“Make Sure Your Child Can Speak Spanish”
That’s right folks, that’s the latest “pearl of wisdom” from Barack Obama. He feels the American people need to learn Spanish due to the fact that when “many Europeans come to our country, they are able to speak English, German, French….all we can say when we go over there is merci beau-coup.” Just remember, if it wasn’t for the United States, all of Europe would be speaking German. It is unbelievable to me how quickly everyone forgets this. On top of this, English is a universal language. It is used throughout the entire world.
What Barack Obama is really telling the American public is that since there are over 20 million illegal aliens currently in our country, who not only have come here against our laws, but also refuse to assimilate to our culture, it is up to us to assimilate to them. People need to wake up and realize that our language, our borders, and our culture are under attack from the far left in this country.
Obama also goes on to claim “don’t worry, immigrants will learn English.” Oh, they will? Well if they will learn English, why should we as a nation, have to learn how to speak Spanish? One really has to stop and think where the United States is headed.
6 Responses to ““Make Sure Your Child Can Speak Spanish””
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I personally “speak “4 languages, one being ASL, so “speak” is an odd verb for that. I think it’s great for people to know other languages. There’s more to language than nouns and verbs, there’s also culture and a way of thinking.
What Obama said (to paraphrase) was that we should be educating our children to be able to speak other languages, just like most of the other first world countries. He used Spanish as an example, not as a suggestion. And he did say that immigrants should learn English if they’re coming to the US to live. (Just like most countries would say people coming to their country to live or visit should learn their language.)
Would you prefer him to say your child should be ignorant of other cultures and languages? Do you realize that simply knowing how to speak and/or write another language can guarantee you a job? You can read books written in their original language, work as a translator, understand foreign press and topics that most Americans never get to see.
Personally, I think it’s good to learn other languages, and that the requirements that used to be in place in high school to take a minimal amount of another language should be restored. In many schools they’ve been reduced or eliminated unless you’re in a “college bound” track.
Most people are running around screaming “He said we should learn Spanish!”. When what he really said was we should raise the education level of our children to match that of most of the rest of the world. Have to love that spin machine.
Do you think the reason Obama’s children will no longer do interviews is because someone may ask them “Habla Espanol”?
Barack was moving too close to the center too quickly and he was starting to catch some flak from the liberal elitists and radicals.
AKA flip-flopping on many, many issues.
He needed something to show them that his uber leftist leanings are still his top priority.
Obama will be one of the best things the GOP has going for it if he wins. He the national version of David Gantt. Gantt singlehandedly keeps Republicans in office on the local level.
And Joe Morelle doesn’t have the brass ones like Maggie Brooks to do a damn thing about it.
Thanks Joe and Dave!
Woody,
You always have an interesting way of spinning what you believe Obama said. Obama is an intelligent man why doesn’t he just say what he means? The answer to that rhetorical question is, he wants to be on all sides of an issue. He can say something, see how it plays out and then take the most politically advantages meaning of what he says. Obama used the word Spanish on purpose, just like he used Merci bouku. He had a message that was focus group tested. If he really wanted to get the concept across he would have suggested Chinese, which is becoming a very valuable language to learn.
If Obama is going to make these comments that are left open to interpretation they are going to be interpreted in many ways. This is why he is tied with McCain in the polls when he honestly should be up 15 points, (not in a newsweak poll that is skewed)
I also learned ASL, I bet you learned it as a minor in deaf studies/cultures at R.I.T. N.T.I.D. like I did. I also believe that families and children should have the option of learning another language. I believe we should spend more time on math and science though. That is one thing that made America great, a homogeneous language, that frees us up to study sciences and business principles.
@Vic:
I do interpret things in my own way, but how is my interpreting his speech any different than Sherman’s interpreting it in his way above? Sherman interpreted it (or heard Rush or some other right-wing talking pointer interpret it) as Obama saying “children should all learn Spanish”. After seeing the whole clip (not just a sound bite from a radio show) I interpreted it as “US children should be learning other languages to make our country better”. I don’t begrudge Sherman his interpretation, I just saw it differently, and posted my view. Isn’t that the point of this site?
Actually, I learned ASL mainly by example, having had several deaf and h/h friends at RIT. I did take a couple quarters of sign, and from that I was able to get enough to pick up the rest as I went along. I’ve always found immersion with native speakers to be the best way to learn a language. And frankly, I love ASL for it’s simplicity. No tense, gender, conjugation… So much simpler, then say, Spanish.
@Woody,
Fair enough no issue, 100 people can look at a sunset and all will describe it differently.
You are an Obama supporter so your interpretation will be slanted towards what you perceive are the issues you believe.
I am an Obama Skeptic, I see one of the shrewdest politicians to come down the road in my lifetime (I am 49). I see a man calling for change and using political double talk that makes John Kerry look like a rank amateur. I accept thats politics, if it works then he is my President and I will respect him as such. I hope it does not work. It is no coincidence that Obama suggested Spanish just before speaking to La Raza and LULAC.
Sherman’s original post may have been something he heard on the radio. There is nothing wrong with that, I listen to NPR and often get very political opinions from a station that is suppose to belong to the public, not just a specific ideological group. The same can be said for NBC, and the NY Times, that freedom of the press. If Rush is saying that, I think he agrees with him and so do I. Personally I find Rush and NPR annoying for different reasons, I limit my radio to drive time, NPR in the AM and Rush or Dennis Miller on the drive home, gives me different points of view.
I firmly believe we as Americans need a homo genius language. European’s are made up of much smaller states with very different languages and a need to work together between those areas. 95% of Americans will never make it to Europe, but they must all work and live in this country. Therefore things like Math, Science and English skills are more important. Secondary languages should be just that, secondary. Our schools have deviated too much on teaching kids to be proud of themselves. If they teach them skills that will benefit them in life they will be proud of their achievements.
I very much agree with you on ASL, it is a simpler yet effective form of communication. I really love the fact that it is a visual language. In the noisiest of rooms you can easily communicate.
Please continue to post here Woody. Your posts are thoughtful and never ad homonym.