Fayette | Letters to the Editor

English-only jobs fading

Tue, 07/31/2007 - 4:53pm
By: Letters to the ...

I have noticed an increasing number of jobs in the metro Atlanta newspapers that prefer or require the ability to speak Spanish.

Currently, the majority of the positions are clerical but I’m afraid that soon all job categories will require the same.

My niece took Spanish four semesters in high school and is not fluent. It takes years to become fluent in this language.

Employers need to realize that most working-class Americans, ages 18-65, are only able to speak English fluently and should not be penalized because of this.

It takes money that most of us don’t have and precious time away from our families to learn to speak another language. I believe it is wrong for Americans to be discriminated against for speaking their own language.

Michael Phillips

Fayetteville, Ga.

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English-only jobs
chippie's picture
Submitted by chippie on Tue, 07/31/2007 - 11:51pm.

This is not only happening in Atlanta, but right here, too. Some school system jobs that are not in the Foreign Language Dept. now "prefer fluency in Spanish."

The way I see it, this stipulation can put the applicant at a disadvantage and be held against them if they're not fluent in Spanish.

If I'm not a native of, living in, nor working in a Spanish speaking country, why should I be fluent in that language? If that's the case, what about preferring fluency in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, etc., because the percentage of Asians in our school's populations are increasing each year, too.

My two cents: if you're going to move to another country that speaks a different language, you have to make the effort to assimilate, not the other way around.


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chippie:think a minute
Submitted by dollaradayandfound on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 8:03am.

Now at the tower of babble, God made everyone speak a different language so as not to be able to communicate and build a big tower to heaven and just walk in!
So, they don't have to learn another language if they don't want to do so!
If we want to know what they are saying (even Farsi)we have to confront God and just learn it!

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Uh,dude I think...
TonyF's picture
Submitted by TonyF on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 12:05pm.

it's "Babel".
the end
p.s. brevity is the yada yada yada

"The memories of a man in his old age, are the deeds of a man in his prime.You shuffle in the gloom of the sick room,and talk to yourself as you die."
(R. Waters)


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$
hutch866's picture
Submitted by hutch866 on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 11:30am.

Which language did you speak at the tower? Oh, I forgot you speak Babble.

I yam what I yam...Popeye


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language
chippie's picture
Submitted by chippie on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 8:45am.

Some of my friends from Pakistan, Turkey, Israel, Nigeria, and Honduras have told me when they came into the US legally, one thing they never gave a second thought about was learning to speak English. They said it was hardest for their older family members, but they did it none the less because it's the language of their new country. These same friends get very angry when they see residents who either won't learn English or are being enabled by having most things available in Spanish.


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Hi chippie
Tug13's picture
Submitted by Tug13 on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 9:13am.

I agree with you. I have two close friends from other countries.
My friend from Ethiopia speaks perfect English, she just became an American citizen. She is very proud, can't wait to vote, and even told me she wants to pay her share of taxes! (I told her she can pay mine) Smiling She feels honored to be an American. She doesn't understand why her Mexican neighbors let their small children speak for them, because they haven't bothered to learn English. Sad


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Hello Tug
chippie's picture
Submitted by chippie on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 12:23pm.

Would she like to pay my taxes, too? Smiling

I was surprised by how strongly my foreign friends feel about others not learning English and trying to assimilate.


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Tug
hutch866's picture
Submitted by hutch866 on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 9:18am.

You should see the fun I have trying to explain why the a/c won't work to someone who doesn't speak english.

I yam what I yam...Popeye


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hutch
Tug13's picture
Submitted by Tug13 on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 9:25am.

I had some fun trying to understand the guys who put flooring in for me. One of them was telling me what a few Portuguese words meant. He said they were nice words, but who knows. Smiling


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