This post is going to be very controversial. I'm sorry if this makes some of you uncomfortable but it needs to be addressed. Now this is obviously my opinion on the situation and you have every right to think differently, but here it goes.
Let's start off with a story.
I work at a car dealership. Nothing I say has any reflection on the business itself or the professionalism of the workers, it's all their personal feelings I'll be telling. Anyway, we get a lot of different customers coming through our doors. Some are young, some are old, some are White, and some are Hispanic. They can be coming into the dealership to buy a car or to service their car. Well, a lot of my coworkers who deal with customers are older than me and are not as cultured as me. I'm not saying older people can't be cultured, but these coworkers of mine are into their own lives and definitely not interested in other cultures. They even find it weird and surprising when I talk about Japan. They just never had the desire to learn more than what they need to know. To get to the story, one day a customer came into the dealership. He supposedly had a really thick accent. My coworker claimed he was Chinese due to his name and passed the customer onto someone else because she couldn't understand him. Then I heard a comment from the spectators in the office that people should speak English if they come to America. What?!?!?! This guy was clearly speaking English, he just had a Chinese accent still which is normal.
Now let's get down to my opinion and morals of this story.
Why should anyone coming to America have to speak English? I thought America was a free country, and welcoming to all types of people. We even have Americans who speak different kinds of English like slang, or just not proper English at all. These foreigners coming to America are here for the opportunities and some even learned English so they could fit in. I rather these people living in America than the lazy people who just sit at home all day wondering why their life is so miserable and not doing anything to fix it themselves.
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| My Japanese notebook, plus some doodles. |
It really bothers me when someone says something stupid like "they should speak English." Obviously the people who say this have never truly learned a language so they can't possibly understand. It's hard to learn a language! People always ask me if I can speak Japanese and it's the hardest thing to answer. I can't say no because I do know some Japanese. Yet if I say yes everyone thinks I know it fluently which is not true. I end up saying yes to their question but add that I know enough to get around. They are still impressed with me but then they turn around and say stupid stuff like speak English! Well then, since you are so adamant about people speaking English you should try speaking another language. See how that works out for you. You'll never be able to compare your speaking skills with others who are learning English because English is the hardest language to learn and you've grown up with it since birth.
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| I'm studying Japanese. |
So I dare those of you who've ever said that foreigners should speak English to actually learn a different language first before saying something that stupid. You just sound ignorant when you say it.
That's my life lesson I'm sharing with all of you. I hope it didn't get too intense for you but this is a serious subject that happens more often than you may think.
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