You Couldn't Make It Up

Tefal · 3 Jun 2011 at 15:58

@play said:
If I was claiming asylum to stay there permanently, I would do.

That's not what you said.

On the subject of speaking English - why do we still hear people from different nationalities not speaking English in public?
It should be made law that you are in England & you must speak English in public at all times.

But nice to know the answer is a resounding No on if you follow your own rules.

Wicksta · 3 Jun 2011 at 16:02

@play said:
On the subject of speaking English - why do we still hear people from different nationalities not speaking English in public?
It should be made law that you are in England & you must speak English in public at all times.
The times I have been on the bus or in a shop and heard people clearly not even trying to speak English, yet they'll claim to be English & claim off the English.
Far too tolerant.

Obvious troll is obvious.

Tunney · 3 Jun 2011 at 16:05

@play said:
Far too tolerant.

Yeah, I hate living in a tolerant society. I wish it rained more too.

Vonhelmet · 3 Jun 2011 at 16:12

@play said:
On the subject of speaking English - why do we still hear people from different nationalities not speaking English in public?
It should be made law that you are in England & you must speak English in public at all times.
The times I have been on the bus or in a shop and heard people clearly not even trying to speak English, yet they'll claim to be English & claim off the English.
Far too tolerant.

I'll be sure to tell all the bilingual immigrants I know.

I guarantee my mum speaks better English than you; probably anyone on this forum. Certainly better than me. She's a Finnish immigrant.

xxalxx · 3 Jun 2011 at 16:20

I didn't really think that my reply to your post needed much explaining, though Tefal has explained why your idiotic idea is just flawed from the outset quite nicely.

silvercut · 3 Jun 2011 at 16:26

I hope they don't find a cure for these racist retards.

Hatter The Mad · 3 Jun 2011 at 16:38

vonhelmet said:
probably anyone on this forum

I doubt that.

WingZero30 · 3 Jun 2011 at 16:50

I am a migrant myself and came to this country 16 years ago. I can understand some of the sentiments people are expressing here.

Basically from my life experience with regards to natives vs immigrants, you get two kinds of people. You will have both immigrants and natives who understand and appreciate each other cultures and wish to learn from each other. Hence the social interaction is facilitated between two groups by forming friendships maybe at schools, colleges, universities and workplaces.

Then you get the opposite kinds who don't want to assimiliate with each other and form barriers between different communities. These kind of people whilst contributing within their own communities won't feel the need to experience life outside their shells. In this case you will have immigrants who perhaps have resided in this country for 20-40 years and yet still can't speak the host country language.
Likewise you will also have natives in this group who have never experienced any ethnic minority cultures in this country and remain ignorant and form negative stereotypes about the latter.

The beauty of being a contributing immigrant in this country is that you can view and taste life from a different perspective and can have many enriching life experiences

As for people who are saying that immigrants still can't speak the host language after residing in this country for so long; their questioning is perfectly justifiable as learning the host language breaks down many barriers.

However I must also put forward the same question to those fellow british ocukers who may have family, friends living and working in the middle east/asia. How much do they know the host language of those countries?

gary996 · 3 Jun 2011 at 16:59

I have no problem with anyone coming into this country if they have something to give to it (not take take take). Learning English is a must.
Those seeking asylum for other reasons (persecution etc) should have to claim asylum in the first country they get into (thats safe) not go through the whole of Europe to get to the UK.

WingZero30 · 3 Jun 2011 at 17:00

@play said:
On the subject of speaking English - why do we still hear people from different nationalities not speaking English in public?
It should be made law that you are in England & you must speak English in public at all times.

You see this is big mistake or wrong assumption on the part of natives to force English upon immigrants. This will always backfire and I can tell you this right now from an immigrant perspective.

Would you also want similar laws in UAE to force english expatriates to communicate in arabic with each other? How would you feel if you met them and they refused to speak to you in english and preferred arabic?

Naturally when any ethnic minority members meet each other, they like to speak in their own mother tongue and I am stating the general case. It is similar case with me. I would refuse to speak English with my parents or my wife as I want to retain my cultural identity aswell.

Outside home I am always speaking English with anyone and have no problem with it.

I appreciate all cultures but can never let go of my own cultural values and this includes my mother tongue.

Vonhelmet · 3 Jun 2011 at 17:06

Hatter The Mad said:
I doubt that.

She's been speaking English over 50 years now, which puts her ahead of most of us. She's spoke it for the majority of her time about 45 years now. She's been formally taught so she knows the technicalities that the overwhelming majority of natives don't have a clue about.

I would bet good money that she speaks English better than most people here, without any doubt in my mind.

Deific · 3 Jun 2011 at 17:14

The thing that annoys me most about immigrants are that a lot of them come here and then settle into their own community with other immigrants and never venture outside of it or integrate with the natives, resulting in areas and estates largely populated with easterners who don't involve themselves with the society, and country they have come to live in, at all.

WingZero30 · 3 Jun 2011 at 17:23

Deific said:
The thing that annoys me most about immigrants are that a lot of them come here and then settle into their own community with other immigrants and never venture outside of it or integrate with the natives, resulting in areas and estates largely populated with easterners who don't involve themselves with the society, and country, they have come to live in, at all.

I think the same thing can also be said about western migrants in the middle east and as far as I understand they also live in compounds separated from majority arab society.

Actually you will find such things in any country you go to where minorities generally live more or less separately from the majority.

This brings me back to my earlier post where I mentioned you get two types of immigrants. One who form their own communities and stay in those areas and the others who may or may not be living in their own community but prefer to interact with society as large.

Actually the majority are to blame aswell in that when they see immigrants starting to live near them, they tend to move out resulting in further immigrant density in those areas.

I am in the latter category as my life experiences have led me to believe that interacting with people from other backgrounds enriches your life more and you learn far more than you could in your own community :cool: