"MultiBunktualism"

i think that's so stupid. coming from a city that is a mecca for asian tourists, i can tell you they rarely speak english. we always get the short end of the stick cuz back in the day only rich assholes could afford travel. people need to realize they're assholes here too. i wonder what the % of the avg traveler from any country speaks the native lang of wherever they go fluetnly? from what i've found as long as u try they're cool...even the french. amazingly enough, when shopping, even at local flea markets, everyone speaks english. now ain't that sumthin?

we won't even talk about moving to a country and not speaking the language. i'd be posting in your comments.

One thing that I found really frustrating was at LAX airport the other day. We were all standing around in baggage claim confused as the signs kept switching and we couldn't find our carousel. There was a recorded announcement played repeatedly--in flawless Spanish but absolutely unintelligible English. After each time it played, several people said "what did she say?" Helpful, considering the flight had come in from Amsterdam. I'm not opposed to announcements in Spanish and English or whatever language they want to use, but the English should at least be understandable. At the risk of sounding racist (which I'm not), I would say that it is more important to have an announcement in clear English than in clear Spanish. Even in Los Angeles.

In case it didn't come across clearly, Tino's being sarcastic here.

Is it our fault that most other people in the world also speak English? If the business of the world were done in German, I'm sure we'd all be speaking German. But it's not, and we're not. The fact of the matter is that you can get by on English alone. And expecting (or in some cases, demanding) to be fully integrated into a country where English is the dominant language is just silly.

I'm not saying we should be closing up the borders, but we can't be expected to accommodate everyone that shows up here like that.

I wonder if making English our official language (since we don't have one) would make a difference. I wonder if it would even pass. Is it possible that many years down the road we will have developed into a Spanish-speaking nation?

i'm agreeing with Erica on this one. also, i think that if you're going to a foreign country and you know they don't speak your language, i think it's up to you to make sure you're understood unless all you'll be doing is to sit in the tourist bus and stay in hotels...

Oh, am I feelin' that one! I have a monthly "diversity" column in my newspaper, and I can do nothing but edit it. The editor is a Latina woman who thinks the only diversity in the world are Hispanic immigrants and that we should love and embrace our Spanish-speakers because we should all speak Spanish fluently. I wish she would just fucking die already.