| Author | Message | ||
     Just_ziptab |
All the US road maps I have seen are in English. All the traffic signs I have seen are in English.(in Iowa anyways) Why is there drivers license written test offered in Spanish? ........just asking.  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Motor Voter | ||
| Rpm4x4 |
Dont get me started. Thats one of those hot buttons for me. | ||
| Crusty |
A good question. Why does the idiot governor of Massachusetts want to give all sorts of benefits to illegal aliens? Free Drivers License, free health care, free tuition to State Colleges and Universities for their kids, etc.? | ||
| Bluzm2 |
One word LIBERALS | ||
| Iamike |
I am torn about this issue because when I read ride-reports on ADV I see pictures of road signs in other countries that have 2,3 & 4 languages on them. Many times English is predominant. I do think that people that spend much time here or anywhere else should attempt to learn enough of the basic language so they can communicate. I remember reading a RR where a guy had travelled alone into Mexico with no knowledge of where he was going or having the ability to communicate. Mexicans kept telling him "no, no" when he would show them his proposed route. It wasn't until he finally ran across someone who could speak English that he was told that he was planning on travelling into the worst part of the country and probably wouldn't have made it out. I don't really have too much of a problem with helping people who come here as long as they realize the best way to succeed is to learn the language. So we shouldn't make it too easy for them to not learn the lanquage. Of course as I have travelled around the US I sometimes have a hard time communicating with people who are speaking English! | ||
| Pwnzor |
In California the driver test is issued in 9 languages. HELP MEEEeeeeeee!!!! | ||
| Gregtonn |
...I see pictures of road signs in other countries that have 2,3 & 4 languages on them. Many times English is predominant. English is considered by many to be the "universal language". Many (non-english speaking) countries throughout the world require students to be taught multiple years of english language courses. While some may find this to be offensive it is one of the facts of life. G | ||
| Larryjohn |
While some may find this to be offensive it is one of the facts of life I think that just about answers the OPs question (and just about any other question ever asked). | ||
| Sifo |
English is considered by many to be the "universal language". Many (non-english speaking) countries throughout the world require students to be taught multiple years of english language courses. While some may find this to be offensive it is one of the facts of life. The odd thing about that is I have often heard America getting "blamed" for this for forcing the rest of the world to conform to us. It seems that England had a far greater influence in spreading the English language by trying to colonize so many countries around the world. Just an observation. | ||
| Midknyte |
All the US road maps I have seen are in English. All the traffic signs I have seen are in English.(in Iowa anyways) Why is there drivers license written test offered in Spanish? ........just asking. heheh, gotta start somewhere | ||
| Cowboy |
It is faster to teach citizens english than to translate the great amount of tech. info. to other tonges | ||
| Pso |
My dear departed mother used to talk about when she was a little girl, 1912 or there abouts, her parenst were immigrants from German and they told her that she is an American and German is no longer to be spoken at home. Of course this also could have been during WW I. She could sort of understand the language but could not speek it. Her family was very proud to be American and worked hard on assimilating but keeping some of the old country customs in the house. | ||
| Davegess |
Her in Milwaukee the public schools taught in German well into the first decade of the 20th century. German is still spoken in public in this area. German language newspapers are sold. Does not seem to have hurt the assimilation of Germans here. | ||
| Steve_mackay |
+1 The closest public school to us is Hispanic. It doesn't matter what part of the school district you're in, the school bus is available to them. Now my son will be going to a new STEM academy here. Busing isn't available to him whatsoever.
I live in the same area. I've not heard ANYONE speak German in public, in this area, in probably 2 decades. We didn't cater to our German population anywhere NEAR what we currently do with the Hispanic population. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
try living in hialeah outside of miami. lived there for 3 years and i don't care if they put a fence around the whole sothern part of the state. | ||
| Aesquire |
In technical terms, there are a dozen or so road signs that you have to know. The important ones are color & shape coded. Anyone who speaks any language can learn that dozen pretty quickly, but to answer a test of rules knowledge is far easier in your native tongue. The few signs that are word dependent, such as "right lane closed ahead" at least warn a non english reader of a change. The odd "bridge out ahead" sign that fails to warn simply acts as a Darwinian aid. English is spoken around the world for 4 reasons. The British Empire. ( not as resistant to learning other languages as we are, but close ) The Liberation of the planet in the 1940's by Allied troops. The domination of air travel in the post WW2 years by American & ( later ) European carriers & aircraft meant that all airport tower types should know English, since that's what's coming at you. The industrial might of the U.S. after WW2 that meant that whatever it was you had that worked, it was probably American. Then there's the whole political multicultural bull crap, but everyone who isn't an idiot knows all about that. | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
Simple, we don't have a national language. | ||
| Aesquire |
For a sign of ....momentum... note that the U.S. went Metric in 1895, officially, and every once in a while we try to add KPH to speed signs.....but it seems to confuse people, and they go away again.  Since I used to do metrology & QC stuff, I can tell you that, as you suspected all along, Metric threads have sloppier tolerances than SAE English. Explains a lot, doesn't it? Other than that, dividing by 10 etc. does make metric easier to learn, and better in some ways than a system based on the length of a dead King's thumb. We're just too stubborn to change. | ||
| Just_ziptab |
My Aunt used to speak in Swedish......but all in fun and probably just to ingrain that she was smarter than me........... | ||
| Sifo |
note that the U.S. went Metric in 1895 Was that supposed to be 1985? | ||
| Court |
Good news . . . the Taxi and Limousine Commission in New York City administer the hack test in 137 languages. Go to any newsstand in NYC and look at the papers . . . . Diversity . . . in an of itself . . .is not bad. Disparate treatment is. Trust me . . . as a white 56 year old male with a Midwestern accent I could tell you some amazing stories. Let your mind be your source of strength. | ||
| Texastechx1 |
honestly, there needs to be a MAJOR drivers education reform. | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
Let your mind be your source of strength. I'm staeling that qoute and sending it to both of my kids. | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
And by my spelling ^ I hope my kids practice what I preach.. | ||
| Sparky |
1895 is 1985 in metric years...  | ||
| Mmmi_grad |
The english language is the most advanced language on the planet. If I grew up with another language I would sure to be learning the most advanced language on the planet ASAP. Go right ahead and compare dictionarys if you dont beleave it. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
beleave it ???  | ||
| Petereid |
English is one of the more difficult languages because every single rule has exceptions and even with spell checkers people can't get it right lol | ||
| Mindi |
I was riding to work on my softail one day and was almost hit head on by a Hispanic driver coming toward me IN MY LANE!!! It was a four lane road with a turn lane in the middle, obviously way too hard for her to figure out. She must have just thought that was more options on which one you want to ride in. Really, they have to start teaching them to drive before they let them on the road...if she even had a license. |
