Barack Obama: Your Children Should Learn To Speak Spanish

[roo_ster]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZprtPat1Vk

I took 6 years of Spanish instruction*, became reasonably good with it, and also put it to use for a while in college.

I have to say that it is WORTHLESS in my professional capacity.  I have let it become rusty because I don't need it.  Unless you are traveling to LA countries and selling them on your stuff, Spanish is not necessary in America.  Some guys who interface with illegal aliens could find it useful, but LA illegal alien labor is such a tiny portion of the GDP, the lack of such facility would be a similarly tiny loss of opportunity.

Also, BHO is oh-so-worried what multi-lingual Europeans will think of us.  !Que horror!**






* If I had to do it over, I would take either latin, German, Japanese, or Mandarin.  Latin & German being the top picks.

** Anybody know how to get the upside-down exclamation point to register in the text box?  I tried alt-0161 and got bupkis.

[Manedwolf]

¡Caramba!

I can order lunch in Spanish. That's all I care to learn.

If I wanted to learn something for business, it would be Mandarin Chinese. Otherwise, probably German.

[ilbob]

I took 3 years of german in hs. I could read german newspapers, although i needed a dictionary for some words, and i could not read anywhere near as fast as I could read english. my oral comprhension and spekaing ability was pretty low though.

a few years out of school without reading any german text left me without the ability to do so anymore.

[AZRedhawk44]

¡ =  ALT 0161: use the numpad and not the number keys on the top of the keyboard.

I studied for 5 years in high school and college, worked in a vegetable cannery with 95%+ hispanic workforce for high school and college, and found moderate use as a blue collar worker in a low paying job.

Now as a DBA and an office professional, I have zero use for it.  I've studied chinese and japanese as well, and found zero use for them.  I guess that means I need to travel more.  

Tell BHO to go talk to the French:  they know how to treat a domestic language in their own country.  As much as I dislike them generally, they at least have a loving respect for a unified national language.  They may speak German/Italian/English/Spanish/Whatever when abroad or to tourists domestically who cannot speak French, but they are devoted to their own language when at home.

We need to be the same.

ETA:  My biggest use for Spanish now is when I go down to the border with the Minutemen.  Somehow, I don't think that's why BHO wants us to learn Spanish, though.

[longeyes]

The issue isn't linguistic fluency.   That's a good thing.

The issue is who rules America.  First divide, then conquer.

[Dntsycnt]

I don't see the problem here.  How can more knowledge/abilities be a bad thing?

I'd like to learn Spanish.  Instances arise about every third day in which it would be useful at my work, and aside from that, it's just interesting.

[Manedwolf]

I don't see the problem here.  How can more knowledge/abilities be a bad thing?

I'd like to learn Spanish.  Instances arise about every third day in which it would be useful at my work, and aside from that, it's just interesting.

Why don't you just require the employees to speak English?

[Parker Dean]

You know, sometimes I swear BHO or his staff hang out on 4 c h a n. Too much of the time he sounds just like the taunts the European trolls throw out over there. The difference is that they're trolling for a reaction and he's trying to get elected with it.

[Boomhauer]

I don't see the problem here.  How can more knowledge/abilities be a bad thing?

I'd like to learn Spanish.  Instances arise about every third day in which it would be useful at my work, and aside from that, it's just interesting.

I see the problem here. I DON'T WANT TO LEARN IT!. It's very hard for me to learn other languages (I've switched to French in college in hopes it will be easier cause I failed Spanish 101). My grammatical education in school was very lacking, and the ONLY reason I am as literate as I am now is that I read a LOT on my own time.

Let THEM learn English.

The past couple of weeks have made me really, really hate Obama.

He wants to start his own Brownshirts/Gestapo

He wants to force students to volunteer (50 hrs for HS, 100 hrs for College)

He wants to force us to learn to speak Spanish, aparently so that we can obey our new masters when La Raza takes over.

Wants to give more $$$$ to the UN so they can take it, and give some of it to worthless African dictators...



Little Marxist SOB.

[charby]

Where is the middle finger smilie.

[MechAg94]

I would much rather see better math education than worry about language abilities.  Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic; the basics come first.     Science and History as well. 


Why would we worry about multi-lingual Europeans?  They all speak English. 

[Perd Hapley]

I don't see the problem here.  How can more knowledge/abilities be a bad thing?  

The main problem I have with it is his embarassment that Americans are not like Europeans.  We fought a revolution so that we would not have to be like Europe.  And we're not.  We're better. 


Europeans:  More likely to know other languages.
Americans:  Less likely to be socialist weenies. 

Advantage:  America   

[Boomhauer]

I would much rather see better math education than worry about language abilities.  Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic; the basics come first.     Science and History as well. 


Why would we worry about multi-lingual Europeans?  They all speak English. 

OMG! WHY are you suggesting that the government schools teach actual subjects that are extremely important instead of teaching them multiculturalism and indoctrinating them in the greatness of big government!

[Manedwolf]

When I see "your" and "you're" transposed on a daily basis, when I see phonetic spelling used in newspaper comments, I think we ought to be teaching them ENGLISH first.

Because they're sure not learning it...

[El Tejon]

Wenn Sie Deutches sprechen, leiben Frauen Sie.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Of all the things the average American child doesn't learn, Obama hits on Spanish as the main problem?

He should insist that all of our children learn how to do algebra, and learn how to read, write, and speak English properly, and learn  enough history to know which century the Civil War took place in.

[roo_ster]

He should insist that all of our children learn how to do algebra, and learn how to read, write, and speak English properly, and learn  enough history to know which century the Civil War took place in.

Preach it, brother!

[charby]

Wenn Sie Deutches sprechen, leiben Frauen Sie.

Yes, I want ketchup with my fries.

[El Tejon]

If you speak German, women will love you.

Yes, I want ketchup with my fries

Ja, ich wunsche Ketschup auf meinen potatos.  [I can't remember the word for french fries]

[Laurent du Var]

Well, well boys and girls.

I'm grateful that fistful has won the revolution so he doesn't have to be
like the socialist European's scape goat.

In order to learn a foreign language you'd have to master your own first.
If hispanic people don't feel the need to learn the language of their host country
then there should be questions asked about individual freedom or the need of freedom for those individuals who won't say hello to their fellow human beings in their own language.

Personally I'm grateful to have learnt other languages at a young age because I use it every day at work, in my family  and at gunowner boards.

Because of this I'm here and able to understand the cranky Irwin, the slaughtering Swede, the Jewish guy with a German girlfriend whose mother will be fine I hope, St John's who is short but a great weight lifter and a great range of American people I got to like to read from over the years.

Learning a foreign language is like learning to swim, great if you like the sea and useless if you prefer sitting on your couch.

Edit to help our lawyer out again :

French fries in German are pommes frites ! and they are from Belgium really....

[El Tejon]

Thank goodness, I thought LdV was going to correct my German again.

Pommes frites!  I should have known that!  Thanks, LdV.

Language Police=>

[Laurent du Var]

I am faster than lightening my friend 

[MicroBalrog]

If Europe and America are different, it can only mean one thing:

Europe needs to get with the program.


And for the record, I speak four languages.

[longeyes]

It's too bad that mastering basic skills, among which is English, doesn't seem to be priority one with Obama.  This nation desperately needs to worry less about social skills and more about competency and competitiveness.

The underlying impetus by the Left is toward balkanizing the U.S. and de-Anglicizing it.  Whatever we are, wherever we come from, we are the inheritors of an Anglo-American culture whose core political and cultural values cannot be separated from that legacy.  That doesn't mean we have to war against all "alien" influences; it does mean we need to be clear about what we believe and why.

And for the record I have familiarity with several languages and am fluent in at least two.

[roo_ster]

A buddy of mine says, "I am fluent in several languages: C, C++, Pascal, Fortran, & some others.  I speak only English, however."