Quote Originally Posted by Husar View Post
Uhm, on the "importance" of the english language, if you say it is wrong to impose english on immigrants, then isn't it wrong as well if the immigrants impose spanish on the natives?
And aren't the immigrants the ones who come to reap the benefits of the natives? Wouldn't it be a show of courtesy and thankfulness to learn the language of the natives in orrder to communicate with them?...
Nobody is imposing Spanish on the natives. As far as not requiring immigrants to learn English, this is a matter of principle: we are a free country in every sense of the word and we take this freedom very-very seriously. We will not violate our principles just so that Jack Anglosaxon feels better about himself. The truth is, most immigrants will learn English as a necessity for survival. Those who don't learn but still manage to survive? Well, kudos to them, they beat the system. As for those who do not learn and can't survive....well, they die and that is quite okay with me. There is very little reason to enforce English by law, as it enforces itself via pure economic necessity.

Let me give you an example: for about 2 years or so I hired this team of mexican guys to do landscaping work for me. Out of 5 guys only 1 spoke English, and he was the head honcho of that group. The remaining 4 guys managed to get by without learning a word of English. Now, *who am I to tell them to learn it when they clearly do not *need* it to survive?

Now, when getting U.S. citizenship one must demonstrate the knowledge of English and U.S. history and that's great. Citizenship is serious business, but if some mexicans came here to make a buck and they can do it without speaking English, it does not bother me one bit.