.
Press 1 if you speak English or press 2 to be disconnected until you can."

[Dantheman62]

Humble, doesn't offend me at all, I don't think anyone's getting in a huff over this.
That's just my simple way of looking at it.
Now that I've stopped using ATM machines, and don't do to many business calls, and don't work construction anymore, it really doesn't bother me, LOL, but I still disagree with the way it is.

Swanny, that's funny, I like that! LOL

[Steve_A]

The BNP have announced plans to take over call centers.

"Good morning, you're through to the United Kingdom.
Press 1 if you speak English or press 2 if you haven't got a clue what I'm saying"

Originally Posted by Swanny

I got a joke the other day on my phone

The BNP have announced plans to take over UK call centers.
"Good morning you're through to the United Kingdom.
Press 1 if you speak English or press 2 to be disconnected until you can."

[sunflower]

Here in Quebec we are so accustomed to going back and forth in both languages that we might use whichever language is more suitable for the idea or concept that we might want to convey.

As an example, Montreal ground crew had a meeting on Sunday. Back and forth we went, quick as lightning, but we were all on the same page so to speak, so we really enjoyed our discussion. Great group of people!

[Steve_A]

Hi sunflower,

It's a very similar situation in Switzerland where they speak four official languages and, as there are a lot of immigrants and United Nations offices, Portuguese, English, and a whole gaggle of Eastern European languages.

Everybody seems to get on fine.

When I lived in Barcelona in the northeastern part of Spain I was learning Spanish by ear (as most of my other languages). In Barcelona they also speak Catalan and, as I was still learning and couldn't really separate the Catalan from the Spanish, I would start a phrase in Spanish, break in to Catalan, return to Spanish and end the phrase in Catalan! The locals thought it really funny!! I can understand that.

Best regards,

Steve

Originally Posted by sunflower

Here in Quebec we are so accustomed to going back and forth in both languages that we might use whichever language is more suitable for the idea or concept that we might want to convey.

As an example, Montreal ground crew had a meeting on Sunday. Back and forth we went, quick as lightning, but we were all on the same page so to speak, so we really enjoyed our discussion. Great group of people!

[cloud9]

I like to see videos on Youtube and and when it's a video in a different language, there's always somebody writing: english, english!!!
Funny, english is not an universal language, it's not even the most spoken but still most of us want to keep it comfortable for ourselves so we don't have to learn anything new.
People in Europe and other places speak more than one language, I always thought that speaking at least two of them would make me look more interesting (I know, what a jerk I am) and I learned spanish, it's been a wonderful journey and those who don't dare to take a first step, I want to say to them it's an adventure, my horizons have expanded greatly and now I can enjoy the most beautiful romantic music ever; being very honest, love songs in spanish are a lot better than in english, I can read newspapers and magazines, talk to people and enjoy other cultures. It's been so good that I'm thinking of trying another language, I just can't decide which one.
So, people..... get brave and try something new, perhaps we are wasting are time and this is definitely a nice way to get smarter! Instead of complaining, let's put our brain cells to work!

[Swanny]

I think Chinese is the most spoken language in the world

[Humble Janitor]

I would have trouble learning a foreign language as pronouncing words is not one of my strengths.

[Steve_A]

Hi cloud9,

First of all congratulations on learning your first foreign language. I agree whole heartedly with you that foreign languages open a whole new horizon, not only to other cultures and new people, but we tend to change the way we think - probably due to the fact we become more open as an individual.

There is a tendancy, once you have one foreign language under your belt, to become easier when you learn new languages within the same group of languages, so, for example, Spanish being a latin based language is similar to Italian, French and Portuguese. Although I don't speak Italian I do understand it when spoken slowly. I just didn't have the time to learn it. I went to Italy several times, but only for short bursts.

However, I suggest you learn a language from the Latin group and also one that will become useful. I see you're from NY, so you could consider Portuguese as there are many Brazilians living there, or Italian (I'm not too sure about the French population in NY). That way you will always be stimulated to use the new language and won't become rusty as you will use it frequently.

Good luck in your endeavours.

Best regards,

Steve

Originally Posted by cloud9

I like to see videos on Youtube and and when it's a video in a different language, there's always somebody writing: english, english!!!
Funny, english is not an universal language, it's not even the most spoken but still most of us want to keep it comfortable for ourselves so we don't have to learn anything new.
People in Europe and other places speak more than one language, I always thought that speaking at least two of them would make me look more interesting (I know, what a jerk I am) and I learned spanish, it's been a wonderful journey and those who don't dare to take a first step, I want to say to them it's an adventure, my horizons have expanded greatly and now I can enjoy the most beautiful romantic music ever; being very honest, love songs in spanish are a lot better than in english, I can read newspapers and magazines, talk to people and enjoy other cultures. It's been so good that I'm thinking of trying another language, I just can't decide which one.
So, people..... get brave and try something new, perhaps we are wasting are time and this is definitely a nice way to get smarter! Instead of complaining, let's put our brain cells to work!

[Humble Janitor]

It would suit me well to learn Vietnamese. I can pick up the pronunciation of names easily but that's all.

[cloud9]

Thank you Steve, I was thinking of italian because many of my customers are from italian background and it seems to me it's not complicated. At the beggining it was really hard and people used to laugh at me because of my pronunciation but I'm getting better, now I laugh at myself with them and they help me a lot, our "conversations" are really funny.
Anyway, when I started interacting with latin people I could understand their struggles and for the first time I saw how easy life has been for us in general. Everybody has problems but we don't have the slightest idea how hard it is in other countries, many immigrants from Central America are uneducated and unfortunately don't know how to write and read in their own language, so it's easy for us to tell them to learn English but now I can understand it's not an easy task.
Another point I want to make is many of them have to take 2 o 3 jobs to make ends meet, we critize a lot but we don't see that with less than $20.000a year they support families here and send money to their countries to support even more people.
A few years ago I used to get angry thinking that all of them were taking our money and sending it to other countries but again, I didn't know much. If people could understand how much of our problem this is, due to how economics and politics are handle in poor countries, how manipulated their goverments are from USA goverment and corporations, they go and do as same as Walmart: let's build a big company here so we'll provide a lot of new jobs, then they steal their resources and leave pollution, no one cent is invested in improving local conditions, the only ones who benefit are the big corporations and the local politicians. After reading Confessions of an economic ganster I could understand better.
We in America live in a bubble but how can we know if we never go out of the bubble? It's the same as the story of the fish in the pond who thinks the pond is all there is.
Again, after reading Conversations with God my whole idea of the world changed for the better and I try to see every person as a human being with a SOUL that all of us SHARE.
I wish most people would be interested in learning about other human beings through language and culture; life would be kinder and funnier. We all are different and similar at the same time.
Thank you again for encouraging me, I know it gets easier because I've met people who speak 3 or 4 languages and it doesn't seem a big deal for them; I think it's great.
Best Regards,
(Happy) Cloud9

[Steve_A]

Hi cloud9,

You managed to open up a can of worms in your message, so much to talk about, we could make a completely new forum just on the topics you brought up.

I totally agree with you about the plight of a developing countrys' population. Being here in Brazil really drove the point home. I remember looking on the ground as our aeroplane was landing in Salvador, Bahia, and I remember thinking as we passed over what I thought were alotments of land, like the ones we use in the UK for gardening, because I saw all these what I thought were garden sheds. It turned out that these sheds were shanty houses and whole families lived in them.

The minimum wage in South American countries is around $150 - 250 per month. In Peru, people are lent money to 'make it' in the developed world countries at an exorbitant interest rate. If they default, their family members are killed.

I agree that the population in Europe and the US are spoiled rotten. Sometimes I don't understand television shows like Extreme Makeover that re-model homes only to make the already needy person have a huge energy bill every month and land tax bill at the end of the year, or the Oprah Winfrey big Give Away where contestants have to give away money to win the prize of a million dollars. That just makes a mockery of being chritable, as the contestants are not giving to 'give', they are giving to win the money. It seems like the US is sort of losing real values and good reasoning. Don't get me wrong, of course I don't say that about every American, I have met many and there are a lot not like how I described, however there are many.

A lot of people think that the IMF is a good thing, helping 'poor' countries get out of economic holes by lending them money. It's just not the case. The IMF lends the money with a lot of very immoral strings attached and is not as 'International' as one might think. The IMF is more or less governed by the US.

I tend to agree that the developed world is living in a bubble and we all know what happens to bubbles.... These populations are going to suffer such a culture shock when they are to be left without their cars or homes with nice furniture and designer clothes. I think the American way of bling bling is just so arrogant (sorry America). The tendency is that when the going gets tough, the US population will not get much sympathy from populations of poorer countries. They will just say, "Join the club, now suck it up!"

I think that if we as individuals are genuine people, others will perceive this and will always be at our side.

I also think that we have a duty to learn about other cultures and languages, as we are a GLOBAL community and we really do need to be able to communicate and understand better how our other neighbours function, even if we do not agree on how they behave, we need to at least understand so that we can disagree (how can we disagree with something we know nothing about?). It's ignorance that breeds contempt.

Best regards,

Steve

Originally Posted by cloud9

Thank you Steve, I was thinking of italian because many of my customers are from italian background and it seems to me it's not complicated. At the beggining it was really hard and people used to laugh at me because of my pronunciation but I'm getting better, now I laugh at myself with them and they help me a lot, our "conversations" are really funny.

[cloud9]

Well Steve, there are so many cans of worms.... when some people talk about ascencion I always wonder how could our humanity take that step when we are so entangled in this incredible net of lies, manipulation, problems, illnesses, mysteries...
We as a nation (and every other country) are a group of people sharing a common land, we as individuals in general want to do good, raise our families and live peacefully. The way I see the incredible reality we live is based in two problems: governments and greedy groups and organizations and total desinterest and apathy from the rest of humanity. We don't seem to react to anything, big or small, we keep waiting and waiting for things to change without moving a finger. We just don't care.
Now, sometimes I wonder if this is because mind programming or what. Definitely Hollywood and tv shows have achieved their goal: we are absolutely desentisized. When I was younger, every time we heard about a rape, somebody being killed, people dying from starvation, we used to feel outraged, well, not anymore. That is our greatest weakness, total separation from each other and absolute indiference. Maybe, when problems hit home we will do something. I'm not pro violence but pro service and caring.
If you think about it, Bill Cooper started talking many years ago and some other people followed him, talking and exposing what they new. What have changed? It seems to me, the only change has been the fortification of the elite and humanity getting more and more powerless. I hope I/m very wrong and we are following the best path possible but one thing is no violence and other our silence as approval.
I forgot to say that even the ones that consider themselves "awake" because they know what's going on o part of it, think that's enough. What the use of knowing something if you don't use it or apply it or take action?
Take care my friend.
Cloud 9

[Humble Janitor]

People getting hung up on language/border issues certainly don't seem too concerned about ascension.

[Dantheman62]

Hey, you know I do know a lot of languages!!!

German= Achtung, Adolph, Nazi, Shnitzel

Italian= Lasagna, Mozzarella, Pizza

French= Cordon Bleu, French Fry, Croissant

Spanish= Taco, Burrito, Enchilada

Norweigan= Ole, Sven, Johnson, Olson

Chinese= Kung Pao, Moo Goo Gai Pan, Wonton

Japanese= Suzuki, Kawasaki, Honda, Toyota

Latin= Carpe Diem

See now I'm ready to go out in the world!!! LOL!
Sorry I'm getting goofy at 3am

[burgundia]

Originally Posted by Dantheman62

Hey, you know I do know a lot of languages!!!

German= Achtung, Adolph, Nazi, Shnitzel

Italian= Lasagna, Mozzarella, Pizza

French= Cordon Bleu, French Fry, Croissant

Spanish= Taco, Burrito, Enchilada

Norweigan= Ole, Sven, Johnson, Olson

Chinese= Kung Pao, Moo Goo Gai Pan, Wonton

Japanese= Suzuki, Kawasaki, Honda, Toyota

Latin= Carpe Diem

See now I'm ready to go out in the world!!! LOL!
Sorry I'm getting goofy at 3am

I bet you speak Polish too: kielbasa, pierogis...

[cloud9]

Hey Dantheman, thas was good! You see? It's not that hard, maybe could add a few ones every year or so.....
Sorry my coments on the thread have become serious and boring, I just couldn't help it. Usually I don't post, I read almost every thread when time allows me and I'm always grateful for the information I can get in the forum. Cheers!!

[cloud9]

Sorry guys, I couldn't help it! I found this video which I think is really funny so I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGctU...eature=channel