English Only work places...

[Paul]

There was some politician in the news supporting a bill to allow employers to discriminate and only hire English Speaking employees on the grounds of better communication makes a better work environment.


Discuss.









IMO, you should be able to hire who you want and require them to speak English which is our national language.

[oneSLOWex]

I agree with this 100%!

[GsrCrx]

not to start somethig paul, but there is not one single document that declares english as the main language.....

[Vteckidd]

you know RUsh said this not too long ago, you agreeing with him now lol.

IMO it depends on the work. Knowing other languages is great and helps out in global terms.

but refusing to learn english, thats just retarded

[Glides]

Do that on Peachtre Industrial and your business is dead meat.

Don't think that this will ever take off.

[mocha latte cupcake]

I don't think paul means you can speak other languages, but i agree with paul on this. Hiring people who speak english AND another language is cool, but English needs to be the primary form of communication. i mean i can speak some spanish, japanese, and french when i need to but i mainly communicate in english (being that its my primary language) but the same thing is said for example, we don't set up shop in spain and expect everyone who comes in to learn english right? why would we expect every foreign person to come into our stores and expect us to speak spanish etc etc they came here. not visa versa/

[SL65AMG]

its one thing for those people to come here illegally (mostly) and start a business blah blah. congratulations.

but its going a bit too far to have your customers speak only (Spanish, whatever...) because you don't speak a lick of English. i mean be glad that you are here and learn the damn language for God sakes. English is EASY compared to other languages


so good job to the ONE useful politician that we have....

[Paul]

I don't think paul means you can speak other languages, but i agree with paul on this. Hiring people who speak english AND another language is cool, but English needs to be the primary form of communication. i mean i can speak some spanish, japanese, and french when i need to but i mainly communicate in english (being that its my primary language) but the same thing is said for example, we don't set up shop in spain and expect everyone who comes in to learn english right? why would we expect every foreign person to come into our stores and expect us to speak spanish etc etc they came here. not visa versa/

yes, knowing other languages only helps your business but like my company a 30+ million dollar company with a large warehouse most of the employees are Hispanic and only speak Mexican (lol); which then requires me to get someone to translate. Kinda a waste of resources if you ask me. If I owned a company I most certainly require my employees to speak English - I would definitely hire bilingual people though b/c best bang for the buck.

United States

In the United States, English is the national language only in an informal sense, by numbers and by historical and contemporary association. The US Constitution does not explicitly declare any official language, although the constitution is written in English, as is all federal legislation.

On May 8, 2007, Senator James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced Senate Bill S.1335, which would declare English as the official language of the government of the United States. The bill would require that the U.S. government conduct its official activities in English, repeal federal bilingual voting requirements, and require naturalization ceremonies to be conducted solely in the English language. The bill contains a provision preventing it from pre-empting any law of any U.S. state.[13]

Previous incarnations of this bill were co-written and supported by Ron Unz, a California millionaire. He, along with his organization (U.S. English), has been pushing for the "English-Only" cause for many years.

As of May 2007, several bills relating to English as a national language are pending in the U.S.House of Representatives.[14][15][16]

[Total_Blender]

I just looked up Ron Unz... he made a fortune writing software for mortgage backed securities (the main reason behing the economic crisis). So yeah, he's pretty much a scumbag.

Anyway, his program "English for the Children" is something that sounds pretty good, it basically requires schools to enroll foreign language speakers into English immersion programs rather than just teaching in their native language.

But it does scare me when they use statements like "Their example inspired the 1998 California "English for the Children" initiative, which won in a landslide and successfully dismantled most bilingual education programs in that state"

We have to realize that to be globally competitive, we are going to have to start teaching our kids foreign languages. Most kids go through school without getting a lick of foreign language and now they suffer in the job market because they don't know Spanish. Or they decide to go to higher education and have to struggle with foreign languages too little too late.

I don't think making English the "official language" is going to solve anything. It will create more problems than it could fix. Spanish speaking immigrants are already here, having an official policy not accomodating them with their language is only going to things harder for those who deal with them frequently.

[nreggie454]

but its going a bit too far to have your customers speak only (Spanish, whatever...) because you don't speak a lick of English. i mean be glad that you are here and learn the damn language for God sakes. English is EASY compared to other languages

LOL I hope you are kidding. English is very complicated with many rules and exceptions to those rules.

With that said, I definitely agree that if you want to work in America, you must be able to speak English.

[Arm&hammer]

agreed because they are not the only people that speak that language and if they want to come here and work they should learn how to communicate with us.

[LQQKITZME]

I agree 100% If I go to another country they expect me to speak their language. (outside main tourist attractions)

[preferredduck]

english needs to be the primary language in america, i remember there was an uproar b/c we would not recognize a spainish pledge a couple of years ago, if you want that for your country take your ass back across the fence.

[ahabion]

European countries along with Japan require their students to learn English as a secondary language. They learn it and are sometimes more fluent in it than Americans themselves.

While I would agree that people who come here should learn to speak, read and write English, lets not forget that this is a global economy and we in turn should learn the other languages as well. We as a society have simply become to stupid and ignorant to really notice the changes the world makes to accommodate our lack of education in comparison.

[preferredduck]

European countries along with Japan require their students to learn English as a secondary language. They learn it and are sometimes more fluent in it than Americans themselves.

While I would agree that people who come here should learn to speak, read and write English, lets not forget that this is a global economy and we in turn should learn the other languages as well. We as a society have simply become to stupid and ignorant to really notice the changes the world makes to accommodate our lack of education in comparison.

very good point, i have wanted to relearn spainish that was taught at an early age, but in america the language of choice should be english. i agree we all need to learn more languages. the french get really pissed when we go over there and cant speak french. lol

[EJ25RUN]

All us foreigners had to learn English at some point. So should everybody else.

[redrumracer]

sure you should atleast have to speak English good, not spanglish bullshit either.

[BanginJimmy]

If I own a business I dont think tthe govt has any right to say who I have to hire. If I want an english only workforce that is my decision to make, not the govt's.

This has nothing to do with the global economy. This has to do with the massive amounts of people that sneak into this country and then refuse to learn the language. I agree that Americans should learn a second language, but that second language shouldnt need to be a requirement at your place of employment in your own country.

[jwrape]

My thought has always been: This is America where the primary Language is English. If you want to live here SPEAK ENGLISH.

Same thing goes for me if I move to Italy. I'm gonna learn to speak Italian....

It only makes sense

[batlude]

so what do they mean by considering "english speaking"? I know some people that work but only speak enough to work... is that still good?

[SL65AMG]

LOL I hope you are kidding. English is very complicated with many rules and exceptions to those rules.

With that said, I definitely agree that if you want to work in America, you must be able to speak English.

i speak Dutch and German and ive got quite a few friends who speak other(multiple) languages and they all agree that English is easier than most other languages....

[zimabog]

well german and dutch are germanic languages as well as english. so of course its easier for them.

[green91]

So who is the one hispanic that voted NO ??

[Julio]

yes, knowing other languages only helps your business but like my company a 30+ million dollar company with a large warehouse most of the employees are Hispanic and only speak Mexican (lol); which then requires me to get someone to translate. Kinda a waste of resources if you ask me. If I owned a company I most certainly require my employees to speak English - I would definitely hire bilingual people though b/c best bang for the buck.

How is that a waste of resource?

Is called white people hiring minorities for lower pay.....

So is really not a waste of resource when the company is saving money...per say..

Is rather ABUSE.

If I owned a company I would hire based on experience... Not because I can pay them LESS.

[green91]

This scenario does get played out alot, but rest assured there are plenty of low-income people of all races. Its not just white people taking advantage of minorities. I think what Paul is trying to say is that its silly to be forced into having a translator on payroll just to help communicate with employees when english is pretty much the standard language of the country.

[Julio]

This scenario does get played out alot, but rest assured there are plenty of low-income people of all races. Its not just white people taking advantage of minorities. I think what Paul is trying to say is that its silly to be forced into having a translator on payroll just to help communicate with employees when english is pretty much the standard language of the country.

I highly doubt they have someone on payroll just to translate. lol.

So why do you think they hire this folks that dont speak english there?

hnmm...

[preferredduck]

sure you should atleast have to speak English good, not spanglish bullshit either.

amen my brother works at an auto parts store in duluth and he says maybe 1 english speaking person comes in a day, the sad part is they get frustrated b/c they cannot tell him what they need and he knows cars very well. sometimes at the store he works at he is used strictly as "stock boy" and the spainish folks don't ever have to do any lifting, he wants to transfer out here to winder so then the lifting is spread around. i hate it for him sometimes but he is almost done with school.

[preferredduck]

If I own a business I dont think tthe govt has any right to say who I have to hire. If I want an english only workforce that is my decision to make, not the govt's.

This has nothing to do with the global economy. This has to do with the massive amounts of people that sneak into this country and then refuse to learn the language. I agree that Americans should learn a second language, but that second language shouldnt need to be a requirement at your place of employment in your own country.

i agree with the hiring situation, i have seen people not qualified for the job, and then they never do anyh work b/c the gov't says they have to, take nco financial where i used to work. at the moment my mom who works for the usda is in the same boat. this lady can skip work for 2 weeks, take a 5 hour break and will not get fired. she actually has tried to get the bosses to have my mom do her work but she refuses to, her ultimatum was pay me her salary along with mine and i'll just live here while the other lady sings her gospel and gets paid. she doesn't even give my mom the message when i call, wery sad and lazy. sorry abt the rant.

[Paul]

How is that a waste of resource?

Is called white people hiring minorities for lower pay.....

So is really not a waste of resource when the company is saving money...per say..

Is rather ABUSE.

If I owned a company I would hire based on experience... Not because I can pay them LESS.

well my company will not hire anyone that can't speak English but we have a lot of employees that were grandfathered in. we are just talking about spainish but we have people from iran, china, nigeria, etc working there as well... everyone should be expected to know english and how to properly communicate b/c it does cost a company $ to have to have people to translate.

as i stated if i had a company i would hire bilinguals preferablly b/c america is turning into a bilingual country b/c the jackasses in washington don't have the balls to step up to the plate and set a standard. if i go out of the country i don't expect people to know english


i know someone stated gov has not right to tell you who to hire; that isn't what they are doing they are giving you the right to discrimenate which should be ok b/c currently gov does tell us who to hire "equal opportunity" / "affirmative action" , etc

[punkr6]

:english:
This is America

[Bballjamal]

:english:
This is America

Agreed

[AirMax95]

I just say attempt to learn the country's language. If you come here to live/work/play, you can learn English.

When I go to another country, I would actually want people to know what I am saying, and vice versa.

[LQQKITZME]

I just say attempt to learn the countries language. If you come here to live/work/play, you can learn English.

When I go to another country, I would actually want people to know what I am saying, and vice versa.

+1

[bowdown201]

Lol is it bad that I got kinda mad that we have a new instructional sign at work with Spanish on it? I def agree that if you live in America you should know English. It shouldnt be up to us to have to learn another language just to fit their needs better by knowing their language. I mean dont get me wrong Id love to know how to speak another language but it shouldnt be priority.

[LizBiz]

I think the notion that “we require you to speak English or no hire” could be misconstrued and seem unethical, but it should be common sense to try to learn at least some the language where you will be living, you wouldn’t go to Korea without knowing some sort of Korean right? I also believe it’s a double standard, it’s not ok to require foreigners to speak English but if I was to go and apply at my friend Kah’s nail salon, would I be required to speak Vietnamese, the same language as everyone that works there? Would I be turned down because I don’t speak their language? Know what I’m saying? Just interesting to me. I voted no btw…I have mixed feelings on the situation, I’m a woman it’s what we do. I emotionally feel no, but mentally feel yes lol. You wouldn’t understand, so I chose not to go into great detail on the poor non-english speaking family that moved to the U.S. to have a better life lol.

[REDEVO777]

Its very simple everyone here that owns their own company just stop recruiting non- english speaking employees: there problem solved! I am guessing when the europeans invaded the United States everyone learned the native language spoken at the time. I don't realy care what anyone has to say to me I can speak english as well as anyone else and in most cases even better than some people that were born here. lol.