[Courage the Cowardly Dog]

Prepare for screams of racism.

Okay first things first let me explain a few things from my POV, my family is immigrants, my fiance is also an immigrant, in fact the only language we both speak the same is english with a bad accent. I support the idea of English as the primary Language for the simple reason of universal simplicity. The same reason we SHOULD but have not switched to the metric system.

Let me explain a bit more. This morning I was trying to talk to a 40 year old woman using the little spanish i know. I understood her and i answered her in english and she stared, so i answered her in spanish. Keeping your culture is fine, I go to the european market all the time and converse with people and love listening to all the languages and my fiance teaches me the tagalog and cebuano languages. But when it comes time to fill out paperowrk, talk with strangers, or do Business I have the common courtesy to talk their language.

If an American moved to Germany and never learned a word of German, just spoke english and hoped someone understood we'd either think they are a retard or think they are an ethnocentric asshole. I understand if your trying and taking it slow, my own grandfather is illiterate and we are teaching him to read with his large print books but at least he tries.

As I sit listening to the news being recapped in Spanish I think to myself. What kind of ass, given the chance and help to learn the language of the country you live and work in, i'd at least make an effort. I'm not asking you to give up your culture I'm asking you to RESPECT THE CULTURE YOU LIVE IN!

Do I walk into a middle-eastern restaraunt and rename all the food "ben Franklins, and Crunch patties" and expect everyone to jump on board or do I order the best I can and ask how they pronounce what I like?

Do you have to give up your culture? HELL NO! Look at a mexican restaraunt or throw in a mars volta CD and see how you can share your culture and still function speaking English. I'm not a biggot, your the one moving to another country and refusing to broaden YOUR horizen, I have a lot of Latino friends and you know what? They do their best to speak the language all my friends have in common, english, so we can all understand.

If you need some help, I suggest setting the closed captioning on your TV to the language you want to learn, that's how i learned Spanish.

For the love of God, help out yourself AND US and go ahead and try to learn what you need to know. You're not tourists, you are residents here. Learn what you need to get by, work hard, and I'm glad to live here with you in the great melting pot. But don't forget when you melt you have to take some of our culture with you, it's only right.

It's very rude to speak in another language around others. Most of the time I catch people speaking in Spanish or German they are saying things they don't want the english only people to understand muttering insults and inside jokes. And that's all fun and good but it is rude and it only reinforces WHY you need to know BOTH languages to function.

You say more people speak spanish? I say more people speak Cantonese, but You don't seem to eager to learn that do you? Who is ethnocentric now?

To reiterate I like English, the metric system, and crunch patties.