English-Only Bill Heads for House Floor (IN)

[paul1968mcr]

Yes! Indiana should be for Englishmen only. Everyone else pack your bags. This is ours!

YouTube - Tribute to England

Stands..raises a pint of Bitter....and pops into Miejer and buys a packet of Digestive Biscuits and a box of fruit pastells....then stares in wonder as he realises Starbucks has a drivethrough!!

 

[MTC]

Yes! Indiana should be for Englishmen only. Everyone else pack your bags. This is ours!

YouTube - Tribute to England

Die verfluchten Englander!

err...I believe Her Majesty would approve this message. Did I spy the H.M.S. Freeman in those pics?

 

[DragonGunner]

Can we get rid of the "Press 1 for English" also while we are at it?

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

How so?

Nobody is saying it would be illegal for somebody to speak German or Portuguese, just that the COMMON language of this country is English.

There's already a state law saying the official language of Indiana is English. It was passed in 1984 according to the article. This bill would provide that certain forms and services be provided in English only.

Not to mention that even as things are NOW, if a German or Portuguese person walked into most government offices across the country and attempted to communicate in their native language, it's unlikely anybody there would speak German or Portuguese.

I provided one example I could think of with a 10 second investment where this could cause unintended consequences. I'm sure if I put an extra 30 seconds into it I could come up with 3 more. The language spoken is irrelevent.

My sister works in a government services office and I KNOW this would be true there.

So are we to have translators for 140 or so different languages on call at all times at taxpayer expense?

Yes, because that's what I said. We should be able to cover every language spoke in the world in every office of state government all at your personal expense.

The answer is, if you're gonna visit a country that speaks a different language, you should at least learn enough of the basics of THEIR language to be able to get connected with somebody who can help you.

That's the way to boost tourism and get some of those dollars to come back home. Speak our language or don't come here. Brilliant marketing message.

And if you're gonna move there for an EXTENDED period of time, you need to learn THEIR language.
They have NO obligation to learn yours.

On this we agree.

Lastly, because the USA is a melting pot of 140 or so languages, a person coming here who doesn't speak English would have an easier time of it than most countries I would bet.

I'm just saying while I tend to agree this bill requires more thought.

I've been to countries where people don't speak English. I was at a Swiss border crossing with an MP5 pointed at my head. It was a good thing that they were able to find someone that spoke very broken English, and between his bad English and my even worse German we were almost able to communicate. Probably kept me from being shot since I didn't know what the border guard wanted of me and so I couldn't comply.

 

[MTC]

... MP5 pointed at my head...
...Probably kept me from being shot since I didn't know what the border guard wanted of me and so I couldn't comply.

Likely what they always want.
Halt!
Ihre Papiere, bitte.
Hände hoch!
Spione werden erschossen.

Glad it worked out for you.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Die verfluchten Englander!

Verspotten Sie mich nicht, Sie deutsch! Ich spreche Ihre Sprache auch!

(I hope writing this does not get me on a list with the General Assembly. Don't tell them that I speak Russian too).

This bill is inane political grandstanding. I have no constitutional objections to it, but I think slashing the state's budget and taxes should have priority over this nonsense.

 

[MTC]

(I hope writing this does not get me on a list with the General Assembly. Don't tell them that I speak Russian too).

You are already on ze List. Not to vorry, comrade. Your secret is safe vis me.

This bill is inane political grandstanding. I have no constitutional objections to it, but I think slashing the state's budget and taxes should have priority over this nonsense.

Hmmm. Thanks for sharing your view on this...

 

[Kirk Freeman]

You are already on ze List. Not to vorry, comrade. Your secret is safe vis me

You say:

Vee uzhina na spiskee. Nee potrevozh'tes', tovarish. Ya nee skazhoo nikto.*

*Yes, I know it's not an extract romanization, deal with it.

 

[MTC]

You say:

Vee uzhina na spiskee. Nee potrevozh'tes', tovarish. Ya nee skazhoo nikto.*

And Maxwell Smart says:

"Ahaaah! I knew it, I knew it! This man is a KAOS agent!"

 

[Bill of Rights]

Right now, there are services available that do have translators on call. I'd imagine they're paid on a "per-use" basis. It seems to me that it would make sense to have a sign in all 140 or so languages telling people:
"Translation service available. $2.50/ minute. Major credit cards accepted. 1-800-qik-talk"
Problem solved- gov't offices (and any other business that wants one)have translators available and the cost is borne by those who use it, not by the taxpayers at large. Hell, for that matter, there's no reason the individual couldn't store their number in his cell phone for use with the occasional border guard. The problem is self-limiting, too. Eventually, someone will choose to save money and learn the language him- or herself.

Blessings,
Bill