“You know, I don’t understand when people are going around worrying about, ‘We need to have English- only.’ They want to pass a law, ‘We want English-only.’ Now, I agree that immigrants should learn English. I agree with that. But understand this. Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English — they’ll learn English — you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish. You should be thinking about, how can your child become bilingual? We should have every child speaking more than one language.
“You know, it’s embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe, and all we can say [is], ‘Merci beaucoup.’ Right? (Laughter) You know, no, I’m serious about this. We should understand that our young people, if you have a foreign language, that is a powerful tool to get a job. You are so much more employable. You can be part of international business. So we should be emphasizing foreign languages in our schools from an early age, because children will actually learn a foreign language easier when they’re 5, or 6, or 7 than when they’re 46, like me.”
Blah blah blah blah blah blah YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD CAN SPEAK SPANISH blah blah blah blah blah.
By the way, did you know that Obama can speak Indonesian. He probably uses it to discuss strategy with his terrorist overlords after he gives them the secret fist-jab symbol.
Speaking of baseball, J-Roll hit a triple last night, and the Phillies finally won. Coincidence? I think not.
Open thread, people. It's all out there.
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Spanish is an international language but BOH should not have limited his example to it. How about Chinese or German or Japanese? I can speak 2 1/2 languages (English, Italian and Thai) and it a great advantage in my job with an international company. Capite, tutti?- Comment removed.
Dios mÃo! I think English SHOULD be the official language--this nonsense about how cheesesteak places should be staffed to take orders in any language is political correctness gone crazy. At the same time, Obama is right--parents should push their children to learn a second language if for no other reason than to expand their minds and further their education. Mrs. Awesome and I were in Punta Cana last month on vacation and met a lot of Europeans who were fluent in two or even three languages.— Captain Awesome- I agree with Xi Jah. Americans should just insist that everyone speak English. Think of how much it will help with the "war on terror" when all those terrorists knuckle under and stat speaking English because Xi Jah thinks they should. It'll make tapping their phones, (without getting warrants, mind you), soooooo much easier.— Talking point sleuth
- What's the term for someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What's the term for someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What's the term for someone who speaks one language? American.— Talking point sleuth
- Of course Europeans speak more than one language. They have to in order to be able to function in their daily lives. Think of it this way. If there were different languages in each state in the US (I'm not talking about regional slang, I'm talking honest to goodness languages) of course we would learn them. NJ people would speak Pennsylvanian and vice versa. Europeans do it out of neccessity, not because they are somehow superior people. And immigrants will learn English? Ever been to LA, NY, or Miami? Oh yeah, (insert sarcastic font)they all know English (end sarcastic font).— Ramon
- Obviously, Ramon, not all Europeans "have to" learn multiple languages to function in their daily lives. That's ridiculous. And it's not just Europe. Asians make a concerted effort to learn multiple languages also. Why? Because they place a high value on education and improving themselves.— Talking point sleuth
- Well, maybe "have to" is too strong of a phrase, but it is definitely more of a necessity than in the US. I used the European example because that was the one cited in the quote from Barak. The real reason they all know English is because of all the tv and movies we send around the world (I'm only half kidding).— Ramon
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- Immigrants will learn English, except for the largest bloc coming over, the Hispanics. Asians and Europeans have learned English and assimilate, but Hispanics are not. Why is that? I am so sick of liberal columnists lampooning conservatives. Perhaps, in your mind, conservatives are deaf regarding Obama's speech, but I say to you liberals are blind to what is going on around them. In 50 years we will not recognize this nation. It will be Balkanized. Go to Southern CA and see the Mexican flags hanging all over the place. It's bad enough illegals are allowed to stay in this country and get all the tax benefits a US citizen may receive; asking them to learn the language really isn't too much to ask, is it?— stop2think
- """""Percentage wise, Philadelphia's loss of residents leads the nation.""""fill it up with all those illegal aliens that obamamessiah so loves.. why should immigrants learn to speak english ..— mookie
- BTW .. I thought that the Obamamessiah didn't like NAFTA 8 CAFTA.. si se puedo— mookie
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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