•••quote:••••Who said Spanish-speaking immigrants shouldn't learn English? They probably are trying, who said that every other immigrant culture has assimilated and learned English except for Hispanics? You mentioned the early part of the 20th century...well Hispanics are moving into the US everyday, do you expect them to learn English overnmight? Where did you get this information?That is simply not true. They should not be forced to learn English just to attain health care. Simple. Period.•••••First off, calm the h3ll down! I'm not some fascist, hispanic hating, cracker trying to hold anyone down.
I didn't say anyone even implied that Spanish speaking immigrants shouldn't learn English. I simply replied to the following from UrSexyLatinDr:
"How do u expect them to learn english while here if they have the ugliest jobs? Jobs that Most anglos wont do..."
To me, that was sounding like an excuse rather than a reason, based on MY...I say again...MY personal experience. My grandparents had sh*tty jobs, literally in some cases, and still made a paramount effort to at least learn the language. They didn't forsake their culture at all, but did realize that the faster thay could learn English, the easier life would be in their new homeland.
Also, I do believe that the vast majority of Spanish speaking immigrants are indeed trying to learn English. However, once you reach second generation, or even those that moved here as children and are now adults, English usage should be 'the rule rather than the exception.
I have known many second generation immigrants from the countries I mentioned in my original post, and have yet to meet any that have a carry-over accent (not that that even would matter)or difficulty with English.
Yes, I mentioned the early 20th century. You know, back then they were immigrating into the country every day too. I know that they didn't learn English "overnight", nor would any reasonable person expect them to be able to learn English that fast. However, I think that they made every effort to learn it as soon as humanly possible. Maybe it's the result of modern society's apathy, but one gets the feeling that the attitude is one of, "I'll learn it when I get a chance. After all, I'm busting my a$$ working a job the anglos won't do, and don't really have the time. Besides, the government has made many things I need in order to function bi-lingual anyhow."
I got my information from empirical data in my own life. It's data I collected, therefore I trust it's source. A person that says they make observations and yet doesn't derive conclusions from those observations is a liar.
Finally, I NEVER said directly, implied, or even would ever believe that Spanish speakers should be deprived of good health care due to an inability to speak English. In fact, I stated in my previous post:
"That all being said, I would still like to learn Spanish so as to make not only the Spanish speaking patients experience easier on them, but easier on myself when trying to treat the patients."
Do you think I would want one of my cousins (Italians that assimilated into a Spanish speaking culture) to be visiting and be deprived of health care because they speak Spanish? Of course not! So, please don't make it sound like anyone that has opinions similar to my own is a demon.
Simple. Period.
Ian
Ian's Medical Spanish lesson #1:
Me llaman Juan. No soy un fascista. = I am called (named) John (Ian is John in Gaelic). I am not a fascist.