Disadvantages of speaking no or little english in the US
>>>It is obvious by your statement that you really do not know much at all about the United States and what it is like. This is still a country where hard work and efforts get you places no matter who you are. Certainly, it may be a little more difficult based upon your background, but there are many people who have managed to over come this. And this is also true for any Nation in the world.<<<
In America if you are not in an unionized job then its political on who raises in the ladder. As a result, many minorities / immigrants do not make it far in America. This is just one reason upon many why many cannot prosper.
Unions are no longer common in the US. Most jobs are not union jobs. And people rise by merit in most cases, so being a minority or an immigrant would make no difference. And plenty of them prosper. At my hob, the CEO is hispanic, the doctors are Indian and Pakistani, the nurse manager is Filipina -- need I go on?
Just one more thread here where I tune in to read folks who can't write understandable English lecturing Americans on how America is, judged from what they see on TV, read in tabloids, or hear in distorted anecdotal accounts from other non-English speakers. Yawn... and goodbye...
"K.T why get limited ?
Depends on what you are loooking for. If other people ( In this case English-only People) have nothing to offer you, why would to try to make the effort to learn well their Language?"-Pimpope
I'm not sure what you mean. I meant that only having one language can be limiting. I think that you mean that you can network in your group and do just fine. Maybe so, but how would you know that this is the highest you could reach?
<<
I'm not sure what you mean. I meant that only having one language can be limiting. I think that you mean that you can network in your group and do just fine. Maybe so, but how would you know that this is the highest you could reach?>>
Because sometimes the benefits are not worth the effort or are not relevant to your personal goals. Why don't you learn quantum physics? It would surely open your doors to a lot of opportunities, who knows, maybe you are the next Einstein?
<<In America if you are not in an unionized job then its political on who raises in the ladder. As a result, many minorities / immigrants do not make it far in America. This is just one reason upon many why many cannot prosper.>>
This is a very interesting idea. I know many immigrants and minorities who are prospering. One of the editors at my job, my boss’s boss in fact, is from Indonesia. My friend Maria is from Venezuela, her father is an executive for a major company, and she is working on her B.A. My friend Ignatius, a Chinese Canadian by birth (making him a racial minority and an immigrant), is a professor at UCSD. My friend Eduardo is working on his masters in Chicano literature. His mentor is Latina. Oh, and have I forgot to mention that the front runner for the U.S. presidency is African American, the current secretary of state is African American, the Governor of New Mexico is Hispanic, and the wealthiest woman in America is African American. So, I guess that kind of contradicts everything you have said. It does illustrate point for point exactly what I said earlier, however: "This is still a country where hard work and effort gets you places no matter who you are. Certainly, it may be a little more difficult based upon your background, but there are many people who have managed to over come this. And this is also true for any Nation in the world". But, all of these people are legally in the U.S. and all are fluent in English. It is very important, if you want to succeed in the U.S., to have these two things going for you: communication and the law. It is a novel idea.
"the wealthiest woman in America is African American." I didn't know that, but I've never seen a picture of Christy Walton. Of course, her race doesn't matter to me.
"......hear in distorted anecdotal accounts from other non-English speakers. Yawn... and goodbye..."
mmm is this one another lazy North American??
come on you can do it better ! you're a native right ?
<<The wealthiest woman in America is African American." I didn't know that, but I've never seen a picture of Christy Walton. Of course, her race doesn't matter to me.>>
Oh, yes. I forgott that her husband died . . . too bad the rest of the Walton family didn't follow his lead.
I believe some of the non-native English speakers are distorting the facts in this thread.
While of course it's possible for a non-English speaker to prosper, the simple, irrefutable fact is that the vast majority of them remain on the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder.
I believe the apologists are trying in vain to defend immigrants' laziness; it's an immigrant's responsibility to learn the language of their host country.
"Oh, yes. I forgott that her husband died . . . too bad the rest of the Walton family didn't follow his lead."
You wish them dead? That seems rather extreme.
<<Oh, yes. I forgott that her husband died . . . too bad the rest of the Walton family didn't follow his lead.>>
Yeah, especially John-Boy.
At least grandma and grandpa Walton are dead.
<<I believe the apologists are trying in vain to defend immigrants' laziness; it's an immigrant's responsibility to learn the language of their host country. >>
I think the PC argument goes something like this:
The early European immigrants were too lazy to learn the Native American languages. Eventually, English won out in the US among these European languages, and Spanish in Mexcico. Later, the US snipped off the top of Mexico, and English eventually became the predominant language there, since the Anglos didn't bother to switch over to Spanish.
Hence, English in the US is no more legitimate than Spanish, and is perhaps less so in the Southwest. It's not "right" that you have to learn English in the US to maximize your career.