The year is 2010 -- not 1787. What language would you like?



Lakrimoso! Ĉu vi parolas Esperante? Mi estas Esperantistino!

-- Nephele
Edit: corrected date for U.S. Constitution.

Speaking as someone with a passing degree of fluency in four languages and a few words here and there of three or four others..... the original. It's least likely to encounter peculiarities in translation arising from idiomatic speech. For now.......

[EDIT]Who am I kidding? The language has changed too far for the original document to be relevant anyway. Do away with it entirely I say![/EDIT]

Been there, done that.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..." – Amendment IV, Bill of Rights

And also, "On Wiretapping, Bush Isn't Listening to the Constitution"

Although, I suppose it should be noted (to bring this back to the original topic) that former president G.W. Bush was mostly opposed to "English only" laws and making English our national language.

-- Nephele

Jes! I think that we should all be learning a constructed auxilliary langauge instead of the world's most popular language that spread via cultural imperialism. Language is often a symbol of one's nationality, and in the case of the U.S., it's a symbol of our nationalism and our sphere of influence over the world. English is becoming more of the U.S.'s language moreso than England's language, since, when English learners think "English", they thing "American English" not "British English." When Americans with this nativist view go on a bitch fest when somebody dares to speak to them in the vulgarity that is Spanish (or even when an American is in Greece and they get all surprised (and vexed) when somebody speaks in *gasp* Greek!), their mind is telling them that people who don't speak English are defying America's power over them, because America has been assimilatin' since the 1600s and aren't thinking of stopping anytime soon.

I don't speak Spanish or German fluently (since those are the only two languages that I have any skill at), but if encountering someone who speak those langauges in America, I at least have enough knowledge (and courtesy) to say, "I don't speak Spanish/German very well, but I can try to help" auf Deutsch o en espanol.

I agree with Butterfly that learning another language can help improve your mother tongue. Actually, from learning German, I understood Spanish a lot more.

Karpata Malluma Princino, I think there's a movement within the EU to use Esperanto, but I haven't heard much about it lately. The creator of Esperanto, Zamenhof, never intended for Esperanto to replace any nation's language. Esperanto was created to serve as an easy-to-learn "bridge" language between nations. Which I see you mentioned above, KMP, by referring to Esperanto as an "auxiliary" language.

-- Nephele

You know, if people in this country really want to get picky, why don't they first focus on people who do not speak any language properly! We have so much slang these days...kids are talking like they text..."OMG...this is my BFF...ttyl..."! Come on!

I was watching a cop show the other day, and the guy was trying to get his dealer to come to the house so that he would get a break on his charges. "Man, you gonna have to come here...I ain't got the whip and the shorties are with me." Now, because my teens seem to have a thing for MTV, I knew what he was saying, but couldn't he simply say, "I don't have a car, and I have my kids with me." To me, that is more annoying than someone speaking Spanish, French, or any other foreign language around me! I just want to slap these people and say, "It is clear you did not pay any attention in school, especially language arts!" This kind of talk makes one sound very uneducated! I have the same peeve about people who have to use fowl language every other word. It simply makes one sound uneducated...like they do not have a strong enough vocabulary to say anything else!

I find the whole notion of English being the end-all in America as pretty amusing (though i might add that modern English is barely an echo of its origins).

Since the Americas were discovered by a Venetian, on a mission for Spain. And large portions of the country originally belonged to the French and Spanish. Named for Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian from Florence. Amerigo being a variant of Heimrich, being a variant of Henry.

Welcome to the United States of Henry.

That's classic.

Of course, if we want to get into the literal meaning of the name, it translates into "The United States of Universal Power" (Emmerich) or, alternately, "The United States of Home Rule" (Heimrich).

-- Nephele

Very telling, isn't it?

Frighteningly so! Not to go off topic, but I've always been struck by the sometimes prescient meanings of names.

-- Nephele

My grandmother did somehting like this. She was calling bingo at her senior center and two women were talking loudly in spanish. she told them to speak in english or else talk more quietly. she lost her bingo calling position. general lack of decorum all round.

A good rule of thumb is: don't be a prick if you encounter someone who doesn't speak the language, be patient with them, they'll get it eventually.

I grew up in a neighborhood of Southern Italians, and it always shocked me how few of the older ones, especially the women, who lived more sheltered, domestic lives, could get along in English even after many years. But I, and all of my contemporaries, very quickly 'anglicized' and happily went into the melting pot.

Same thing with the Hispanics today: most of the second generation will be English-speakers. With most Cubans, it's already occurred.

Time will solve this problem.

-- Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:53 pm --

By the same token--and take my advice on this as a Canadian!--you DON'T want your country to be in a position where a particular ethnic group becomes the majority within a defined region. You will soon have a separatist mentality arising, and no end of trouble, like Quebec is--or rather, WAS--up here.

Woo-hoo! A country for my little one!

Maybe he should claim ruler when he gets out of diapers.

~spidey

And we would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!

I personally have no problem with people speaking whatever moon-tongue* they're fluent in around me because English isn't exactly the easiest or most refined language in the world. We took Old High German and mangled it over the centuries, slapping on any old word we liked the sound of until we wound up with a horrible inbred mongrel Frankenstein of a language. Hell, even supposed native speakers can't talk it proper, like. In fact I find it a beautiful irony that our former colonies use English better than we do.

Except America of course; how dare you remove our extraneous U's!

- trag

* No offence intended to any of you ungodly Johnny Foreigners. Feel free to complain in whatever devil-speak you like while I smile and nod in a patronising manner, before replying in English LOUDER and sloooooooower in the deluded belief it'll somehow make me easier to understand.

England should be proud of its culture, its got more good bits than screwups (every culture has bad bits, some mostly bad). Funny a Celt defending the English, but there you are.